Release Round-Up: Week of March 26

Stephen Stills, Carry On (Rhino)

The “S” in “CSNY” finally gets his own career-spanning box set, a four-disc affair with a couple dozen rare and unreleased tracks and a whole lot of great songs to boot. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Gene Clark, Here Tonight: The White Light Demos (Omnivore)

A dozen tracks of early ’70s demos from the former Byrd, which laid the framework for his first album of that decade. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Iron Maiden, Maiden England ’88 (UMe)

A quarter-century after Maiden toured behind Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, the original concert video chronicling the tour has been painstakingly remastered and expanded with unreleased performances and treasures from the band’s video vault. A double-disc presentation of the concert is also available on CD and vinyl.

2DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Steve Forbert, Alive on Arrival/Jackrabbit Slim: Special Anniversary Edition (Blue Corn Music)

This two-disc set expands the first two albums by the “Romeo’s Tune” troubadour with unreleased outtakes. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Wendy & Lisa, Wendy & Lisa: Expanded Edition (Cherry Pop)

Prince may have split up The Revolution, but this 1987 debut LP from two of his most famous collaborators is worth your time. U.K. label Cherry Pop appends a few bonus remixes and new liner notes on this version. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Country Joe & The Fish, Electric Music for the Mind and Body (Ace)

Not only available for the first time on CD, but available for the first time since its original release: the original mono and stereo mixes of San Francisco’s first psychedelic long-player on two discs. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Tandyn Almer, Along Comes Tandyn (Sundazed)

He penned “Along Comes Mary” for The Association and collaborated with Brian Wilson, but the late Tandyn Almer is only now getting his due with the premiere commercial release of this 1967 demo LP pressed to turn artists on to his precious pop.

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Iron Maiden’s 1988 Tour Film Gets Lovingly Expanded for Deluxe Reissue

Twenty-five years after embarking on their 7th Tour of a 7th Tour, Iron Maiden are commemorating their 1988 tour with an expansive, multi-format 25th anniversary package at the end of March.

Maiden England ’88, filmed over two nights at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, sees the band touring in support of the polished, prog-influenced Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Featuring nearly all of the album – including U.K. Top 10 hits “Can I Play with Madness,” “The Evil That Men Do,” “The Clairvoyant” and “Infinite Dreams” – as well as other favorites like “Number of the Beast” and “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” Maiden England was a high watermark for the band, and they’re celebrating it in style.

The two-disc DVD of Maiden England will feature a remastered and expanded presentation of the original concert on the first disc. Iron Maiden bassist and concert film director Steve Harris oversaw a complete remaster of the original picture, as well as the addition of the complete encore to the show, with “Running Free,” “Run to the Hills” and “Sanctuary” appended to the 15-track set list. The audio will be presented not only in the original stereo track, but a newly-commissioned 5.1 surround mix by producer Kevin Shirley, who’s co-produced every Iron Maiden album since 2000’s Brave New World.

Additionally, a bonus disc is packed with old and new features, including remastered promo videos, the third installment in the band’s History of Iron Maiden documentary series and Twelve Wasted Years, a 1987 documentary on the band making its DVD debut. The show’s audio will also be released as a double-disc CD and double picture vinyl set as well; the first home audio release for this material since a limited reissue of the Maiden England video in 1994.

Maiden England is unleashed on March 25. As far as domestic pre-order links, only an import of the picture vinyl shows up on Amazon. But Amazon U.K. has pre-order links for all formats, which you can find after the jump!

Run for the Hills! New Iron Maiden Compilation Due in May

Iron Maiden’s latest studio release may be called The Final Frontier, but the band – whose latest leg of The Final Frontier World Tour is set to kick off tomorrow in Mexico and wind through South America and Europe through August – still have a few tricks up Eddie’s rotting sleeve. On May 23 in the U.K. (and a day later in the States), the band will release From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990-2010, a compilation spanning their most recent two decades.

Intended as a companion piece to 2008’s Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980-1990, this new set differs in that it spans across two discs instead of one. Accordingly, many of the tracks span as long as 11 minutes or so; there’s quite a bit of material to get through on this set. Happily, the package is promised to retail for the cost of only one disc. There’s also, unlike the last compilation, one track that’s more difficult to find than most: a live take on “Man on the Edge,” from The X Factor (1996). As with several of the songs, this one was originally not recorded with vocalist Bruce Dickinson (at the time, he was out of the band and pursuing a solo career), but whereas the other three live tracks come from their 2002 Rock in Rio live set, this particular track comes from the CD single of “The Wicker Man” released in 2000. So that’s something for rarity hunters.

The official Iron Maiden website has posted the press release and a note from band manager Rod Smallwood on the album, and the official track list is after the jump.