Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

The Beatles, Abbey Road: Anniversary Edition [Various Formats] (Apple/UMe)

Super Deluxe 3CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Deluxe 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Abbey Road celebrates 50 with a variety of editions built around a new 2019 stereo mix by Giles Martin and Sam Okell.  The centerpiece of the campaign, a 3CD/1BD box, boasts 23 alternate takes, vintage mixes, and demos plus a 24/96 DTS-HD surround mix, a 24/96 presentation of the new stereo mix, and a Dolby Atmos mix, too.  It’s all housed in a 12 x 12 slipcased book.  Audio will also be available in standard and high-res digital formats.  Read more here, and watch for our full review soon!

Replacements, Dead Man’s Pop (Sire/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The Replacements are releasing their first-ever box set.  Dead Man’s Pop is a 4-CD/1-LP set reimagining their sixth album and third for Sire Records, Don’t Tell a Soul. While Don’t Tell a Soul remains the group’s best-selling album and one of their most acclaimed, The Replacements were never fully satisfied with its sound.  Hence, Dead Man’s Pop.  The first disc features a new mix by original producer Matt Wallace, based on his 1988 Paisley Park mix.  This new version, Don’t Tell a Soul Redux, is presented on CD and 180-gram LP ion the box.  It’s joined by a disc of unreleased tracks including a session with Tom Waits (We Know the Night: Rare & Unreleased ) and a 2-CD complete concert from June 2, 1989 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (The Complete Inconcerated Live).  Of the box’s 60 tracks, 58 are previously unreleased.  Get the scoop here, and don’t miss our full review soon!

Ramones, It’s Alive: 40th Anniversary Edition (Sire/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Rhino’s ongoing series of deluxe box sets celebrating the Ramones’ legacy continues with a fifth entry: the 40th anniversary 4CD/2LP edition of the band’s 1979 live album It’s Alive.   Limited to 8,000 units, the It’s Alive Deluxe Edition is packaged in a 12 x 12 hardcover book featuring new liner notes by Steve Albini and original album producer-engineer Ed Stasium, who also remastered.  It features all four concerts that were professionally recorded during the band’s U.K. tour of December 1977, three of which are making their first release: Top Rank, Birmingham (December 28, 1977); Victoria Hall, Stoke-On-Trent (December 29, 1977); Friars, Aylesbury (December 30, 1977); and The Rainbow Theatre, London (December 31, 1977).  The latter was utilized for the original album release, which became the last LP to feature all four original Ramones.  The original album will be pressed on two 180-gram vinyl LPs for this release.  Read more here!

John Coltrane, Blue World (Impulse!/UMe)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

A lost John Coltrane recording has been unearthed with this never-before-heard five-song session from 1964, as recorded in Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in June of that year and featuring reworkings of Trane classics like “Naima” and “Village Blues” in multiple takes plus “Blue World,” “Like Sonny,” and “Traneing In.” Blue World has been mastered from its original analog tapes by Kevin Reeves at Universal Music Mastering in New York, and the 180-gram vinyl edition was cut by the late Ron McMaster at Capitol and pressed at QRP. Both the CD and vinyl configurations feature the entire session.

Grateful Dead, Saint of Circumstance: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ 6/17/91 (Grateful Dead/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This classic NJ Dead show from 1991 comes to CD, LP, and digital today.  “Dark Star” was woven throughout the concert, appearing no fewer than six times among such other classics as “Truckin’,” “Uncle John’s Band,” “China Doll,” and “Eyes of the World.”  Bruce Hornsby and Vince Welnick appeared with the Dead, too!

Various Artists, American Tunes: Songs by Paul Simon (Ace) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Ace has a very special entry today in its Songwriter Series.  Paul Simon himself has approved this compilation of his classic songs performed by an array of remarkable (and remarkably diverse) artists including Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Emmylou Harris, Rosemary Clooney, Patti Smith, Rumer, and Willie Nelson!  Available today in the U.K. and next Friday in North America.

Various Artists, Yesterday Has Gone: The Songs of Teddy Randazzo (Ace) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

And that’s not all.  Unsung uptown soul hero Teddy Randazzo is also celebrated by Ace today with another “Who’s Who” of soul and R&B talent including Frank Sinatra (“Rain in My Heart”), The Royalettes (“It’s Gonna Take a Miracle”), Dionne Warwick (“Goin’ Out of My Head”), The Delfonics (“Hurt So Bad”), and of course, Little Anthony and The Imperials (“I’m on the Outside Looking In”).

David Cassidy, The Bell Years 1972-1974 (Cherry Red/7Ts) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Pop superstar David Cassidy’s four Bell solo LPs are collected in this clamshell box with three new-to-CD bonus tracks: the singles “All I Wanna Do Is Touch You,” “If I Didn’t Care,” and “Frozen Noses.”  Out today in the U.K. and next Friday in North America.  Watch this space for more coverage soon!

Dead Kennedys, Iguana Studios Rehearsal Tape: San Francisco 1978 (Manifesto) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Manifesto releases this early tape from punk heroes The Dead Kennedys on CD for the first time; long available as a bootleg, this session debuted on vinyl for Record Store Day 2018.  The band members include vocalist Jello Biafra, guitarists East Bay Ray and 6025, bassist Klaus Flouride, and drummer Ted.

‘Til Tuesday, Welcome Home / Everything’s Different Now (BGO) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

BGO collects ‘Til Tuesday’s second and third albums in a slipcased 1-CD edition remastered by Andrew Thompson and featuring new liner notes by Charles Donovan.  We’ll have expanded coverage of this release coming up!

Sutherland Brothers and Quiver, The Albums (Cherry Red/Lemon) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Cherry Red’s Lemon imprint collects the Sutherland Brothers (Gavin and Ian) and the band Quiver’s folk-pop-rock oeuvre on a new clamshell box with 8 albums on 8 CDs including a dozen bonus tracks.  Out today in the U.K. and next Friday in North America.  We’ve got a more in-depth look at this title coming up soon.

Art Pepper, Promise Kept: The Complete Artists House Recordings (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Omnivore Recordings is continuing its association with the late saxophone great Art Pepper with a new box set.  Promise Kept: The Complete Artists House Recordings, available on 5 CDs and digital platforms, collects all four of Pepper’s albums for John Snyder’s Artists House label with copious bonus material. In total, 19 bonus tracks are spread across the set, some of which have appeared on compilations and some of which appear for the very first time.  Also available digitally.  Get more details here, and watch for our review!

Elmore James, The Sky Is Crying: The Ultimate Collection (Sunset Blvd.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 3-CD, 58-song collection has at least one take of everything Elmore James recorded with Bobby Robinson of the Fire, Fury, and Enjoy labels, making this about as comprehensive a collection of the blues guitarist’s seminal sides as you’re likely to find!