Nine great album reissues from 2024

David Bowie; “Rock’n’Roll Star!” (Rhino/Parlophone)

This richly packaged set captures the birth of one of rock’s greatest characters. Ziggy Stardust played guitar and also came to Earth to deliver a pre-apocalyptic message of peace. Or something – the story is unclear, but David Bowie created an indelible suite of songs from it. Here are demos and rehearsals that mark their evolution towards the landmark album from 1972. Five live recordings of Bowie’s legendary band recorded at Boston Music Hall that year make one wish they had survived from this era. (David Weininger)

The Waterboys; “1985” (Chrysalis)

Take the trappings of British Isles folk and add some punk spirit and 1980s sonic brilliance and you get The Waterboys, fronted by the brilliant songwriter. Mike Scott. In the middle of the decade, they created an undeniably great album (‘This Is the Sea’) and a ubiquitous single, ‘The Whole of the Moon’. Their genesis is exhaustively captured in this set, the deluxe edition of which includes a hardcover book in which Scott unfolds the song-by-song process by which music and a near-perfect moment in time came together. Listen and remember band member Karl Wallinger, who passed away earlier this year. (David Weininger)

Fanny, “Live on Beat-Club ’71-’72” (Real Gone)

One of the villains of the 2021 documentary “Fanny: The Right to Rock” was producer Richard Perry, who the pioneering feminist/queer band felt hindered their career. “Live on Beat-Club ’71-’72” wraps around it, breaking two sets recorded for German television. Whether it’s a jaw-dropping rendition of The Beatles’ “Hey Bulldog” or originals like “Blind Alley,” each member plays like a woman possessed. And Untamed: Left to their own devices, Fanny proves they could have been major players in ’70s rock ‘n’ roll if it hadn’t taken 52 years for them to be heard. (Marc Hirsch)

Paul McCartney and Wings, “One Hand Clapping” (MPL)

Following last year’s occasional fan-oriented “1962-1966” and “1967-1970” updates, this year’s Beatles reissue – the mono editions of the 1964 US releases – seemed expressly aimed at Fab Four obsessives. Leave it to Macca to please the crowd. Recorded live in the studio in 1974 while part of a new group Wings, “A clap of hands” can be seen as a companion piece to “Wings Over America”: where that live album is fueled by adrenal exhaustion, “Clapping” showcases a band that hasn’t yet been derailed by a year on the road, loose and stuck while running. trifles, major songs and abandoned gems. (Marc Hirsch)

The Rain Parade, “Emergency Third Rail Power Trip” (Label 51) and Continental Drifters, “White Noise & Lightning: The Best Of Continental Drifters” (Omnivore)

These two albums are released from Paisley Underground. The Rain Parade’s debut captures the anachronistic early 80s LA psych-pop scene in all its glory, a glittering wonder of wild-eyed guitar strums and dreamy sound, with a second demo disc and live recordings. sweetening the deal. Meanwhile, ‘White Noise & Lightning’ Vicki Peterson of the Bangles and Mark Walton of the Dream Syndicate join forces with members of the dBs, Cowsills and others to become a rock-pop powerhouse. For fans, there’s an epic and ferocious 12-minute live Who We Are, Where We Live. For newcomers, a taste of a wonderful catalog that begs to be explored. (Marc Hirsch)

“Songwriter”, Johnny Cash (Mercury Nashville/UMe)

“Songwriter” starts from demos that Johnny Cash recorded when he was in a hiatus in his career in the early 1990s, after his contract with Mercury ended and before he began working with Rick Rubin and American Recordings. What’s here from those demos is just Cash’s voice. His son, John Carter Cash, removed the instrumentation from the originals and brought in a new Tennessee Three in musicians who had a history with Cash – Marty Stuart, Dave Roe, Pete Abbot – supplemented by other players, to provide new accompaniment. With that sympathetic backing, Cash sings songs (all written by him) about home, family, and especially the love of his life, June Carter Cash. Too often these kinds of efforts are a little uncomfortable; it affects strangely. (Stuart Munro)

“Long After Dark Deluxe Edition”, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Geffen/UMe)

Since its release in 1982, ‘Long After Dark’ has lived in the shadow of its two predecessors, the back-to-back hits ‘Damn the Torpedoes’ and ‘Hard Promises’. That fate is a little undeserved. Granted, there’s nothing in the discussion to match, say, “Here Comes My Girl” or “The Waiting,” to name a few, but nevertheless, when you hear songs like “Deliver Me” or “Finding Out” , it is still the vintage period Tom Petty. Still, with that less-than-sound approval in mind, what’s the catch with this release? Besides a remastered original and, if you buy the CD package, a blu-ray version, the main draw is the raft of unreleased gems it includes. Petty thought that some of these – “Ways to Be Wicked” and “Keeping Me Alive” in particular – would have made Long After Dark a better album if they had been on it. Now you can judge for yourself. (Stuart Munro)

“Stars in the Southern Sky”, Steve Young (Omnivore Recordings)

Steve Young is one of ’70s country music’s lesser-known figures and one of the most soulful voices in all of country, outlaw or not. This compilation puts his 1975 album ‘Honky-Tonk Man’ back after being unavailable for years, and that alone would be a reason to buy it. But it also adds a whopping 34 tracks, taken from the same period as the album – and all previously unreleased, of Young performing live, alone, singing his own songs and covering everyone from Greg Allman to Hank Williams. Whether in the studio or live, these sets show what Young was: a phenomenal songwriter, an unparalleled performer, and a compelling singer and songwriter. (Stuart Munro)

---