Grammy Time: Music’s Biggest Night Honored with Annual Compilation

We’re just a few weeks from the 55th Annual Grammy Awards – or as I like to call it, “how many times can my music geek friends and I make cutting jokes on the Internet?” – and, as is customary, next week will see the release of a compilation of Grammy-nominated songs for your perusal.

The 22-track compilation, distributed this year by EMI, has quite the cross-section of cuts from what is a rather diverse year for the awards ceremony. Altogether, six different artists – Dan Auerbach of the indie-blues group The Black Keys, power-pop upstarts Fun., folk phenom Mumford & Sons, rising rapper/R&B singer Frank Ocean and 21st century hip-hop statesmen Jay-Z and Kanye West – are all tied for most nominations this year, with six apiece. A host of current stars and future greats are up for the most prominent awards, including Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Jack White Australian singer/songwriter Gotye, R&B crooner Miguel and more.

2013 Grammy Nominees also includes a track by last year’s champion Adele (who took home six trophies for her 2011 smash 21 and is nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance for her Live At The Royal Albert Hall CD/DVD) and one from the one and only Boss, Bruce Springsteen, who is not only a three-time nominee this year but will receive the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ prestigious MusiCares Person of the Year Award at a ceremony held the night before the Grammys telecast.

Get your copy of the CD January 22 and watch the awards at 8 p.m. on Sunday, February 10 on CBS. Pre-order links and a detailed summary of each track’s Grammy nominations are after the jump.

Release Round-Up: Week of June 5

The Beatles, Yellow Submarine (Blu-Ray) (Apple/EMI)

Take a trip back to Pepperland with the Fab Four’s animated film, now available as a feature-laden Blu-Ray Disc. The 1999 Yellow Submarine Songtrack remix album is also added to the Beatles remaster canon. (Keep a close eye on our giveaway; we’re announcing a winner very soon!)

Paul Simon, Graceland: 25th Anniversary Edition (Legacy)

A man walks down the street, sees many configurations of the Graceland reissue (namely a CD/DVD featuring newly released outtakes and the new documentary Under African Skies – also separately available on DVD and Blu-Ray – and a four-disc box set which adds an entire 1987 concert from the Graceland tour on DVD) and gets pretty darn excited.

David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars: 40th Anniversary Edition (EMI)

Ziggy falls to earth once again, albeit just as a newly-remastered CD with no bonus content; the bonuses are on the LP/DVD combo, which features out-of-print and unreleased surround mixes.

Jerry Goldsmith, Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Limited Edition (La-La Land Records)

Available to order later today (around 4 p.m. EST), this three-disc edition is the definitive word on Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic score for the first Trek film, with the complete score, alternate and rejected cues, the original LP program and many other audio treasures. (If you haven’t yet, do check out the first part of our interview with the set’s co-producer Mike Matessino, and check back for part two later this week!)

Michael Jackson, I Just Can’t Stop Loving You (CD Single) (Epic/Legacy)

Available only at Walmart stores in the U.S., this CD single, backed with the unreleased demo “Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round,” kicks off the Bad 25 campaign.

Maroon 5, Songs About Jane: 10th Anniversary Edition (A&M/Octone)

Weeks away from the release of their fourth studio album, a double-disc version of Maroon 5’s first breakthrough album, featuring demos and unlockable video content, is now available.

Sugar, Beaster: Deluxe Edition (Edsel)

The latest in the Sugar reissue campaign (seminal debut Copper Blue was reissued last week) is an expansion of the band’s second release, an EP, with a bonus DVD of performance clips.

Heart, Strange Euphoria (Epic/Legacy)

A 3 CD/1 DVD box chronicling the highs of Ann and Nancy Wilson’s lengthy careers, with hits and rarities in equal measure.

Lenny Kravitz, Mama Said: 21st Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Virgin/EMI)

Kravitz’s sophomore album, featuring hit single “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over,” expanded with non-LP B-sides, live material and archival demos.

America, Perspective / In Concert, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Close Up the Honky Tonks, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Are You Ready! (BGO)

Some hidden gems from some of the best ’70s and ’80s rockers, all of which are either rare or new to CD.

Kylie Minogue, The Best of Kylie Minogue (EMI Catalogue)

A simple, compact collection of Kylie hits. A special edition features a DVD of music videos.

Black Sabbath, Iron Man: The Best of Black Sabbath (Sanctuary U.K.)

A bare-bones Sabbath compilation.

The Association, The Complete Warner Bros. and Valiant Singles Collection (Now Sounds)

Every last one of The Association’s singles for the Valiant and Warner Bros. labels are collected on two CDs!  Watch for full coverage of this collection soon!

Is There Anyone Out There? Maroon 5 to Expand Debut Album Alongside Newest LP (UPDATE 5/11)

As crazy as it may sound, the debut album by pop-rock band Maroon 5 is turning 10 this year, and the band is picking a strange time to commemorate it.

The band and their label, A&M/Octone, are partnering to release a double-disc expanded edition of 2002’s Songs About Jane featuring “original demos, unreleased material and videos.” The set will be released to general retail on June 5; a deluxe bundle, available on the band’s website, also comes with a bonus lithograph “incorporating original art inspired by each song” in addition to the album’s distinctive cover art.

What makes the timing of the reissue odd is it’s due to arrive alongside the release of the band’s fourth album, Overexposed. It’s easy to question the marketing sense behind pitting a quadruple-platinum Top 10 smash against a more current album, whose debut single “Payphone” debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, setting a first-week digital sales record of 493,000 units sold.

But it’s also hard to deny the impact Songs About Jane had on the group, serving as one of the last great slow burns in pop history: the band was forged from the failure of power-pop group Kara’s Flowers, whose Rob Cavallo-produced debut stiffed in 1997, when the members were still in high school. Adding an extra guitarist and embracing R&B and soul stylings, Songs About Jane didn’t go anywhere for over a year, until fans began to notice the radio-friendly riffs and striking good looks of the band members (notably lead singer Adam Levine, who’s parlayed his singing career into a prime spot as a judge on NBC’s The Voice).

Ultimately, Jane spun off four Top 40 hits, including the Top 5 smashes “This Love” and “She Will Be Loved.” Constant touring in support of Jane – not to mention a Grammy Award for Best New Artist – led 2007’s sophomore album It Won’t Be Soon Before Long to the top of the charts, and the group’s foray into dance music with 2011’s “Moves Like Jagger” was a solid No. 1 hit for weeks.

UPDATE (5/11): The full specs of the reissue have been announced, and bonus content is plentiful. The 17-track bonus disc includes demos of every song on the album, a non-LP B-side, “Rag Doll”; demos of three rare or unreleased tunes (“Woman,” heard on 2004’s Spider-Man 2 soundtrack, and the unissued “Take What You Want” and “Chilly Winter”) and an alternate mix of album track “The Sun.” The disc will also unlock video content including footage of the band recording Jane and the original EPK for the album. Hit the jump to check the full track list!