RED MEANS RUN – All Things Said & Done EP

red means runA four piece alt-country band from Philadephia, Red Means Run take their name from the Neil Young classic ‘Powderfinger’ and on their debut EP, guitarist Jim McKay adds a couple of solos that have the same carefree/off-key approach of the great man himself.  If you love Neil and his naturalistic style of playing, of course, this is no bad thing…and it certainly suits this ragged quartet’s take on country rock.  Also inspired by Young and the earlier forebears of alt-country these chaps don’t really worry about layers or overdubs – the four songs on this release have a very direct feel, almost as if the band were playing in a bar somewhere.

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DELUXE EDITION DREAMLAND: Iron Maiden – Killers

In 1995 the Iron Maiden catalogue was made available as special edition CDs.  These briefly available “special editions” didn’t really live up to expectations – each had a bonus disc containing a handful of b-sides that almost every Maiden fan already owned.  They were nice to have, especially for those missing a few items in their collections, but hardly special by any stretch.  In 2002, the albums were reissued as “definitive remasters”, this time without bonus discs and with an extra track inserted into the running order of the first three releases.  Hardly definitive – and to add insult to injury, the sound on these reissues (presumably okayed by Steve “Bomber” Harris) appeared compressed and not always sounding as good as any of the previous issues.

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Queen “Live at the Rainbow” released in full in September

To coincide with the fortieth anniversary of the much celebrated Rainbow shows, Queen will finally make those legendary gigs available in a deluxe package this coming September.

Although circulating on bootleg recordings for years, up until now, only highlights of Queen’s Rainbow gigs have ever been released officially, with 45 minutes worth of gig footage available as part of a limited edition box set.

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