Archival Posts 2003 February 16-22

February 21, 2003

The weekend post!! We love doing this for you folks but the weekends rule. I know you agree. I want to thank some of you out there who alerted me to a site that is named The Music Tap.com. The site has to do with unsigned bands but have absolutely no affiliation with this site. I just wanted you folks to be aware.

OK, let's get down to it.

For those Black Oak Arkansas fans who are waiting for that DVD. You can pre-order here or otherwise get the hot n nasty on the title while you're there.

For a bit of music news, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit has renamed their upcoming May 13 album, "Bilpolar" from the previously titled "Lessismore". Strange titles.

On the very exciting news front is the piece that Simon & Garfunkel is considering a reunion after all these many years to perform at the Grammy Awards. Now, just how cool would a concert tour after that be? And a new album of material...and...!

I may be beginning to bore you about this but The Music so rocks. This group of young guys have what a friend of mine states as being "...an encyclopedia of 60s and 70s musical styles..updated." I couldn't agree more. Their release comes out on February 25. To get a hint of what these guys can do, click that Music icon at the top left. Ok, 'nuff said.

The Essential Dave Brubeck disc that is expected on March 25 encapsulates 31 tracks drawn from 24 albums over a span of 53 amazing years and was personally selected by Brubeck himself. Now, that's great news as a disc of this stature is expected to provide an overview of the artist. It's not definitive in any light but serves as a great introduction to new converts and a great source of goodies in one place. A bit of trivia for you now. Hell, let's have some fun with it. Dave Brubeck is Columbia Legacy's number two best-selling jazz artist. For a copy of "The Essential Dave Brubeck", who is Columbia Jazz Legacy's numero uno best seller? The first with the right answer gets the disc when it releases. Now that's fun.

The Raveonettes is another band in this wave of updated retro bands that are popping up on the music landscape like daisies in a field. And I mean that in a good way. Like the Strokes before them, and recently Interpol, The Raveonettes produce an exciting brand of rock that should appeal to several generations. Talk about bridging the gap. Folks, I predict that we're in for some very exciting crops of upcoming bands that we'll talk about years later. This band's album, "Whip It On", has already been out as an independant release since last year. When Columbia releases it, it will retail at the low price of $7.98. So on March 18, this 8 song EP CD will reach stores.

On April 22, from Interscope/A&M Records is "RetroSpective:The Best of Suzanne Vega". On March 25, from Polydor Records is "The BBC Sessions" from Cream; and finally, for the guilty pleasure in all of us - "Osmondmania! The Hits of The Osmond Family". And allow me to be the first to say that one of the missing tracks here is from Jimmy Osmond. That track would be "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool". Otherwise, it's not a bad collection. That's right, it's an admission. I LIKED The Osmonds.

Have a great weekend everybody. Let me close with this - It's a definite pleasure doing this column for all of you, it really is.

February 20, 2003

The Buckley DVD and CD companion issue continues to intensify with no discernible news other than what was released by our site. I continue to check and the data is still up but no one else seems to know. This is very surprising considering the fact that this info should have been up as a pre-order already. Given the source of the info, I'm led to believe the validity of the announcement, however, it doesn't eliminate the possibility of postponement (I don't see that happening) or elimination. I want to say that I am keeping an eye on this release info and will alert you as soon as I know anything. As more details come to light, I will let you know.

I committed an error on the upcoming Pink Floyd DSOTM release. I mistakenly read the vinyl release as a redbook CD despite the fact that the SACD is being issued as a hybrid disc. My apologies for any confusion that arose as a result. Thanks to the guys at Home Theatre Forum for keeping me on my toes. That would be Justin, Lee, Darryl, and Rich.

Thanks to reader Tom Greenwood for the alert on The Beach Boys DVD, "Good Timin' - Live at Knebworth, England 1980". This disc streets on March 25.

Thanks to reader John McCann for the alert on Joe Jackson's upcoming March 18 DVD release of "Anniversary". And to reader Ken for his alert to Joe Jackson's new album to be released on March 11. Titled "Volume 4", the album features the reunion of the Joe Jackson Band and provides a bonus CD of live warmup songs for a UK show from September '02.

Marilyn Manson's awaited "The Golden Age of Grotesque" is scheduled to street on May 13 from Interscope. I'm interested in this one.

Upcoming release notes include a Billy Gilman issue scheduled for April 15 titled, "Heartsongs" from Epic Nashville. Joining that infamous and growing April 1 release date of Essential titles (I'm sure that these dates will disperse throughout the calendar as time gets closer to the April 1 date) is "The Essential Cyndi Lauper".

A significant release from Sony/Columbia is Louis Armstrong's "The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings". These discs will be issued in 3 volumes and will street on April 8.

