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.

Talking Heads, More Songs About Buildings and Food: Deluxe Edition (Rhino)

3CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rough Trade (Red) / D2C Exclusive (2LP/4x7")
4LP: D2C Exclusive (and 4LP/2x7")

Rhino is taking Talking Heads fans to the river with a new deluxe edition: a 3CD/Blu-ray edition of the group's 1978 sophomore album More Songs About Buildings and Food.  The box includes the remastered original album alongside a bonus disc of rare studio material (including four unreleased alternate takes and a host of material included on previous expansions) and a live set recorded at the Entermedia Theatre in New York City (today a multiplex), just about a month after the album was released. Video of highlights from that same show feature on the Blu-ray, along with footage from a show later that year at the Sproul Plaza in Berkeley, CA, as well as the original in high-resolution stereo along with remixes in 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos by the band's Jerry Harrison and engineer Eric "E.T." Thorngren (who passed away last year). All four band members - Harrison, David Byrne, Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth - have co-signed the project, offering recollections of the period in the 60-page hardcover book packaging alongside rare and unseen photos. (The box follows up similar sets for debut Talking Heads: 77 and Stop Making Sense.)   Read more here.

Nick Drake, The Making of 'Five Leaves Left' (Island/UMR)

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

The Making of Five Leaves Left offers a new chronological look at Nick Drake's first album through more than 30 unreleased outtakes and a new pressing of the original album, available either on four CDs or four LPs and remastered by original album engineer John Wood. An illustrated 60-page book, printed on textured, recycled paper, accompanies the discs, offering new liner notes by Neil Storey and Richard Morton-Jack, the latter of whom published an illuminative biography on Drake in 2023. Though precious little material emerged from Drake's archive for decades after his 1974 death - and only sparingly even after a major rediscovery of his catalogue at the turn of the century - The Making of Five Leaves Left yields unheard riches from a variety of sources, including revelatory moments from Drake's first-ever studio session in 1968 and a demo reel recorded during his study at the University of Cambridge, which aligned with his signing to Island Records. (The original album closes out the box.)  Read more here, and watch this space for a review!

Elton John, Live from The Rainbow Theatre with Ray Cooper (Rocket/Mercury/UMe)

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

A 1977 archival live album from Elton John, released earlier this year for Record Store Day, is getting a wider release this summer.  Live from the Rainbow Theatre with Ray Cooper will come back to LP as well as bow on CD and digital, featuring all 12 tracks from the original release plus one extra, a disc-closing rendition of "Goodbye." The British piano pop icon, who released the collaborative studio album Who Believes in Angels? with Brandi Carlile in April, curated the album, drawn from six stripped-back dates at the London venue. The album centers deeper cuts from Elton's '70s material - "Border Song" is perhaps the most recognizable - offering album sides from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy and the previous fall's latest, the double album Blue Moves.  Get more details here!

Green Apple Quick Step, Dizzy: The Medicine Label Anthology (Omnivore)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore
Wonderful Virus (Red Vinyl Edition): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore
Reloaded (White Vinyl Edition): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore

Omnivore celebrates the Medicine Label era of alt-rock band Green Apple Quick Step with this new campaign. Founded in 1992, GAQS' members included lead vocalist Tyler Willman, guitarists Daniel Kempthorne (a.k.a. Daniel J. Travanti of The Briefs) and Steve Ross, singer-bassist Mari Ann Braeden, and drummer Bob 'Mink' Martin.  Hailing from Tacoma, Washington, the group made the move to Seattle and got signed to the Medicine Label just as grunge was beginning to hit the mainstream. Tge band's debut Wonderful Virus will be released on red vinyl and follow-up LP Reloaded comes on white vinyl.  There are no bonus tracks on the vinyl reissues, but the 2CD set features 13 bonus tracks including 4 previously unreleased cuts.  In addition, the deluxe CD package contains a booklet with liner notes from our very own Joe Marchese that draw upon a new interview with Ty Willman. Michael Graves has remastered the audio for all titles.  Get more info here!

John Lee Hooker, Boom Boom (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

BMG remasters and reissues the late blues great's 1992 album featuring Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmie Vaughan, Albert Collins, and Robert Cray on both CD and LP.

Melanie, Behind the Curtain (Cleopatra) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Cleopatra's latest Melanie title is a collection of her demos and rehearsal recordings as she tried out new arrangements and versions of such favorites as "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," "The Nickel Song," and James Taylor's "Carolina on My Mind."  Dave Thompson pens the liner notes.

Alice Cooper, The Revenge of Alice Cooper (earMUSIC) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Alice Cooper has brought the band back together - Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, and Neal Smith, with a special appearance from the late Glen Buxton - for this celebration of their shared legacy.  The Revenge of Alice Cooper is the original band's first album since 1973's Muscle of Love, and is produced by Bob Ezrin who has recreated their powerful '70s shock-rock sound.  Available on CD, LP, and digital/streaming.

Smash: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Concord Theatricals) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Women Have Curves: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Ghostlight) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Gypsy: The 2024 Broadway Cast Recording (Rhino) (CD / 2LP)

We've got not one, not two, but three cast albums on CD from the 2024-2025 Broadway season including the original musicals Smash and Real Women Have Curves and the revival of Gypsy starring the incandescent Audra McDonald.  While the first two shows have already closed and Gypsy will play its final show next month, these three albums ensure that these productions will live on.  Note that Gypsy is currently a Rhino.com exclusive on both CD and deluxe 2LP vinyl with expanded artwork and an autographed photo of Audra.  Smash arrives September 5 on vinyl; all titles are currently streaming.

And don't forget to check your local independent retailer for this week's titles from the Elektra 75 campaign...the titles from The Cars and The Doors are also available via Rhino.com.

Love, The Elektra Singles
1LP on Black vinyl

This collection brings together the Southern California band's classics including "My Little Red Book," "7 and 7 Is," "She Comes in Colors," and "Alone Again Or."

The Cars, Shake It Up (Rhino Reserve)
1LP on 180-gram Black vinyl

Featuring the hit title track which went to the top 10 in 1981, The Cars' Shake It Up is added to the Rhino Reserve line.  This reissue has been cut from the original tapes by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Fidelity Record Pressing in Oxnard, California.

The Doors, Golden Doors 2
1LP on Purple vinyl (D2C Edition includes 7-inch on Purple vinyl​)

This 1970 compilation was originally released in Japan only, and original copies fetch high coin today.  This second volume of Doors favorites includes "Touch Me," "Wishful Sinful," "The Soft Parade," and "Moonlight Drive" among its 12 cuts.  Bruce Botnick has mastered and Bernie Grundman has cut the lacquers for this release.  A bonus 7-inch EP (reprising five songs on the LP) will be available with copies ordered directly from Rhino.com.