R.E.M.'s 'Out of Time' to get deluxe reissue treatment

photo: F. Ockenfells III

A quarter of a century after ‘Out Of Time’ helped break alternative music into the American mainstream and turned R.E.M. into a worldwide phenomenon, the band have announced a special 25th Anniversary Edition, out Nov. 18 via Concord Bicycle.

‘Out Of Time’ will be released in three different formats. 

On the 2 CD set will be a remastered version of the original album alongside demo versions of every album track, as well as demos for two non-album b-sides and a previously unreleased song. The 3 LP Set will include remastered vinyl versions of the original album and the demos.

The 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of ‘Out Of Time’ will include 4 discs, featuring the remastered album, demos, recordings from the band’s performance at Mountain Stage in 1991 (a rarity for the time, as the band did not tour to promote ‘Out Of Time’), and a Blu-Ray disc with hi-resolution audio and 5.1 Surround Sound versions of ‘Out Of Time,’ all of the music videos from the album, and the 1991 electronic press kit ‘Time Piece,’ featuring in-studio footage, exclusive performances and more. All versions will feature extensive liner notes by Annie Zaleski featuring interviews from all four band members and producers Scott Litt and John Keane. Full details below.

The demos, recorded at John Keane Studio in early 1990 and featured on all versions of the ‘Out Of Time’ reissue, provide key insight into the band’s creative process: from early instrumental passes to versions of “Losing My Religion" and "Texarkana" with different lyrics, and even a version of "Radio Song" that features a rare moment with drummer Bill Berry on lead vocals for a verse. While recording them, it was clear to Keane that R.E.M. were “at their peak in terms of creativity.”

By 1991, R.E.M. (Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe) had amassed a sizable following in the United States, but ‘Out Of Time’ brought the Athens, GA band unprecedented global recognition. It was the group’s first album to top both US and UK charts, selling 12 million copies worldwide, and garnered 7 Grammy nominations, including wins for Best Alternative Music Album, Best Short Form Music Video (“Losing My Religion”), and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (“Losing My Religion”).

Songs like “Losing My Religion,” “Shiny Happy People,” “Near Wild Heaven,” and “Radio Song” broke new ground, artistically and commercially. 
 
‘OUT OF TIME’ - 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION (2 CD SET):

DISC 1
‘OUT OF TIME’
1. Radio Song
2. Losing My Religion
3. Low
4. Near Wild Heaven
5. Endgame
6. Shiny Happy People
7. Belong
8. Half A World Away
9. Texarkana
10. Country Feedback
11. Me In Honey

DISC 2
‘OUT OF TIME’ DEMOS
1. Losing My Religion 1 (demo)
2. Near Wild Heaven 1 (demo)
3. Shiny Happy People 1 (demo)
4. Texarkana 1 (demo)
5. Untitled Demo 2
6. Radio – Acoustic (Radio Song 1 demo)
7. Near Wild Heaven 2 (demo)
8. Shiny Happy People 2 (demo)
9. Slow Sad Rocker (Endgame demo)
10. Radio – Band (Radio Song 3 demo)
11. Losing My Religion 2 (demo)
12. Belong (demo)
13. Blackbirds (Half A World Away demo)
14. Texarkana (demo)
15. Country Feedback (demo)
16. Me On Keyboard (Me In Honey demo)
17. Low (demo)
18. 40 Sec. (40 Second Song demo)
19. Fretless 1 (demo)

‘OUT OF TIME’ – 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION (3 LP SET):

DISC 1
‘OUT OF TIME’

Time Side
Radio Song
Losing My Religion
Low
Near Wild Heaven
Endgame

Memory Side
Shiny Happy People
Belong
Half A World Away
Texarkana
Country Feedback
Me In Honey

DISC 2
‘OUT OF TIME’ DEMOS

Side 1
Losing My Religion 1 (demo)
Near Wild Heaven 1 (demo)
Shiny Happy People 1 (demo)
Texarkana 1 (demo)
Untitled Demo 2

Side 2
Radio – Acoustic (Radio Song 1 demo)
Near Wild Heaven 2 (demo)
Shiny Happy People 2 (demo)
Slow Sad Rocker (Endgame demo)

DISC 3
‘OUT OF TIME’ DEMOS

Side 1
Radio – Band (Radio Song 3 demo)
Losing My Religion 2 (demo)
Belong (demo)
Blackbirds (Half A World Away demo)
Texarkana (demo)

Side 2
Country Feedback (demo)
Me On Keyboard (Me In Honey demo)
Low (demo)
40 Sec. (40 Second Song demo)
Fretless 1 (demo)
‘OUT OF TIME’ – 25th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION (4 DISC SET):

DISC 1
‘OUT OF TIME’
1. Radio Song
2. Losing My Religion
3. Low
4. Near Wild Heaven
5. Endgame
6. Shiny Happy People
7. Belong
8. Half A World Away
9. Texarkana
10. Country Feedback
11. Me In Honey

