“ICON” is Now a Capitol Idea

Another few batches of Universal’s eye-rolling ICON series are on the way – and while they offer a few genuine surprises, there’s a lot, perhaps even more than usual, to shake one’s head over.

The big surprise right off the bat is that the mid-price compilation series will now chronicle not only Universal-controlled catalogue artists, but EMI-controlled ones as well. This is hardly a surprise, given the past year’s big story of music business restructuring that’s leaving the world with three major music labels including a Universal/EMI conglomerate.

But the budget compilation idea is nothing new for EMI artists – and frustratingly, ICON is starting off by covering those EMI artists with more than enough compilations to go around, including The Beach Boys, Poison and Pat Benatar. While we have a few surprises to go around on the Universal side of the ICON list – Liberace and Captain & Tennille are prime examples on the “didn’t see that coming” list – there’s very little new or exciting in these batches. (The ICON entry for Bon Jovi is, in fact, a clone of the band’s 1994 compilation Cross Road with the cover art poorly repurposed.)

The only real boon for collectors is the ICON title for Go-Go’s frontwoman (and recent acquisition by Demon Music Group) Belinda Carlisle, whose set will feature a brand-new recording, “Sun,” her first recording to hit U.S. stores in 15 years.

These new batches kick off tomorrow with five EMI-controlled gospel artists (including Amy Grant, whose biggest pop hits were ironically on Universal’s A&M label). Another 15 follow the next week, and two more (Jimmy Cliff and Bon Jovi) follow the week after that. And they’re all yours to consider after the jump.

Release Round-Up: Week of May 3

Sade, The Ultimate Collection (Epic)

The sultry British soul band anthologized across two discs, featuring several brand-new tracks – the perfect teaser for their long-awaited summer tour. (Official site)

Loudon Wainwright, 40 Odd Years (Shout! Factory)

The witty singer/songwriter is anthologized across four CDs and a DVD. Check for Joe’s review later today! (Shout! Factory)

Rush, Moving Pictures: Deluxe Edition (Blu-Ray) (Mercury/UMe)

Already available at Best Buy since April, the CD/Blu-Ray edition of the classic Canadian rockers’ album makes a wider retail debut. (Official site)

The Association, And Then…Along Comes The Association! Expanded Edition (Now Sounds)

A forgotten classic of ’60s folk-pop, presented in mono for the first time since its original vinyl release and expanded with a dozen bonus cuts. Do note: this title, as well as the next three entries, have been available in the U.K. for a week and are now stocked with U.S. retailers. (Now Sounds)

Pennye Ford, Pennye Ford: Expanded Edition / Yarbrough & Peoples, Be a Winner: Expanded Edition / Loose Change, Loose Change: Expanded Edition / Tom Moulton, TJM: Expanded Edition (Big Break)

The latest slate from Big Break, featuring rare 12″ mixes and what have you. (Big Break)

The Fall, The Marshall Suite: Expanded Edition (Cherry Red)

An expanded version of the indie rockers’ techno-influenced album, expanded to three discs, featuring CD single material and rare live tracks. (Cherry Red)

Pepsi & Shirlie, All Right Now: Special Edition (Cherry Pop)

The former WHAM! backup singers’ debut album, expanded with rare single sides. (Cherry Pop)

Poison, Double Dose: Ultimate Hits (EMI/Capitol)

Do you need another Poison compilation? If so, here you are! A two-disc one. (Official site)

Barry Manilow, Duets (Arista/Legacy)

Another Manilow comp, focusing on his work with others. (Official site)

Rob Zombie, ICON (Geffen/UMe)

Oh dear, reader Don wasn’t kidding. This first came out back in 2010. This is a reissue of a reissue. The universe is clearly about to turn inside out. But…there’s a single-disc edition this time around, so…there’s that. (Amazon: 1-CD, 2-CD)

Poison Double Dip with “Double Dose”

There comes a time in every music collector’s life where we utter, “Another (name of artist) compilation?!” The time has come to put Poison in those parentheses; their latest collection is due in stores on May 3.

Double Dose: Ultimate Hits does have a lot of worthy material for new fans. In addition to collating all the band’s notable singles, it includes a fair amount of album cuts and at least one or two non-LP tracks that were scooped up on reissues or prior compilations. But for hardcore fans, there’s nothing new – this is yet another in a long line of compilations, particularly after one that came out not too long ago. But if you need a primer for the band’s upcoming tour – or a reminder of something other than Bret Michaels’ questionable musical activities at present – here you go.

Double Dose is yours to buy at Amazon; check the track list after the jump.