From Warner/Rhino/London-Sire and streeting on March 11 is an expanded and remastered version of Uncle Tupelo's "Anodyne". Although we know that the key components of Uncle Tupelo are now key components of Wilco and Son Volt, it doesn't detract from the brilliance of this release. This disc contains 5 bonus tracks, two of them live. The bonus tracks are:

Stay True
Wherever
Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?
Truck Drivin' Man (Live)
Suzy Q (Live)

The disc is alo expected to have some video extras.

While we're plundering news info from Rhino, how about this DVD release...Black Oak Arkansas. The title is "Black Oak Arkansas - The First 30 Years". A confusing title with no info but good news for BOA fans.

Ooohh yeah. Gather 'round, Dead fans. Warner/Rhino is releasing 4 more titles in Expanded and Remastered format. And we got the stuff right here for ya.

The titles in the order of the above graphics are:

Grateful Dead - History of The Grateful Dead (Vol 1) Bear's Choice
Grateful Dead - Skull and Roses
Grateful Dead - Europe '72 2CD (Ed. Note: How I loved this 3LP set back in the day.)
Grateful Dead - Birth of the Dead 2CD

These discs street on March 25 and join their 6 other sister releases that will street on February 25. We've already covered those in large detail and will do so with these when details become available.

As before reported by us, The new Linkin Park disc is scheduled for March 25. Titled "Meteora", the release will be presented in several formats. The intended first format is packaged in a double Digipak with 4 panel display with a clear tray and a slip cover to hold the pak together. It features an enhanced CD. The special Limited Edition delivers a DVD bonus with footage from "Linkin Park TV". The special edition also includes a 40 page booklet. The disc features 13 songs.

Maverick Records has a new, as yet untitled, Deftones album scheduled for May 20. Also, the Aaron Neville upcoming disc that we spoke about yesterday is tentatively titled "Nature Boy" and is scheduled for release on June 10.

Fans of Jack Johnson, take note: May 6 is the release date of his next, entitled "On and On".

I did promise a bit 'o news on Jimmy Page and Godsmack. So, in keeping with that promise:

Godsmack - Faceless - April 8 - w/4 formats: CD/Enhanced CD/CD Edited/ Enhanced CD Edited. - Universal

Jimmy Page - Have Guitar Will Travel - Varese Sarabande - April 8

Well, that's it for the day. We have a few more reviews coming close around the corner. 2 SACD titles, Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing Trio "In Full Swing" and The Who's "My Generation". There are Police reviews, The Who's "Who's Next" Special Edition, Prong, Count the Stars, and some others. Watch for 'em.

Tomorrow...

February 19, 2003

Wallflower fans rejoice- Universal/Interscope is releasing The Wallflowers' "Red Letter Days" on SACD Hybrid for an April 8 street date.

Universal/Island is releasing a set of 3 Nick Drake discs from his catalog. The titles street on April 22 and are as follows:

Bryter Layter
Fives Leaves Left
Pink Moon

There are no more details as of yet but we're hoping for some bonus tracks along with the expected remastering.

There is very little of interesting music news erupting for the day so we'll make this post a short one. There are some interesting upcoming releases, particularly where the Classic Masters Series is concerned from EMI. All eight of these discs have 12 tracks, all of them are remastered. Here's a look at the titles and what they contain.

Frankie Avalon - includes the #1 hits, "Venus" and "Why"

Patsy Cline - includes "Stop The World,I Want to Get Off".

Bobby Darin - Not an impressive tracking of songs for this collection but includes "18 Yellow Roses"

Ray Stevens - Decent collection with "The Streak", "Gitarzan" and "Everything is Beautiful".

Del Shannon - Includes "Runaway"

Soul II Soul - Good collection of Pop/R&B songs, including "Back to Life".

Joe Tex - Nice collection including "I Gotcha".

Andy Williams - Good set although I would have like a better selection. Featuring his 5 years at Cadence Records. "Butterfly" is in this one.

This artwork is the only format that I have it in so it's not so well placed on the page.

The Beatles Anthology DVD that has everyone excited is gearing up for the release date of April 1. Keep an eye out for that release.

Robbie Williams' upcoming April 1 release, "Escapeology" will be released as a Parent Advisory and as an edited disc.

Because this is such a slow day, we're going to sign off early here but we don't want to leave you all high and dry with little to show for your visit. We have some info on who is in the studios and therefore give you a little insight as to what to expect down the road a bit. Also, we have the Yes DVD-Audio review for post.