DISC 2
‘OUT OF TIME’ DEMOS
1. Losing My Religion 1 (demo)
2. Near Wild Heaven 1 (demo)
3. Shiny Happy People 1 (demo)
4. Texarkana 1 (demo)
5. Untitled Demo 2
6. Radio – Acoustic (Radio Song 1 demo)
7. Near Wild Heaven 2 (demo)
8. Shiny Happy People 2 (demo)
9. Slow Sad Rocker (Endgame demo)
10. Radio – Band (Radio Song 3 demo)
11. Losing My Religion 2 (demo)
12. Belong (demo)
13. Blackbirds (Half A World Away demo)
14. Texarkana (demo)
15. Country Feedback (demo)
16. Me On Keyboard (Me In Honey demo)
17. Low (demo)
18. 40 Sec. (40 Second Song demo)
19. Fretless 1 (demo)

DISC 3
LIVE AT MOUNTAIN STAGE
1. Introduction
2. World Leader Pretend
3. Radio Song
4. Fall On Me
5. It’s the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
6. Half A World Away
7. Belong
8. Love Is All Around
9. Losing My Religion
10. Dallas
11. Radio Song
12. Disturbance At The Heron House
13. Low
14. Sawn Swan H
15. Pop Song 89

DISC 4
OUT OF TIME – BLU-RAY
Out Of Time – Hi-Resolution Audio
Out Of Time – 5.1 Surround Sound
Radio Song (music video)
Losing My Religion (music video)
Low (music video)
Near Wild Heaven (music video)
Shiny Happy People (music video)
Belong (music video)
Half A World Away (music video)
Country Feedback (music video)
Time Piece

PRE-ORDER ‘OUT OF TIME’- 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION:
4 Disc Deluxe Edition: https://rem.lnk.to/OutOfTimeDeluxe 
2 CD Edition: https://rem.lnk.to/OutOfTime2CD  
3 LP Edition: https://rem.lnk.to/OutOfTime3LP
iTunes: 
https://rem.lnk.to/OutOfTimeDigital

The Selecter return to America

photo: John Coles

“These days it’s not just punks, Rude Boys or Mods who rally to their cause. It’s a global demographic that’s eager to hear music which stands for something, and has a message. 2 Tone unified all those different groups and we can still do that. We can go anywhere and that’s the beauty of 2 Tone.” - Pauline Black, The Selecter

Seminal 2-Tone artist The Selecter has announced a brief US tour in October to celebrate 35+ years of its genre classic Too Much Pressure and share from latest album Subculture.

During the original 2 Tone era, the group toured with The Specials and Madness at the peak of its early fame. Over the past few years, The Selecter has played at major festivals like Coachella, headlined UK tours, toured the US and recorded three studio albums, including Subculture, released to critical acclaim last fall in the US.

The UK release of Subculture in June 2015 landed The Selecter in the Top 40 there and earned the largest sales week since Celebrate The Bullet in 1981. In the US, where the album came out last October, the band was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition and “Decades On, The Selecter Maintains A Steady Groove And A Political Eye.”

Last year, Carrie Brownstein name checked The Selecter when asked what she was currently listening to and Gwen Stefani noted The Selecter as a big style and music influence in an interview.

The Selecter lineup is: lead singer Pauline Black, Neil Pyzer (Spear Of Destiny) Will Crewdson (Rachel Stamp) and co-lead singer/original member Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson (who features extensively on Subculture).

US tour dates:

October 6 | Gramercy Theatre | New York, NY
October 7 | 1st Ward Chop Shop | Chicago, IL
October 8 | Gothic Theatre | Denver, CO
October 10 | The Independent | San Francisco, CA
October 11 | Regent Theater | Los Angeles, CA
October 12 | Glass House | Pomona, CA
October 13 | The Casbah | San Diego, CA 

Bryan Adams' Wembley '96 gets DVD release

I just reviewed Adams live in Irvine, Calif. (see elsewhere on this blog), so I'm really looking forward to seeing the DVD...

Eagle Rock Entertainment will release "Wembley 1996 Live" by Bryan Adams on DVD and digital on Oct. 14. 

This is the first-ever DVD release of this famous Bryan Adams show with packed with hits (see track listing below). His rendition of “It’s Only Love” features Melissa Etheridge as a special guest.

It was July 27, 1996 and a sell-out crowd in excess of 70,000 welcomed Bryan Adams to Wembley Stadium on his "18 ‘Til I Die" tour in support of the multi-platinum album of the same name. It had been released a few weeks earlier and hit No.1 on the UK Albums Chart and went top 5 around Europe. The show opened with the album’s first hit single “The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You” and was met with wild enthusiasm by the huge crowd.

With Adams touring in the US and Canada this September, there is no better time to reconnect with this fantastic performer. See bryanadams.com for more details regarding tour dates.