Release Round-Up: Week of January 11

Queen, Greatest Hits / Greatest Hits II (Island/UMe)

Queen’s 40th anniversary celebration kicks in the U.K. off with a new remaster of the band’s first two greatest hits compilations on the band’s new label in England, Island Records. (The music of Queen is still licensed by Disney’s Hollywood Records in the U.S.) Remastered and expanded studio albums will follow later in the year, which American fans will also have to import. (Official site)

Tim Buckley, Tim Buckley: Deluxe Edition (Elektra/Rhino Handmade)

This classic, folky debut is presented in an expanded set that features the album in mono and stereo and a bonus disc of unreleased demos. (Rhino Handmade)

N.E.R.D, The Best of N.E.R.D (Virgin/EMI)

The pop/rap producers of The Neptunes had some minor commercial success as their own group, whose early material is being compiled for the first time. (Official site)

Stevie Wonder, Fulfillingness’ First Finale (Audio Fidelity)

A 24K gold CD edition of Wonder’s 1974 album, a No. 1 hit and one of the artist’s defining Motown classics. (Audio Fidelity)

Also out this week on vinyl: reissues of ZZ Top’s Rio Grande Mud (1972) and Deguello (1979) on Rhino, and from Friday Music, new pressings of Poison’s Look What the Cat Dragged In (1986), Ted Nugent’s Cat Scratch Fever (1977) and Deep Purple’s Burn (1974).

Release Round-Up: Week of November 9

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Damn the Torpedoes: Deluxe Edition (Geffen/UMe)

With a bonus disc of B-sides and unreleased outtakes and an optional Blu-Ray audio version, audiophiles hopefully won’t have a reason to say “don’t do me like that” with this set. (Official site)

Bon Jovi, Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection (Island)

If 1994’s Cross Road isn’t enough of a Bon Jovi comp for you, this career-spanning set (available in single and double-disc formats) combines all the usual hits with two new tracks (or four, depending on what set you buy). (Official site)

Elvis Presley, Viva ELVIS: The Album (RCA/Legacy)

The King gets his own equivalent to The Beatles’ Love, complete with a soundtrack of remixed, re-imagined classics. (More material you’re not going to find on the box set.) (Official site)

The Rolling Stones, Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones (Box Set) (Eagle)

The Stones’ classic Exile-era concert film (just recently released on DVD) is paired with this year’s The Stones in Exile and a bunch of bonus material in a limited, numbered box. (Amazon)

Bing Crosby, The Crosby Christmas Sessions (Collector’s Choice) / The Television Specials Volume 2: The Christmas Specials (Infinity)

Hooray for Christmas catalogue titles! Collector’s Choice honors Bing’s holiday spirit with a trove of mostly-unreleased Yuletide tracks, while Infinity Entertainment gets his holiday television specials on DVD. (Official site)

New Poison Comp is Hard to Swallow

Some of us get a bit jaded about catalogue projects sometimes. Not all of us can help it, but every now and then it doesn’t hurt to stop and realize why we’re so upset about a seemingly pointless compilation or repackage. That seemingly useless single-disc greatest-hits set that offers nothing new for a collector might be the entry point for a new fan into a certain artist’s discography, turning them into as hardcore a fan as you and me. (And let’s not forget the best-kept secret – so secret that not even everyone in the music industry realizes – that the hardcore fan is really the best and most reliable section of the music-loving population.)

That said, though, even this writer can find little to recommend in Poison’s upcoming compilation, Nothin’ But a Good Time: The Collection. The two-disc set is comprised of two previously-released, easily criticized titles. The first disc is the 2006 compilation The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock, which included all the big hits, album tracks, at least one rarity and a new track, a cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re An American Band.” But even that set missed including anything from fan-favorite disc Crack a Smile…and More! in favor of a few tracks from the band’s latter-day indie albums. Then the second disc is simply a port of the remastered version of Swallow This Live, a 1991 concert disc that was inexplicably cut from two CDs to one, eliminating portions of the concert (including the show-off solos that are standard practice at Poison sets) and a handful of then-new studio tracks (now, as a result, increasingly hard to find). It wasn’t the best purchase then, and it isn’t now as part of this new set.

Sure, there’s a bit of collectible swag included (“a limited-edition ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ bandanna,” presumably for those times you and yours pretend to be on Rock of Love with Bret Michaels), but is that going to sway even hardcore fans in the absence of anything remotely new on the audio side? This set’s out Tuesday if you’re really curious (or want to give a strange gift at the office holiday party), but this set will more likely than not have you saying, “Look what the cat dragged in.”

Back Tracks: Poison

The way culture advances nowadays, it’s not surprising to realize you’ve forgotten certain ways you might have thought or felt about a musician in particular. For instance, when singer Bret Michaels was rushed to the hospital last week after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage, I’m sure many people (especially younger ones with less perspective) immediately thought of Michael’s career as a reality show star – he’s currently on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice and has spent three years on the abysmal VH1 dating show Rock of Love.

Fortunately, there were probably some who heard the unfortunate news – and the much better news that Michaels is slowly showing signs of improvement – and thought about Michaels’ ongoing tenure as frontman for Poison, one of the better pop-metal bands of the 1980s. There aren’t many people who were teens in the ’80s that can forget the band; they were at once one of the best party-starters and creators of one of the best tunes to slow-dance to at prom.

Although their back catalogue is distributed by the industry’s favorite punching bag, EMI, there have still been a few choice remasters and compilations created from the Poison discography. As we wish Michaels a speedy recovery, take a trip down memory lane with Poison’s Back Tracks.