Remixed, remastered, rarities, box set, coloured vinyl and more…
Whitesnake will reissue their 2008 album Good to be Bad as STILL Good to be Bad in April. The band’s 10th studio long-player includes the songs ‘Best Years’ and ‘Summer Rain’.
Nominally a 15th anniversary reissue, there’s four physical formats for this new edition, all of which feature a brand new 2023 stereo remix of the album. These are:
4CD+blu-ray box set
2LP blue vinyl
2CD deluxe
Single CD edition
The box set features the remix, a new remaster a selection of rare and unreleased studio and live recordings from the period, as well as videos all the music videos, interviews, and live performances from the Good To Be Bad world tour. If you’re wondering, there’s no spatial audio on the Blu-ray.
The 4CD+blu-ray box set of Still Good to be Bad (click image to enlarge)
The new remix is available as a 2LP coloured vinyl set and on CD, while the double CD edition offers both the remix and the remaster.
The box set is therefore the only place to find the rarities. This content includes new alternate mixes which also feature new background vocals from the ‘Hook City Harlots’, Cami Thompson, Misty Rae & Jackie Landrum, plus the ‘Hook City Horns’ with Rick Metz on saxes and the trumpet of Joshua Reed. There’s a version of ‘All For Love’ that features a different guitar solo by Doug Aldrich and the collection also includes ‘Evolutions’, a disc of unreleased recordings that presents a guide through the genesis of each song, from initial ideas with rough vocal melodies, lyrics and riffs through to finished demos and full band production versions (sounds similar to Peter Gabriel’sSo DNA).
Listen to the new 2023 remix of ‘Can You Hear The Wind Blow’
The spark of the original album can be traced back to when Whitesnake founder and lead singer David Coverdale reconvened the band for a tour celebrating the band’s 25th anniversary, as he recalls:
“We went out for two months and came back nine months later, and I had a big smile on my face and felt really energized.… I thought—‘Wow! I’ve got thirty years of music here that I can go out and play, and I don’t have to promote a new record…I can just have fun out there.’”
Coverdale enjoyed a newly forged creative friendship with guitarist Doug Aldrich, not only as a co-writer but, as a co-producer:
“Doug & I got on so well, I suggested we sit down with our acoustic guitars & see what unfolded…I was thrilled how effortless it was to create new Whitesnake music with him…”
The Still Good to be Bad is reissued on 28 April 2023, via Rhino.
Daft Punk’s 2013 album Random Access Memories will be reissued for its 10th anniversary in May.
The album was the French electronic music duo’s last and it includes the transatlantic number one ‘Get Lucky’ which features – and was co-written by – Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers (the pair also made contributions to another single, ‘Lose Yourself To Dance’).
The 10th anniversary edition is expanded and includes a relatively modest 35 minutes of music, although these demos and studio outtakes are mostly previously unreleased (‘Horizon’ was on a Japanese CD and included on a USB stick in a previous box set).
There are two physical formats for the anniversary: 3LP vinyl (with a poster and 16-page booklet) and a 2CD deluxe. The triple vinyl includes a special ‘Lose Yourself To Dance’ poster and comes with a 16 page booklet. A Dolby Atmos Mix has also been created, although that will only be available via streaming services.
Random Access Memories is reissued on 12 May 2023, via Sony Music.
Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello/The Songs of Bacharach & CostelloCD, Vinyl
Elvis Costello has compiled a new release called The Songs of Bacharach & Costello that brings together all of the published songs that he has written with the late Burt Bacharach (RIP).
“I will attack, and you don’t want that!” The 1990 debut by ‘Eurodance’ duo Snap! is reissued as this vinyl picture disc. The album features the hits ‘The Power’, ‘Ooops Up’, ‘Cult of Snap!’ and ‘Mary Had a Little Boy’.
It’s so sad to reflect on quite how young George was when he left us in late 2001, being still in his fifties. From a purely selfish fan point of view we wonder how much great music we’ve missed out on and what on-stage collaborations and live performances we could have enjoyed.
We had timed the release of the SDE blu-ray audio of Concert For George (now sold out) to be as close to George’s birthday as possible and it was due out yesterday. Unfortunately, we’ve had some delays, mainly related to the authoring of the disc, which is happening in the US. So the plan has gone awry and in truth it’s will probably be another three or four weeks before these will be ready to go out. Apologies to everyone who is waiting and I have emailed you all and there will be a further update in the coming weeks with more precise timings.
In the meantime here’s one of my favourite George songs, to cheer you down.
Orbital back in the UK top ten
Congratulations to Orbitaland London Records for the success of Orbital’s new album Optical Delusion. The band’s 10th studio album entered the UK chart at number six yesterday, their first top 10 album this century! Music Week report that it sold more than 6,000 copies and of course the SDE-exclusive blu-ray played its part because all the UK sales counted towards the chart. The production run was 1750 copies. These have mostly shipped now so if you have received yours I’d love to know what you think! Ten Years After will be the next in the SDE Surround Series to ship (release date is 17 March), closely followed by Concert For George, which falls slightly out of sequence due to the issue described above.
Who are The state51 Conspiracy?
Interesting news this week of course as Kate Bush announced that her label Fish People “are moving to The state51 Conspiracy” meaning that this company now have the rights to release all Kate’s albums for the world, with the exception of the first three (The Kick Inside, LIonheart and Never For Ever) which are US-only. Kate was, of course, signed to EMI but then ended up at Warner Music Group when that company bought EMI Assets for $765 Million in 2013. The glacial pace at which Kate records albums means that she has never released a new studio album while at Warners (her last, 50 Words For Snow was issued in late 2012) although the Before The Dawn live album and the 2018 reissue campaign was overseen by that label.
Most people are likely to never have heard of where she is moving, but state51 describe themselves as a “completely independent, one-stop music company” who “believe in the power of being different”. They were established in 1991 and are a ‘collective’ who are a record label but also ‘do’ music distribution, marketing and creative services.
They have a diverse list of artists on their roster, including Austin experimental music project Shit And Shine, and a Polish multi-instrumentalist called Waclaw Zimpel who practises “expert manipulation of urban-ritual electronics and loops” which are “anchored to a human perspective and folk-trance tradition”. Very interesting, but mainstream, they ain’t!
An acoustic version of Gabrille Papillion’s ‘Deep in the Earth’ (from the Keep The Fire album) filmed at state51
I actually have some personal experience of state51 because I was invited by a friend to what, if I recall correctly, was their Christmas party in 2017. It was in a complex of warehouse-type buildings in East London and it was fantastic. They had some weird and wonderful artists performing (including a man who sprang around the room making bird noises, whose name I forget) and there was all sorts of creative stuff happening, including T-shirt printing and the like. It felt as far from a traditional record company as you can imagine.
The main legacy for me of that night was seeing Canadian artist Gabrielle Papillion perform with her band. She was, maybe still is, signed to state51 in what I think was a licensing and distribution deal and I was blown away by her songs and the band’s performance. Her album Keep The Fire (from 2017) its utterly sublime and I still play it often. After seeing her at this showcase/Christmas party I saw the band a few more times in London before they headed back off to Canada.
The big question is how and why did Kate’s catalogue end up with state51? We don’t know right now but it’s a coup for them, but more importantly, I feel this is very good news for Kate Bush fans, because the non-corporate, creative environment may encourage her to have a more collaborative approach. Or to put it more simply, having hand-picked state51, Kate will surely enjoy working with her new team much more then the corporate behemoth that was forced upon her back in 2013. This could well mean the normally reticent Kate might suddenly be open to doing the kinds of things (expanded reissues, for example) that historically she has simply not been interested in. In fact, we know this to be the case since it has resulted in plans already in place to re-release Hounds Of Love.
Paul McCartney announces Red Rose Speedway half-speed master
We’ll get around to doing a Record Store Day round-up for 2023 very soon, but one thing that caught my attention was the not entirely surprising news that Paul McCartney is continuing with his half-speed mastered vinyl reissues with his 1973 album Red Rose Speedway. Credited to ‘Paul McCartney and Wings’ this was the fourth different Macca credit in a sequence of four albums – (‘Paul McCartney’, ‘Paul and LInda McCartney’, ‘Wings’ being the others).
