Kat: Releasing music these days is a lot more complex. We're not all reading ROLLINGSTONE and SPIN or visiting our favorite record stores where new posters are altering us to new releases. Barbra Streisand may be one of the few who grasps this. Her new album THE SECRET OF LIFE: PARTNERS VOLUME 2 will be released June 27th. She's gotten reports about it on GOOD MORNING AMERICA, TODAY, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT and multiple other programs. She's released a video with Hozier ("The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face") and one with Paul McCartney ("My Valentine"). Joining her on the album are artists like Bob Dylan, Sting, Seal, Sam Smith, Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande.
Some might wrongly credit Barbra's label. COLUMBIA.
That would be a huge mistake as COLUMBIA just proved
Or did you miss last Wednesday's release?
Actually, that's the problem: Last Wednesday's release.
This new album should not have been an extended play, it should have been a full album -- possibly a double disc album.
What am I talking about?
LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS.
That's the new release from Bruce Springsteen. One of COLUMBIA's premiere artists. But somehow, the label managed to do it on the cheap.
My home, the America I love, the America I've written about that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.
Bruce delivered that statement, and others, on stage May 14th in Manchester.
It's led to attacks from the head of The Chump Criminal Syndicate himself, Donald Chump. And it's led to applause from around the world.
And that was enough to make me listen to the six track extended play when I stumbled across it on AMAZON MUSIC this past weekend.
If you haven't heard it yet, you can stream it in many places including right here at Bruce's website.
You'll hear these six tracks:
Land of Hope and Dreams (Introduction)
Land of Hope and Dreams (Live)
Long Walk Home (Live)
My City of Ruins (Introduction)
My City of Ruins (Live)
Chimes of Freedom (Live)
That's two spoken tracks and four music tracks.
Who thought an EP was needed?
No one who listened. To listen means to grasp just how great "My City of Ruins" is. These performances demanded a full album.
Does anyone at a label want to actually sell music these days?
This is a Bruce album people are going to talk about and it should have been released as a full concert.
However, if all the dumb ass label could do was an EP, they could have at least released it on vinyl as well. Bruce can sell vinyl. He's a legend and legacy artist.
Not since MOTOWN made the horrible mistake of releasing Diana Ross' DIANA ROSS SINGS SONGS FROM THE WIZ on streaming only back in November of 2015 has a label made such an idiotic move.
And then there's Melanie.
A one of a kind, true original, Melanie passed away at the start of last year. And to visit AMAZON MUSIC is to forever be swamped with product.
Some of which honestly makes no sense and since so many of these 'new' albums are not even noted on her official website, I don't think it's her son that's releasing all of this product. RIGHT ABOUT NOW is the latest Melanie release. It came out last week. I stumbled upon it at AMAZON right after I listened to Bruce's album.
This is a trip through the studio with Melanie and it's a trip you'll want to book because it's some of Melanie's best work.
The music along is worth the journey. But if you can buy it on compact disc -- it's not currently on vinyl -- do so. I went through C.I.'s latest music arrivals hoping a copy would be there and it is. The CD comes with an essay on Melanie's contributions and context written by music critic and historian Dave Thompson. Unlike COLUMBIA with Bruce's new album (or MOTOWN with Diana's WIZ album from 2015), CLEOPATRA deserves credit for the packaging -- should be Grammy nominated by the way -- that includes Thompson's essay, photos and notes on the recordings.
CLEOPATRA is a small music label and it will require word of mouth for people to learn of this new Melanie album. COLUMBIA is one of the biggest music labels in the world and I would be firing a ton of people right now for their failure to anticipate the reaction to this album and for their failure to market it properly. Heads should roll. Again, don't mistake the work Team Barbra's doing raising awareness of her upcoming release with work COLUMBIA's doing because clearly COLUMBIA has forgotten they are in the music business.
