‘Smalltown Boy’, Bronski Beat’s classic debut single from 1984, is being reissued as a CD single and a coloured vinyl seven-inch for its 40th anniversary.
The song has been reworked by London-based DJ and producer ABSOLUTE. (Ant McGinley) and the new version gets the ‘thumbs up’ from Jimmy Somerville: “ABSOLUTE. has kept a strong essence of the period and the song. The Bass 🤩…,” he said. ”I was transported back to our first times writing (banging on a Pro One and a Moog) and me realising I never had to walk around vocally imitating a sequence ever again!”
The transparent CD single of ‘Smalltown Boy’
The new CD single of ‘Smalltown Boy’ boasts a rather groovy semi-transparent design and is housed in a die-cut, numbered sleeve. It features the original 1984 edit of ‘Smalltown Boy’ alongside four new reworkings. The pink vinyl seven-inch features the edit on the A-side and the ABSOLUTE. Rework on the B-side.
Both formats are limited to 1,000 units and are available exclusively from the official Bronksi Beat shop.
The SDE Surround Series continues with Crowded House’s superb new album Gravity Stairs. The SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio features a Dolby Atmos Mix, a 5.1 Mix, an Instrumental Mix, a stereo mix and two HD videos!
This new Sabbath box set explores the Tony Martin era – the band’s second-longest-serving singer – with four albums reissued in vinyl and CD box sets. They are Headless Cross (1989), Tyr (1990), Cross Purpose (1994) and Forbidden (1995). All our remastered, although Forbidden is actually newly remixed by Tony Iommi. Several albums make their vinyl debut in the 4LP version, while the CD version contains three exclusive bonus tracks: the B-side ‘Cloak & Dagger’ and the Japan-only releases ‘What’s The Use’ and ‘Loser Gets It All’. The box sets come with a booklet, a Headless Cross poster and a replica concert book from the “Headless Cross Tour.”
Sheena Easton’s A Private Heaven is remastered from the original master tapes for this reissue. The 1984 album Includes ‘Strut’ and Prince-penned naughty-but-nice single ‘Sugar Walls’. The 2CD set includes 21 bonus tracks made up of 12-inch mixes, B-sides and 12 previously-unreleased tracks including ‘Have You Ever Been In Love’ and the long ‘Roman’ version of ‘Sugar Walls’. The vinyl version is actually a 2LP set with nine bonus tracks on the second LP.
This year was actually brilliant, with classics from ’80s’ pop bands who were making it work in the 1990s, including Duran Duran (‘Ordinary World’, ‘Come Undone’), a-ha (‘Dark is the Night For All’), Tears For Fears (‘Break It Down Again’) and Pet Shop Boys (‘Can You Forgive Her’, ‘Go West’) along with emerging bands such as Suede (‘So Young’), Radiohead (‘Creep’) and even the Manic Street Preachers, whose ‘From Despair to Where’ was the first single from their second album, Gold Against The Soul.
There are classic artists still mixing it with ‘the kids’ (Paul McCartney’s ‘Hope of Deliverance’, Sting’s ‘Fields of Gold’, Billy Joel’s ‘River of Dreams’ and Meatloaf‘s ‘I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ and then ‘the kids’ themselves including Take That (‘Pray’, ‘Relight My Fire’), East 17 (‘Deep’), The Spin Doctors (‘Two Princes’), Ugly Kid Joe (‘Cats in the Cradle’), D:Ream (‘Unforgiven’), The Beloved (‘Sweet Harmony’), Jamiroquai (‘Too Young Too Die’) and the like.
Ususal formats: 4CD deluxe in hardcover book, 3LP coloured vinyl and standard card sleeved 4CD set. Now Yearbook 1993 will be released on 28 June 2024.
After the ‘Chasing the Sun’ reissue of a decade again, Oasis are back to re-release their debut album Definitely Maybe yet again, for a 30th anniversary bite of the cherry, which – quelle surprise – offers previously unreleased early sessions and unheard outtakes not considered for the previous reissue.
2CD and 4LP editions offer the 2014 remastered version of the album, tracks from the discarded original recording session at Monnow Valley Studios, along with outtakes from the actual album sessions. The latter have been newly mixed for the first time by Noel Gallagher and Callum Marinho. Additionally, there’s a November ’92 demo of ‘Sad Song’ (the vinyl-only bonus track) featuring Liam Gallagher’s vocals.