The album was released on 30 April 1973 and so with Record Store Day being on 22 April this year, someone at MPL clearly decided it was close enough to the 50th anniversary, although of course if they’d left it one more week they’d have been only two days away, on Friday 28 April.
In theory, this RSD-only release should create stress for the Macca vinyl collector, but unless they are being pressed in tiny quantities I don’t foresee any availability issues. McCartney, RAM and Wild Life half-speeds were not exactly flying off the SDE shop’s shelves when we sold them a few years back. Possibly Macca vinyl reissue ennui.
With Band on the Run also released in December 1973 we should get another one of these this year, although Paul may opt to do something bigger for his best selling (and best?) album.
Of course the bigger question is when are we going to hear about the next Archive Collection reissue? RSD is traditionally a tease for a forthcoming campaign and McCartney fans are waiting for London Town and/or Back to the Egg reissues to ‘finish off’ the 1970s.
Red Rose Speedway is available at participating ‘bricks and mortar’ independent record shops on 22 April 2023.
Thanks for all your enthusiasm for the Bob DylanTime Out Of Mind blu-ray audio, which is #8 in the SDE Surround Series.
The pre-order window is about to close although we’ll extend it by a couple of days so that you have one last weekend to secure your copy of this item.
The Blu-ray Audio features an immersive Dolby Atmos Mix of Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix) and a hi-res stereo mix (96/24) of the same. Both versions are only available physically on this blu-ray, which is a global exclusive for SDE.
Don’t miss out! Place your pre-order by either heading off to the SDE shop using this link, or alternatively use the buy button (‘add to cart’) below. Remember this product is exclusive to SDE – we ship worldwide.
The Time Out Of Mind blu-ray audio is a collaboration between Sony Music and SDE and will be released on 28 April 2023. Your blu-ray will ship in a free collectors’ edition SDE Surround Series slipcase.
TECHNICAL NOTES: This blu-ray audio requires a blu-ray player. Decoding the Dolby Atmos mix requires a Dolby Atmos-certified soundbar or a Dolby Atmos-compatible AV Receiver/Amp. The Dolby Atmos mix will ‘fold down’ to 5.1 or stereo if a Dolby Atmos decoder is not detected.
EU SHIPPING NOTES: If you are ordering from the EU please be aware that that goods may be subject to import VAT when they arrive from the UK. The prices the SDE shop charge you do not include VAT
The 2022 Remix version of Not Dark Yet (stereo version)
The 2022 Remix version of Can’t Wait (stereo version)
Tracklisting
Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix)Bob Dylan/
Dolby Atmos and 96/24 Hi-res Stereo versions of Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix)
Love Sick
Dirt Road Blues
Standing in the Doorway
Million Miles
Tryin’ to Get to Heaven
‘Til I Fell in Love with You
Not Dark Yet
Cold Irons Bound
Make You Feel My Love
Can’t Wait
Highlands
The SDE Surround Series is an initiative where SDE partners with labels to bring you exclusive limited physical editions of albums in immersive audio, including Dolby Atmos, 5.1 and Quad Mixes. Titles so far have been:
Kate Bush’s 1985 album Hounds Of Love will be reissued on CD and vinyl later this year, it has been announced.
The album spawned the hit single ‘Running Up That Hill’ which reached number three back in 1985 and then hit number one in the UK last year thanks to its inclusion in Netflix’s Stranger Things. The album spawned three other top 40 UK singles in ‘Cloudbusting’, ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘The Big Sky’.
Side 2 is home to the conceptual The Ninth Wave which was performed live on stage in its entirety during Kate’s Hammersmith Odeon residency in 2014 and, from Kate’s back catalogue, only the 1986 hits compilation The Whole Story has sold more copies in the UK than Hounds Of Love.
Kate’s new Fish People label logo
Hounds Of Love remains the only Kate Bush studio album that has been expanded into any kind of ‘deluxe’ edition when in 1997 EMI issued a new CD edition as part of its Centenary celebrations with a modest six extra tracks.
This Hounds Of Love reissue news was actually a footnote in an announcement posted on Kate’s website about the fact that she is moving her albums from Warner Music Group to independent music company The state51 Conspiracy. Here’s the list of albums that are impacted:
The Dreaming Hounds of Love The Sensual World The Red Shoes Aerial Directors Cut 50 Words For Snow The Kick Inside (USA only) Lionheart (USA only) Never For Ever (USA only)
Kate also shows off new logos for her ‘Fish People’ label at the same time.
There is no detail about Hounds Of Love as yet. The exact wording is “We’ll be re-releasing the Hounds of Love album in special presentations of vinyl and CD later in the year. We’ll keep you posted”.
What would you like to see on a Hounds Of Love reissue? Leave a comment.
SIGNED by all five band members • 33CD+2DVD box set • 200-page book • Limited to 1750 units • Over 250 previously unreleased tracks • Pre-order via the SDE shop
Irish band Horslips, regarded as the ‘founding fathers of Celtic Rock’, see their 50th anniversary celebrated with More Than You Can Chew, a 35 disc box set that encapsulates their entire career.
The box set has been curated by Bert Jansch/John McLaughlin biographer (and SDE reader!) Colin Harper in close collaboration with the band members. More Than You Can Chew features 33 CDs and two DVDs and includes all the band’s studio albums from the original era (1972-1980), previously unreleased live tracks and rehearsals, reunion-era albums, RTE Sessions, selected post-Horslips adventures (solo albums etc.) and more!
The audio, including most of the film audio, has been restored and (re)mastered by IFTA award-winning engineer Cormac O’Kane. Horslips biographer Mark Cunningham has written the two books, with fresh input from the band, and, wearing his day-job designer hat, has lovingly designed the set under the oversight of Horslips’ de facto art director Charles O’Connor. The main hardcover book is almost 200 pages. SDE has an exclusive video preview of More Than You Can Chew which you can watch below.
More Than You Can Chew also includes two albums new to any digital medium: Tryal (1983) by the Host (a post-Horslips band featuring Eamon, Johnny and Charles) and Breaking Star Codes (1983) by Barry Devlin. Below is a bullet-point summary of the audio and video content:
• 13 CDs – all the original 1972–80 albums in mini-LP slipcases, in their original form and newly mastered
• 1 CD – Tracks from the Vaults Vol.2 – all of the single mixes and non-album tracks not included on the original TFTV (1977) compilation plus previously unreleased outtakes
• 8 CDs – previously unreleased live and rehearsal recordings 1973–80, including The Last Time – the final concert at the Ulster Hall 8/10/80 in full
• 3 CDs – reunion-era albums
• 3 CD – RTÉ Sessions 1971–12 – almost all previously unreleased
• 5 CDs – selected post-Horslips adventures: 1. Barry Devlin Breaking Star Codes (1983) – unreleased on CD; 2. The Host Tryal (1983) and non-album single sides (1983–85) – unreleased on CD; 3. Johnny Fean & Eamon Carr Live & Studio 1984–86 – a new self-curated anthology of previously unreleased solo, duo and Host recordings from the period; 4. Jim Lockhart Picking Up The Pieces – a new self-curated anthology of his TV/radio soundtrack music (1980s-00s) – almost all previously unreleased; 5. Charles O’Connor’s Resolution Suite Angel on the Mantelpiece (1995).
• DVD2 – The Reunion Era 2004-2019 – c.160 mins (95% previously unreleased material)
This was originally scheduled for late last year but will now be released, very appropriately, on 17 March 2023 which is of course St. Patrick’s Day.
Pre-order your copy of More Than You Can Chew from the SDE shop using this link or the buy button (‘add to cart’) below. If you are in EU please be aware of the shipping notes below.
