To the Edge of Glory and Back: Gaga Reissues “Born This Way” with Extra Discs for Holidays

It wouldn’t be the holiday season without a few reissues of recent works, and we’ve got a big one coming up in just a month: a sprawling three-disc version of Lady Gaga’s monster hit album Born This Way.

Love her or hate her, the New York girl born Stefani Germanotta has gone from Madonna-aping pop singer to bizarro pop-cultural force since her 2008 debut. The release of this year’s Born This Way, her second studio-length effort (following 2009’s excellent EP The Fame Monster and a throwaway remix album), was a major event in and of itself, selling over a million copies in its first week of release, the highest-selling single week debut in five years. (The controversial first-week Amazon MP3 price of 99 cents probably helped drive sales.)

While it’s not her most focused work, the number of influences she draws from on the record – not only Madonna but Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Def Leppard, Whitney Houston, CHIC and Bruce Springsteen (poignant, mood-heightening album closer “The Edge of Glory,” featuring the last studio work of the Big Man, Clarence Clemons, is one of the highlights) – is impressive. And the quartet of Top 10 hits, including the title track (the 1,000th song to top the Billboard charts), “Judas,” “The Edge of Glory” and “Yoü and I,” aren’t too shabby either. (Fifth single “Marry the Night,” to be released alongside this new reissue, might join the ranks soon.)

As The Fame Monster was available on its own or with The Fame for the 2009 holiday season, Born This Way: The Collection is a combination of several new Gaga titles that will be available on their own for those who already got their copy of the album itself. In addition to the 17-track special edition version of the album (albeit without the remix disc that appeared in said package), fans will get Born This Way: The Remix, a new remix album featuring 14 all-new reconfigurations of tracks from noted DJs and dance producers, and the DVD of The Monster Ball Tour special broadcast on HBO earlier this spring. (Both the remix set and the live show will be available separately, with Monster Ball coming to DVD and Blu-Ray.)

All these sets – plus Gaga’s Lady Gaga x Terry Richardson photo book – will be available November 21. Order the three-disc set at Amazon here and check the track list after the jump.

Mumford & Sons Go Back to “The Cave” for Expanded Album

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past year or so, Mumford & Sons isn’t the name of a trendy country boutique. It’s a rather great, roots-oriented band turning out some of the best, harmonically dense Americana-tinged rock on the scene right now. (Naturally, they’re not from around these parts, calling West London their home.)

In the year since Mumford & Sons’ Sigh No More was released in the U.S., the quartet’s songs, namely “Little Lion Man” and “The Cave,” have become surprising crossover hits. Constant touring and promotion on television helped the album peak at No. 2; the band particularly enjoyed a 99% sales jump after performing on the Grammy Awards alongside The Avett Brothers and a surprising upstart named Bob Dylan. (The band received nominations for Best Rock Song and Best New Artist, too.)

On October 25, as the band reconvenes in the studio for their second album, their U.S. label Glassnote will release a three-disc expanded edition of the record, featuring a host of extras. (This package was released last year in their native U.K. by Island Records.) In addition to the album and one bonus track, “Hold On to What You Believe,” a bonus CD includes a live show on the band’s U.K. tour, and a DVD features a three-part documentary about the band. The set will also come in a faux-leather case with a 22-page booklet.

The deluxe Sigh No More – one of the first deluxe editions of recent records you’ll be spotting for the fourth quarter (but assuredly not the last) – can be pre-ordered here. The track list is after the jump.

Arcade Fire Goes Back to “The Suburbs”

Canadian indie-rockers Arcade Fire have had a pretty successful year. Their third studio album, The Suburbs (2010), was a critical and commercial smash, topping the Billboard charts and netting them a Grammy for Album of the Year. And while their victory may have turned some heads, it was well-deserved; The Suburbs is an appealing, sprawling rock epic the likes of which are all too rare these days.

In case you missed it the first time around, the band is set to re-release the record on June 27 with a bit of extra content. Besides two previously-unreleased tracks (as announced by BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe earlier today), the set will be expanded with a DVD featuring Scenes from the Suburbs, a short film based around the album directed by Spike Jonze, as well as a making-of documentary.

There’s no pre-order links gone live yet, but check out the track list after the jump.

Florence and The Machine Expansion Coming to U.S. Shores

If you’ve been waiting to pick up Lungs, the impressive debut album by Florence and The Machine, you now have a new incentive to buy it: an expanded edition is hitting U.S. shelves this month.

Lungs was a smash hit upon its release in the band’s native England in 2009; the album debuted at No. 2, held off only by The Essential Michael Jackson after the week of his passing. Sixty-two weeks later, the album still resides in the U.K. Top 40, and the album has since peaked within the Top 20 in the U.S., thanks to the hit “Dog Days Are Over,” featured in several commercials and in an impressive performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. (Lead singer Florence Welch, all of 24 years old, also took part in a tribute to Aretha Franklin at this year’s Grammy Awards.)

