Viva Morrissey! U.K. Singer’s First Album and Single Gets Reissued

Inifintely brilliant, often fickle rock icon Morrissey is reissuing one of his most beloved albums this spring – but it’s another one of those situations where fans are going to want to hold on to their old copies, too.

Semi-official fansite True to You posted a news release today for a reissue of Viva Hate, Morrissey’s debut solo album from 1988. Released just six months after the breakup of The Smiths and featuring longtime Smiths engineer/producer Stephen Street, Viva Hate was a always-verbose, often-cutting burst of creativity from the singer, featuring two of his greatest solo singles, the U.K. Top 10 hits “Suedehead” and “Everyday is Like Sunday.”

The new release, to be available on CD and vinyl and remastered personally by Street, will feature only one bonus track, an outtake from the Viva Hate sessions called “Treat Me Like a Human Being” which is actually replacing “The Ordinary Boys” on the standard track list. It was first released last year as a B-side to 1991 single “Glamorous Glue,” itself reissued to promote a new compilation of Moz’s. (This is not the first time Viva Hate has been reissued; in 1997, EMI issued an expanded edition with new artwork for the label’s centennial.)

In addition, EMI will release a 10″ vinyl EP for Record Store Day, featuring a remix of “Suedehead” by Ron and Russell Mael, better known as Sparks (Slicing Up Eyeballs suggests this may be an edit of a previously-released remix), as well as two unreleased live tracks from 1995.

The new Viva Hate, which also features new liner notes by Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, will be released March 26. Hit the jump for full details.

Soundtrack Spotlight: Intrada Uncovers Trolls, La-La Land Goes Ape

It’s one of those rare weeks when more than one soundtrack reissue label puts out titles within days of each other, so there are four new and expanded sets to enjoy.

Intrada has released two scores on CD for the first time. The first, Gil Melle’s score to 1980’s Borderline, is noted for its blend of traditional orchestral arrangements and mixing along with free-form, jazz-based music that took advantage of the full field of stereo sound. The film, a fictionalized account of U.S. border guards starring Charles Bronson and a young Ed Harris, has been hailed as one of the most accurate of its kind.

The other soundtrack making its debut from Intrada is Robert Folk’s underscore to Don Bluth’s A Troll in Central Park. Though the film, featuring the voice talents of Bluth veterans Dom DeLuise and Charles Nelson Reilly as well as Cloris Leachman and Hayley Mills, was a major box-office failure, Folk’s whimsical score has its share of fans that get to hear the score in totality. (A rare promotional disc featured a short suite from the score.) While the handful of songs written for use in the movie by Folk and acclaimed lyricists Norman Gimbel, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil do not appear on this release, orchestral fans have a lot to enjoy on this release.

It’s on to La-La Land and more fun than a barrel of…well, you get the idea – after the jump!