Chickenfoot’s Debut Gets New Legs on Double-Disc Set

It only saw release a few years back, but hard-rock supergroup Chickenfoot is reissuing their out-of-print debut album with a nice amount of extra tracks.

The incredible pedigree of the band – featuring former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony on vocals and bass, respectively, along with guitarist Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith – earned a heavy amount of media attention upon first release, particularly as Hagar and Anthony’s former bandmates in Van Halen re-recruited David Lee Roth to join them on tour. Don’t expect VH clones on Chickenfoot’s self-titled debut, though. Smith’s kinetic drumming and Satriani’s always-virtuosic six-string licks kept hard rock traditions alive while marking new territory for the quartet.

Amazingly, despite its A-list status (and, for a modern rock album, impressive gold record from the RIAA for over 500,000 copies shipped), the album fell out of print in recent years. To remedy this, the group acquired the masters are partnering with the eOne label (who released the band’s sophomore disc, Chickenfoot III, in 2011) to expand and reissue the disc.

The double-disc set will feature newly-heard live tracks recorded during the group’s Different Devil Tour, in support of Chickenfoot III – all of which seem to be songs from that album – as well as “Bitten by the Wolf,” a studio bonus track on import pressings and digital editions of the original album. (No word as to whether or not the new pressing will retain the neat original cover, printed with heat-sensitive ink.)

Hit the jump to pre-order your copy and view the track list. (A hat tip to Ultimate Classic Rock for getting the scoop on this set!)

Release Round-Up: Week of May 1

George Harrison, Living in the Material World / Early Takes Vol. 1 (Hip-O/UMe)

The big release in the U.S. today: Martin Scorsese’s documentary about the esteemed Beatle on DVD and Blu-Ray, and a 10-track disc of entirely unreleased demos and outtakes.

The Beach Boys, 50th Anniversary Collection ‘ZinePak (Capitol/EMI)

A new compilation/mini-booklet, available exclusively at Walmart stores in America, that features classic Beach Boys singles alongside the first-ever album appearance of the band’s new recording of “Do It Again.”

Greg Phillinganes, Pulse: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records)

The famous session keyboardist’s 1984 solo album, featuring the Michael Jackson outtake “Behind the Mask,” gets expanded and re-released in the U.K. by Big Break.

Lee Hazlewood, The LHI Years: Singles, Nudes, & Backsides (1968-1971) (Light in the Attic)

Released on vinyl for Record Store Day, this compilation of solo tracks from the “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” writer/producer gets a CD release today.

The Ad-Libs, The Complete Blue Cat Recordings / Mel McDaniel, Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On — His Original Capitol Hits / Eddie Rabbitt, 13 Original #1 Hits / The Grateful Dead, Dick’s Picks Vol. 30 — Academy of Music, New York City, NY 3/25 & 3/28/72 and Dick’s Picks Vol. 31 – 8/4-5 Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA 8/6/74, Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ (Real Gone)

A diverse offering from the fine folks at Real Gone, including two reissues of classic Dead shows.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, We Salute You (Warner Bros.)

In honor of their recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, the Chili Peppers release this digital-only EP of B-side and non-LP covers of their fellow inductees.

Chili Peppers Revisit Classic Covers on Digital EP

How do the Red Hot Chili Peppers celebrate their graduation to legend status per their recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction? They pay tribute to the ones that came before on a new digital EP that includes a handful of B-sides paying tribute to their favorite fellow inductees.

We Salute You, to be released May 1, includes covers of Dion and The Belmonts, The Ramones, The Stooges, Neil Young, The Beach Boys and David Bowie, all of which can certainly be argued as influences for the long-running funk-rock outfit.  Half of the covers are studio takes, having appeared on CD singles or other compilations (the band’s take on The Ramones’ “Havana Affair” dates from 2003’s We’re a Happy Family tribute album, for example). The other half are live tracks, one of which is being released for the first time anywhere. (All but one of these tracks have never appeared in digital format before.)

For those fans that haven’t warmed up to new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who joined following original arguably best-known guitarist John Frusciante’s second departure last year, fear not: almost every one of these tracks features the band’s innovative axeman. (The cover of Neil Young’s “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” dates from the band’s most recent tour last year, while their take on Bowie’s “Suffragette City” was released on a CD single during the One Hot Minute era, when Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction served as guitarist.)

Check out the full track lineup after the jump.

Warner Waxes Nostalgic for Record Store Day

Believe it or not, Record Store Day is almost upon us. (It’s April 21 – just over a month away!) We’ve been anxiously awaiting word from the labels on what’s coming out this year, and it looks like Warner Music Group is one of the first to the scene.

While there’s not much in the way of unreleased goodies on the catalogue side of things – there are certainly plenty new or unearthed songs from current acts, which you can read about here – there are a couple of vintage and contemporary classics bowing or reappearing on LP, and as catalogue enthusiasts it would be the right thing to pass the news along to you.

Interestingly, there seem to be a repeat in the mix: Eric Clapton’s Blues box set, which we covered last year, is down to under 1,000 copies, having sold at RSD’s Black Friday event in November.

But everything else old is looking pretty new otherwise. What will Warner offer?

