Five awesome 2011 reissues
5
Rush - Moving Pictures
Rush don't usually make a big fuss about reissuing their albums. However, for the 40th anniversary of their unarguably greatest album, Moving Pictures, the band decided to finally make a splash. In addition to the remastered album itself, this collection comes with a bonus DVD that includes high quality stero and surround sound mixes of the album, music videos for three of the tracks, and even a photo collection. Diehard fans of this album will love the freshness of the new mixes, and newcomers will be blown away by one of progressive rock's biggest gems.
4
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam was one of the greatest bands to come out of the 90s grunge scene. From the raw, earthy grit to the sweeter, light acoustica, Vs. is the album that captured absolutely everything they were about. The reissue also comes with a strong selection of rare Pearl Jam tracks from the time that fit perfectly with the rest of the album, like the excellent instrumental "Creedy Stomp" and the sentimental cover "Bloody Mary". If you're a fan of grunge or alternarock at all, you must own this album.
3
U2 - Achtung Baby
Being re-released as part of U2's rolling 20th anniversary reissues, Achtung Baby stood out as one of the few albums that's still relevant to modern music. No one's denying the beauty of The Joshua Tree or the unbridled fury of War, but this is probably the first U2 album that hinted at their modern sound, as well as proving that they could remain relevant with the emerging alterarock scene. Given that their last album, No Line on the Horizon, was absolutely pitiful, it's rather refreshing to hear rock music this good and remember why U2 used to command such esteem.
2
Death - Individual Thought Patterns
Beautifully spinning thrash metal with progressive rock, Death has earned its place in metal history as one of the best technical death metal bands in the business. Their album Individual Thought Patterns is still the gold standard of the genre, holding up favourably alongside classics like Focus and Unquestionable Presence. This reissue contains the album itself, as well as a live performance from 1993 and a studio outtake, "The Exorcist." Metal this finely tuned will never become boring, and this reissue captures the album in its context perfectly.
1
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Wish You Were Here gets overlooked all the time by the popularity of The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, but unlike those two, this album has held up incredibly well with age; we're all not collectively sick of hearing every track on it just yet. The 2011 reissue of the album is still as enjoyable now, if not more so, than its original release, and if you opt for one of the two multi-disc sets of the album, you'll also get a lot of incredibly enjoyable bonus tracks that frame the album historically in Pink Floyd's catalogue--the alternate, live versions of tracks from Animals alone are worth it. If there was ever an album worth rebuying, it would be this one.
Words: Matthew Sarah
