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''The Epic Masters'' is a box set compilation comprising ten remastered albums by Shakin' Stevens. Released on 16 November 2009, the set contains nine albums originally released by Epic Records between 1980 and 1990, plus an exclusive CD of 12" extended mixes. The set was also made available as a download through iTunes. ==Background== Although one of the most popular acts of the 1980s, Shakin' Stevens' major period of success came just before the emergence of the compact disc as a major format. Three of Stevens' albums (''This Ole House'', ''Shaky'' and ''Give Me Your Heart Tonight'') had made the top 3 of the UK charts during 1981 and 1982 and, as a result, his 1983 release ''The Bop Won't Stop'' was one of the earliest of Epic's albums to be transferred to the CD format. However, despite producing three Top 5 hit singles, the album itself stalled at number 21 in the charts. In response to this relative failure, Epic ignored Shaky's next two album releases (one of which was his ''Greatest Hits'' album). By the time of Stevens' next release - 1987's ''Let's Boogie'' - compact disc had become the dominant music format and, indeed, all of Stevens' subsequent studio albums were released on CD. However, the rise of the CD happened to coincide with a decline in the Welsh rocker's popularity and, apart from a few hits compilations and a very limited release of ''This Ole House'' in the early 90s, many of Shaky's most popular recordings were to be denied a digital release for many years. In 2003, Epic's parent company Sony BMG released a compromise three CD box set entitled ''Hits And More'' which contained most of the hits plus various selected album tracks. However, a resurgence in Stevens' popularity which began with him winning the 2005 ITV show ''Hit Me Baby One More Time'' resulted in the hits album ''The Collection'' reaching number 4 in the UK album charts. With Shaky's appearance at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival helping to confirm his popularity among those old enough to remember him the first time around, Sony finally relented and authorised, for the first time, the release of all of Shakin' Stevens' original albums on compact disc. Marketed as a 30th anniversary celebration of Shaky's first hit single "Hot Dog", ''The Epic Masters'' contains 147 digitally remastered tracks (apparently overseen by Stevens himself) spread across ten compact discs. The set includes all of the albums Stevens recorded for Epic with the exception of the ''Merry Christmas Everyone'' album (which had already been available on a remastered CD since 2005) and represents the first appearance on compact disc in their entirety of the albums ''Take One!'', ''Shaky'', ''Give Me Your Heart Tonight'' and ''Lipstick, Powder And Paint''. Each album is boosted by the addition of non-album b-sides and are housed in slip cases which reproduce the original vinyl releases. The package is completed by a bonus CD of selected 12" mixes plus a fully annotated booklet. Apart from the ''Merry Christmas Everyone'' album, ''The Epic Masters'' contains virtually everything Shakin' Stevens released on Epic. Among the few omissions are the original single versions of "Hot Dog", "Blue Christmas" and the number one hit "Merry Christmas Everyone" (all previously available on several compilations). Also missing are most of the live recordings available on the B-sides of various singles. Of the extended mixes not included on ''The 12" CD'', the most glaring omission would be the "Megamixofhits" compilation included on the "Teardrops" 12" which formed the basis of the "Hits Keep Coming" live medley from ''Let's Boogie''. Finally, the digital remasters retained the noticeably different mixes of the number one hits "This Ole House", "Green Door" and "Oh Julie" which were included on the 2005 compilation ''The Collection''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Epic Masters」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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