In theory, the posthumous care and handling of an esteemed discography with the deep potential for archival excavation like Prince's would be an easy if daunting task. When the pop icon died unexpectedly in 2016 with no will and considerable assets to settle, the art of memorializing him through reissues moved with almost shocking precision: solid expansions of several of his best-loved '80s albums, a handful of notable archival one-offs, and the reinstatement of his digital and physical
The Weekend Stream: November 29, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. Our Black Friday bonanza offers the return of Let's Active, a new Stranger Things mini-mixtape, an unlikely team-up between two recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and one Record Store Day title that dropped yesterday. Plus, a tribute to a Minneapolis legend who was always on Time. Let's Active, Afoot / Cypress / Big Plans for
The Second Disc's Guide to Record Store Day Black Friday 2025
From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you've enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of beloved family and friends. (And with plenty of delicious food, too!) Now, Record Store Day's annual Black Friday event is upon us, so we're spotlighting a dozen of the most eagerly anticipated releases arriving to your local independent brick-and-mortar record shop! Here are our personal picks for RSD BF must-haves; visit Record Store Day's official website for a list of
Release Round-Up: Week of November 28
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! With Record Store Day's Black Friday event taking place today, the slate is usually a small one...not so this year, though, thanks to Rhino's CD releases of numerous RSD titles. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Neil Young, Tonight's the Night 50 (Reprise/NYA) 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Greedy Hand Store 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Greedy Hand Store Clear Vinyl: Greedy Hand
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Beatles, "Anthology Collection"
1995: Bill Clinton was President of the U.S., John Major was Prime Minister of the U.K., phones weren't yet smart, Braveheart won Best Picture, the O.J. trial was on everyone's mind, Jerry Garcia died, and the biggest songs of the year were Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" (U.S.) and Robson and Jerome's "Unchained Melody/White Cliffs of Dover" (U.K.). In November, the band that changed pop music forever launched its first major archival project at a time when such vault deep dives weren't yet (so)
A Second Disc Interview: Let's Revisit Let's Active with Mitch Easter
"Making records is a really good idea," Mitch Easter says, partway through a chat with The Second Disc. He's, of course, absolutely correct, and he would know. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina native founded the seminal Drive-In Studio in 1980, collaborating as a producer and engineer with a host of notable alternative rock acts including R.E.M., Game Theory, Pylon and others; since 2000, he's run Fidelitorium Recordings in nearby Kernersville. But Easter is more than a whiz behind the
In Memoriam: Jimmy Cliff (1944-2025)
Before The Rocky Horror Picture Show, there was The Harder They Come. Director Perry Henzell's film inspired by the life of Jamaican outlaw Ivanhoe "Rygin" Martin, starring Jimmy Cliff in the title role, failed to make a splash at the box office upon its initial U.S. release in early 1973. But canny exhibitors realized its similarity to Blaxploitation films such as Shaft and Superfly, and it quickly became a mainstay of midnight movies. The New York Times noted that it ran for 26 weeks at a
The Weekend Stream: November 22, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. A real grab bag for you before the Thanksgiving holiday: cut songs from Broadway comedies, rarities from a '60s soul/rock legend, an inexplicably remastered charity single, rare 12" mixes and remastered jazz. Have a listen, won't you?? Various Artists, Monty Python's Spamalot (Original Broadway Cast Recording/20th Anniversary
Release Round-Up: Week of November 21
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Beatles, Anthology Collection (Capitol/Apple/UMe) 8CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store 12LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store The Beatles' Anthology Collection premieres remastered editions of the original three collections of rarities and outtakes compiled by George
Mardi Gras Day: Omnivore Celebrates Dr. John with "Live at The Village Gate"
The Doctor is in! Today, November 20, would have been Dr. John's 84th birthday. While The Night Tripper, a.k.a. Mac Rebennack, himself passed away in 2019 at the age of 77, his musical legacy lives on - and Omnivore Recordings is celebrating in high style. Tomorrow, the label will premiere Live at the Village Gate, a previously unreleased concert, in 2CD and digital formats. Live at The Village Gate captures the singer-songwriter-pianist in his element at one of his favorite venues, New
Sign Your Name: Sananda Maitreya's Early Works Due for Vinyl Box Set
What's in a name? The world didn't know Sananda Maitreya as such in the '80s and '90s, but his arresting early works will finally be remastered and reissued on vinyl next year under the moniker he is now known by. Juvenilia: The Columbia Years, available February 6, offers on six LPs the four albums Maitreya released in the U.S. and the U.K. under the name Terence Trent D'Arby: Introducing the Hardline According to... (1987), Neither Fish Nor Flesh: A Soundtrack of Love, Faith, Hope and
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Split Enz, 'Encyclopedia Volumes 1 & 2'
It's kind of a minor miracle that Enzyclopedia Volumes 1 & 2 (Chrysalis CRC/CRV1899) - the first in what we hope is an ongoing reissue campaign for Antipodean rock icons Split Enz - exists at all. Their catalogue is probably a tough sell if you live outside of Australia or New Zealand (none of their discography is consistently available worldwide), and their best-known work, where they became a razor-sharp, New Wave-adjacent ensemble, doesn't come until years after what's covered in this
The Weekend Stream: November 15, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. We got comebacks aplenty: new songs from Squeeze and Robyn, old favorites from Art in America, Jim Reeves and Outkast; a whole ton of jazz and a toast to an unsung hero of the early rock and roll years. Squeeze, "Trixies, Pt. 1" (Love/BMG) (Apple / Amazon) As speculated last week, Squeeze have a new album coming through BMG! Trixies,