Some recent studio activity has the following artists in our sights for upcoming releases:

Joe Jackson is working on a live album.
Aaron Neville is recording an upcoming album for Verve Records
Iggy Pop is mixing "Live from NYC" in 5.1 for a DVD-Audio release.
Bruce Springsteen is mixing from a live show for Sony. Live album?
Our Lady Peace is recording acoustic versions of songs from "Gravity".
Michelle Branch is mixing for an upcoming MCA release.

See you tomorrow with some Jimmy Page news and some Godsmack news. We'll even throw in a few more bones as well.

February 18, 2003

Is this year moving along or what? In putting in the date for this post, I realized just where we're at.

I want to start out today's post by thanking Edward Shawe for being a Music fan. His knowledge and enthusiasm for the band has sparked my curiosity and has me waiting anxiously for the US release of their debut. I've said it enough times but here is is one more time. Click that Music icon and hear what a lot of us are excited about.

Wow! I didn't realize the depth of my post concerning the upcoming Sony release of Jeff Buckley's "Complete Live at Sin-E" on both DVD and CD. Had I known, I might have sat on that one for awhile. Not only have I've been inundated with email but I fear that I may have caused a surge in mood enhancing drug usage. And I mean that in the nicest sense. But there are a whole lot of people that REALLY want this release. By the way fans, I've checked again. It's still scheduled.

Did everyone get out to see Daredevil over the weekend? Being a fan of comic books and particularly Daredevil, I was very happy to see him come to life. Of course, that puts a slight bias in favour of Daredevil from my critical perspective but I enjoyed it immensely. I'm hoping that you did as well.

I went off to see Wishbone Ash and Savoy Brown at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Saturday evening. Great show. As the kickoff show for the US swing, it didn't disappoint. With the only unfortunate being that, in a club setting, the play is limited to a handful of songs. The choices have to be satisfying. And they were. With a collection of songs from WBA's past and a few from their newest, "Bona Fide", Andy and the guys played an exemplary set. They were also very accommodating to fans with autographs. I have to admit, meeting Andy Powell after a lifetime of revering his contributions, was a highly satisfying event. Mrs TAP was on hand to enjoy the show as well. She kindly snapped the photos that I had taken with Andy.

Kim Simmonds' fiery set with Savoy Brown (who IS Savoy Brown) was excellent, capping off a perfect evening of music. The songs smoked and left a lasting impression.

Now, here's a title that I'm interested in considering it's initial release back in 1987. "Mott the Hoople's Greatest Hits", a collection of some pretty damn good songs by a band that should have achieved strong commercial success. Eventually, the band splintered and many of the members went on to various levels of success and activity. Mick Ralphs went on to form Bad Company while Ian Hunter had moderate levels of success with his solo material. I believe that this is a case of remastering but it sure would be nice to have this release as well as their others in SACD format. In any case, from Sony/Columbia/Legacy on April 15 is the reissue of "Mott the Hoople's Greatest Hits". For what it's worth to us fans.

And while we're talking about the old stuff, Columbia/Legacy is releasing a string of Mountain material including "The Best of Mountain". That disc is new on the schedule and streets on April 15 while the other two, "Climbing!" and "Nantucket Sleighride" have been scheduled for some time. We actually revealed the release of those final two titles some months back. Those final two titles release on April 8.

Also on April 15 (again, no real info but you can bet it's a remaster), is Spirit's "The Best of Spirit" from Columbia/Legacy.

Look for an Our Lady Peace album, "Live From Calgary and Edmonton", on April 1. Fans of Pete Yorn get his newest, "Day I Forgot", on April 15. The Porch Ghouls release their "Bluff City Ruckus" on April 8 as will Ramiyah (title to be announced). Ravi Coltrane with "Mad 6" on April 15 from Columbia and Revis' "Places For Breathing", from Epic Records, also on April 15.

On March 25, from Columbia, is The Fugees with "Fugees Greatest Hits".

Added to the already stuffed April 1 release date for Essential products is "The Essential Thelonius Monk". Jazz fans should be happy for this release.

For SACD news, the only addition to Sony's SACD schedule is Yo-Yo Ma's renditions of French Sonatas with the title to be announced at a later date for release simultaneously with the CD on April 8. The Byrds' "Fifth Dimension" is still slated for April 22 as is Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble's "Couldn't Stand the Weather". Oasis's "(What's the Story), Morning Glory?" SACD is still hanging onto that March 11 release date.

EMI's Pink Floyd."Dark Side of the Moon" is definitely a high profile release and certainly overshadows much of anything else that is distinctly Pink Floyd. However, it should be known that not only is there the SACD version that touts multi-channel but that there is also a standard CD remastered reissue planned for the same release date of March 25. Two flavours of DSOTM for discriminating tastes.

Tomorrow, we'll post the review for the DVD-Audio release of Yes' "Fragile".