The album was expanded and repackaged as Between Two Lungs in the U.K. last November, adding new singles, remixes and a live EP as a bonus disc. On March 29, that package will come to American stores. If you’ve yet to get yourself a copy of the album, now may be the time to do so, what with all the extra content. You can pre-order it on Amazon and check out the track list after the jump.

Reissue! Repackage! Repackage! Volume #4: It Ain’t Heavy, It’s Our “Brothers”

Another neat recent reissue for your perusal: a deluxe box set version of Brothers, the latest release by garage-blues band The Black Keys.

The Akron, Ohio duo – comprised of vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney – have been on the rise since the early 2000s. Their simple, raw sound and simple sense of marketability (their tunes have featured in dozens of films and advertisements) have won them over a great amount of fans, from ZZ Top to Danger Mouse, who produced the band’s 2008 effort Attack & Release. Brothers, released this past spring, was the band’s biggest hit to date, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard charts.

This limited, numbered reissue of the album includes the original LP on both CD and split between two 7″ vinyl discs, as well as a bonus 10″ EP of live tracks and a poster. It will be released on Black Friday, November 26, a day being commemorated by Record Store Day participants with other special releases.

Reissue! Repackage! Repackage! Volume #3: Ke$ha’s “Cannibal” Instincts

Figures: try to start a new feature and it seems to be all that happens. Yet another reissue of an incredibly recent record is coming your way this holiday season – the debut by firebrand pop star Ke$ha.

Kesha Sebert is one of those love-her-or-hate-her musicians on the scene today. Her debut album, Animal, is packed with inescapable pop hooks, thanks mostly to the production and songwriting talents of Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, a one-time Saturday Night Live band member who’s produced hits for Kelly Clarkson (“Since U Been Gone”), Katy Perry (“California Gurls”) and Miley Cyrus (“Party in the U.S.A.”). While Luke supplies Ke$ha with the freshest beats and hooks, critics have scoffed at the singer’s rail-thin, effects-heavy voice, garbage-chic style and obnoxious party-girl image.

But with four Top 10 singles already under her belt, it’s only natural that RCA would want to get some more while the getting’s good. Thus we have Animal/Cannibal, the upcoming expansion of her debut album with a bonus EP of eight new tracks and one remix. Lead single “We R Who We R” is already poised to burn up teenage radios, so those of you with fans in your family may expect a very Ke$ha Christmas whether you like it or not.

As has been the trend in the past year, the Cannibal disc will be available for those who’ve already bought the main album. Check out the full track list after the jump.

Reissue! Repackage! Repackage! Volume #2: Shinedown Double Their “Madness”

Another relatively recent reissue coming down the pipeline: alt-metal band Shinedown will reissue their most recent album, 2008’s The Sound of Madness, in a new CD/DVD package that’s actually quite heavy on bonus material.

The album, which spawned several rock hits including the surprise crossover single “Second Chance,” a Top 10 hit in the winter of 2009, will be expanded with nine bonus cuts and a DVD of music videos and live performances. The bonus tracks come from a variety of sources, including some digital singles, a previous bonus track edition released to iTunes and the band’s fan club, and a few soundtrack tunes.

If you’re a fan or are really, really curious, it’s a rather large amount of material to reward yourself (including the one-year fan club membership that comes with the set). Certainly not the kind of skimpy holiday reissues many of us are used to. It arrives in stores on November 23, and the track list is after the jump.

Reissue! Repackage! Repackage! Volume #1: Another Trip to “San Francisco”

Here’s another new feature for your consideration at The Second Disc: reissues of classic albums are the core of our coverage, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the other, odder batches of reissues. You know, the ones that come out after a record does alright on its own, to squeeze some more juice from the rinds. It’s easier to be more cynical about these sets, but everything deserves its own place.

Train, much like Ken Jeong’s character on the show Community, is a band that can never die. Thought “Meet Virginia” would consign them to one-hit wonder status in 1999? “Drops of Jupiter” was there to push them back into your consciousness in 2001. Then “Calling All Angels” in 2003. Then…more or less nothing, until “Hey, Soul Sister” grabbed your radio by the neck and refused to let go all through the past year.

Now, Columbia plans to release a new version of the album which spawned “Hey, Soul Sister” in time for the holiday rush. Save Me, San Francisco: Golden Gate Edition includes six extra tracks, including a remix of new single “Marry Me” and “Shake Up Christmas,” obviously intended for seasonal playlists.

Head-shaking aside, Train have been consistent in their production of semi-catchy pop-rock over the past decade or so; thus, you won’t be judged if you end up picking this set up for yourself or the people you love.

The track list for this new reissue is after the jump.