The story with the original sessions is that after being signed, the band decamped to Monnow Valley studios on the Welsh borders of Monmouthshire, to record their songs. However, at the time, the initial sessions were regarded as “overly technical and polished”, and didn’t capture “the essence of the band”. The sessions were ultimately scrapped, and the band moved to Sawmills Studios in Cornwall to re-record the album.
New artwork for slipcased 2CD and 4LP sets (click to enlarge)
To be fair, these do sound interesting, and in addition there is seven outtakes and that demo of ‘Sad Song’, but you have to look back and ask why, in 2014, fans were asked to pay £110, for what SDE indelicately called the ‘bag of shite‘ box set edition of Definitely Maybe? This was an edition that included the separately available 3CD and 2LP sets and then asked fans to pay an extra £77 for tote bags, badges, key rings etc. It was noted at the time that no extra studio recordings were offered for this pricey super deluxe edition (you’d think twice about spending £110 for a box set today, and we’re talking a decade ago!) and now we know they had all this stuff sitting in the vault…
2014 remaster pressed on ‘strawberries & cream’ marbled pink vinyl
For this 30th anniversary reissue there’s brand new artwork (including a slipcase that removes the band from the original front cover) and new sleeve notes from Creation Records boss Alan McGee and journalist Hamish MacBain.
In addition to the expanded versions (2CD and 4LP) there’s the remastered album on 2LP vinyl editions in black vinyl, blue and white marble vinyl and pink and white marble vinyl. There’s also a blue cassette.
Definitely Maybe will be reissued, again, on 30 August 2024 on Big Brother Recordings.
R.E.M.’s 1985 album Fables of the Reconstruction is available on vinyl again after being out-of-print for quite a while.
Produced by Joe Boyd, and recorded in London, ‘Can’t Get There From Here’ and ‘Driver 8’ are probably the best known songs from Fables… It was the band’s third studio album, and was released on I.R.S. Records.
The album was R.E.M.’s first UK top 40 hit and reached number 28 in the Billboard album charts. The last reissue was in 2010 which saw a vinyl re-release and a deluxe 2CD box set edition that offered ‘Athens Demos’ on the bonus CD.
Fables of the Reconstruction will be reissued on vinyl on 7 June 2024. Update: There does appear to be a single CD version of this (in a jewel case) as well!
This September, The The will release Ensoulment, their first studio album for almost 25 years.
Encompassing characteristic topics ranging from love & sex, war & politics, life & death – to “the meaning of what it is to be human in the 21st century” – Ensoulment was written, demoed and mixed at Studio Cinéola in London, the base of the band’s frontman and creative force, Matt Johnson.
The songs were later refined in rehearsals ahead of a six-day session at Real World Studios near Bath, where Matt was joined by long-standing band members James Eller (bass), DC Collard (keyboards), Earl Harvin (drums), and Barrie Cadogan (lead guitar). The album has been co-produced by Warne Livesey, who previously worked on Infected (1986) and Mind Bomb (1989).
‘Cognitive Dissident’ from Ensoulment
Ensoulment features some of Matt Johnson’s late brother Andrew (AKA Andy Dog)’s artwork, both on the front cover and in the booklets for vinyl and CD, maintaining the distinctive visual language of the past.
The The’s last proper album was 2000’s NakedSelf. Since then Matt has concentrated on soundtrack work. In 2021 the band toured for the first time in decades, resulting in The Comeback Special album/box set (unboxed here) which was filmed/recorded at the Royal Albert Hall. SDE was there and our review is here.
Ensoulment is a 12-track album and is available as a hardcover media book CD set with 32-page booklet (no bonus tracks). There’s also a jewel case version. On vinyl, this is a 2LP set with black and indie ‘crystal clear’ vinyl options available. All vinyl editions come with a large format 32-page booklet to show off Andy Dog’s art.
The first single from the album is ‘Cognitive Dissident’, which you can preview above. Ensoulment will be released on 6 September 2024 via EarMusic.
Heaven 17’s first two studio albums, 1981’s Penthouse and Pavement and The Luxury Gap from 1983 are being reissued on both vinyl and CD formats.
2CD sets of both, in deluxe seven-inch packaging offer A-sides, B-sides, demos and 12-inch versions on their respective bonus discs, while half-speed vinyl editions (mastered by Barry Grint at AIR Mastering) are pressed on 180g vinyl and come with an OBI-strip and 4-page insert.
