John Lennon Remasters

I wanted to do a review of these just released remasters of much of Lennon's catalogue works. I'm a LONG time Lennon fan, as are many others. And like many others, I was waiting to pick up my copies when I could. But in reality, there is very little to talk about that hasn't already been said. In short, they're superb.

Yeah, we all know that there has been umpteen remasters and anthologies emanating from as many countries as you can name off the top of your head. My last favourite was the Lennon Legend collection and the DVD set with the videos. Both those received plenty of play over the years. In fact, I often wonder why I pick up new "best of" sets when the albums also get plenty of play from me, and I could always make a playlist if needed, But still I deliver my cash (what little I have left) to the Lennon estate. Again, these remasters are superb.

I love the artistically designed digipaks, the painted CDs, the glossy booklets with 'newness' all over them, and the audio perfection. At points, I felt like I was hearing something that I haven't heard before.

I'll leave the reviews to others. The Second Disc has a great review that details the large Box that contains most of the available single sets. My hat's off to Joe Marchese, as always, on a review job well done. He never disappoints.

However, I urge you to pick them up, in any arrangement that you wish. If you're a John Lennon fan, these remasters are delightful in every way. I would have liked to have seen the Power To the People: The Hits package pushed a little further with some more classic Lennon tunes but I guess we can't always get what we want. Regardless, these remasters have my attention. They should have yours too.

We're on a roll here. We have two more reviews for you with <gasp> more coming. Today, we present you with the recent Posies release called Blood/Candy, which was written up for you by Robert Metcalf, who has delivered quite a few reviews already.

Also, we have an interesting review of Bitches Brew by a returning staffer, Mark Squirek, The review is interesting in that it is written as one who is hearing the groundbreaking Miles Davis album for the very first time (insert loud audible gasp here).

Last week, the imp that we all know as Bill Hunt (of The Digital Bits) posed a question amongst friends. It was interesting enough, I passed the question along, getting back some fun results. Since today is, once again, a VERY quiet release news day, I decided to stop my usual meanderings and pose the same question to you. And I want you to send the answers back to me. Now Bill had asked us to respond quickly because he wanted to see what stayed near the surface of our thoughts, which would indicate our true affections. Evil. I'm not going to make you do that. Take your time, think about it and flesh it out. But send us back your favourite 15 Albums.

This is a hard exercise. I'm not kidding. Frankly, it's impossible as 15 isn't enough. But since that is the way I (and Adam, amongs others) were limited, you are too. Besides, it WILL be fun to see what results we get back.

Send your selections to 15 Favorite Albums. [Ends on October 10].

I want to alert TAP readers to the fact that I have finally put together a FaceBook fan page that you can access and join by clicking on the badge below.  What this offers is the exact same thing as my Twitter feeds provide and that is first buzz on upcoming releases and free offered downloads, many announcements  that beat our main post, sometimes by days.  We also provide a Google BUZZ page that expands on most of the Twitter/FB feeds. On Buzz, you can even hear the music stream if a stream is offered.  There are still things that I'm working on in the FB page, like calender notes as well as links to great sites like The Second Disc.  I invite you to join us at our FB page and bookmark it.  Visit it daily and you'll be rewarded with much news and info.  Of course, you'll still want to come to the main MusicTAP page for our noisy commentaries.  Remember, with our Twitter feeds, you can elect to receive the news bursts as text on your mobile phone keeping you effortlessly up to date with stuff.  Lots of choices.  Find one, or two, that fits.

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Sire Records plan the release of Live In London from Regina Spektor, which will be available on November 22 in CD/DVD, and CD/BD sets. A week earlier, on November 15, Sire will re-release the 2004 Spektor album, Soviet Kitsch, on CD.

Reprise will re-release the recently released S/T Clapton album by Eric Clapton on 2LP. The 140g vinyl set is planned for November 16.

On November 16, Decca US Records will release Bare Bones by Bryan Adams in both CD and DD versions. A Deluxe Edition is also planned.

American Gramophon will release Christmas Sweet Memo by Mannheim Steamroller on November 25.

Mercury Records plan the release of Endlessly, a new album by Duffy, on December 7.

Cake will release their latest album, Showroon of Compassion, on their own Upbeat Records, planning for January 11 of 2011.

On November 23, UMe will release two MASSIVE Limited Edition LP Boxsets for The Rolling Stones. One is called The Rolling Stones 1964-1969 Vinyl Boxset, with the other called The Rolling Stones 1970-2005 Vinyl Boxset. The 1964-1969 set contains 11 UK Abkco-era LPs from The Rolling Stones though Metamorphosis along with two 12" EPs (The Rolling Stones EP, Five by Five EP) while the 1970-2005 set contains 14 LPs from Sticky Fingers through A Bigger Bang.

All LPs are 180g audiophile grade vinyl and are of most recent remastered material. This is a good way to fill up your collection if you haven't really saved your Stones LPs or you only have a few.

Sanctuary Records plan the DD release of Let's Submerge: The Anthology for one of the short-lived but fun UK Punk band, X-Ray Spex from back in the '70s. It's scheduled for release on November 2.

Mobile Fidelity (Mo-Fi) is planning the SACD reissue of several Stevie Ray Vaughan classics which includes Couldn't Stand the Weather, In Step, Soul to Soul, Texas Flood, and The Sky Is Crying. All titles release dates are as yet undetermined. You might also be interested in knowing that the successful Foreigner debut (1977) is currently available as an SACD as well. (Thanks, Bill!)