When you’re a small and humble website like VintageRock.com, it’s hard to keep up with everything that comes tumbling out of the marketing cycle. So, instead of doing a year-end wrap-up of the year’s best this and that, let’s take a quick stroll through five incredible musical releases you can pick up as a last-minute holiday gifts, or maybe even new year’s presents to yourself. We’re talking a mix of new studio albums, reissued albums or sets, live albums, or any kind of compilation, be it vinyl, CD, Blu-ray, DVD, download, and streaming (sorry cassettes, you’re not there yet).
Who’s Next | Life House
The Who
Any rock fan worth his weight in platinum knows that the Who’s 1971 masterwork Who’s Next is an essential must-have in any collection. So, when the 11-disc, two hard-cover book, memorabilia-filled Who’s Next | Life House dropped in September, it was time to rejoice. The hefty $250 price tag probably scared away a lot of prospects; the hardcore Wholigans simply said, “Take my money!” Packed with Pete Townshend’s original Life House demos, the Record Plant NYC sessions, the Olympic Studios sessions, more singles and sessions, the full 1971 Young Vic live concert, the complete 1971 San Francisco Civic Auditorium show, and a Blu-ray Disc with the Steven Wilson Dolby Atmos and 5.1 mixes, your ears will thank you in the morning. Just don’t drop it because this sucker is so heavy it’ll go “thud”.
Before & After
Neil Young
Struggling to keep up with Neil Young’s ever-growing discography? So are we. Fortunately, the 13-track Before & After slows things down, providing a full-blown, acoustically based retrospective. From simplified runs of early material like “Burned” and “Mr. Soul,” through sanctified classics like “Comes A Time,” and latter-day nuggets like “I’m The Ocean” and “Mother Earth,” there’s a little bit of everything from the Canadian singer-songwriter on this collection. For completists, it’s another notch in their belt that could one day, depending on your waistline, run out of notches.
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic
The Complete Recording Sessions
King Crimson
Personnel musical chairs just about sent King Crimson packing in the early 70s until leader Robert Fripp finally had a lineup to complete what he called “a magic band.” Fifty years later, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic – The Complete Recording Sessions reaffirms Fripp’s claim to maximum effect. The guitarist is joined by then-newly-departed-from-Yes drummer Bill Bruford, plus bassist and vocalist John Wetton, violinist David Cross, and percussionist Jamie Muir for what many consider one of Crimson’s most epic offerings. Tapping into the sonic possibilities, Steven Wilson takes a crack at Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound, and hi-res stereo mixes on one Blu-ray Disc, while David Singleton handles the “Elemental” mixes on a second Blu-ray, which also features the complete recordings of every session recorded for the album. Toss in two CDs with a 2023 stereo mix and instrumentals, elemental mixes, selected master reels, and a booklet with juicy tidbits — and you may never leave the comfy confines of your music room for the light of day again.
The Journey – Part 2
The Kinks
The second installment of the Kinks’ 60th anniversary anthology series, The Journey – Part 2 picks up, in no particular order, from where The Journey – Part 1 left off. There’s a cross-section of hits, B-sides, deep tracks, alternate takes, and six new Ray Davies mixes including three previously unreleased live performances from 1975. There’s also a booklet with band photos and track notes by the Davies brothers (Ray and Dave) and drummer Mick Avory. Any Kinks fan will appreciate some of the funkier selections like “Scrapheap City,” “Creeping Jean,” “Wicked Annabella” and “Holiday Romance.” Who knows how many Kinks trinkets are hiding in the closet? We’ll leave that for Part 3, if one is forthcoming.
The Big Express
XTC
You’ve probably picked up on our obsession with Steven Wilson remixes. If so, XTC’s The Big Express delivers on that premise big time. The group’s 1984 album has been embellished with new stereo, Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround mixes on a Blu-ray Disc, as well as the stereo mix on CD. Of course, there’s a load of extras to cover the whole spectrum of the band’s seventh release. Squirming for recognition in a mire of 80s-infested pop swirl and new wave tendencies, XTC’s attempt at conceptual storytelling was substantiated by their free use of new technology alongside traditional manifestations that resulted into some spine-tingling ear candy. Such redemptive powers come full circle here and beyond.