EU SHIPPING NOTES: If you are ordering from the EU please be aware that that goods may be subject to import VAT when they arrive from the UK. The prices the SDE shop charge you do not include VAT
Tracklisting
DISC 1 Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part
1 Happy to Meet 00:49 2 Hall of Mirrors 05:31 3 The Clergy’s Lamentation 04:40 4 An Bratach Bán 02:03 5 The Shamrock Shore 04:36 6 Flower Amang them All 02:05 7 Bím Istigh Ag Ól 03:42 8 Furniture 05:12 9 Ace and Deuce 03:36 10 Dance to Yer Daddy 04:35 11 Scalloway Ripoff 01:55 12 The Musical Priest 04:34 13 Sorry to Part 01:33
DISC 2 The Táin
1 Setanta 01:53 2 Maeve’s Court 01:40 3 Charolais 04:03 4 The March 01:33 5 You Can’t Fool the Beast 03:40 6 Dearg Doom 03:05 7 Ferdia’s Song 02:44 8 Gae Bolga 01:12 9 Cu Chulainn’s Lament 03:01 10 Faster Than the Hound 05:37 11 Silver Spear 02:01 12 More Than You Can Chew 03:15 13 The Morrigan’s Dream 03:25 14 Time to Kill! 05:02
DISC 3 Dancehall Sweethearts
1 Nighttown Boy 05:05 2 The Blind Can’t Lead the Blind 05:19 3 Stars 05:02 4 We Bring the Summer with Us 02:32 5 Sunburst 04:38 6 Mad Pat 06:13 7 Blindman 03:31 8 King of the Fairies 03:29 9 Lonely Hearts 05:30 10 The Best Years of My Life 01:48
DISC 4 The Unfortunate Cup of Tea
1 (If That’s What You Want) That’s What You’ll Get 07:11 2 Ring-A-Rosey 04:36 3 Flirting in the Shadows 05:41 4 Self Defence 06:12 5 High Volume Love 05:33 6 The Unfortunate Cup of Tea 01:17 7 Turn Your Face to the Wall 06:28 8 The Snakes’ Farewell to the Emerald Isle 05:30 9 Everything Will Be Alright 05:20
DISC 5 Drive the Cold Winter Away
1 Rug Muire Mac Do Dhia (Mary Bore a Son to God) 01:53 2 Sir Festus Burke/ Carolan’s Frolic 03:41 3 The Snow That Melts the Soonest 04:28 4 The Piper in the Meadow Straying 02:36 5 Drive the Cold Winter Away 02:32 6 Thompson’s/ Cottage in the Grove 02:42 7 Ny Kirree Fo Naghtey (The Sheep ‘Neath the Snow) 02:22 8 Crabs in the Skillet 02:19 9 Denis O’Connor 02:49 10 Do’n Oiche Ud I Mbeithil (That Night in Bethlehem) 03:33 11 Lullaby 02:26 12 The Snow and the Frost Are All Over/Paddy Fahey’s 02:50 13 When a Man’s in Love 04:14
DISC 6 Horslips Live Disc One
1 Mad Pat 06:48 2 Blindman 03:14 3 Silver Spear 02:25 4 High Reel 02:55 5 Stars 04:34 6 Hall of Mirrors 06:44 7 If That’s What You Want 05:30 8 Self Defence 05:49 9 Everything Will Be Alright 03:30 10 Rakish Paddy 00:38
DISC 7 Horslips Live Disc Two
11 Rakish Paddy (Continued) 02:26 12 King of the Fairies 04:18 13 Furniture 15:15 14 You Can’t Fool the Beast 04:22 15 More Than You Can Chew 03:03 16 Dearg Doom 05:11 17 Comb Your Hair and Curl It 05:00 18 Johnny’s Wedding 05:11
DISC 8 The Book of Invasions: A Celtic Symphony
1 Daybreak 02:30 2 March Into Trouble 00:51 3 Trouble (With a Capital T) 03:24 4 The Power and the Glory 03:56 5 The Rocks Remain 02:48 6 Dusk 00:38 7 Sword of Light 04:55 8 Dark 01:37 9 Warm Sweet Breath of Love 03:27 10 Fantasia (My Lagan Love) 02:54 11 King of Morning, Queen of Day 04:34 12 Sideways to the Sun 04:46 13 Drive the Cold Winter Away 00:35 14 Ride to Hell 04:14
DISC 9 Aliens
1 Before the Storm 00:45 2 The Wrath of the Rain 02:53 3 Speed the Plough 03:31 4 Sure the Boy Was Green 04:39 5 Come Summer 03:24 6 Stowaway 03:34 7 New York Wakes 04:04 8 Exiles 03:12 9 Second Avenue 04:00 10 Ghosts 03:32 11 A Lifetime to Pay 04:06
DISC 10 The Man Who Built America
1 Loneliness 04:24 2 Tonight (You’re with Me) 03:23 3 I’ll Be Waiting 06:29 4 If It Takes All Night 03:35 5 Green Star Liner 03:26 6 The Man Who Built America 03:42 7 Homesick 04:02 8 Long Weekend 03:41 9 Letters from Home 04:19 10 Long Time Ago 03:35
DISC 11 Short Stories / Tall Tales
1 Guests of the Nation 03:31 2 Law on the Run 02:49 3 Unapproved Road 03:39 4 Ricochet Man 03:21 5 Back in My Arms 04:12 6 Summer’s Most Wanted Girl 03:29 7 Amazing Offer 03:13 8 Rescue Me 03:20 9 The Life You Save 03:58 10 Soap Opera 03:23
DISC 12 The Belfast Gigs
1 Trouble with a Capital “T” 03:49 2 The Man Who Built America 03:36 3 The Warm Sweet Breath of Love 03:44 4 The Power and the Glory 03:36 5 Blindman 03:26 6 Shakin’ All Over 05:25 7 King of the Fairies 04:06 8 Guests of the Nation 03:18 9 Dearg Doom 07:10
DISC 13 Tracks from the Vaults
1 Motorway Madness 03:15 2 Johnny’s Wedding 03:30 3 Flower Amang them All 02:29 4 Green Gravel 03:21 5 The Fairy King 03:55 6 Dearg Doom (Fritz Fryer Mix) 03:18 7 The High Reel 02:44 8 King of the Fairies 03:21 9 Phil the Fluter’s Rag 02:29 10 Come Back Beatles (Lipstick) 03:27 11 The Fab Four-Four (Lipstick) 02:49 12 Daybreak 03:20 13 Oisin’s Tune 02:30
DISC 14 Tracks from the Vaults Vol.2
1 Ace & Deuce 03:06 2 More than you Can Chew (45 remix) 03:10 3 Nighttown Boy (45 Edit) 03:11 4 (If That’s What You Want) That’s What You Get (45 Edit) 04:56 5 The Power and the Glory (45 remix) 04:01 6 Sir Festus Burke 02:17 7 Horslips Presents Horslips (an advance look into The Man Who Built America) 13:13 8 Bridge from Heart to Heart 02:50 9 Red River Rock (live) 01:48 10 Welcome to Ceili House 07:52 11 When Night Comes 03:01 12 Back in My Arms (Alternate Mix) 04:32 13 Unapproved Road (Alternate Mix) 03:43 14 Guests of the Nation (Alternate Mix) 03:21 15 Sword of Light (live) 05:49 16 Sure the Boy Was Green (live) 04:44 17 Sandymount Strand / Shilly Shaddle 02:31 18 One Final Ace & Deuce 02:40
DISC 15 Horslips Live 1973–75
1 Happy to Meet 01:46 2 Hall of Mirrors 08:25 3 Scalloway Ripoff 03:30 4 Dance to Your Daddy 04:34 5 Musical Priest 06:18 6 The Sweets of May 00:49 7 Sunburst 00:55 8 Mad Pat 02:41 9 The Blind Can’t Lead the Blind 00:34 10 Nothing to Say (A Lifetime to Pay) 02:12 11 More Than You Can Chew 03:49 12 Dearg Doom 03:51 13 Lonely Hearts 06:03 14 Furniture 10:40 15 The High Reel 02:38 16 Everything Will Be Alright / Rakish Paddy 03:45 17 You Can’t Fool the Beast 04:34 18 More Than You Can Chew 02:54 19 Dearg Doom 03:09
Disc 16 Horslips Live 1976
