“Queen on Fire” Repressed by Eagle Rock in May

Eagle Rock Entertainment will release a straight reissue of the double-DVD set Queen on Fire: Live At The Bowl next month.

Originally released in 2004, Queen on Fire captured the band during their Hot Space tour in 1982 – specifically, the last date on the European leg of the tour, at the Milton Keynes National Bowl on June 5, 1982. In addition to the complete concert, Queen on Fire also included a bonus disc featuring portions from two other shows on the tour – four cuts from a set at Vienna’s Stadthalle on May 12, 1982 and eight from Japan’s Seibu Lions Stadium later in the year on November 3, 1982. Backstage interviews with the band and a photo gallery rounded out the set.

For anyone who missed its initial pressing on DVD, this new issue is out May 21. Full specs and an Amazon link are after the jump.

Hard-Core Troubadour: Steve Earle’s Warner Bros. LPs, Unreleased Live Sets Boxed by Shout! Factory

After two straight country albums for MCA, Steve Earle made a major breakthrough with 1988’s Copperhead Road, which fused his more roots-oriented stylings with elements of traditional rock and metal. Just as impressive, though, was his late ’90s comeback after a prolonged period of inactivity, drug problems and incarceration.

Three of Earle’s albums from the latter half of that decade are coming back into print in a new box set from Shout! Factory. The Warner Bros. Years collects 1995’s Train A Comin’, 1996’s I Feel Alright and 1997’s El Corazón along with a bonus CD and DVD of unreleased live material.

Earle was on the edge of ruin after a conviction for drug possession that led to a stint in jail to get himself clean. He’d not released a studio album since 1990, and hadn’t gone on tour since 1992. Slowly but surely, he began to tackle his demons through songwriting, finding his skills improving with every step toward recovery. The result, Train A Comin’, was released on the Winter Harvest label in 1995 and soon picked up for wider distribution by Warner Bros. Packing strong originals (“Sometimes She Forgets,” “Goodbye,” “Angel is the Devil”) alongside covers of The Beatles (“I’m Looking Through You”) and Earle’s idol Townes Van Zandt (“Tecumseh” Valley”), Train A Comin’ received high critical marks and a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

The strong albums I Feel Alright and El Corazón followed in the two years after Train A Comin’; they too featured killer cuts like “Feel Alright,” “CCKMP” (a haunting reminder of Earle’s drug past), “Ft. Worth Blues” and “Christmas in Washington.” Guests included Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams and the Del McCoury Band.

The Warner Bros. Years closes with two live sets: one on CD from Nashville’s Polk Theater (his first since getting out of jail) and a court-appointed show at Tennessee’s Cold Creek Correctional Facility in 1996. (Neither have been commercially released, although the latter was aired on MTV under the title To Hell and Back.) Live At The Polk Theater 1995 features guest appearances by Emmylou Harris and bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, the latter of whom was a surprise even to Earle.

Featuring a booklet with original artwork, a new introduction by Earle and liner notes by David Simon, creator of HBO’s acclaimed The Wire (which made great use of Earle’s songs in its run), The Warner Bros. Years shines a new light on this phase of Earle’s career. It hits stores June 25; pre-orders from the label will receive a copy of the booklet signed by Earle.

Hit the jump for the full specs!

Review: The Sugar Shoppe, “The Sugar Shoppe”

Who was a proprietor of The Sugar Shoppe?

Was it Thomas Andrews, architect of the Titanic?  Was it Anthony Hope, the lovestruck sailor who befriended the murderous barber Sweeney Todd?  Or was it Jesus himself?  Well, actually it was all of the above, as The Sugar Shoppe was co-founded by none other than actor/singer Victor Garber years before his roles in Titanic, Sweeney Todd and Godspell (not to mention Alias, Argo, Assassins, Damn Yankees, and so many more).  Garber joined singer, songwriter, musician and vocal arranger Peter Mann, Lee Harris and Laurie Hood in the harmony vocal group.  Through the Shoppe doors also passed producer Al De Lory (“By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Wichita Lineman”), string and horn arranger Mort Garson (“Our Day Will Come”) and the elite of Hollywood’s Wrecking Crew – Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Larry Knechtel, Earl Palmer, Mike Deasy, and Plas Johnson.

Mann, Garber, Harris and Hood intended their group as a sort of Canadian answer to the Mamas and the Papas, and parlayed their success up north into a Capitol Records contract.  Though the Shoppe was ultimately short-lived, its sole long-player has just received its very first legitimate CD reissue from Cherry Red’s Now Sounds imprint.  And it turns out that The Sugar Shoppe, newly remastered and comprehensively expanded, is quite an enjoyable place to spend some time!

Hit the jump to pay The Shoppe a visit!