Both albums are classics, with Penthouse in particular still brilliant, despite great songs such as ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’ and ‘Play to Win’ not being actual hits. The Luxury Gap was a fine follow-up and features Heaven 17’s biggest single, ‘Temptation’ which reached number two on the UK chart.
Both albums will be reissued by Demon Music on 26 July 2024.
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Heaven 17
Penthouse and Pavement - 2CD in deluxe seven-inch packaging
Crowded House’s “late career triumph” on SDE blu-ray • Pre-order now
Crowded House’s soon-to-be-released new studio album Gravity Stairs is now available to pre-order as an SDE-exclusive deluxe blu-ray audio edition, with a host of audio and video content, including an immersive Dolby Atmos Mix.
The album, which Classic Pop magazine has already called a “late career triumph” (and given a 4.5 star review) is the band’s eighth in total and the second from the current line up of Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Mitchell Froom, and Finn’s sons Elroy and Liam.
It’s the act of climbing those figurative ‘gravity stairs’ inspired by a heavy stone staircase near where Finn vacations, that he likens to his mindset as a creator. The Gravity Stairs are symbolic of the struggle to ascend, acknowledging the opposing forces of weight on the mechanics of living. It’s an act of will every day.
Crowded House have already made available two singles, ‘Oh Hi’ and ‘Life’s Imitation’ (aka ‘Teenage Summer’), and these join nine other songs on the album, including ‘The Howl’ (which evokes Together Alone), the quirky and choppy ‘Blurry Grass’ and the driving, insistent ‘I Can’t Keep Up With You’. Gravity Stairs has been produced by the band and Steven Schram (who created the Atmos Mix).
The SDE-exclusive deluxe blu-ray edition of Gravity Stairs offers a ‘full house’ of audio and video content, as follows:
Dolby Atmos Mix
5.1 Mix (DTS-HD Master Audio 48/24)
Stereo Mix (PCM Stereo 48/24)
Instrumental Mix (PCM Stereo 48/24)
HD Videos (‘Oh Hi’ and ‘Life’s Imitation’/’Teenage Summer’)
The exclusive deluxe blu-ray package of Gravity Stairs includes a slipcase and five art cards (click image to enlarge)
Only the PCM stereo version is available on another physical product, everything else is exclusive to this deluxe blu-ray audio and indeed, this is the very first time a Crowded House studio album has been available in instrumental form.
Obviously, since it’s not out, you haven’t heard the whole record yet… but trust me, this is not one you want to miss! For this writer, Gravity Stairs is a truly beautiful album; full of great pop songs, with hooks and great harmonies – easily their best studio long-player since Together Alone.
Here’s the now traditional reminder as to why this blu-ray is highly recommended:
It’s the only way to enjoy the Dolby Atmos mix of the album via a physical product
You don’t need to sign-up to a streaming service such as Tidal or Apple Music to hear the spatial audio mix
The Dolby Atmos Mix on the Blu-ray is not compressed due to streaming bandwidth restrictions. It is encoded in Dolby TrueHD Atmos on blu-ray and has a bit rate 10 times higher (up to 8000 kbits/s) compared to streaming’s Dolby Digital Plus (768 kbits/s)
You own the product, you are not renting it from a digital service provider
The Blu-ray audio is an excellent format for music and you don’t want to see it die off
Supporting SDE with these initiatives is leading to similar collaborations with labels/artists and we are keen to bring your more in the near future!
This release is #23 in the SDE Surround Series of blu-ray audios and a free collectible SDE slipcase and this deluxe package additionally includes five band member art cards (with intricate artwork combining book carvings by Nick Seymour and mosaic portraits Sharon Finn).
This deluxe blu-ray audio edition of Crowded House’s Gravity Stairs is only available via the SDE shop and is a limited edition, with just 2,000 units available worldwide (there’s a purchase limit of 2 per customer). It will be released on 31 May 2024. Pre-order using this link or the button below. Don’t miss out.
Gravity Stairs is featured on the blu-ray in the following audio streams: Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Mix (DTS-HD Master Audio 48/24), PCM stereo (48/24), Instrumental Mix (PCM Stereo 48/24)
The Rolling Stones will issue a 30th anniversary edition of their 1994 album Voodoo Lounge, in July.
The band’s first album without bass player Bill Wyman features Stones favourites ‘You Got Me Rocking,’ Out Of Tears’ and the UK top 20 single ‘Love Is Strong,’ and went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.