1 Hall of Mirrors 04:56 2 Daybreak 02:54 3 Drive the Cold Winter Away 01:05 4 Ride to Hell 03:50 5 Sideways to the Sun 04:43 6 Sword of Light 06:19 7 The Rights of Man 03:53 8 Dark 02:28 9 Furniture 12:43 10 Charolais 03:52 11 More Than You Can Chew 03:12 12 Silver Spear 02:42 13 King of the Fairies 04:16 14 Dearg Doom 04:52 15 The High Reel 02:48 16 Rakish Paddy / Johnny’s Wedding 05:22
DISC 17 Horslips Live 1977
1 New York Wakes 04:01 2 The Wrath of the Rain 02:58 3 Sideways to the Sun 04:09 4 Dearg Doom 07:04 5 Bim Istigh Ag’ol 05:57 6 New York Wakes 03:59 7 The Power and the Glory 03:38 8 The Rocks Remain 03:06 9 Mad Pat 06:38 10 Blindman 03:18 11 Daybreak 03:44 12 Drive the Cold Winter Away 01:48 13 Ride to Hell 03:08 14 Sideways to the Sun 03:46 15 Sword of Light 06:12 16 Dark 00:53 17 Sure the Boy was Green 04:32 18 Warm Sweet Breath of Love 04:00 19 Trouble (with a Capital T) 03:23
DISC 18 Book of Invasions & Aliens Rehearsals 1976–77
1 Aililú na Gamhna 01:54 2 Trouble (alt lyrics/melody) 03:11 3 Kilfenora (King of Morning) 03:58 4 Fantasia (My Lagan Love) 02:40 5 Trouble (acapella) 01:08 6 Mother of Pearl (The Rocks Remain) 02:46 7 Johnny’s Riff (The Power and the Glory) 01:09 8 Trouble 03:13 9 The Power and the Glory 01:47 10 Warm Sweet Breath of Love 03:07 11 The Power and the Glory 02:48 12 Tiocfaidh an Samhradh (Come Summer) 01:26 13 Seán Ó Dí 01:27 14 Mother of Pearl (The Rocks Remain) 01:37 15 Aililú na Gamhna 04:00 16 Come Summer 01:36 17 Crossroads 01:48 18 Highway 03:25 19 Crossroads / Fead an Iolair 01:48 20 Little Man 00:39 21 Come Summer 01:43 22 Second Avenue (harmonies) 00:36 23 Second Avenue 03:48 24 Come Summer (harmonies) 00:37 25 Sure the Boy Was Green (harmonies) 01:50 26 A Lifetime to Pay 03:49 27 Stowaway 03:04 28 Mailman 01:34 29 Páistín Fionn (Fair-haired Child) 01:28 30 Come Summer 02:13 31 Ghosts 02:11 32 Wrath of the Rain 02:47 33 Aililú na Gamhna / Highway 03:17
Disc 19 Horslips Live 1978
1 The Power and the Glory 04:30 2 Blindman 03:21 3 The Man Who Built America 04:22 4 Homesick 04:39 5 Tonight 03:50 6 Blitzkreig Bop 02:55 7 Second Avenue 03:45 8 New York Wakes 03:58 9 Speed the Plough 03:20 10 Loneliness 04:11 11 King of the Fairies 04:57 12 Dearg Doom 06:30 13 The Man Who Built America 02:02 14 Jam 00:28 15 If It Takes All Night 01:47 16 Law on the Run 01:20 17 It’ll Be Alright 02:35 18 Long Weekend (instrumental) 01:08 19 Letters from Home 03:00 20 I’ll Be Waiting 05:56 21 Long Time Ago (harmonies) 03:15 22 Long Time Ago 03:53 23 Long Weekend (instrumental) 03:25
Disc 20 Horslips Live 1979
1 The Man Who Built America 04:36 2 New York Wakes 03:45 3 Homesick 03:56 4 Culture Clash (When Irish Eyes are Smiling) 01:26 5 Wrath of the Rain 02:49 6 Daybreak 04:06 7 Drive the Cold Winter Away 01:28 8 Ride to Hell 03:15 9 Sideways to the Sun 03:54 10 Sword of Light 05:37 11 Dark 01:42 12 Speed the Plough 03:16 13 Sure the Boy was Green 04:40 14 Silver Spear 02:29 15 If it Takes All Night 03:27 16 Loneliness 04:13 17 Tonight 03:33 18 The High Reel 02:50 19 King of the Fairies 04:18 20 Shakin’ All Over 04:18 21 I Saw Her Standing There 02:01 22 The Hucklebuck 02:25
Disc 21 The Last Gig: Ulster Hall, 8/10/80
1 Guests of the Nation 03:38 2 Unapproved Road 03:08 3 Warm Sweet Breath of Love 03:46 4 Speed the Plough 03:04 5 Sure the Boy was Green 04:58 6 Summer’s Most Wanted Girl 03:49 7 Soap Opera 03:41 8 Trouble 03:36 9 Loneliness 04:20 10 King of the Fairies 04:57 11 The Power and the Glory 03:37 12 Blindman 03:31 12 The Man Who Built America 04:02 13 Amazing Offer 03:12 14 Ricochet 03:34 15 Shakin’ All Over 05:45 16 Dearg Doom 06:39
DISC 22 The Last Gig (encores) / Live 1980, 2004, 2011
1 Sword of Light 08:24 2 The Last Time 03:33 3 When Night Comes 03:10 4 Law on the Run 02:49 5 Wrath of the Rain 02:52 6 I’ll Be Waiting 08:00 7 Motorway Madness 03:35 8 RTÉ, 2012: Horslips recall the final gig 07:08 9 Flower Amang Them All 03:15 10 Furniture / The Musical Priest / The High Reel 07:49 11 Mad Pat 05:49 12 Trouble (with a Capital T) 05:04 13 Sword of Light 06:16 14 Mad Pat 06:56
DISC 23 Roll Back
1 Trouble (with a Capital T) 03:52 2 The Man Who Built America 04:13 3 Guests of the Nation 03:39 4 Faster Than the Hound 04:09 5 Huish the Cat 02:29 6 Mad Pat 04:10 7 The Wrath of the Rain 02:49 8 Flirting in the Shadows 03:43 9 Cúchulainn’s Lament 03:48 10 Ace and Deuce 02:05 11 Blindman 02:43 12 Furniture 03:21 13 The Power and the Glory 03:11 14 Long Weekend 04:07 15 My Love is in America 03:00
Disc 24 Live at the O2 Part One
1 King of the Fairies 05:04 2 The Power and the Glory 03:57 3 Mad Pat 05:45 4 Blindman 03:29 5 Wrath of the Rain 03:07 6 Furniture 11:06 7 The High Reel 03:50 8 Faster Than the Hound 04:01 9 The Piper in the Meadow Straying 02:08 10 Long Weekend 03:56 11 Rescue Me 03:33 12 Maeve’s Court 01:38 13 Charolais 04:39 14 Daybreak 02:30 15 Drive the Cold Winter Away 01:43 16 Ride to Hell 02:55 17 Sideways to the Sun 03:48 18 Sword of Light 06:10
Disc 25 Live at the 02 Part Two
1 Flirting in the Shadows 04:19 2 Ghosts 03:36 3 Speed the Plough 03:06 4 Sure the Boy Was Green 05:02 5 I’ll Be Waiting 08:19 6 The Man Who Built America 03:40 7 Trouble (with a Capital T) 04:00 8 Dearg Doom 05:17 9 Loneliness 04:21 10 Warm Sweet Breath of Love 03:37 11 Shakin’ All Over 06:23
Disc 26 In Session at RTÉ (1971)
1 Flower Amang Them All 02:27 2 Bonny at Morn 02:12 3 Ace and Deuce 04:21 4 Carolan’s Frolic 01:44 5 Passing Through 05:49 6 An Bratach Ban 01:54 7 Lay the Bent to the Bonny Brook 05:18 8 Buttered Peas (take 1) 01:27 9 The Snow it Melts the Soonest (take 1) 01:01 10 Traps 01:59 11 The Tern and the Swallow 03:24 12 Buttered Peas (take 2) 01:32 13 The Snow it Melts the Soonest (take 2) 03:41 14 Courtesan 04:40 15 Johnny’s Wedding 03:26 16 Clergy’s Lamentation 05:07
DISC 27 In Session at RTÉ 1972
