After The Battle 159

On the eve of his centenary in 2018, Sony Classical releases the most important collection, Leonard Bernstein’s classic American Columbia recordings, remastered from their original 2- and multi-track analogue tapes. This has allowed for the creation of a natural balance (for example, between the orchestra and solo instruments) that brings the quality of these half-century-old recordings, excellent for their time, up to the standards of today’s audiophiles. In addition, there has been a meticulous restoration of some earlier masterings in which LP surface noise was too rigorously eliminated at the expense of the original brilliance.

On the eve of his centenary in 2018, Sony Classical releases the most important collection, Leonard Bernstein’s classic American Columbia recordings, remastered from their original 2- and multi-track analogue tapes. This has allowed for the creation of a natural balance (for example, between the orchestra and solo instruments) that brings the quality of these half-century-old recordings, excellent for their time, up to the standards of today’s audiophiles. In addition, there has been a meticulous restoration of some earlier masterings in which LP surface noise was too rigorously eliminated at the expense of the original brilliance.

The 6 CDs contain over 150 remastered tracks of the essential 1960-1962 master recordings, plus rare alternate outtakes (including unreleased material) and all of the personal home recordings Elvis made during the 1960s. All tracks have now been cleaned, repaired (there are too many to mention), and restored. The home recordings have now had the same mastering techniques as used so successfully on the recent MRS release 'Made in Germany'. The set also includes unreleased recordings - including one that will have the Elvis world 'all shook up', as well as a previously unreleased stereo version of home recordings.

After two studio albums, Black Country Communion (a rock group featuring ex-Deep Purple singer/bassist Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham, Joe Bonamassa, and ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian) release a live DVD/BluRay: Live Over Europe gathers material from four concerts played in Germany (in Munich, Berlin, and Hamburg) in the summer of 2011. The set list mostly consists of songs from the two studio albums (almost all songs from the sophomore album 2 are included here) and adds Bonamassa's "The Ballad of John Henry" and the Deep Purple classic "Burn." Apart from the live show, which was recorded with 14 HD cameras, the disc includes a 20-minute documentary and a photo gallery.