The 30th anniversary reissue sees the album pressed on a 2LP set with one record pressed on red vinyl and the other in yellow vinyl. A limited edition (D2C-only) adds a white vinyl 10-inch which includes four bonus tracks previously unissued on vinyl. These were on the various CD singles back in the day and they are ‘I’m Gonna Drive,’ ‘So Young’, ‘Jump On Top Of Me’, and ‘The Storm’.
There is no CD edition of this Voodoo Lounge 30th anniversary reissue, which is released on 12 July 2024 via Polydor/UMR.
Bass Communion is Steven Wilson’s long running solo electronic project and The Itself of Itself is his first album under this moniker for 12 years. It is described as “a dynamic listening experience where unease, dread and comparatively claustrophobic torrents of sound make (un)natural bedfellows to moments of enchantment and serenity”. Possibly not one for dinner parties. This CD edition (there’s no vinyl version) has an initial run of 1000 units and comes with a 24-page booklet and OBI-strip.
Lenny Kravitz returns with his 12th studio album. The 12-track long-player is available across the usual formats, although note that the deluxe CD doesn’t include any extra tracks, it just boasts ‘casebound book’ style packaging. There is coloured vinyl and 2LP picture disc editions as well.
Fleetwood Mac / Rumours / Fleetwood Mac / Tusk (coloured vinyl)
If you are a vinyl fan and somehow don’t own Fleetwood Mac’sRumours, you have the opportunity this week to pick up this Amazon-exclusive ‘translucent grape’ vinyl LP. The Fleetwood Mac album is also available on ‘bottle-green clear vinyl’ and Tusk is a 2LP set on ‘crystal clear’ vinyl.
Now That’s What I Call Music are following up their 2022 vinyl box set of Yearbook ‘Extras’ from 1980-1984 with a second 5LP vinyl volume which covers the same period.
Yearbook 1980 – 1984: Vinyl Extra: Vol. 2 is the second (and final) volume in this series and features 78 tracks across five coloured vinyl records (each LP is pressed in the colour of the year’s original Yearbook).
Tracks on LP 1 (‘1980’) include Queen’s ‘Flash’, Paul McCartney’s top 10 hit ‘Waterfalls’ (the ‘DJ Edit’), ’A Forest’ by The Cure and Madness’ ‘Embarrassment’. Grace Jones’ ‘Private Life’ is included but actually features on the first record of the first box set (oops!).
Neil Young is releasing an album of some of his earliest recordings with Crazy Horse; familiar songs in mostly rare, unreleased versions.
The 10-track album includes iconic Neil Young originals and a few tracks co-written with Danny Whitten, including unreleased versions of ‘Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown’ (first issued on Crazy Horse’s 1971 debut album as ‘Downtown, and then later on Tonight’s The Night) and ‘Look At All The Things’ (a solo Whitten composition, also from Crazy Horse).
There’s also unreleased versions of ‘Helpless’, ‘Wonderin” and ‘Down by the River’ plus rare/unreleased mixes of ‘Birds’ and ‘Cinnamon Girl’ (the seven-inch mono mix that includes a guitar outro not on the original LP version).
This album is effectively like a mini Archives release! Speaking of which, only two tracks out of 10 feature in an Archives box (Vol 1), surely making this a ‘must buy’ for Neil Young fans. It’s available on CD, black vinyl and an indie clear vinyl pressing (the latter comes with an exclusive poster).
Early Daze will be released on 28 June 2024, via Warner Records.
David Bowie’s 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars has been mixed in Dolby Atmos and will be released physically, on a standalone blu-ray audio in September.
David’s breakthough album features numerous classic songs such as ‘Starman’, ‘Moonage Daydream’, ‘Ziggy Stardust’, ‘Five Years’ and ‘Suffragette City’, was Bowie’s first hit album, reaching number five in the UK chart in 1972, while ‘Starman’ was a top 10 single.
This is the first Dolby Atmos Mix of a Bowie studio album. Since the start of the ‘eras’ campaign with Five Years box set in 2015, Parlophone have not released any of David’s albums in surround sound. It has actually been 14 years since the last release, which was Station to Station, within the big box set. Before that, there was a 5.1 mix of Young Americans in 2007 (as part of a now out-of-print CD+DVD set) and prior to that was a Ziggy Stardust SACD in 2003.