• There’s going to be a neat 3 CD/1 DVD box set from Wilco and Billy Bragg commemorating the 1998 album Mermaid Avenue. The acclaimed disc featured new musical compositions from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and British alt-rocker Bragg, featuring unpublished lyrics by folk legend Woody Guthrie. The box will feature a remaster of the original album, 2000’s Mermaid Avenue Vol. II, a previously-unreleased third disc of material and the 1999 documentary Man in the Sand, chronicling these sessions.
• Commemorating a decade of metal group Disturbed, Warner will release The Collection, a box set of all of their albums – The Sickness (2000) and the No. 1 albums Believe (2002), Ten Thousand Fists (2005), Indestructible (2008) and Asylum (2010) – on 140-gram vinyl with specially-designed artwork. This box is limited to 2,500 copies.
• Fleetwood Mac’s classic, self-titled 1975 album will be pressed as a special limited edition vinyl, following a similar reissue for Rumours last year. The album that introduced Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham to the group featured hits in “Rihannon,” “Say You Love Me” and more. The discs, cut at Bernie Grundman Mastering from the original analog tapes, will be mastered at 33 1/3 RPM and 45 RPM.
• Metallica’s Beyond Magnetic EP – consisting of four outtakes from 2008’s Death Magnetic – was released digitally last year and now gets its first release on silver vinyl.
• The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ hit Stadium Arcadium (2009) is being remastered for vinyl by Steve Hoffman, in honor of the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• Finally, arguably the best gem of Warner’s “Side by Side” 7″ single series (pairing an original hit with a new or rare cover) would be a gold-colored 45 featuring, for the first time together, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin’s versions of “Respect.”

Again, keep it tuned in here as more RSD reports come in, and save your pennies, because April 21 is here before you know it!

Short Takes: Paul is Digital, New Rock Hall Class, Rush Box Issues, The Cure Make “Wish” for 2012

• Paul McCartney is not dead, but he is digital: a new beta version of his website, developed with Hewlett-Packard, brings his solo catalogue to fans through a cloud service, along with a host of interactive features. Fans can stream all of his studio albums (including collaboration projects like The Fireman and Twin Freaks) through a jukebox, and premium members can download that jukebox as a desktop app. Additionally, a new “Rude Studio” section of his site allows fans to play and mix three-track stems of some of his greatest hits. Conspicuously absent is the bonus material from any of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection reissues. (Due credit to Super Deluxe Edition for their reportage.)
• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees for 2012 have been announced. The Beastie Boys, Donovan, Guns N’ Roses, Laura Nyro, The Small Faces/Faces and The Red Hot Chili Peppers were rewarded in the performer category, Freddie King will be inducted as an early influence, the Ahmet Ertegun (nonperformer) award will go to Don Kirshner and the Awards for Musical Excellence go to producer Tom Dowd and engineers Cosimo Matassa and Glyn Johns. A hearty congratulations to all those recognized.
• Rush have announced that production flaws exist on two of the three recently-released Sectors box sets. Fans have noted problems with Fly By Night (1975) in the Sector 1 box and the DVD version of A Farewell to Kings (1977) in Sector 2. A disc replacement program will be implemented shortly, per the band. (Thanks to Ultimate Classic Rock for the tip.)
• Tuesday was grey (and Wednesday too) at Second Disc HQ, but it’s brightened with the news of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame non-inductees The Cure reissuing hit single “Friday I’m in Love” next year for Record Store Day and the Teenage Cancer Trust. The single, which you – yes, you – could design the cover art for – also looks to be a tie-in for a reissue of the album it came from, 1992’s Wish, for its 20th anniversary, so there’s another expansion we can look forward to in the coming year. (Hat tips abound to Slicing Up Eyeballs for this one.)

Legacy Provides Relief for Japan

Now here’s a surprise. iTunes, in concert with the major record labels, put together a 38-song compilation called Songs for Japan, the proceeds of which would go to relief funds for the ongoing crises in Japan following a massive earthquake and tsunami that left the country in a state of peril.

And now, Amazon has a listing for the compilation on CD from Legacy. (This two-disc set actually omits some of the tracks heard on the iTunes version, namely tracks by Madonna and David Guetta.) While it’s not a boon for collectors – collecting notable tracks by John Lennon, U2, Sting, Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen and almost every other famous rock artist one can think of – it’s certainly worth the $10 for a good cause, and we would be remiss if we didn’t pass on to our loyal readers that one can help by simply buying some music – something you and I likely do a lot!

Order Songs for Japan here and hit the jump for the track list.

Reissue Theory: Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”

The fearful question reissue enthusiasts have to ask – particularly those who might have a hand in putting them out for public consumption – is: when is the reissue wave going to crash?

I don’t pose the question in terms of when people will stop paying money for physical media, because I don’t think that’s a particularly relevant problem right now. As long as fans keep buying enough reissued CDs now and future generations take a moment to ponder the merits of sound quality, this isn’t an issue. I’m not talking in terms of no more material to release or repackage. Seriously, for every catalogue release that surprises you with its depth, there are another ten or so on your wish list.

Instead, the question is meant in terms of when the music stops being worth a reissue. That’s not to say that all music after such-and-such a date is crap. Instead, it is a very sad probability that attention-challenged newer listeners who barely have time to consume music past a few singles here and there won’t be able to successfully process an album once, let alone twice. The best and/or most successful records of the past 10 to 15 years – Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head, No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom, even Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time (hey, cut out that laughing) – will have a hard time finding an audience past the super-hardcore fans, and even then there will be those not interested enough in buying a new set.

The good thing is there are still some acts with long careers – even stretching into the 1990s – that haven’t taken full advantage of reissuing their greats with the usual flair. Case in point the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have a large, devoted fanbase from a multifaceted 25-year career but who have only seen four of their nine albums reissued on CD (that would be their EMI-owned material from 1984 to 1989). Their Warner-era material – beginning of course with 1991’s excellent crossover smash Blood Sugar Sex Magik – still remains un-reissued.

But hey – 2011 is the 20th anniversary of the disc, so an expansion may be feasible someday. And there’s always Reissue Theory! Give it away after the jump.