“Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” – Parcelforce fees
Japanese music releases have always had a great appeal to collectors. There are many reasons for this, including the historical practise of adding ‘Japan-only’ bonus tracks, the sheer coolness of the OBI-strip, and the attention to detail when it comes to packaging (and often mastering).
Sometimes you would have no choice other than to buy the item from Japan, because the release was simply not available anywhere else. If you wanted any of A-ha‘s remixes on CD back in the eighties the only way to get them was to buy the unique Road Club and Scoundrel Club compilations.
Buying Japanese releases used to involve regular searches in Tower Records or trawling through magazine mail order listings, but thanks to the internet it’s rather easier these days to purchase more or less any title you are after, but – particularly in the UK – this expensive pastime hasn’t really got any cheaper thanks to ludicrous fees levied by delivery agents such as Royal Mail and Parcelforce. continue reading »
Universal will issue a 10-disc Stereo MCs box set called Collected in October.
The 9CD+DVD set will effectively be the entire studio recordings of the band and will feature all their albums (remastered, presumably) plus additional discs of remixes and unreleased material. continue reading »
As first reported on this Beatles blog, a new George Harrison box set entitled The Apple Years, will be released in the autumn.
The set will feature remastered versions of all seven of George’s Apple LPs, as well as a bonus DVD of which content-wise, little is currently known, although speculation intimates that footage from the 1974 Dark Horse tour will be featured. continue reading »
Good though the new Venus and Mars and Speed of SoundWings sets look, if you haven’t bought the RAM deluxe box, you should probably make that a priority!
Despite the let’s-create-a-library extravagance of Wings Over America, the RAM box is better. For a start RAM is one of Paul’s very best post-Beatles records, and the deluxe set is simply very cute, has great content across the five (not three!) discs and is full of cool ‘facsimile’ memorabilia, photos and the all important ‘book of sheep’… The quality of the packaging is really first rate. If you want to take a look at some photos click here. continue reading »
Edsel Records will issue a T. Rex box set collecting their studio albums later this year.
Details are sketchy but The Album Collection will be a 10CD box and there is a good chance this will be packaged similar to the Suede CD box from earlier this year, or the Leo Sayer set from 2013. continue reading »
Phase two of the Led Zeppelin archival campaign became a reality today with the official announcement of the deluxe reissues of Led Zeppelin IV and Houses Of The Holy, both due in October.
As before, each album will be available as a single and deluxe two-CD, single or deluxe double 180g vinyl, as well as a top-of-the-range super deluxe edition box set which contains both CDs and both vinyl records and comes with an 80-page hardcover book,hi-res downloads (96kHz/24 bit), and an cover art print (first 30,000 numbered). continue reading »
Paul McCartney will reissue the 1975 Wings album Venus And Mars and the 1976 follow-up Wings At The Speed Of Sound in September.
Both albums will be available across a number of formats including a deluxe book edition similar to those issued for Band On The Run and McCartney / McCartney II as well as 2LP gatefold vinyl and two-CD editions. continue reading »
The Allman Brothers Band1971 Fillmore East Recordings 6CD set dropped a few times in the last few months but the three blu-ray audio version has never been that cheap. In the USA it’s around $100 which is equates to nearly £60 but it is currently available for significantly less than that on the UK Amazon site.
At the time of writing you can pick this up for around £45 – that’s about £10 cheaper than the single blu-ray + DVD CSNY 1974 set if you’re looking for a benchmark. Also, this is confirmed as having a 5.1 mix (unlike the CSNY set) so you’re getting some bang for you’re buck!
The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings is out now (track listing here).
This John Mellencamp1978-2012 career overview was originally released back in December 2013 but seemed to be around only briefly before becoming unavailable. Six months later is seems to be back in stock at various Amazon sites and my copy turned up a few days ago (having been ordered in January 2014!).
I don’t know whether the long wait had raised expectations with regards to this set but upon opening it, it was quickly clear to me that this is one of the worst packaging jobs on a music box I’ve ever seen. continue reading »
Universal Music will issue a five-disc Paul WellerClassic Album Selection box set in September.
It will contain Weller’s first five solo records; Paul Weller (1992), Wild Wood (1993), Stanley Road (1995), Heavy Soul (1997) and Heliocentric (2000). continue reading »
Universal Music will issue a trio of Big Country deluxe editions next month.
The Seer, Peace In Our Time and No Place Like Home are all two-CD sets packed with bonus material that includes B-sides, demos, twelve-inch remixes, seven-inch edits and even some unreleased songs. Full track listings below. continue reading »
Having tackled deluxe editions of the four Virgin/MCA albums earlier this year (and the Anthology and Collection sets), Edsel Records have turned their attentions to Belinda Carlisle‘s other three studio albums which will all be reissued in September as deluxe editions. continue reading »
Universal Music will release Status QuoLive! a new four-CD box set box set in September.
The 35-track collection centres around the mid-1970s with the first two discs recreating the Live! album issued in 1977, while disc three offers Tokyo Quo, a Japan-only release, which only saw an official UK issue this year for a limited Record Store Day vinyl.The recordings for these gigs were made at Sunplaza Hallin Tokyoduring the same 1976 tour, less than a month after the Glasgow gigs that formed the basis of the Live! album. continue reading »
Fred Vigdor – the saxophonist of the Average White Band – is your guide, as he lifts the lid on the All The Pieces – The Complete Studio Recordings 1971 – 2003 the newly released 19CD anthology from Edsel Records. More details on this box can be found here.
We described the Meet The Beatles! Japan box set as a ‘costly curio for collectors’ in our review, but if you slash a third off the purchase price it’s then becomes a more attractive deal, and that’s just what Amazon UK have done. continue reading »
As part of The Who‘s 50th anniversary celebrations (which include a 2014 British Tour) a new compilation will be issued later this year. continue reading »
Next week sees the release of Eric Clapton‘s The Breeze – An Appreciation of J.J. Cale.
Clapton has gathered a group of like-minded friends and musicians and recorded 16 Cale tracks as his tribute to the guitarist/songwriter. This new record features performances by Mark Knopfler, John Mayer, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Derek Trucks and Don White, as well as Clapton himself.
The standard CD and 2LP vinyl editions are widely available but Surfdog Records in the US have created two special deluxe box sets, exclusive to their site. continue reading »
Gentle Giant / The Power and the Glory (CD+Blu-ray)
Prog rock band Gentle Giant‘s 1974 album has been reissued in remastered/remixed form with Steven Wilson stereo and 5.1 mixes on blu-ray accompanied by Ray Shulman created visuals.
Two-CD deluxe edition of Echobelly’s second album sees a host of B-sides and unreleased tracks (compiled by the band) on the bonus disc. On was originally issued in 1995 and features the singles Dark Therapy, King Of The Kerb and Great Things. The band’s debut is also reissued.
