Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Neil Young, Archives Vol. III (1976-1987) (NYA/Reprise)

17CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
17CD/5BD Deluxe Set: Official Store

This week's biggest release is the long-awaited third volume of Neil Young's long-running Archives series. Archives Vol. III (1976-1987), spans in its deluxe form a whopping 17 CDs and five Blu-rays boasting a broad array of songs and film footage: 15 unreleased songs, 121 unreleased tracks, and 11 full-length films (four of them unreleased). Housed in a box identical to Archives Vol. I (1963-1972) (2009) and Archives Vol. II (1972-1976) (2020), the set also includes a 160-page hardcover booklet "chronologically illustrated with archive materials, detailed descriptions of the music, and a fold-out timeline of the period," and 14 custom digipak sleeves for each "album" and Blu-ray Disc. The deluxe set is limited to 5,000 copies; a less limited edition will feature just the CDs and a 36-page book of liner notes, housed in the same "Gary-pak" as the standard Archives boxes, designed by Young's late designer Gary Burden. Read more here!

Faces, Faces at The BBC - Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings 1970-1973 (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Faces at The BBC - Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings 1970-1973 compiles all of the storied group's concerts and surviving studio sessions for the BBC in one 8CD/1BD package approved by Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, and Kenney Jones. Though many of these recordings have long been considered lost, Rhino has tracked down nearly every song performed by Faces at the BBC from the band members' own archives and private collections.  Only one three-song session remains missing.  The hardcover-style set includes a 48-page booklet with new commentary from the surviving bandmates and archival quotes from late members Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan, as well as John Peel. The booklet, featuring previously unpublished photos and new liner notes by the BBC's Gary Crowley, details every Faces BBC session, concert, and broadcast. Crowley's notes also include a new interview with Jeff Griffin, who produced all of the Faces' BBC concert appearances.​ Read more here and watch this space for our full review!

Sylvester, Live at the Opera House (Fantasy/Craft)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Craft Recordings revisits Sylvester's landmark March 11, 1979 concert at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, an evening in which he was presented with the key to the city.  The concert, during which Sylvester was joined by the electrifying duo of Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes Armstead, a.k.a. Two Tons o' Fun, was recorded by Fantasy Records and released in truncated form as the album Living Proof.  Now, the complete concert is released for the very first time as Live at the Opera House.  The recording, AAA-mastered for vinyl, will be available in 3LP, 2CD, and digital formats.  The arguable high point of Sylvester's live career, the complete show boasts eight extended performances and four songs which are previously unreleased in any form.  Read more here and keep an eye out for our review!

Nancy Sinatra, Nancy in London (Light in the Attic)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Nancy's Bootique / Light in the Attic
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Nancy's Bootique (Peach Splatter Vinyl) / Light in the Attic (Summer Wine Red Vinyl)

Nancy Sinatra's third album brought the hitmaking singer to the Swingin' center of the world.  Nancy in London, originally released in 1966, was produced and arranged by her usual team of Lee Hazlewood and Billy Strange, respectively, but the setting was very different than the typical Hollywood environs.  Nancy was booked into Pye Studios on Great Cumberland Place near Marble Arch in London, the same studios in which Petula Clark had cut "Downtown" and Nancy's Reprise labelmates The Kinks called home.  Sessions took place over just three days, a testament to the professionalism of both Nancy and her team and the veteran British musicians who lent it a distinctive feel.  The resulting album, a delightful British-American hybrid, was her third album of 1966.  Now, it's the latest of Nancy's LPs to be reissued by Light in the Attic as part of the label's Nancy Sinatra Archival Series.  It arrives today in CD, LP, and digital formats. Read more here!

Frankie Stein and His Ghouls, The Complete Ghoul-Lection (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Frankie Stein and His Ghouls' The Complete Ghoul-Lection collects the five albums from the fictional all-monster group originally released in 1964 and 1965 on the Power Records label.  The (human) line-up of the band has never been revealed, but it has been rumored that personnel included guitarist Duane Eddy, saxophonist Max Greger, free jazz legend Sun Ra, and members of The Blues Project.  The songs are all instrumentals with spooky sound-effects and punning, monster-themed titles.  A dance was then suggested for each song.  1964 saw the release of the first effort, Introducing Frankie Stein and His Ghouls.  The final four albums, Shock! Terror! Fear!, Ghoul Music, Monster Melodies, and Monster Sounds and Dance Music, all came out in 1965.  Real Gone's set includes every song from every album, for a total of 50 tracks.  Our very own Joe Marchese provides the liner notes based on a new interview with Power Records' Donald Kasen, son of the label's co-founder, Daniel Kasen. Two of the albums, Monster Melodies (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) and Monster Sounds and Dance Music (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) are also out today on vinyl.

