Passions Just Like Mine: Smiths Mega-Box Arrives in U.S.

Ready your credit cards! Rhino has the super-exhaustive Smiths box set ready for order in the United States.

As previously reported, the set is available in three distinct formats: a box set of the band’s eight main albums on CD, remastered by Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and Frank Arkwright; a box of those albums on 12 vinyl LPs and a mega-box – limited to 4,000 copies worldwide – featuring all the CDs and vinyl with 25 bonus 7″ singles, art prints and The Complete Picture DVD. While it’s not absolutely everything the band ever released in their four influential years together, it’s pretty darn close.

The sets are available October 18; you can order them and read the track lists after the jump.

Release Round-Up: Week of September 13

Jimi Hendrix, Winterland / Hendrix in the West / Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival / The Dick Cavett Show (Experience Hendrix/Legacy)

Another wave of Hendrix catalogue titles from Legacy, all of a live nature. The Winterland set captures The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s legendary run at the venue of the same name over four discs (or one, if you’re into the whole brevity thing), while In the West provides an expanded, slightly alternate presentation of the posthumous live LP. The DVDs Blue Wild Angel and The Dick Cavett Show show Hendrix at his live prime, with some special features to boot. Look for reviews of all these sets – Joe’s take on the CDs and my look at the DVDs – very soon! (Official site)

The Beatles, 1 (Apple/EMI)

In case you weren’t one of the tens of millions of people who’ve picked up this compilation since 2000, it’s been remastered (from the 2009 remasters, naturally). (Official site)

Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band, Live Bullet / Nine Tonight (Capitol/EMI)

Two killer Seger live albums, remastered and expanded with one bonus track apiece. (Official site)

The Art of Noise, Who’s Afraid of The Art of Noise? (ZTT/Salvo)

The first full-length LP by the influential U.K. act is expanded with unreleased BBC sessions and a DVD of videos and other vault treasures. (Official site)

1991: The Year Punk Broke (Geffen/UMe)

A greatly-expanded presentation of this vintage documentary, spotlighting the rise of Nirvana, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr., as seen on the road and in the trenches. (Official site)

Motown Gold on The Ed Sullivan Show / The Best of The Supremes on The Ed Sullivan Show / The Best of The Temptations on The Ed Sullivan Show (Hip-O/Sofa Entertainment)

The Sound of Young America and the Toast of the Town, combined on three handy DVD packages. (Official site)

Jerry! Jerry! La-La Land Adds Two Goldsmith Expansions (and More!) to Library (UPDATED)

UPDATE (9/13): The order links and track lists for the new reissues are after the jump.

Original post: Intrada’s recent expanded reissue of Jerry Goldsmith’s score to Explorers was just the tip of the iceberg for fans of the composer: La-La Land’s release slate for this week will feature not one buttwo scores from the pen of the venerable film score maestro.

The scores to Sleeping with the Enemy and Forever Young have been high on fans’ wish lists for some time – the latter has been in the running for expansion from the label for awhile. The latter, a 1992 star vehicle for Mel Gibson (featuring an early, if critically-maligned, script by J.J. Abrams), and the former, a 1991 thriller starring a young Julia Roberts, are classic late-period Goldsmith. Both received generous soundtrack albums in their times, but are being being nominally expanded to completion by the label.

But that’s not all the label’s confirmed for the coming months! La-La Land confirmed a limited double-disc edition of the score to the upcoming video game Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, composed by Greg Edmondson (famed for writing the music to the dearly departed series Firefly). And, perhaps most exciting, the label’s long-promised expansion of John Williams’ score to Steven Spielberg’s cult classic 1941 is coming out on September 27, following a special screening of the film in Los Angeles’ Silent Family Theater the preceding Sunday (which will feature a Q&A of special, as-yet unannounced guests and the first available copies of the double-disc set for purchase).

Stay tuned to The Second Disc for continued coverage of what looks to be a great fourth quarter for archival soundtrack releases!

Real Gone Rescues Shelby, Joanie and Connie: Complete Singles Coming In November

It was nearly one year ago to the day – September 13, 2010 – that The Second Disc brought you news of four exciting collections planned from Collectors’ Choice Music: Complete Singles collections from beloved sixties gals Petula Clark, Connie Stevens, Joanie Sommers and Shelby Flint.

Shortly thereafter, on October 7, news broke that the Clark set had been cancelled.  Gordon Anderson, the then-veep of Collectors’ Choice, confirmed to The Second Disc that “at the eleventh hour, Petula’s management decided that they did not want the project to come out.”

The other three releases were still on the schedule last October, but they, too, were soon scuttled when Collectors’ Choice abandoned its thriving reissue label.  Good things do often come to those who wait, however.  Flash-forward to the present day, and Anderson has launched Real Gone Music with business partner Gabby Castellana.  Surely many smiles came when Real Gone tweeted last Friday evening that three of the label’s debut releases would be the long-in-gestation Complete Warner Bros. Singles of Connie Stevens and Joanie Sommers, and Complete Valiant Singles of Shelby Flint!

November 8 is the new date that you can expect all three collections to be released by Real Gone.  In the meantime, hit the jump for more info, including track listings and discography!