Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week brings new (and vintage) tracks from some of pop's greatest women, rarities from Captain Beefheart, even more Billy Joel (in a slightly different way) and a tribute to one of the greatest discographies you can download for free.

Chappell Roan, "The Subway" (Island) (Apple / Amazon)

Does last year's biggest pop star have a new album coming out? After dropping country-flavored "The Giver" earlier this year, the "Pink Pony Club" hitmaker is back with a studio version of "The Subway," a raw and gorgeous break-up song that became a fan favorite after she began performing it live last year.

Coolio, Greatest Hits (Tommy Boy) (Apple / Amazon)

Friday marked the 30th anniversary of the blockbuster hip-hop song "Gangsta's Paradise" by the late Coolio feat. L.V. - the top-selling single of 1995 and the first of its genre to debut atop the U.K. charts. To commemorate, Tommy Boy Records is offering a few digital and physical extras, including a remix competition on the DJ streaming service Beatsource, a new 7" pressing of the original single and its instrumental, and new Atmos mixes of the song (plus three other singles) on Apple Music.

Madonna, Dress You Up EP (Warner/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)

Classic remixes of the last single from Like a Virgin have arrived on digital music channels, with a bittersweet dedication from the Queen of Pop to Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi, two Madonna superfans who worked for Mattel as Barbie designers.

Natalie Cole, Everlasting (Deluxe Edition) (Craft) (Apple / Amazon)

The daughter of Nat "King" Cole began a career resurgence in the mid-'80s after battling substance abuse. Eleventh album Everlasting, released in 1987, helped put her back on top thanks in large part to a soulful cover of the Bruce Springsteen B-side "Pink Cadillac" that became a Top 5 hit on both sides of the Atlantic. That track is one of four songs that got dance remixes, which all appear here as bonus tracks on this expanded digital release.

Hayley Williams, Ego (Post Atlantic) (Apple / Amazon)

The voice of Paramore has been turning fans' heads with the rollout of her third album: the track "Mirtapazine" was released to public radio late last month; it and 16 other password-protected tracks were then briefly uploaded to her website. Now, all of them are available to stream and download, albeit as individual singles instead of a bundled follow-up to 2021's Flowers for Vases/Descansos. (She's intimated on social media that the Ego project - which is a fan title that's sticking - is meant to be sequenced as the listener sees fit.)

Lauren Christy, Their Hits My Way (self-released) (Apple / Amazon)

Despite an early American Music Award nomination around the time of her 1994 debut, Lauren Christy didn't find a lot of success as a singer/songwriter. ("Lauren is still probably one of my all-time favorite collaborators," Gary Clark of Danny Wilson told me this year. "She's just a wellspring of amazing ideas.") However, she did find considerable success as a songwriter, as one-third of the writing/production team The Matrix with Graham Edwards and Scott Spock. Christy has now laid down her versions of a dozen pop hits she wrote for Avril Lavigne ("Complicated," "Sk8er Boi," "I'm with You"), Liz Phair ("Why Can't I?"), Jason Mraz ("The Remedy (I Won't Worry)"), Hilary Duff ("So Yesterday") and others.

Captain Beefheart, The Spotlight Kid (Deluxe Edition) / Clear Spot (Deluxe Edition) / Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (Deluxe Edition) (Warner/Rhino)

Spotlight: Apple / Amazon
Clear Spot: Apple / Amazon
Shiny Beast: Apple / Amazon

Don Van Vliet's two 1972 albums and one from 1978 - the latter a re-recording of an intended 1976 album for Virgin that was finally made available in 2012 - were all reissued on vinyl by Rhino for Record Store Day celebrations in 2022, 2023 and 2024, all featuring bonus LPs of unreleased outtakes, instrumentals and other curiosities from the vault. Now, they're available digitally for all to enjoy.

The Broadway Ensemble, The Billy Joel Project (Yellow Sound Label) (Apple / Amazon)

You've likely read a lot here lately about Billy Joel and the documentary And So It Goes - including Mike's comprehensive breakdown of its staggering, seven-hour soundtrack. (That's two hours longer than the film itself!) Well, we're not the only ones in the mood for a melody. The Broadway Ensemble has paid tribute to the piano man with a full-length album. The Billy Joel Project features such stage stars as Annie Golden, Farah Alvin, Michael Winther, Aaron Ramey, John Treacy Egan, and Nicholas Rodriguez on new arrangements of classic Joel hits and deep cuts. The first single, "She's Got a Way" performed by Donna Vivino of Wicked, Hell's Kitchen, and Les Misérables fame, was released earlier this year. It's joined by highlights including Winther's tender "You're My Home," Egan's moving "Summer, Highland Falls," and Golden's earthy "Turn the Lights Back On" (certainly one of its first covers). It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that Joel's melodies lend themselves to theatrical interpretation; Twyla Tharp's Movin' Out, set entirely to his music, ran for 1,303 performances and over three years on Broadway. Billy Joel and Broadway are both New York institutions, and this album (also featuring a custom-made Joel overture and entr'acte!) brings them together again in a most enjoyable fashion.