1 Green Gravel 01:13 2 Charles interview 04:22 3 Knockeen-Free (Maeve’s Court) 01:58 4 Jim interview 04:33 5 Fairy King / Blody’r Drain 03:54 6 Eamon interview 05:42 7 Clergy’s Lamentation 05:23 8 Barry interview 03:05 9 An Bratach Bán 02:58 10 Barry interview 03:16 11 Scalloway Ripoff 03:27 12 Comb Your Hair and Curl It 04:52 13 Passing Through 05:38 14 Furniture 08:12 15 An Bratach Bán 02:59 16 Johnny’s Gone to France 02:58 17 Scalloway Ripoff 03:26
DISC 28 In Session at RTÉ 2004–12
1 The Man Who Built America 03:37 2 Furniture 03:14 3 Huish the Cat 01:57 4 Mad Pat 03:36 5 Trouble (with a Capital T) 03:41 6 Dearg Doom 02:18 7 Flower Amang Them All 02:06 8 Dearg Doom 03:49 9 Trouble (with a Capital T) 03:51 10 Furniture 06:17 11 Green Star Liner 02:15 12 Trouble (with a Capital T) 02:06 13 The Snow it Melts the Soonest 02:57 14 Sword of Light 03:22 15 The Man Who Built America 03:28 16 Furniture 02:59 17 Dearg Doom 02:22 18 Trouble (with a Capital T) 03:28 19 Horslips story mini-doc with Eamon, Jim, Barry 15:54
DISC 29 The Host – Tryal (1984) + singles
1 Witness Stand 2 First Kiss 3 Vows and Breezes 4 Safe World 5 Declaring War 6 Walk on Love 7 Unearthly Hours 8 Shadowy Figures 9 I Wanted You 10 Strange Disease 11 Dark Light and Air (Break a Spell) 12 The Long Walk 13 Excerpt from Love’s Dark Light (a Novel)
DISC 30 The Host: Live & Rare
1 Maud Gonne 03:07 2 Turn Back, My Love 04:07 3 At The Hawk’s Well 03:05 4 Overture 00:47 5 A Flame Forever Burning 03:58 6 The Hellhound Was My Name 04:29 7 Home Sweet Broken Home 02:57 8 Coconut Grove 02:45 9 Still I’m Sad 02:51 10 Chasing Dragons 03:02 11 William and the Lady 04:42 12 Kitty’s Rambles 02:23 13 The Hidden Curriculum 02:24 14 Dolly’s (The Hidden Curriculum Outtake) 02:05 15 The Hellhound Was My Name 03:25 16 The Trip, The King & The Creel 03:01 17 Circular Riff Jam 05:50 18 The Road To Lisdoonvarna 01:51 19 Don’t Give Up On Yourself 04:42 20 Pipeline / Johnny’s Tune 04:30 21 Maud Gonne 03:16
DISC 31 Barry Devlin – Breaking Star Codes
1 Twins (Gemini) 03:38 2 Who Can Tame the Lion? (Leo) 03:30 3 It’s the Cruellest Sign (Virgo) 03:23 4 Remember You’re a Winner (Aries) 03:53 5 When Two Stars Collide (Sagittarius) 04:15 6 Just Another Line (Pisces) 03:02 7 Let the Scales Decide (Libra) 03:38 8 December 21 (Capricorn) 03:21 9 The Stars Said (Taurus) 03:37 10 Remember a Star (Cancer) 02:55 11 Aquarian Girls (Aquarius) 03:37 12 Love with a Sting in its Tail (Scorpio) 02:46 13 When Summer Comes Around 02:19
DISC 32 Jim Lockhart: Uncollected Works
1 Cré na Cille (Graveyard Clay) 08:49 2 Errors & Omissions – End Credits 03:09 3 Errors & Omissions – Pastoral 01:53 4 Glenroe 03:02 5 Gods and Gallants 01:52 6 Great Book of Ireland – Immanence 01:36 7 Great Book of Ireland – Main Theme 02:28 8 Great Book of Ireland – The Dancing Pen 01:09 9 Interlude – Achill’s Hill 00:59 10 Interlude – Fife for Fifty 00:25 11 Interlude – Saltee Air 00:43 12 Interlude – Shaskin Way 00:41 13 Interlude – The Coolin 00:42 14 Intro – Clooncunny 00:45 15 Love Stories from Ireland 02:04 16 Lovers of the Lake – Main Theme 01:07 17 Lovers of the Lake – Penance Past 01:26 18 She Moved Through the Fair (Portastudio Demo) 03:49 19 Spring Cleaning 02:10 20 Sunday Sport 00:58 21 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 01:05 22 Thuas ag Gort a’ Charnáin (Above at Gortnacarnaun) 02:55
DISC 33 Charles O’Connor’s Resolution Suite
1 Ocean of Storms 0.16 2 Seachange 0.09 3 Comes a Calm 0.13 4 Bottom Buttons 0.16 5 In Your Own Time 0.14 6 Skinner’s Treat 0.12 7 Circles Round the Moon 0.11 8 Angel on the Mantelpiece 0.20 9 Basket of Bones 02:38 10 Chocolate Cats 03:35 11 The Grand Tour 03:05 12 When the Long Trek’s Over 02:15 13 Fiddlehead 01:52 14 Ocean of Storms 01:34
DISC 34 Dvd – THE RTE VAULT 1973-1979 01:59:26
THE MUSIC MAKERS: Horslips at The Stadium 28/5/73 29:13:00
1 Furniture 2 Johnny’s Wedding 3 It’s Never Too Late 4 Bi´m Istigh Ag O´l
On Stage at The Stadium, Part One, 13/12/75 28:00:00
1 Everything Will Be Alright 2 Rakish Paddy 3 King of The Fairies 4 Ny Kirree Fo Naghtey 5 The Piper in the Meadow Straying 6 Silver Spear 7 You Can’t Fool the Beast 8 More Than You Can Chew 9 Dearg Doom
On Stage at The Stadium, Part Two, 21/6/76 32:19:00
1 Mad Pat 2 Blindman 3 Furniture 4 Bi´m Istigh Ag O´l 5 Johnny’s Wedding
John Molloy’s Dublin, 16/7/76
1 The Snakes’ Farewell to the Emerald Isle 2 King of The Fairies 3 The Unfortunate Cup of Tea
Live at Cork Opera House, 8/11/79 43:52:00
1 Trouble (With a Capital ‘T’) 2 Amazing Offer 3 Ricochet Man 4 Summer’s Most Wanted Girl 5 The Man Who Built America 6 Guest of the Nation 7 Loneliness 8 Shakin’ All Over
P.M. Documentary, 9/11/78 17:02
1 Song clips and talk (in Irish) filmed during The Man Who Built America’s sessions at Advision Studios, London *
DISC 35 THE REUNION ERA: 2004-2019
Music from an Exhibition, 20/3/04 12:51
1 Flower Amang Them All 2 Furniture 3 The Musical Priest / The High Reel 4 Trouble (With a Capital ‘T’)
Late Late Show, 21/1/05 03:45
1 The Man Who Built America
Other Voices, 15/2/06 27:03:00
1 The Man Who Built America 2 Furniture 3 Rescue Me 4 Trouble (With a Capital ‘T’) 5 Dearg Doom 6 Shakin’ All Over
Ardán, 25/3/06 40:30:00
1 Trouble (With a Capital ‘T’) 2 Mad Pat 3 Ghosts 4 Furniture 5 Interview / I’ll Be Waiting 6 Flower Amang Them All 7 Dearg Doom 8 Shakin’ All Over
Miriam Meets…15/8/09 16:01
1 Trouble (With a Capital ‘T’) 2 Furniture 3 Dearg Doom 4 Flower Amang Them All
Live at Cropredy Festival, 13/8/11 03:40
1 Trouble (With a Capital ‘T’)
Tall Tales Book Launch Party, 29/10/13 04:28
1 The Snakes’ Farewell to the Emerald Isle
Fleadh TV, 17/8/19 23:35
1 Speed the Plough 2 Sword of Light 3 Dearg Doom 4 Sideways to the Sun 5 Trouble (With a Capital ‘T’)
In addition to the previously announced 50th anniversary box set, and the Live at Wembley 1974 formats, Pink Floyd will release a Super Audio CD (SACD version) of their 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon.
