Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

Rod Stewart, 1975-1978 (Warner/Rhino)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

A new vinyl box set collects remastered versions of Rod Stewart’s breakthrough first four Warner Bros. albums – Atlantic Crossing (1975), A Night on the Town (1976), Foot Loose and Fancy Free (1977), and Blondes Have More Fun (1978) – and adds the bonus LP Encores 1975-1978 featuring ten outtakes, five of which have never been released in any format.  Read more here.

Mumps, Rock & Roll This, Rock & Roll That: Best Case Scenario, You’ve Got Mumps (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Omnivore celebrates late American Family star and gay icon Lance Loud with a new collection from his band, Mumps.  The 23-track anthology produced by Mumps’ pianist and primary songwriter Kristian Hoffman, drummer Paul Rutner, and Omnivore’s Greg Allen brings together 21 hard-to-find sides with two previously unreleased tracks from the pre-Mumps band simply (and appropriately) called Loud.   Michael Graves has remastered the audio while Hoffman and Rutner are among the contributors to the liner notes.  Available on CD and digital services as well as a 14-track vinyl LP.  Read more here.

Hank Williams, Pictures from Life’s Other Side Vols. 1-3 (BMG)

Vol. 1: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Vol. 2: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Vol. 3: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

BMG is breaking out the individual discs from the 2020 coffee table book/box set Hank Williams: Pictures from Life’s Other Side as three 2-CD volumes.  All three volumes are available today.  Read our review of the original collection here.

Crowded House, Dreamers Are Waiting (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Crowded House returns with their first studio album since 2010.  Neil Finn and co. began recording the album) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but ended up completing it during lockdown.  Its 11 tracks include “Whatever You Want” and “To the Island.”

Osmond Chapman Orchestra, There’s More Where That Came From (Club44 Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Vocalist David Osmond, son of Alan and nephew of Donny and Marie, teams with bandleader, producer, and saxophonist Caleb Chapman for this new “contemporary big band” project.  There’s More Where That Came From reimagines a host of pop and country classics (“Ring of Fire,” “You Don’t Know Me,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “For Once in My Life”) along with original tunes (“We Might as Well Fall in Love,” “I Need a Real Good Thing”) and even a modern-day cover (Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man”).  The duo is joined by a band featuring such star players as trumpeter Rashawn Ross (Dave Matthews Band) and saxophonists Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones) and Karl Hunter (Big Bad Voodoo Daddy).

Gary Louris, Jump for Joy (Sham/Thirty Tigers) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Gary Louris of The Jayhawks releases his second solo album and first since 2008’s Vagabonds.  With ten new tracks, Jump for Joy is available on CD, LP, and digital/streaming.

Liz Phair, Soberish (Chrysalis) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Soberish is Liz Phair’s first album in 11 years and features 13 new songs including “Hey, Lou,” a paean to Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson.  Available on CD, LP, and digital/streaming.

Billy F. Gibbons, Hardware (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The ZZ Top frontman is joined by Matt Sorum (drums) and Austin Hanks (guitar) on his third solo album featuring a dozen tunes including “Stackin’ Bones” with guest band Larkin Poe joining him.  Available on CD, LP, and digital/streaming.

Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) (MVD Visual) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Link TBD / Amazon Canada)

Director John Scheinfeld’s acclaimed documentary about the late Harry Nilsson returns to DVD and Blu-ray (upscaled to high definition in the latter format).  Special features include deleted scenes, additional interviews, a music video for “Loneliness” with an introduction from Yoko Ono, and the theatrical trailer.