The blu-ray contains the first ever Atmos Mix of a Bowie studio album
The blu-ray will feature the following audio streams:
2024 Dolby Atmos Mix
2024 Stereo MIx (96/24)
Original 1972 Stereo Mix – 2012 Remaster (192/24)
Original 1972 Stereo Mix – 2012 Remaster (48/24)
The Atmos mix was created by Emre Ramazanoglu with original producer Ken Scott at RAK Studios, London. This, along with a new 2024 stereo mix, are unique to this physical product – neither are included on the blu-ray in the forthcoming Rock ‘n’ Roll Star! box set. Parlophone have chosen not to include Ken Scott’s 2003 5.1 mix on this Atmos blu-ray, which is a bit of a shame.
If you don’t have an Atmos-compatible amp/receiver but do have a 5.1 set-up, it ‘down mixes’ to what is a new 5.1 mix on your system.
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars blu-ray audio will be issued on 6 September 2024, via Parlophone. Secure your copy via the SDE shop, the home of blu-ray audio! Pre-order using this link or the button below.
Tracklisting
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from MarsDavid Bowie/blu-ray audio
2024 Dolby Atmos Mix, New 2024 Stereo Mix (192/24), original Stereo Mix (96/24)
The Nik Kershaw box set that SDE exclusively revealed in our 2024 SDE Reissue Preview will be released in July. Called The MCA Years, the 10CD+DVD box set brings together Nik’s first four albums with a further seven discs of bonus content.
The four albums are of course Human Racing (1984), The Riddle (1984), Radio Musicola (1986) and The Works (1989). While the first two albums got decent – but not perfect – 2CD reissues around a decade ago, the last two have never been expanded so for that reason alone, The MCA Years is rather exciting.
The albums all stand alone on their respective CDs, newly remastered by Tony Dixon and overseen by Nik Kershaw. After that is six CDs of bonus content, made up of one disc of B-sides, three CDs of extended remixes, seven-inch mixes and the odd dub mix, and two CDs featuring Kershaw’s 1984 Hammersmith Odeon show released in its entirety for the first time!
The bonus DVD includes 13 promo videos and the filmed version of the Hammersmith show (which is edited and therefore doesn’t include all the audio tracks on those two CDs.
I interviewed Nik for this release last year and in the accompanying booklet he tells his ‘MCA story’ with anecdotes and recollections from this era.
The MCA Years will be released on 21 February 2025 (was 7 February 2025, 27 September 2024 and before that was 30 August 2024 and prior to that, 26 July 2024), via Cherry Red.
John Lennon’s 1973 album Mind Games will be reissued in July across numerous physical formats including a 6CD+2blu-ray deluxe edition and super deluxe edition which is limited to 1100 units worldwide.
Mind Games was John’s fourth solo album and was issued in late October 1973, about six weeks before McCartney’sBand on the Run, for some solo Beatles context. There was only one single from the album, its title track, which was a top 20 hit in America and a top 20 hit in the UK.
John was 33 at the time and found himself in personal and political upheaval. A years-long deportation battle with U.S. immigration continued to rage on while his anti-Vietnam war activism, and overtly political messages on 1972’s, Sometime in New York City (touted for a while as the next Lennon box set) made him a target of a newly elected Richard Nixon, leading to surveillance by the FBI.
Against this backdrop Lennon entered NYC’s Record Plant in August ’73 with musicians including drummer Jim Keltner, guitarist David Spinozza (who played on Macca’s Ram album), pianist Ken Ascher, bassist Gordon Edwards, pedal-steel player ‘Sneaky’ Pete Kleinow, saxophonist Michael Brecker, drummer Rick Marotta (he played on only a couple of tracks), and backing vocalists Jocelyn Brown, Christine Wiltshire, Angel Coakely and Kathy Mull.
If you have bought the Imagine, Gimme Some Truth or Plastic Ono Band reissues you’ll have an idea what to expect from the Mind Games reissue. It’s “fully authorised” by YokoOno Lennon and produced by SeanOno Lennon, who oversaw the creative direction. In terms of audio, everything has been completely remixed (from the original two-inch multi-track session tapes) and expanded for a deep listening experience both for stereo and immersive Dolby Atmos. Engineer Paul Hicks and mixers/engineers Sam Gannon and Rob Stevens were the team that worked on the audio.
The reissue, in deluxe set guise, at least, explores the album’s 1973 recording sessions at the Record Plant in New York City, from inception to the final master, through scores of unreleased outtakes, unadulterated versions, instrumentals, stripped down mixes, studio chatter and more, revealing how the songs evolved and came to life.