This is a hybrid SACD that uses the same audio (5.1 surround and stereo) as on the Analogue Productions SACD from 2021. But the packaging is very different as this Japanese edition utilises the popular seven-inch deluxe format which faithfully replicates the UK original LP design (with the posters/stickers) but comes with loads of extra ‘stuff’ as listed below.
The special Japanese SACD of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon
The ‘golden OBI’ used for the four-channel Quad Mix in Japan (note: there is no Quad Mix on the SACD).
1972 Pink Floyd In Japan Photo Book (48pages, Airport, Live, and Japan stay in 1972)
1972 Pink Floyd In Japan Tour Pamphlet (16 pages)
Ticket for 1972 tour in Japan (Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, March 6, 1972 )
Ticket for 1972 Tour in Japan (Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, March 7, 1972 )
1972 Tour in Japan Tour Poster (Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium)
The leaflet of the lyrics “The other side of the moon – works for all kinds of madmen -” distributed at the venue of 1972 tour in Japan
Flyer announcing the 1972 tour in Japan (Osaka: Festival Hall)
Promotional leaflet (handwritten by record company to promote “The other side of the moon”)
Commemorative sticker (round sticker for the campaign to promote the band’s visit to Japan at that time)
Commemorative single jacket (“Pink Floyd/Big 4”)
Commemorative single jacket (“Point Me at the Sky”)
Madness’ second album is issued as a 2CD set which includes bonus tracks and their Hammersmith Odeon show from 23 December 1980. 2005’s The Dangerman Sessions gets similar treatment and The Liberty Of Norton Folgate is also reissued as an expanded 2LP set (7 extra tracks) for an extra helping of Madness.
A deluxe edition of Sheena Easton’s 1981 EMI debut. It features seven bonus tracks, including B- sides and three previously-unreleased tracks including ‘Have You Heard The Rumour’.
In effect, there were, or are, two versions of Robert Palmer. There’s the Robert Palmer that’s fixed in the general public’s imagination as a result of 1985’s ‘Addicted To Love’, a hit single that was so big and so perfectly of its moment, that its success seemed to eradicate the memory of the smaller hits that Palmer had scored in the decade before it. Its Terence Donovan-directed video provided the world with its lasting image of Robert Palmer. Suave, as expensively suited and booted as the yuppie trader from whose BMW 3 Series ‘Addicted To Love’ could doubtless be heard blaring, surrounded by beautiful women: a purveyor of sophisticated mainstream pop, who somehow looked like he smelt of incredibly expensive aftershave. In truth, it was just a more refined and arty variation on an image that Palmer had been projecting for years – on the sleeves of the 1970s albums people tended to flick past in the record stores rather than buy, he usually seemed to be gazing, wryly amused, at an attractive lady with noticeably fewer clothes on than he had – but the ‘Addicted To Love’ video was so popular and so iconic that it locked it in the public’s mind forever.
That version of Robert Palmer is very much in evidence on the front of The Island Years: expensive suit, smouldering half-smile, discrete waft of Habit Rouge, another kiss and you’ll be mine. What lurks inside its 12” by 12” hardcover, however, is the other Robert Palmer, overshadowed by the memory of his biggest hit: an innovative, risk-taking artist too restless to stay in the same place for long.
Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley is the title track of Palmer’s 1974 debut album
His career began in earnest as the odd man out in rough-edged blues rockers Vinegar Joe, immortalised by the late Clive James as “a band who looked like an angry armpit”. Palmer, on the other hand, was short-haired, declined to wear denim and, in photos, frequently looked like a member of an entirely different band who’d wandered into shot by accident. Island’s Chris Blackwell was so keen to lure Palmer away from the band, he gave him a house in the Bahamas as an inducement to go solo, and clearly lavished money on his early albums: his 1974 solo debut Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley was, at the time, the most expensive album Island had made. The spending couldn’t buy Palmer a hit, but the artistic results are pretty stunning. On Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley, his voice roars confidently over tough New Orleans funk provided by The Meters – the recasting of Little Feat’s rootsy ‘Sailin’ Shoes’ in that style is inspired – the songs segueing thrillingly into each other. 1975’s Pressure Drop is more sumptuous-sounding and expansive: Barry White collaborator Gene Page’s orchestrations are stunning; Palmer’s own songwriting is clearly developing at pace – this time, the highlight isn’t a cover, but the self-penned ‘Give Me An Inch’ – and, alongside tracks that could have fitted on his debut, there are diversions into slick soul and reggae. What’s striking about the latter is Palmer’s evident feel for Jamaican rhythms: the cover of Toots And The Maytals’ ‘Pressure Drop’ seems natural rather than a novelty.
It seems almost incomprehensible that ‘Every Kinda People’ wasn’t a hugely successful single, but it wasn’t. A minor hit in the US, it stalled outside the British Top 40
Alexis Petridis
1976’s Some People Can Do What They Like was slicker still and might be the least distinguished album here: there’s nothing wrong with it– Palmer’s self-penned title track is great, the cover of the old calypso song ‘Man Smart Woman Smarter’ is both fun and further evidence of the ease with which Palmer could meld different musical styles into his own – but there’s a sense that everything it does had already been done on his previous two albums, beyond a brief and bizarre banjo instrumental. Its follow-up, Double Fun, is a distinct improvement. Co-produced by disco legend Tom Moulton, the man who’d invented the 12-inch remix, it feels tighter, fresher, more unified, even as its sound shifts from reggae to low-temperature disco to – a first for Palmer – straightforward rock on closer You’re Gonna Get What’s Coming. Written by former Free bassist Andy Fraser, opener ‘Every Kinda People’ is glorious, its steel drum-flecked sound and Palmer’s breezy vocal a guaranteed musical anti-depressant. It seems almost incomprehensible it wasn’t a hugely successful single, but it wasn’t. A minor hit in the US, it stalled outside the British Top 40: Double Fun didn’t make the UK charts at all.
It isn’t clear if that’s what spurred the shift on its follow-up, Secrets, which took ‘You’re Gonna Get What’s Coming’ as its starting point. Perhaps its move to a rockier, more guitar-heavy sound was just Robert Palmer being Robert Palmer: a man who’d already covered funk, reggae, Philly soul, calypso and Americana was clearly possessed of eclectic tastes. Or perhaps it had something to do with Palmer relocating operations to Compass Point, the recently-opened studio near his Nassau home, where its house band were in the process of conjuring up a new sound for the 80s at Chris Blackwell’s behest. The Compass Point All-Stars didn’t appear on Secrets, but the taut feel of opener ‘Bad Case Of Loving You (Doctor Doctor)’ bore a similar, distinctly new wave tone to their hybrid style. It was a feel that ran throughout the album – simultaneously tying together and refreshing the excursions into soul, calypso and reggae – and which Palmer took a stage further on 1980’s Clues, arguably his masterpiece. It was home to the flatly incredible ‘Johnny And Mary’, a tense, spare, cyclical song that does a vast amount with four lines of indelible melody.
