More than three months after Duran Duran reissued its self-titled debut and ‘Seven and the Ragged Tiger,’ the band’s label, EMI, is defending the albums’ remastering amid fan complaints, acknowledging that ‘the mastering on these versions is different to that of previous remasters — however that does not necessarily make it wrong.’

With its year-long farewell tour underway, Norwegian pop trio a-ha this week announced it will release ’25’ — a new 2CD retrospective covering its output over the past quarter century — in its home country later this month.

Admittedly, The Cure’s ‘Disintegration: Deluxe Edition’ may be a bit much for casual fans — particularly wading through so many instrumental demos — but to anyone who has spent the past 21 years exploring the depths of this album, the new reissue is a marvel to hear.

The fine folks at Rhino Records are providing us with five ‘Disintegration: Deluxe Edition’ prize packs to give away to our readers to help the label celebrate the upcoming expanded reissue of The Cure’s 1989 masterpiece.

Next month’s deluxe 3CD reissue of The Cure’s 1989 classic ‘Disintegration’ is now available for pre-order from Rhino.com — and the first 500 people to order will receive a free nine-track promo sampler that’ll be mailed out before the reissue’s June 8 release date.

As Norwegian pop trio a-ha marks its 25th anniversary with a worldwide farewell tour, Rhino Records on Thursday announced plans to reissue the band’s first two albums — 1985’s ‘Hunting High and Low’ and 1986’s ‘Scoundrel Days’ — in deluxe 2CD sets brimming with B-sides, mixes, live cuts and unreleased material.