Vincent Price, Witchcraft-Magic: An Adventure in Demonology (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Up next is an album from one of the masters of horror, Vincent Price.  If you haven't seen one of his over 100 films or heard his voice in numerous voice-over appearances or animated roles, you probably at least know him as the narrator of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."  But that was not Price's only appearance on an album...far from it.  He made several himself.  Real Gone is reissuing one of these on vinyl, Witchcraft-Magic: An Adventure in Demonology, from 1969.  The Capitol album is a graphic and occasionally grisly history lesson in witchcraft from the Bible through the Middle Ages, the Spanish Inquisition, and Nazi Germany. Then, accompanied by occasional eerie, abstract electronic music, Price's sinister satisfaction only mounts as he provides instruction in the dark arts, with such tracks as "How to Make a Pact with the Devil" and "Curses, Spells, Charms."  Real Gone's new release marks the first reissue of the album in over 50 years (other than a digital release in 2010).  Real Gone has replicated the original gatefold of the original 2-LP set and has reprinted the 8-page booklet which came with some copies.  Two editions are being released.  The regular version comes on orange "pumpkin" swirl vinyl.  The second edition is exclusive to independent record stores and is limited to 666 copies.  It comes on black brick "Gates of Hell" vinyl. Get the track listings and more for both of these Halloween titles here!

10,000 Maniacs, MTV Unplugged: Expanded Edition (Elektra/Rhino)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

More than 30 years after Natalie Merchant took her final bow with 10,000 Maniacs, the band's seminal set for MTV Unplugged is getting the reissued and expanded treatment.  Available on one CD or two LPs, this remastered presentation of the original multiplatinum disc adds three extra songs from the performance featuring another lead singer for a band who recently had gone solo: David Byrne of Talking Heads. They performed covers of Iris DeMent ("Let the Mystery Be"), a Jimmie Dale Gilmore country tune ("Dallas"), and "Jolene," made famous by Dolly Parton.

David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars [Dolby Atmos Blu-ray] (Parlophone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This Blu-Ray Audio release makes the Dolby Atmos mix of Bowie's 1972 classic available in a physical format for the first time.  The audio was mixed from the multi-track tapes at RAK Studios in London by original co-producer Ken Scott. The Blu-Ray also features a new 2024 Stereo mix of the album.

Here We Are: Original Cast Recording (Concord Theatricals)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Here's the vinyl debut of of the most hotly-anticipated cast recordings of the season: Here We Are, the final musical to feature music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. (David Ives penned the book.) Bucking the recent trend of most cast recordings releasing digitally in advance of physical availability, both the CD and digital album arrived back in May. The album features David Hyde Pierce, Steven Pasquale, Denis O'Hare, Rachel Bay Jones, Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, and Jeremy Shamos, plus Alex Gemignani conducting a 14-piece orchestra playing Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations.  As the final time we'll hear a new Sondheim score, this beautifully-produced album is a poignant preservation of a singular show.  The 2LP set is pressed on baby blue vinyl.

America, Live from the Hollywood Bowl 1975 (Sun) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The August 3, 1975 concert at the famed L.A. venue, featuring a symphony orchestra conducted by Sir George Martin, was released earlier this year for Record Store Day.  Now, it's arriving on CD and wide-release 2LP pressed on "fruit punch" vinyl.  The concert, produced for release by Jeff Larson and mastered by Michael Romanowski, features live renditions of such America classics as "Tin Man," "I Need You," "Lonely People," "Ventura Highway," and "Horse with No Name," among many others.

Steve Marriott, Poor Man's Rich Man 1978-1987 (Cleopatra) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Cleopatra releases the third of three CD anthologies of rare studio and live recordings from late Humble Pie/Small Faces vocalist Steve Marriott.  All tracks have been remastered for this issue.

King Crimson, Sheltering Skies (Panegyric) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Panegyric has this 1980s King Crimson concert from Fréjus, France on CD and 200-gram vinyl, sourced from the original multitrack tapes by Robert Fripp & Brad Davis. An additional performance of "The Sheltering Sky" at Cap d'Agde has also been included. The vinyl has been cut by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering.

You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack (Lee Mendelson Productions) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The Mendelson family has unearthed another previously unreleased Peanuts score from the late Vince Guaraldi: this time, it's the 1972 special You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown - just in time for the U.S. Presidential election.  This release features the complete vocal performance of "Joe Cool" plus multiple versions of "Incumbent Waltz," the melancholy "Deserted Charlie Brown," a refreshed recording of "Linus and Lucy," and alternate takes.  The music was remixed at Bones and Knives by Terry Carleton, restored and mastered by Vinson Hudson, and produced by Sean Mendelson and Jason Mendelson. The album is available on CD, Vinyl, and digital. The CD has an 8 page insert and the vinyl has a 4-page insert, and both contain liner notes from Guaraldi biographer Derrick Bang as well as the Mendelsons.

David Gilmour, Luck and Strange (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The Pink Floyd member's first release of original music in nine years, Luck and Strange was produced by David and Charlie Andrew, with lyrics mostly written by Polly Samson, Gilmour's wife and co-writer for the past thirty years.  The album features eight new tracks along with a cover of The Montgolfier Brothers' "Between Two Points" featuring Romany Gilmour on vocals and harp.  Guests include Guy Pratt and Tom Herbert on bass, Adam Betts, Steve Gadd and Steve DiStanislao on drums, and Rob Gentry and Roger Eno on keyboards; string and choral arrangements are by Will Gardner. The title track also features the late Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright, recorded in 2007 during a Barn Jam at David's house.  The album's cover, photographed and designed by Anton Corbijn, is inspired by lyrics written by Charlie Gilmour for the album's final track, "Scattered."  Available on CD, LP, Blu-ray (with Atmos mix), and digital formats.  A deluxe box set arrives later this month with the original album, an EP of bonus tracks, the Blu-ray with Atmos mix, and a 72-page book of Polly Samson's photographs taken during the sessions.