Collaborating with Gary Numan sounded like the most natural thing in the world, not a sudden diversion from an artist who’d first come to prominence hawking blues-rock around the student unions of the early 70s
Alexis Petridis
It found him not just collaborating with Gary Numan on ‘Found You Now’ and a cover of Numan’s own ‘I Dream Of Wires’, but making collaborating with Gary Numan sound like the most natural thing in the world, not a sudden diversion from an artist who’d first come to prominence hawking blues-rock around the student unions of the early 70s. If you wanted confirmation of Palmer’s shapeshifting abilities – fuelled by open-mindedness and an evident desire to experiment – then here it was, underlined by 1981’s Maybe It’s Live. On one side, Palmer ran through his best-known 70s songs onstage at London’s Dominion Theatre. By contrast, Side 2 pinpointed where he was now: another fantastic Numan collaboration, ‘Style Kills’, avant-garde Zappa/Bowie/King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew screaming his way through the relentless ‘Si Chatouillieux’ and ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’, his biggest British single to date, its success presumably more to do with its nailed-on chorus than its deeply weird verses, which Palmer delivered in a succession of grunts, growls, under the influence, he claimed, of German electro-punk duo Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft.
The “flatly incredible” ‘Johnny and Mary’ (from Clues)
1983’s Pride is just as good: you listen to the African-inspired rhythms of the beautiful ballad ‘Want You More’, or to ‘The Silver Gun’ – Bollywood strings, electronic rhythm, vocals in Urdu – and wonder why Palmer’s name isn’t mentioned more often in the same breath as that of Peter Gabriel or David Byrne as an exemplar of forward-thinking, experimental pop. The answer lies in 1986’s Riptide: home to ‘Addicted To Love’ and its similarly huge follow-up, ‘I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On’. It’s easy to view it as a lunge for mainstream success, perhaps influenced by Palmer’s brief period fronting Duran Duran side-project/supergroup The Power Station, but it’s a more complicated album than that: for one thing, the exercises in straightahead 80s pop-rock are uniformly well-done – it might be overfamiliar, but ‘Addicted To Love’ is a fantastic song; ‘I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On’ a really original reading of a song originally recorded by r’n’b star Cherrelle – and for another, they’re interspersed with stuff that feels more of a piece with the stranger albums that preceded it: the opening title track and ‘Get It Through Your Heart’ sound more like 40s showtunes than something fit for MTV, the cover of ‘Trick Bag’ effectively an update of the sound of Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley.
The Island Record Years leaves Palmer’s story there. It’s nicely-packaged – the accompanying 12”x12” booklet is visually well-designed and the sleeve notes by Daryl Easlea are excellent – without necessarily being the last word on that era of Palmer’s career. Its contents essentially compile earlier expanded reissues of his albums, with the same scattering of additional tracks: a completist might be disappointed that there’s no sign of, say, ‘Love Can Run Faster’, the fabulous 1979 single he recorded two years previously with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, let alone the other unreleased tracks he’s supposed to have taped at Perry’s legendary Black Ark Studios.
The Island Records Years 1974-1985 is a 9CD deluxe set
Still, the music that’s actually here is hard to fault. In bassist Guy Pratt’s fabulously entertaining memoir My Bass And Other Animals, there’s an entire chapter devoted to Robert Palmer, a “total dude”. Amid the examples of Palmer’s dedication to living life at full-throttle (he apparently enjoyed breakfasting on a Martini with an espresso chaser) there’s an intriguing attempt to make sense of his oeuvre, via a Palmer quote about his love of Italy: “they compare themselves to nobody,” he enthused, “whether it’s making a pair of shoes or a bloody mary. They just do their best.”
That, Pratt suggests, is what Palmer was like: headstrong, intent on doing what he wanted, when he wanted, with whoever he wanted. Listening to the music on The Island Record Years, it’s hard not think Pratt might have a point.
Review by Alexis Petridis. The Island Record Years 8CD box set is out now.
To mark their 60th anniversary The Kinks have collected tracks in a themed compilation called The Journey: Part 1.
The songs included are supposed to “reflect the trials and tribulations of their journey through life together as a band since 1963” and are split into four sections. These tracks included hits, key album tracks, band favourites and B-sides.
The Journey: Part 1 on 2LP vinyl (click image to enlarge)
The Journey: Part 1 is available as a 30-track 2LP vinyl set (with each side one of the four themes) or as a 36-track 2CD edition, with two themes per CD. These are of course the original band recordings and these have been “remastered from the original sources”.
Both formats are widely available but if you pre-order from The Kinks official store then you get an exclusve double-sided poster with the vinyl and three art cards with the 2CD set.
The Journey Part 1 will be released on 24 March 2023.
Universal Music will reissue nine Gary Moore albums on the Japanese SHM-CD format in April.
The seven studio albums – starting with 1982’s Corridors of Power and ending with 1992’s After Hours – were all issued on Virgin at the time and there are also two live albums: Rockin’ Every Night: Live in Japan (1983) and We Want Moore! (1984).
These limited edition CD reissues are Japanese CDs and come in the ‘vinyl replica’ / mini-LP CD / Paper Sleeve format which replicate original finishes and artwork and all come with OBI-strips.
The ‘paper sleeve’ CDs include OBI-strips and replicate original vinyl packaging (click image to enlarge)
These appear to be using the 2002 remasters and all CDs come with bonus tracks (see full tracklisting, below). . The good news is that Universal must have imported these since they are available on Amazon in the UK and other channels for a relatively cheap price (around the £20 mark).
These will be released on 5 May 2023, via UMR/EMI.
I was pleased to have the opportunity to discuss the forthcoming Bob DylanTime Out Of Mind Blu-ray Audio with Craig Danuloff of Dylan.FM.
In this podcast we discuss how the project came about, the SDE Surround Series in general and the different ways of enjoying Dolby Atmos. Craig also plays some clips from his discussion with Michael Brauer who created both the Atmos and stereo mix of the album. Have a listen to the podcast via this link and let me know what you think!
The Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix) SDE-exclusive Blu-ray Audio will be released on 28 April 2023 and is a collaboration between SDE and Sony Music. This limited edition is only available to pre-order for 10 more days.
Do not miss out on this spatial audio mix of this classic album and secure your pre-order now by ordering at theSDEshop, either directly via this link or using the special SDE shop buy button (‘add to cart’) below. We ship worldwide (the tracked service to USA is £8, for example).
Lloyd Cole’s forthcoming album On Pain is now available to pre-order.
Cole’s 12th studio long-player features eight new songs, four of which are co-written by Commotions founding members Blair Cowan and Neil Clark, who also perform on the record.
The album was produced by Chris Merrick Hughes, who produced Tears For Fears‘ classic 1985 album Songs From The Big Chair. On Pain was recorded in Cole’s Massachusetts’ attic studio The Establishment.
Lloyd Cole’s On Pain will be reissued on black vinyl and CD (click image to enlarge)
Speaking of the record, Lloyd says: “I’m excited to still be finding new methods, new perpectives, new sounds. The album may be nearing commercial death, but my career has been in that state for almost 30 years and here we are, still, and I still want to make albums. I still want to be heard”.
The album is available on black vinyl and CD. There appears to be no special formats or limited editions, although next month we are promised a ‘digital EP’ of mixes of the album closer ‘Wolves’. Back in December last year, LC Patreon subscribers enjoyed a sneak listen to an early version of ‘The Idiot’ which was excellent and continues the electronic vibe from 2019’s Guesswork.
On Pain will be released on 23 June 2023 via earMUSIC. One presumes the reissue of Cole’s 2003 album Music In A Foreign Language (which is confirmed) will be pushed back to later this year. In other news, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions second album, Easy Pieces is reissued on vinyl in April.
A new Ace of Base CD singles box set will be released in March.
Beautiful Life: The Singles features 26 CDs featuring a phenomenal 341 tracks including hits such as ‘All That She Wants’ [UK # 1, US # 2], ‘The Sign’ [UK #2, US # 1], ‘Don’t Turn Around’ [UK # 5, US # 4], ‘Life Is A Flower’ [UK # 5], ‘Cruel Summer’ [UK # 5, US # 10] and many more.
