Hands down, the biggest thrill this year in the world of reissues and archival rock releases was the remixed Tim by the Replacements.
Here is a great 1980s album re-engineered to emphasize different instruments and other sounds in each song: A little more percussion here and a little more guitar there.
While that sounds simple, it makes a big difference in a number of songs. This is a Holy Grail for Replacements fans.
Had the Replacements’ Tim: The Let it Bleed Edition not been released this year, I would’ve said the biggest archival news was the vinyl reissues of four Betty Davis albums.
I have been scouring record stores for Davis’ original 1970s releases as well as reissues with no luck.
Davis, briefly married to Miles Davis, was an unbelievable force in early 1970s funk music.
Her underappreciated albums (three official releases) were among the best albums of that decade.
Two of those albums, They Say I’m Different and her self-titled debut, were reissued on vinyl and other formats.
The album Is It Love or Desire, delayed for years and only released after Davis had called it quits, was also released. That record is worth a listen as it follows what Davis set out to do with the original three releases.
Crashin’ from the Passion, another long-shelved record, was also reissued this year.
Neil Young has treated us to a lot of great archival music.
If you’re a fan, definitely check out Chrome Dreams, which has different takes on some classic songs.
You gotta love Young’s passion for putting out all this archived music to his longtime fans.
A number of bands are releasing long-ago concerts, including Sonic Youth, which recently put out Live in Brooklyn 2011.
The show is billed as the band’s final U.S. outdoor concert. It’s a really good span of this band’s great career.
All the Young Punks 