Yoko Ono Lennon says: “John was trying to convey the message that we all play mind games. But if we can play mind games, why not make a positive future with it – to be a positive mind game? ‘Mind Games’ is such an incredibly strong song. At the time, people didn’t quite get the message because this was before its time. Now, people would understand it. I don’t think in those days people knew they were playing mind games anyway.”
6CD + 2 x blu-ray deluxe edition (click to enlarge)
The 6CD+Blu-ray deluxe edition offers the now familiar different types of mixes across the six CDs. These are
• ULTIMATE MIXES – new stereo mixes created from high-definition 24/192 audio transfers of the original first-generation multitrack recordings (by Matthew Cocker at Abbey Road Studios) to create the best possible recreations of the originals.
• ELEMENTAL MIXES – Simpler stripped-back, lean-back arrangements, erring towards the acoustic, with John’s voice to the fore, and without drums.
• ELEMENTS MIXES – These highlight specific performances from the musicians, sometimes unheralded or unheard. Thesereduce the songs to the minimum amount of instruments possible; at most, only three instruments are heard at any one time. With the focus taken away from John’s vocal, the delicacy and nuance of these performers is allowed to shine through.
• EVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY – Mini audio documentaries that explore the development of each song from their very first demo state through to the fully formed master take via in-studio development, chat and out-takes. Edited down from the original 16-track multitrack tapes, demo cassettes and other source tapes.
• THE RAW STUDIO MIXES – These offer exactly what was recorded during the sessions. The songs have been mixed with minimum effects, tape delays or reverbs, recreating as close to possible what these performances sounded like, raw and live.
• THE OUT-TAKES – Having reviewed all the takes from the entire recording sessions, the best alternate take of every song on the album is presented.
The two blu-rays in the deluxe set feature EVERYTHING on the six CDs in hi-res stereo, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos, so that is the Ultimate Mixes, Elemental Mixes, Elements Mixes, Evolution Documentary, Out-takes and Raw Studio Mixes. Additionally you get, 2024 remastered ‘Mind Games’ music video and ‘You Are Here’ (additional out-take) tape boxes video.
Additionally, the deluxe edition includes a 128-page hardback coffee table book that tells the story behind each of the songs and the making of the album in the words of John & Yoko’s (taken from hundreds of hours of archive interviews), and the words of those who worked alongside them. There’s exclusive never-before-seen photographs by Bob Gruen and photos, lyrics, letters, original tape boxes and memorabilia from the John Lennon & Yoko Ono Lennon Archives. There’s also a reproduction of the original triptych marketing poster for the album; postcard sized reproductions of artworks made for the marketing of the album in 1973 and an individually numbered Citizen of Nutopia ID Card.
There are also 2CD and 2LP editions of Mind Games, both of which combine ‘Ultimate Mixes’ on the first disc and ‘Outtakes’ on the second.
In a first for John Lennon reissues, a special, highly limited super deluxe edition limited to 1100 copies worldwide. Available via D2C / Universal Music channels only (e.g. The Sound of Vinyl in the UK), this is described as “a time capsule into John and Yoko’s world around the writing and recording of Mind Games, including the times leading up to and after its release in 1973. This eleborate package is presented in a 13-inch cube, a perspex reproduction of Yoko’s 1966 artwork ‘Danger Box’. Once lifted, four sides, featuring artwork from Mind Games on shiny mirror board, fall to reveal nine individual boxes of various shapes and sizes interlocked together, each with its own look and focus. Hidden throughout are many Easter Eggs, some of which can only be revealed by using other items in the box to see them, along other hidden secrets, surprises, puzzles, and ‘mind games’. The box is housed inside a striking 13” packing container cube adorned with custom art.
The super deluxe edition, with perspex cube removed (click to enlarge)
This super deluxe edition features everything in the deluxe (6CDs, 2 blu-rays) plus 7LPs (in four gatefold sleeves) featuring all the content on the six CDs. There’s also two Zoetrope vinyl LPs (which feature Ultimate Mixes + Outtakes) a hologram-engraved picture disc (seven-inch, we presume) that contains ‘Mind Games (Ultimate Mix)’ & ‘Meat City’ (Ultimate Mix). In the super deluxe you also get the bigger, deep-dive 288-page Thames & Hudson book which goes into more detail about the making of Mind Games (you still get the smaller book in the deluxe and the big book is available separately). On top of all that, it includes a Citizen of Nutopia box (various bits of memorabilia), a ‘You Are Here’ box (12-inch circular canvas reproduction of John Lennon’s artwork You Are Here, 1968 with a Certificate of Authenticity), an I-Ching box (three customized John & Yoko I-Ching coins, ultraviolet flashlight and Magic Magnet) and a Puzzle Tiles box (no further details!). This super deluxe box is £1350!
