The Cranberries
No Need to Argue
(Universal Music/Island)
The Cranberries were on a winning streak from the start with an internationally successful debut album. The Irish alt-rock band road tested many songs which appeared on 1994’s No Need to Argue – the one with massive hit “Zombie.” After re-teaming with producer Stephen Street to record demos, the results were so good that only minor tweaking had to be done later in the studio. This excellent 30th anniversary edition of the quartet’s captivating, multi-platinum second album features new clearer stereo mixes by Street, two eye-opening dance remixes from Chvrches’ Iain Cook, brawny live cuts from the Woodstock ’94 festival (“Ridiculous Thoughts” finds the late Dolores O’Riordan and company in ferocious form), and Liverpool Royal Court Theatre, demos, rarities (there’s a sublime Carpenters cover) and more. The informative liner notes have recollections from the band and producer, album background and the songs’ lasting legacy. Formats include single/double CD/LP and 41-track super digital deluxe. A must for all Cranberries fans.
udiscovermusic.com
Elvis Presley
Sunset Boulevard
(RCA/Legacy)
Even though we lost Elvis Presley in August 1977, RCA Records still manages to unearth fascinating rarities from the vaults on a near annual basis and presents them in wonderful box sets. Sunset Boulevard, a 5CD/2LP/digital collection, focuses on Elvis’ early-to-mid 1970s recording sessions and rehearsals at RCA’s legendary Los Angeles studios. Among the 89 tracks, more than half have never been released domestically. The fresh mixes have stripped overdubs, and you really get a better sense of Elvis’ heartfelt delivery on several contemplative country and adult contemporary ballads. The song interpretations by Kris Kristofferson, Paul Williams, Billy Swan and Don McLean are standouts, as are rare alternate studio versions of “Separate Ways,” “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” “Burning Love” and “Always on My Mind.” Elvis’ take on “Green. Green Grass of Home” is a stunner. Fans can also hear the frequently loose and joking rehearsals. Rare archival photographs, new liner notes and an introduction by lifetime Elvis friend Jerry Schilling round everything out. Recommended for diehard Presley enthusiasts.
elvis.com
Vivabeat
Party in the War Zone
(Liberation Hall)
Formed in 1978, short-lived LA new wave/glam rock band Vivabeat signed to a UK label upon the advice of Peter Gabriel. The former Genesis frontman was reportedly inspired by a whistling refrain in group’s song “Man from China” to later use a similar sound amid his own big UK hit “Games Without Frontiers.” Before joining Vivabeat, lead singer Terrance Robay portrayed James Dean in a London musical. On record, the openly gay Robay sported a sophisticated Bryan Ferry-meets-David Sylvian singing style augmented by two female keyboardists on backing vocalists.
The sextet’s solid debut and lone full length album Party in the War Zone, newly remastered here, is highlighted by hypnotic single “Man from China” (a dance club hit in several countries), the reggae-fied “Working for William,” frantic “Pop Girl,” mechanical “From the Bop” and sprightly bonus track “The House is Burning (But There’s No One Home).” The latter, from a follow-up EP, also achieved prominent European club play and a spotlight in Brian DePalma’s 1984 thriller “Body Double.” More recently, Vivabeat tunes have been heard in various series and films.
Although Vivabeat toured with several popular modern rock acts of the day (B-52’s, Thompson Twins, Gary Numan, Human League), major success eluded the band, and it split by the mid-1980s.
Also available on CD/download: The House Is Burning: The Best of Vivabeat (1979-1986) featuring unreleased songs, a Rolling Stones cover of “2000 Light Years From Home” and a guest appearance by Blondie drummer Clem Burke.
Both reissues serve as tributes to Robay, Consuelo De Silva and Alec Murphy, who all died of AIDS, and to Doug Orilio, who succumbed to complications from a prior motorcycle accident that left him a paraplegic.
bandcamp.com
George Paul