Beautiful Life: The Singles is a 26CD singles box set (click image to enlarge)
Each CD features hits, B-sides and masses of remixes. In fact there are around 50 previously unreleased mixes in this set which comes with a 44-page booklet of lyrics, discography, photos and band history.
Beautiful Life: The Singles will be released on 28 April 2023 (was 31 March) via Demon Music.
Robert Palmer/The Island Records Years 1974-1985CD
Robert Palmer’s nine albums for Island Records have been newly remastered and collected in The Island Records Years 1974-1985. Palmer never quite shook off his ladies man image (imprinted on many people’s minds thanks to the Addicted to Love video) but if you haven’t explored his 70s output (and indeed his early 80s diversion into new wave) you’ll find there’s much to enjoy.
Anyone who has been lucky enough to secure a copy of the SDE-exclusive Blu-ray of Orbital’sOptical Delusion (now sold out) should consider themselves very lucky, since as you will soon discover, this is an amazing album. The next best thing is probably to pick up the ‘bonus tracks’ CD edition on Amazon (all three bonus tracks are on the blu-ray in Dolby Atmos and Stereo!) or the 2LP white vinyl.
The always-good Ron Sexsmith issues his 17th studio album. Ron: “The Vivian Line is a rural route right near where we live in Stratford (Ontario). Whenever we have to get out of the city we jump on The Vivian Line and it dumps us out onto the highway. I wondered about the name when we first moved there and thought it was intriguing… it sort of represents escaping from our old life in Toronto to this new phase we’re in. And it’s also like a portal to my old life when I have to get back there. I recorded it with Brad Jones in Nashville and it’s a very lush sounding almost baroque pop record. The songs were mostly inspired by this stage in life that I find myself in and trying to figure it all out”.
Mötley Crüe / The Studio Albums 1981-1989 (5LP vinyl box)
Five Mötley Crüe albums on coloured/splatter vinyl. They are: Too Fast for Love, Shout at the Devil, Theatre of Pain, Girls, Girls, Girls and Dr. Feelgood. There’s a CD version too!
Nine Britney Spears albums will be reissued on coloured vinyl in April. These are all the studio albums from 1999’s …Baby, One More Time to 2013’s Britney Jean plus the Greatest Hits:My Prerogative best of as a 2LP set.
It’s worth pointing out that many of the later albums have never been issued on vinyl at all, outside the USA, including Blackout, Circus, Femme Fatale and Britney Jean so this isn’t really a case of yet-another-pointless-vinyl-ressiue. The different colours are listed below.
Blackout is one of many Britney Spears albums that has never been issued on vinyl in the UK
Britney Spears coloured vinyl
…Baby One More Time (1999) – Pink LP
Oops!… I Did It Again (2000) – Neon Violet LP
Britney (2001) – Yellow LP
Blackout (2007) – Orange LP
In the Zone (2003) – Blue LP
Circus (2008) – Red LP
Britney Jean (2013) – Blue Marble LP
Femme Fatale (2011) – Light Grey Marble LP
Greatest Hits: My Perogative (2004) – Pale Yellow 2LP
These are being issued in batches, almost in chronlogical order. …Baby One More Time, Oops!… I Did It Again and Britney are released on 31 March, Blackout, In The Zone and Circus are issued on 28 April and Britney Jean, FemmeFatale and Greatest Hits: My Prerogative are all out on 26 May 2023, via Sony Music. These are all described as “limited” by the label. In America, these pressings are all BLACK vinyl, probably because a few years ago they had their own coloured vinyl reissue campaign.
SDE-exclusive Blu-ray Audio with Dolby Atmos Mix (quick buy link)
In collaboration with Sony Music, SDE is pleased to announce an exclusive physical release of the Dolby Atmos Mix of Bob Dylan’s acclaimed 1997 album Time Out Of Mind.
Dylan’s “mid-career masterpiece” turned 25 last year and amongst its 11 tracks are songs like ‘Love Sick’, ‘Cold Irons Bound’, ‘Can’t Wait’, ‘Not Dark Yet’ which became concert staples and fan favourites. One composition, ‘Make You Feel My Love’, found a place in the Great American Songbook, having been covered by artists such as Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Neil Diamond, and Adele. Time Out Of Mind won three Grammys in 1998 including the coveted Album of the Year award. The Irish Times even ranked the album as Dylan’s best, in 2021!
Time Out Of Mind has recently been remixed and reissued on CD and vinyl as Fragments: Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997), Vol. 17 in Dylan’s long-running Bootleg Series. All formats feature the 2022 Remix of Time Out Of Mind by Michael Brauer, whose work on the Dylan catalog goes back two decades. The remix offers somewhat cleaner Dylan vocals (original producer Daniel Lanois had layered various effects on them), while still staying true to the signature sound of Time Out of Mind.
With Fernando Reyes, Brauer also created the Dolby Atmos Mix of the 2022 Remix – the first ever Atmos Mix for Dylan – for a full spatial audio immersive experience. Until now, has only been available on streaming. That changes in April with the release of this special limited edition Blu-ray audio version of Time Out Of Mind which is an SDE global exclusive and is therefore only available via theSDEshop.
Two audio streams will be available on this disc:
Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix) – Dolby Atmos mix
Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix) – 96/24 hi-res stereo
The 2022 Remix version of Not Dark Yet (stereo version)
This Bob Dylan Blu-ray Audio (another first) is #8 in the ongoing SDE Surround Series and will be packaged similarly to previous editions and ships with a free, collectible SDE Surround Series slipcase.
Here’s the now traditional reminder as to why this product 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 Atmos Mix on the Blu-ray is not compressed due to streaming bandwidth restrictions
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 leads to similar collaborations with labels/artists and we are keen to bring your more in the near future!
Be aware, this is a limited edition product. It will be available for 14 days only. The pre-order opportunity will close on 24 February. Do not miss out on this spatial audio mix of this classic album and secure your pre-order now by ordering at theSDEshop, either directly via this link or using the special SDE shop buy button (‘add to cart’) below. We ship worldwide (the tracked service to USA is £8, for example).
The Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix) SDE-exclusive Blu-ray Audio will be released on 12 May 2023 (was 28 April) and is a collaboration between SDE and Sony Music.
Customer reviews for previous releases in the SDE Surround Series
“Quite amazing”, “Hauntingly beautiful” – Brian Eno’s FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE
“Absolutely sublime” – xPropaganda’s The Heart Is Strange
“The best way to hear this album” – Shakespears Sister’s Hormonally Yours
“Outstanding. Totally immersive” – Tears For Fears’ The Tipping Point
TECHNICAL NOTES: This blu-ray audio requires a blu-ray player. Decoding the Dolby Atmos mix requires a Dolby Atmos-certified soundbar or a Dolby Atmos-compatible AV Receiver/Amp. The Dolby Atmos mix will ‘fold down’ to 5.1 or stereo if a Dolby Atmos decoder is not detected.
EU SHIPPING NOTES: If you are ordering from the EU please be aware that that goods may be subject to import VAT when they arrive from the UK. The prices the SDE shop charge you do not include VAT
The 2022 Remix version of Can’t Wait (stereo version)
The Time Out Of Mind Blu-ray Audio is exclusive to SDE (click image to enlarge)
Tracklisting
Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix)Bob Dylan/
Dolby Atmos and 96/24 Hi-res Stereo versions of Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix)
Depeche Mode’s new album Memento Mori will be issued in March and is available to pre-order across a number of physical formats. It is Depeche Mode’s 15th studio album and its first as a two-piece lineup of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, following co-founder Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher’s passing in 2022.
The first single is ‘Ghosts Again’, which you can preview above and the album itself will be available on CD, deluxe CD and black and coloured vinyl variants. The deluxe CD edition does not offer any bonus tracks and contains the same 12-track album as the other formats. The vinyl comes in a tri-fold jacket and includes a 12″ x 24″ poster. There are various coloured vinyl exclusives
Memento Mori will be issued on 24 March 2023 via Sony Music.
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Memento Mori - Amazon exclusive crystal clear 2LP vinyl
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