Mind Games is released on 19 July 2024 via UMR. Leave thoughts and comments below.
Yes’ 1972 album Fragile is being reissued as a six-disc super deluxe edition.
The 4CD+blu-ray+LP set features a newly remastered version of the original album, new 2024 stereo mixes, instrumental mixes, rarities, live recordings and more.
Fragile marked keyboardist Rick Wakeman’s debut with Yes, which included Jon Anderson (lead vocals), Chris Squire (bass, vocals), Bill Bruford (drums), and Steve Howe (guitar). After he joined in the summer of 1971, the band recorded nine songs for the album, four group arrangements (‘Roundabout’), and five individual compositions, including Anderson’s ‘We Have Heaven’ and Howe’s instrumental ‘Mood For A Day’.
The blu-ray offers five versions of the album, with everything bar the remaster newly mixed by Steven Wilson.
2024 Dolby Atmos Mix
2024 5.1 mix
2024 New Stereo Mix
2024 Instrumentals
2024 Remaster of Original Mix
The lacquers for the included vinyl record have been cut by audio engineer Bernie Grundman. This new reissue of Fragile will be packaged the same as The Yes album and comes with a booklet.
South Side Of The Sky – Early Version (Steven Wilson Mix)
Long Distance Runaround (Steven Wilson Edit) *
Heart Of The Sunrise (Steven Wilson Edit) *
America
Roundabout – Early Rough Mix
13. “We Have Heaven – Acapella (Steven Wilson Mix)
CD 4: More Rarities & Live
Five Per Cent For Nothing” – Alternate Version *
Heart Of The Sunrise” – Alternate Version *
Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)”- Alternate Version *
The Dean”
America” – Instrumental *
Live at the Academy of Music, NYC (2/19/72)
Long Distance Runaround / The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)” *
Perpetual Change” *
Yours Is No Disgrace” *
* previously unreleased
Blu-ray
The following tracks in these formats: 2024 Steven Wilson Dolby Atmos Mix
2024 5.1 Mix DTS-HD MA
2024 Stereo Remix
2024 Stereo Remaster
2024 Instrumental Mix
Battersea Power Station – now completely redeveloped into a shopping centre and residential/office block complex – made for an appropriate venue for a playback, last night, of the new Dolby Atmos Mix of Pink Floyd’s 1977 album, Animals.
SDE was there, with selected guests and media, to hear the new immersive mix in the Cinema in Turbine Hall B, in the company of Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell of Hipgnosis and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.
Originally comprising two coal-fired power stations (‘A’ was completed in 1935, while a delayed ‘B’ wasn’t operational until 1955) the building was eventually decommissioned in the late 1970s and made a Grade II listed building in 1980. It then spent three-and-a-half decades in a state of disrepair with various plans to redevelop, never coming to fruition.
Daryl Easlea interviews Nick Mason after the playback (click image to enlarge)
Po Powell in his talk with Daryl Easlea, before the playback, said: “When I came here with Roger Waters [late in 1976] it was pretty shocking. The building was out of use, although they had one turbine that was still functioning a bit, but around the building was a phenomenal mess. Detritus was everywhere: it was old rolling stock; slag heaps of coal; barbed wire, with bits of plastic stuck to it – it was just a mess. And I think Roger and I were shocked at the state of it. But what was very interesting was that knocking on the only available door of this huge edifice, somebody answered! And this bloke with a cloth cap and overalls said “What do you want?” and we said “We want to fly a pig between the chimneys”. He said “How much?”. “£200?”. He said “Done!”. No word of a lie, it was that simple. Health and Safety didn’t exist. A week later, there we were: Pink Floyd, me and a pig.
After the Atmos playback Nick Mason took to the stage to talk to Daryl. He admitted that he hadn’t listened to the whole album “in 40 years” but found it really interesting listen with “so many elements of it that I’d completely forgotten about, like Rick’s playing”. He also added that “the melodic structure is far more sophisticated than I remember”. Nick also commented on “how dark the record is, lyrically and musically”.
Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason with SDE’s Paul Sinclair
Animals was the first album that Pink Floyd recorded in their own studio, Britannia Row, in Islington, London. “We devised it to be something we could absolutely operate on our own, either as individuals or as a band” said Nick, although he admitted that the album is “probably the least accurate, in terms of not having that Abbey Road facility, with all that back-up. It was more or less [just] us, the tech guy who looked after the equipment and Brian Humphries, who was the engineer”.
The Atmos Mix of Animals (a full review will follow) is released on Friday on blu-ray audio and streaming. If you have pre-ordered from the the SDE shop, the home of blu-ray audio, shipping has already started. If you haven’t placed your order yet and would like to support SDE you can do so using this link or the button below.
Before and after. Battersea Power Station on the cover of the album and as it is today (click to enlarge)
SDEtv explores the two recent Wham! SDE-exclusive blu-ray audios – Fantastic and Make It Big – that were recently released in collaboration with Sony Music. These are available only via the SDE shop using this link, or the button below.
Tracklisting
FantasticWham! /SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio
Dolby Atmos & 96/24 Stereo
Bad Boys
A Ray of Sunshine
Love Machine
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)
A Ray of Sunshine (Instrumental Remix)
Love Machine (Instrumental Remix)
Club Tropicana
Nothing Looks The Same in the Light
Come On
Young Guns (Go For It!)
Nothing Looks The Same in the Light (Instrumental Remix)
Bonus tracks in Dolby Atmos & Stereo
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) – single version 3.32
Young Guns (Go For It) – single version 3.43
Young Guns (Go For It) UK 12” mix 5.11
Blue (Armed With Love) 3.56
Bonus tracks in Stereo-only
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Club Mix] 4.20
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Social Mix] 6.45
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Unsocial Mix] 6.38
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) [Special Club Remix] 3.05
Young Guns (For For It) – Special US 12” Remix 6.53
Going For It 4.39
Bad Boys (12” Extended Club Mix) 4.58
Bad Boys (instrumental) 3.21
Club Tropicana (instrumental) 3.31
Club Fantastic Megamix 3.57
Tracklisting
Make It Big Wham! /SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio
Dolby Atmos & 96/24 Stereo
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go 3.51
Everything She Wants 5.03
Heartbeat 4.44
Like A Baby 4.15
Freedom 5.02
If You Were There 3.39
Credit Card Baby 5.10
Careless Whisper 6.32
Bonus tracks in Dolby Atmos & Stereo
Careless Whisper (Single Version) 5.03
Freedom (version from The Final) 5.20
Last Christmas 4.26
Everything She Wants (Remix edit) 5.30
Freedom (Long Version) 7.09
Last Christmas (Pudding Mix) 6.45
Everything She Wants (Remix) 6.30
I’m Your Man 4.07
The Edge of Heaven 4.37
Battlestations 5.31
Where Did Your Heart Go? 5.50
Bonus tracks in Stereo-only
A Ray of Sunshine (specially recorded for ‘The Tube’)
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (instrumental) 4.02
Freedom (instrumental) 5.10
Last Christmas (Pudding Mix Edit) 4.47
I’m Your Man (Extended Stimulation)
Do It Right (Instrumental)
I’m Your Man (Acappella)
Blue (Recorded Live in China)
I’m Your Man (version from Music From The Edge Of Heaven version)
Pink Floyd release a brand new Dolby Atmos Mix of their 1977 album Animals on blu-ray audio. It’s available via the home of blu-ray audio, the SDE shop.
Various Artists / Now 80s Dancefloor R&B & Funk (2LP set)
Another Now That’s What I Call Music 2LP coloured vinyl set, this time themed around R&B & Funk. Artists include Cameo, Barry White, James Brown, The Gap Band, Alexander O’Neal, The S.O.S. Band, Sheila E., the Dazz Band, Sly Fox, and more.
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Various Artists
NOW That�s What I Call 80s Dancefloor: R&B & FUNK [VINYL]
A Miles Showell half-speed mastered vinyl edition of Pete Townshend’s second solo album which was originally released in 1982, and produced by Chris Thomas. 1985’s White City: A Novel gets the same treatment.
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Pete Townshend
All the Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes - half-speed vinyl
With the announcement on Thursday of some ‘new’ Duran Duran reissues, SDE thought it would be a good time to look back at the busy 2010 reissue campaign and check out the interesting, but inconsistent approach given to the band’s catalogue almost a decade-and-a-half ago. Leave a comment with your thoughts on these old deluxe editions.