Maren Morris, D R E A M S I C L E (deluxe) (Columbia) (Apple / Amazon)

One of the most thoughtful country singers of the last 20 years, Maren Morris stunned listeners in 2022 by disclosing her intent to distance herself from the industry over what she saw as the genre's reluctance to address issues of misogyny and racial discrimination. (The following year, she and country singer Ryan Hurd ended their nearly six-year marriage.) These moments of transition inspired this spring's underrated D R E A M S I C L E, featuring writing and production collaborations with Taylor Swift collaborators like Jack Antonoff and Joel Little, Julia Michaels, Greg Kurstin and members of the alt-pop band MUNA. As the summer comes close to its end, it's expanded with four new songs, including three with longtime country collaborators Jimmy Robbins and Laura Veltz, and "Running," another co-write with the MUNA members.

Spinal Tap feat. Elton John, "Stonehenge" (Interscope) (Apple / Amazon (TBD))

"One of England's loudest bands" (in reality, comedians Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer) are set to break like the wind one more time in next month's Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, a 41-years-later sequel to the 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap. The first single from the new film's soundtrack is a new recording of the originally anticlimactic "Stonehenge," featuring vocals and piano from Elton John (no doubt one of dozens of celebrities expected to cameo in the film).

Fania All-Stars, Live At Yankee Stadium Volume 1 (Remastered 2025) (Fania/Craft) (Apple / Amazon)

Newly remastered for its 50th anniversary, this first in a two-volume series of tropical favorites (recorded live at a rapturous concert in the Bronx) features the vocals of Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe and Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez.

Groove Armada, Black Light (15th Anniversary Deluxe) (BMG Rights Management U.K. Limited) (Apple / Amazon)

A beloved 2010 release from the British electronic duo that featured vocals from the likes of Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music, Nick Littlemore of PNAU, original Pop Idol winner Will Young and Saint Saviour, who toured with the group at the time. Includes seven rare remixes as bonus tracks.

Finally, Joe remembers an icon of comedy music who left us this week...

Tom Lehrer (1928-2025) didn't believe in sacred cows. The singer-songwriter/satirist/MIT and Harvard mathematics professor (and inspiration to "Weird Al" Yankovic) died on July 26 at the age of 97, having spent far more years in academia than in music. Yet the small body of work he leaves behind remains a powerfully relevant one. The witty works of Tom Lehrer were subversive and savage, dripping in black comedy and sharp observation. Weaned on the Golden Age of Broadway musicals and the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, Lehrer's songs were crafted with a mathematical precision, earning the admiration of fans such as Stephen Sondheim. Both of their time and timeless, Tom Lehrer's tunes were deceptively simple, instantly memorable, and often shocking. Accompanying himself on piano and looking for all the world like the bespectacled, suit-and-tie-wearing professor he was, Lehrer sang a jolly ode to "The Old Dope Peddler" ("spreading joy wherever he goes"), a paean to the joys of "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" ("When they see us coming, the birdies all try and hide/But they still go for peanuts when coated with cyanide..."), and a reminder for the nuclear era that "We Will All Go Together When We Go" ("What a comforting fact that is to know/Universal bereavement/An inspiring achievement/Yes, we all will go together when we go!").

He took aim at self-satisfied liberals ("The Folk Song Army"), organized religion ("The Vatican Rag"), censorship ("Smut"), and military might ("Send the Marines") with equal zeal, and packed surprises in such jaunty songs as "I Got It from Agnes" and "I Hold Your Hand in Mine." He even set the periodic table to Gilbert and Sullivan's music as "The Elements." Professor Lehrer left behind just two studio albums (1953's Songs by Tom Lehrer and 1959's More of Tom Lehrer, though the former was re-recorded for stereo in 1966), a handful of live sets (including 1965's That Was the Year That Was, featuring his most topical songs written for the NBC-TV series This Was the Week That Was), and compilations including the remarkable 2000 Rhino collection The Remains of Tom Lehrer as well as the indelible songs he crafted for children on The Electric Company. Yet the body of work endures: in 2022, Lehrer placed all of his words and music in the public domain, so anyone can perform, record or download any of his songs with his perpetual blessing. Let's hope that they do.