Release Round-Up: Week of November 14
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Nicolette Larson, Look in My Direction: The Warner Bros. Recordings (Cherry Red/Lemon/Second Disc) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red) Look in My Direction: The Warner Bros. Recordings from Cherry Red's Lemon imprint and TSD presents all of the late Nicolette Larson's original studio and live albums for Warner
OUT TOMORROW! The Second Disc, Lemon Collect Nicolette Larson's Warner Bros. Albums on "Look In My Direction"
On the evenings of February 21 and 22, 1998, a host of musicians took the stage of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium to pay tribute to one of their own. Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Bonnie Raitt, and Crosby, Stills and Nash were just a few of the artists who paid their respects in song to the late Nicolette Larson. The luminous singer with the honeyed voice had unexpectedly died just a couple of months earlier at the far too young age of 45. In the decades since
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Monkees, "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd." [Super Deluxe Edition]
Next year marks the 60th anniversary of The Monkees, an occasion soon to be commemorated by last Monkee standing Micky Dolenz with a new tour. The group's home of Rhino Records has started the party early with the recent release of the latest (and last?) of the label's series of lavish album reissues. 1967's Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. has been expanded as a comprehensive 4CD/1-7" box set by producer/annotator Andrew Sandoval, and as usual, the result is manna for longtime
Sweet and Lovely: Bill Evans' Trio Explorations Revisited in New Set from Craft
Craft Recordings is revisiting a halcyon period of The Bill Evans Trio. Due on November 21, Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Recordings collects the complete studio recordings by the Bill Evans Trio lineup of Evans (1929-1980), bassist Scott LaFaro (1936-1961), and drummer Paul Motian (1931-2011). The 3CD or 5LP set presents the complete albums Portrait in Jazz (1960) and Explorations (1961) plus 26 alternate takes - a full 17 of which are previously unreleased. Evans, a pioneer in the
Do You Realize?? These Rhino RSD Titles Are Also Coming Soon to CD
Rhino's Record Store Day Black Friday schedule is packed with some 35 titles available as limited edition vinyl releases. But CD lovers take heart: six of these titles - most featuring previously unreleased material - will be available the same day on our favorite portable physical format! Here's a look at each title, alphabetically by artist. Recent years have seen Rhino acquire distribution rights to beloved British ska outfit The Beat (known in America as The English Beat),
Holiday Gift Guide Review: John Williams, 'The Anthology Vol. 1 (1969-1990)'
Let's look at the numbers: John Williams has been on this mortal plane for 93 years, and has been composing for visual media for 73 of those years. Compact discs have been a part of music lovers' collections for at least four decades, and the "art" of John Williams on CD - a real, curatorial approach to his iconic film scores - began in earnest more than 30 years ago, when the 4CD box set Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology hit record stores in 1993. From basic compilations
Better Off Dancing: Real Gone Reissues The Donnas' 'Bitchin'' on a 2-LP Set with Bonus Tracks
Since 2020, Real Gone has been reissuing albums from The Donnas catalog. On Friday, the label revisited the group's final studio album, 2007's Bitchin', in an expanded 2-LP edition. The band formed in California in 1993. Brett Anderson (lead vocals), Allison Robertson (guitar, backing vocals), Maya Ford (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Torry Castellano (drums, percussion, backing vocals) met when they were in the eighth grade. The self-taught musicians formed a band to perform at a
The Weekend Stream: November 8, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. It's a positively packed line-up today: pop icons old and new, unique stage experiences and two different trips to the land of Oz - plus a really cool recording summit opportunity for New Yorkers and a trio of tributes to some deceased musical heroes. Madonna, Confessions on a Dance Floor (Twenty Years Edition) (Warner/Rhino) (Apple /
Got to Choose: Weeks After Expanding 'Dressed to Kill,' KISS' 'Alive!' Gets Its Own Deluxe Box
Only a few weeks after unveiling a deluxe box set of their third studio album Dressed to Kill - which featured, in part, overdub-free versions of shows utilized for their breakthrough concert album Alive! - KISS have revealed that they will, in fact, release a whole box set for Alive! as well, confirming previous rumors and reports. Available on four CDs or eight LPs and a Blu-ray Audio disc, Alive! features the original double album (here for the first time pressed on one CD) along with two
Feel the Heat: Supergroup The Power Station Goes Deluxe on New Box Set
Fans of Duran Duran and supergroups will multiply for this one: Rhino is expanding the self-titled debut from The Power Station into a 4CD box set next year. The Power Station DLX includes the remastered album (featuring the hits "Some Like It Hot" and a cover of T. Rex's "Get It On (Bang a Gong)") alongside three discs of bonus material, including unreleased "raw instrumental" versions, single mixes and live material, including the band's performances from the charity concert Live Aid and an
Release Round-Up: Week of November 7
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Wings, Wings [Various Formats] (MPL/Capitol/UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada On November 4, Paul McCartney released Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, an oral
Soundtrack Watch: La-La Land Gets a 'Clue' and a 'Ladder,' Intrada Turns the 'Tide,' and Re-Recordings Galore
As film score fans edge ever closer to the inevitably killer archival score reissues typically made available around the holiday shopping season, a host of great soundtrack re-releases are already newly available from some of our favorite specialty labels, including some must-hear, classic re-recordings. La-La Land Records takes a brief break from Bond to make available two seasonally appropriate scores. First up is Maurice Jarre's score to the haunting cult classic Jacob's Ladder, a