View "Summer of 69": http://vevo.ly/rDxwBf
Pre-order here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KA8ER6E

Track listing: 

1) The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You
2) Do To You
3) Kids Wanna Rock
4) Can’t Stop This Thing We Started
5) This Time
6) 18 ‘Til I Die
7) Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman
8) Touch The Hand
9) Cuts Like A Knife
10) It’s Only Love (w/ Melissa Etheridge)
11) Somebody
12) (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
13) Run To You
14) There Will Never Be Another Tonight
15) Seven Nights To Rock
16) I Wanna Be Your Underwear
17) Wild Thing
18) It Ain’t A Party (If You Can’t Come Round)
19) She’s Only Happy When She’s Dancin’
20) Summer Of ’69
21) All For Love
22) Let’s Make A Night To Remember
23) I Fought The Law
24) Heaven

Bon Jovi news

Bon Jovi is set to release its 14th studio album, This House is Not for Sale, on Oct. 21 via Island/UMG.

A D2C pre-order site has been launched for physical CD and LP vinyl configurations. The site also includes pre-order for signed copies of the album at bonjoviofficialmerch.com. Digital pre-orders will launch on Sept. 9.

The album reunites Bon Jovi with Grammy-winning producer John Shanks and features a cover image by artist Jerry Uelsmann. From the moment frontman Jon Bon Jovi saw it several years ago, the strong statement inspired him. In fact, it was in his mind while writing the album's current single, "This House Is Not For Sale."

"That picture told our story...now it's our album cover," he says. Of the single, Jon continues, "this song is about integrity and what we were going through these last three years. We've become even closer and, as the song says, 'this heart, this soul, this house is not for sale."

Track listing (digital/CD/vinyl standard editions): 

 

1. This House Is Not For Sale

2. Living With The Ghost

3. Knockout

4. Labor Of Love

5. Born Again Tomorrow

6. Roller ­Coaster

7. New Year’s Day

8. Devil’s In The Temple

9. Scars On This Guitar

10. God Bless This Mess

11. Reunion

12. Come On Up To Our House

Bonus tracks (CD/deluxe editions):

 

13. Real Love

14. All Hail The King

15. We Don’t Run 

Bon Jovi is Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan and Tico Torres.

BonJovi.com

Labor Day Weekend concert best bet: The Zombies

Looking for something to do this holiday weekend? Here's a Best Bet for classic rock fans in Southern California and beyond...

The Zombies original incarnation was short-lived, but the British Invasion band still notched three top 10 pop singles in the mid-to-late Sixties. All of them made an indelible mark and are universally considered classics today: "She's Not There" (#2), "Tell Her No" (#6) and "Time of the Season" (#3). Ironically, the last hit arrived after the band had broken up.

During the '70s, leaders Colin Blunstone (vocals) and Rod Argent (organ/piano/vocals) moved onto solo careers with varying levels of success. Blunstone briefly fronted a reunited Zombies alongside '60s members Hugh Grundy and Chris White for 1991's "New World," which also saw Argent and original guitarist Paul Atkinson making guest appearances. Flash forward a decade and Blunstone and Argent finally recorded an entire studio album together again; the result was 2001's "Out of the Shadows." 

A few years later, they returned to using The Zombies name on "As Far as I Can See" and took a larger gap between unveiling new material until 2011's "Breathe Out, Breathe In." Around the same time, Neko Case and Nick Cave covered "She's Not There" for the "True Blood Soundtrack, Vol. 3."

In the interim, artists such as Tom Petty, Beach House, Beck, Fleet Foxes, She & Him, Black Angels and Belle and Sebastian have either cited The Zombies as an influence, recorded or played the veteran Brits' tunes live. And The Zombies' 1968 LP "Odessey and Oracle" is widely regarded as a masterpiece.

The current Zombies lineup - augmented by bassist Jim Rodford (ex-Argent, Kinks), his son Steve on drums and guitarist Tom Toomey - did three American tours in 2013 and got on the short list nomination to the 2014 Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

They instituted a successful PledgeMusic campaign, returned to the studio and put out the aptly-named "Still Got That Hunger" via The End Records last year.

It was produced by Chris Potter, best known for his work with The Rolling Stones, The Verve and The Feeling).

Standout tracks include the bright pop of tune "New York" (a reminiscence about Argent's first trip to the city and early influences like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis), "I Want You Back Again" (a modernized 1965 Zombies single), the relaxed "And We Were Young Again," a rollicking "Maybe Tomorrow" (which name checks The Beatles) and "Never Get Over You."

Upcoming California shows:

9/2 The Rose, Pasadena
9/3 The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano
9/4 Libby Bowl, Ojai
9/5 Sausalito Arts Festival
9/7 The Catalyst, Santa Cruz
9/8 Belly Up, Solana Beach
9/15 McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica - Argent/Blunstone only (sold out)
 
www.thezombiesmusic.com