Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up!

Neil Young, After the Gold Rush: 50th Anniversary Edition (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The 50th Anniversary Edition of Neil Young's classic album features new art based on Gary Burden's original album cover design.  The CD is out today while the vinyl edition will be released in March, 2021 and presented in a box set with the LP and a bonus 7″ single in a newly designed picture sleeve.  This set includes two different versions of the After the Gold Rush outtake "Wonderin'."  The A-side version was recorded in March 1970 in Topanga (previously heard on his Archives Vol. 1 set) while the B-side is a previously unreleased performance.  The box is rounded out with and exclusive 12″x12″ lithograph of the front cover art.  The CD edition will feature the new album art and both versions of "Wonderin'" added as bonus tracks.

Kool and the Gang, Kool and the Gang (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Kool and the Gang's 1970 self-titled debut arrives on cream-colored vinyl from Real Gone Music.  It would be a few years before the band would grace the heights of the Billboard charts with their disco smashes, but with an infectious blend of R&B and funk with plenty of horns and irresistible beats, this sampler's favorite sees Kool and the Gang beginning their ascent as a leading dance music band.  Kool and The Gang will be pressed up in a limited edition of 1,250 copies, so be sure to grab your copy quick!  Read more here.

Roxette, Bag of Trix (Rhino U.K.)

3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Sorry, Mr. Rabbit - it seems that Trix aren't just for kids!  Rhino is releasing Roxette's Bag of Trix: Music from the Roxette Vaults, a deep dive into the archives of the Swedish pop duo. This four-volume set to be released on 4 LPs, 3 CDs, and digital platforms features a wealth of rare material from Per Gessle and the late Marie Fredriksson. The set has been available digitally while the CD and vinyl versions arrive today (U.K.) and next Friday, December 18 (U.S./Canada).  Read more here!

Jim Croce, You Don't Mess Around with Jim / Life and Times / I Got a Name / Photographs and Memories: His Greatest Hits (BMG)

You Don't Mess Around with Jim: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Life and Times: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
I Got a Name: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Photographs and Memories: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

BMG brings an array of titles from late, great singer-songwriter Jim Croce back into print on both CD and vinyl.  These are due today in North America (other than the LP of Photographs and Memories, due in January) and in February in the United Kingdom.

Jorrocks: London Studio Cast Recording (Stage Door Records)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Stage Door Records)

Stage Door Records pairs the 1966 Saga Records studio cast recording of Beverley Cross and David Heneker's West End musical comedy Jorrocks (remastered from the original tapes) with an album's worth of original demo recordings and a rare radio performance.  Limited to 500 copies.  Read more here!

Frank Sinatra, Sing & Dance with Frank Sinatra (Impex Records)

Hybrid SACD: Impex / Elusive Disc / Acoustic Sounds
LP: Impex / Elusive Disc / Acoustic Sounds

This title is now shipping, just in time for the holidays!  Audiophile specialty label Impex Records celebrates Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra with a deluxe 70th anniversary limited edition vinyl LP and hybrid SACD.  Both feature the full album alongside rare and previously unreleased bonus tracks.  These include outtakes, orchestra-only cuts, and alternate vocal takes recorded during the tracking of the album.  Due to the additional time allowed on the SACD format compared to vinyl, the SACD includes a previously unissued alternate of "It's Only A Paper Moon" as an extra bonus.  No matter which format you prefer, Impex promises the new transfers of this material (all presented in crisp, original mono) will offer this classic album - recorded at Columbia's fabled 30th Street Studio - in the best fidelity imaginable.  The new edition was produced by acclaimed Sinatra historian Charles L. Granata, and the music has been restored and remastered by Grammy-winning audio engineer Andreas Meyer.  The LP was cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, and pressed on premium 180-gram vinyl at RTI.  The high-resolution hybrid SACD (playable on all CD players) was authored by Gus Skinas, and sourced, restored, and mastered from hi-res digital transfers made at the same time as the LP's analog tape and disc transfers.  The extensive color booklet features a comprehensive essay and personnel listing as well as technical notes alongside rare photographs from the sessions, memorabilia images, and promotional artwork.

Alan Jay Lerner and John Barry, Lolita, My Love: Original Cast Live Recording (Kritzerland)

Now shipping! Kritzerland has released a limited edition pressing of Alan Jay Lerner and John Barry's Lolita, My Love - one of the finest unheard musical scores of the 1970s.  This 2-CD release presents the entire show, including dialogue, and has been mastered by James Nelson from an original soundboard tape for the finest sound possible.  Grab this one before its "Going, Going, Gone."  Read all about Lolita, My Love here.

Maury Yeston, Maury Sings Yeston: The Demos (PS Classics) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Links TBD)

PS Classics is celebrating the 75th birthday of Tony Award-winning composer-lyricist Maury Yeston (Nine, Titanic) with this new two-disc collection (previously available digitally).  Maury Sings Yeston: The Demos brings together 40 of his own private recordings, described by the label as playing "less like a set of demos and more like an undiscovered solo disc by a great American singer-songwriter."  As a composer-lyricist, Yeston has long had one of musical theatre's most original voices.  Now's the chance to hear his songs in his own voice...or voices, as he took full advantage of multi-track recording capabilities to create these fleshed-out demos.  Songs are featured from Nine, Titanic, Death Takes a Holiday, and In the Beginning as well as such other theatrical projects as The Queen of Basin Street (Yeston's adaptation of La Cage aux Folles), Goya: A Life in Song (which received a star-studded recording with Placido Domingo, Dionne Warwick, Gloria Estefan, and others),Club Moscow, and Ramayana, along with a trio of standalone pop songs.

Deftones, White Pony: 20 Year Anniversary (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Alt-metal band Deftones have expanded their third studio album, White Pony, for its 20th anniversary with Black Stallion, a bonus disc of remixes of each of the album's eleven songs.

Firefall, Comet (Sunset Blvd. Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The "You Are the Woman" band returns with Comet, their first album of new music in over two decades.  Firefall currently includes original members Jock Bartley, David Muse, and Mark Andes as well as Sandy Ficca and Gary Jones.

Willie Nelson, American Outlaw: Live at Bridgestone Arena 2019 (2CD/DVD) (Blackbird Presents) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

On Saturday, January 12, 2019, Willie Nelson was joined by an all-star roster of artists - including Emmylou Harris, Jimmy Buffett, George Strait, John Mellencamp, Allison Krauss, Chris Stapleton and others - at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena for this all-star concert now available as a 2-CD/1-DVD package.

Merle Haggard, Sing Me Back Home: The Music of Merle Haggard (2CD/DVD) (Blackbird Presents) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

To commemorate both what would have been his 80th birthday and the one-year anniversary of his passing, a group of friends and admirers gathered in Nashville on April 6, 2017 in a celebration of Merle Haggard's music.  The track listing for this 2-CD/DVD release isn't yet available, but the concert featured a line-up including Willie Nelson, Keith Richards, John Mellencamp, Loretta Lynn, Sheryl Crow, Hank Williams Jr., Kacey Musgraves, Alabama, Tanya Tucker, Allison Krauss, Connie Smith, Bobby Bare, and others.