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Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today!

Lou Reed, Words and Music – May 1965 (Light in the Attic)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Black Vinyl LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Yellow Vinyl LP: Light in the Attic Store
Cassette: Light in the Attic Store
CD/2LP/7″ Vinyl Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Light in the Attic Store

Light in the Attic launches The Lou Reed Archive Series with Words & Music, May 1965.  Available on CD, cassette, and multiple vinyl formats, Words & Music will collect some of Reed’s earliest and most significant recordings.  Produced in cooperation with Reed’s widow Laurie Anderson and the Lou Reed Archive, Words & Music features 17 tracks on CD and cassette – all of which are previously unreleased, including seven unheard Reed compositions.  The standard vinyl editions present 10 songs dating to May, 1965; the seven bonus tracks on CD, cassette, and deluxe vinyl only go even further back in Reed’s history (1958-1963).  The collection has been mastered from the original analog tapes by John Baldwin.  Greil Marcus and Reed archivists Don Fleming and Jason Stern have all contributed liner notes, and the package has been designed by Masaki Koike.  The CD booklet is 60 pages while the LP’s booklet is 28 pages.  A CD/2-LP/7-inch vinyl Deluxe Edition is also due (the latter with all 17 tracks on CD and vinyl).  This foil-numbered Deluxe Edition limited to 7,500 units is housed in a die-cut gatefold printed at Stoughton and contains a 28-page saddle-stitched, die-cut book of lyrics, photos, and liner notes.  The vinyl versions have been pressed at RTI. Read more here.

Olivia Newton-John, Greatest Hits (Primary Wave)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Target Exclusive 2LP: Target.com
Japan-Exclusive 2CD: CDJapan

Primary Wave revisits and remasters Olivia Newton-John’s 1977 Greatest Hits album in a variety of formats.  The new edition will include all 20 tracks released across various international editions of the original album, including every one of Olivia’s U.S. top 40 hits up to the time of its release (twelve of which reached the top ten) including her chart-topping renditions of Jeff Barry and Peter Allen’s “I Honestly Love You” and John Farrar’s “Have You Never Been Mellow.”  it will be available on CD and 2-LP 180-gram vinyl, and for download/streaming.  Japan receives a special expanded edition in SHM-CD format (playable in all CD players), bringing together this Greatest Hits presentation with Volume 2, originally issued in 1982.  It contains an exclusive double-sided poster and an introduction by Newton-John penned especially for her Japanese fans.  It’s all housed in a quad case.  That’s still not all.  On November 18, U.S. Target stores will release an exclusive 2-LP set.  Greatest Hits 1971-1982 has the original U.S. 12-track configuration of the first Greatest Hits on light blue vinyl along with the original 10-song U.S. version of Olivia’s Greatest Hits Volume 2 on pink vinyl.  The two albums are packaged within a gatefold sleeve.  Read more here!

Howard Jones, Live at the NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan – 1984 (Cherry Red) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Howard Jones and Cherry Red are diving into the vault for another live release – a wider audiovisual issue of a 1984 concert recorded by the synthpop icon in Japan.  Live at The NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan – 1984 depicts Jones a year into his major-label career, having already seen debut singles “New Song” and “What is Love?” sail to Nos. 3 and 2 on the U.K. charts a year earlier. The 15-song set features nearly every song from debut album Human’s Lib, released that same year, along with non-LP tracks like “Always Asking Questions” and “Bounce Right Back.”  The CD, remastered from the original concert multi-tracks, also re-orders the concert in proper sequence – slightly different accompanying original video release (issued on VHS and reissued here on a region-free DVD after being part of a deluxe Human’s Lib box issued by Cherry Red) – and includes a song that did not feature on that video: a cover of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” An eight-page booklet of period live shots of Howard is included in this digipak release, in line with the generous sets Cherry Red has put together for his Warner-era ’80s and early ’90s material.  Get more details here.

Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers, Live (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Omnivore has remastered The Modern Lovers’ 1977 live album from London’s Hammersmith Odeon on both CD and LP, with a special yellow pressing of the vinyl edition available today at independent retailers everywhere.

Madonna, Erotica [Picture Disc] (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Yesterday, Madonna’s Erotica album marked 30 years since its release.  Today, Warner releases a picture disc with its title track plus the instrumental version and radio edit; emblazoned on the picture disc is the notorious “toe-sucking” photo that got the picture disc cancelled in 1992 when retailers felt it was too explicit to display in public.  (Some copies did sneak out, becoming high-priced collectibles.)  The three tracks have been remastered for this release.

Various Artists, ’90s Country Christmas (MCA Nashville) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 16-track CD collection brings together yuletide cuts from such country superstars as Reba McEntire, Kenny Rogers, Glen Campbell, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, Shania Twain, Alan Jackson, and George Strait.  Also available for download/streaming.

Ray Charles, The Spirit of Christmas (Tangerine) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The late piano man’s reactivated Tangerine label reissues his 1985 Christmas set, originally released on Columbia Records.  Bernie Grundman has done the remastering honors for this reissue on CD, LP, and digital platforms.  No additional material has been added to the original album.

Manhattan Transfer, Fifty (Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The long-running vocal group celebrates 50 years with a new album called, what else, Fifty.  Recorded with Germany’s WDR Funkhausorchester, Fifty finds the Transfer revisiting old favorites (“Twilight Tone/Twilight Zone,” “Chanson d’Amour,” “Blues for Harry Bosch”) as well as tackling such classic songs as The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” and the Gershwins’ “The Man I Love.”  Available on CD and digitally.

Norah Jones, I Dream of Christmas: Deluxe (Blue Note) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Norah Jones expands her 2021 Christmas release with a bonus disc featuring live tracks from her New York livestream and studio outtakes.

Debbie Gibson, Winterlicious (Stargirl) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

For her first Christmas album, Debbie Gibson tackles both familiar Christmas classics and original songs.  She reunites with Joey McIntyre on “Heartbreak Holiday,” while the solo tracks include “Let It Snow,” “Sleigh Ride,” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”  Available on CD and digitally.

Simple Minds, Direction of the Heart (BMG)

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

The Scottish band is back with their nineteenth studio album.  Direction of the Heart is available in standard CD (9 tracks), deluxe CD (11 tracks), digital (11 tracks), and vinyl (9 tracks) editions.

Taylor Swift, Midnights (Republic)

Various Color Formats: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Lavender CD: Target.com
Lavender LP: Target.com

We’d be remiss if we didn’t at least give a mention what will surely be the biggest record this week, and possibly of the year: the latest album from Taylor Swift.  Midnights is available in over 20 different editions – on both CD and vinyl – including Blood Moon, Jade Green, Mahogany, and Moonstone Blue color versions.  Target is exclusively carrying the Lavender edition on CD and LP, with three additional bonus tracks on the CD (identical to those on the Japanese release).  Also available on cassette and digital formats.