VINYLS

Picture Disc, Bonus Track(S)
Maria Callas, known as La Divina, is credited with changing the history of opera. Born 100 years ago, she continues to fascinate as a supreme artist, but also as a woman and an icon of style. Her interpretations were as compelling for their dramatic truth as for their musical integrity. Her voice, with its extraordinary range, was as distinctive as her infallible sense for a phrase. Magically shaping and colouring her tone, and making insightful use of each word of the libretto, she brought operatic heroines to vivid life.

Warner Classics is the custodian of Maria Callas’s discography, which is centred on the studio recordings that she made for both EMI/Columbia and the Italian label Cetra between 1949 and 1969.

Maria Callas’s recordings exemplify the glories of the LP era of the 1950s and 1960s. Each of these two newly compiled vinyl albums celebrates her inspiration and achievement in both the recording studio and in live performance. One side of each album is devoted to studio recordings of arias, the other to live recordings.

Maria Callas: La Divina is available in three different forms: on black vinyl and – as a limited edition – on red vinyl or as a picture disc (with a bonus track). It features arias by Puccini, Bizet, Verdi, Catalani, Bellini and Donizetti.

Remastered, High Quality
Unlike previous Prince albums, the majority of Diamonds And Pearls was recorded with The New Power Generation, a group he had assembled largely from the Twin Cities area. They shared cultural backgrounds and localised experiences, and helped Prince connect his past influences to the present creating a new uplifting blend of hip-hop, dance, gospel, and pop that would bring him to the top of the charts worldwide.

The New Power Generation was a band that Prince believed in so wholeheartedly that he gave them co-credit on the cover of Diamonds And Pearls, something he’d only done previously with one other band, The Revolution. The group consisted of Sonny Thompson (vocals & bass), Damon Dickson (vocals & percussion), Rosie Gaines (vocals & keyboards), Michael Bland (drums), Kirk Johnson (vocals & percussion), Tony M (vocals), Levi Seacer, Jr. (bass, guitar & vocals), and Tommy Barbarella (keyboards).

Diamonds And Pearls was unveiled to the world on October 1, 1991, and it instantly had a huge commercial and cultural impact, becoming the biggest selling non-soundtrack album of Prince’s career. Over the past three decades, the reasons for its enormous success have been discussed extensively. Not least of these was Prince’s decision to finally engage with major television exposure and an extensive tour of Europe, Japan and his first trip to Australia. The album also offered a diverse collection of sounds that could appeal to a wide variety of listeners. Diamonds And Pearls had something for everyone.

Transparent
Foreigner’s debut spawned massive FM hits “Feels Like the First Time,” and “Cold as Ice” 180-gram 45 RPM double LP Mastered directly from the original master tape by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound Pressed at Quality Record Pressings and RTI Tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing

Hybrid Stereo SACD Mastered directly from the original master tape by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound

Arena rock heroes Foreigner crushed with their 1977 self-titled album debut, spawning some of the biggest FM hits of that year, including the anthemic “Feels Like the First Time” and “Cold as Ice,” both of which were anchored — like most of Foreigner’s songs — by the muscular but traditional riffing of guitarist Mick Jones, the soaring vocals of Lou Gramm, and the state-of-the-art rock production values of the day, which AllMusic reviewer Andy Hinds says allowed the band to sound hard but polished.

The architect behind Foreigner’s extraordinary catalog, Mick Jones has crafted some of rock music’s most enduring songs. Grammy and Golden Globe-nominated songwriter, performer and producer and winner of the prestigious Ivor Novello songwriter award in 1998, Jones first began playing guitar in his early teens.

After starting his own rock band and opening for the Rolling Stones in pubs across South London, Mick’s first big break came in 1964 when he moved to Paris and was hired to play with French singer Sylvie Vartan.

After a brief stint in England to reform the band Spooky Tooth, Jones moved to New York City and formed Foreigner with Ian McDonald and Dennis Elliott and Americans Lou Gram, Alan Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi.

Foreigner defined a generation of rock music to people across the globe. From its iconic debut album, the band moved on to record-breaking hits including “I Want To Know What Love Is,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Double Vision,” “Hot Blooded,” “Juke Box Hero” and many more.

Now on 180-gram 45 RPM double LP you’ll hear Foreigner in all its phenomenal glory. Mastered from the original tape by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, this reissue rocks. Double LP cut at 45 RPM, pressed at Quality Record Pressings and RTI, and housed in a Stoughton Printing tip-on old style gatefold jacket. That’s how you upgrade a classic.

True Stories is an album by Talking Heads, released in 2023. The album is a rock LP.