“Sea.Hear.Now” What Legacy’s Planning for Record Store Day 2026

Springsteen Asbury Park 2024 RSD

Legacy Recordings is only spotlighting eight artists for Record Store Day 2026, but they’re making it count. Sony Music’s catalogue arm will showcase mostly live recordings – classics, out-of-print favorites and even some recent ones – on their vinyl selections for the annual retail holiday. And best of all, three of them will also be available on CD!

Incredibly, only one of these titles has been on vinyl before: 1978’s Nite Flights, the striking final album by The Walker Brothers. Indeed, from pop (Tony Bennett and Jeff Buckley) to classic rock (Judas Priest, Pink Floyd and Bruce Springsteen) and even a bit of hip-hop (Polo G) and experimental music (a new, second selection of tunes inspired by Lou Reed’s challenging Metal Machine Music), it’s all new to vinyl. And the entries for Buckley (a fan favorite, out-of-print live set, recorded and originally only released in Europe), Pink Floyd (a legendary concert bootleg that got an official release last year) and Springsteen (a recent, very special show with The E Street Band) will have CD counterparts – a godsend for fans of the format who’ve called for better representation every time RSD season is imminent.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at each title, available at your local independent record store on Saturday, April 18.

Tony Bennett, MTV Unplugged (Columbia/Legacy) (2LP; 2200 copies)

After Eric Clapton’s appearance on MTV Unplugged yielded a blockbuster, award-winning album, the door was open for older performers to make an impact on the series. But nobody saw this coming! Tony Bennett, at the time on a career upswing after a string of commercial failures and drug addiction, made an unlikely pitch to the younger generation by doing what he did best: lively takes on The Great American Songbook, backed by the Ralph Sharon Trio (and featuring guest turns by Elvis Costello on “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” and k.d. lang on “Moonglow”). After spirited appearances on late night television and the MTV Video Music Awards, the one-of-a-kind singer, closing in on his 70th birthday – he’d reach nearly a century! – helped certify his status as a living legend with this Grammy Award winner for Album of the Year, available on vinyl for the first time ever.

Jeff Buckley, Live À L’Olympia (Columbia/Legacy) (2LP; 15400 copies / CD; 3250 copies)

After the release of the moving documentary It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley last year, the door is open for rediscovery of the late singer/songwriter’s body of work (primarily in the form of the many, many live releases issued after his passing). Live À L’Olympia, his second posthumous live set, was recorded over two nights in Paris with Buckley’s full touring band in 1995; it features versions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” The MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” and originals like “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over.” But the set was not only never released on vinyl, but it wasn’t released in the U.S., either – making this accompanying CD reissue most welcome, indeed.

Judas Priest, Live in Los Angeles ’90 (Columbia/Legacy) (LP – Transparent Purple vinyl; 4900 copies)

Priest’s career-spanning 42CD set Reflections: 50 Years of Heavy Metal Music not only contained every studio and live album the metal icons issued between 1974 and 2018, but offered a further baker’s dozen of unreleased live discs. One of them, a 1990 set in the City of Angels in promotion of the warmly-received Painkiller, will receive its own vinyl version this Record Store Day.

Pink Floyd, Live from the Los Angeles Sports Arena, April 26th, 1975 (Columbia/Legacy) (4LP – Clear vinyl; 15400 copies / 2CD, 7100 copies)

There was much confusion over Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here 50 reissue last year, which offered a lot of material across different formats. The vinyl box set included a Blu-ray that featured a somewhat legendary bootleg of a 1975 set at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (including a full performance of The Dark Side of the Moon), captured by taper Mike Millard and remastered by Steven Wilson. That Blu-ray was also released separately, but the only other place the audio was available was digitally. Legacy’s finally ending any confusion with a physical release of that set, on vinyl or CD.

Polo G, Hall of Fame (ODA/Columbia/Legacy) (LP; 2150 copies – “RSD First”)

The third album from Chicago rapper Polo G was his first to top the Billboard 200 in 2021, and also featured a chart-topping single in “Rapstar.” Five years later, it gets its first vinyl edition.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Live from Asbury Park 2024 (Columbia/Legacy) (5LP; 6050 copies / 3CD; 3700 copies – “RSD First”)

Every moment and memory of a Bruce Springsteen show makes it special for fans – even as The Boss gets older and stretches his concerts to incredible heights. His September 15, 2024 set with The E Street Band at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival on the beach at Asbury Park, NJ was a dream come true for faithful fans, offering 23 hits and deep cuts in the same community that inspired his earliest works. Now, that show will be available in full as a considerable 5LP set or an “RSD First” triple CD.

Various Artists, Metal Machine Music: Power to Consume Vol. 2 (Legacy) (2LP; 1000 copies – “RSD Limited Run/Regional Focus”)

A sequel to last fall’s Record Store Day Black Friday collection inspired by Lou Reed’s unforgettable noise release Metal Machine Music, this limited edition set includes new outsider sounds from Lydia Lunch, Martin Rev of Suicide and Masami Akita, better known as Merzbow.

The Walker Brothers, Nite Flights (GTO/Legacy) (LP; 1900 copies)

For their final act on record, The Walker Brothers – U.S.-born, U.K.-based teen idol Scott, Gary and John, all of whom used the surname for stage purposes and were unrelated – made a sharp left turn that sounded nothing like their ’60s soft pop/rock or the material they made upon reuniting in 1975. Nite Flights, released three years after that reunion, was their first album of original material, and Scott’s songs – his first to be released in years – channeled the style of David Bowie’s Berlin period. It confounded listeners, but set Scott up for a fascinating new chapter of his career as an avant-garde artist. Nite Flights will be reissued on vinyl just over seven years after Scott’s passing, making it a fine time to rediscover this LP.

Mike Duquette
Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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9 thoughts on ““Sea.Hear.Now” What Legacy’s Planning for Record Store Day 2026”

  1. Again, the Prince Estate has left us high and dry for this RSD. Sadly, they seem more interested in selling tchotchkes, gaudy clothing and half-ass conventions than music. Their contempt for the fanbase is runs deep.

    1. The word I’ve heard in some fan groups – apparently based off a solicitation that got out in Europe by mistake – was that there was supposed to be a Prince and The New Power Generation set made available for RSD. (This would’ve been from the Act II Tour in 1993, right after he changed his name.) It was apparently scrapped because the audio source was not up to par.

  2. I might actually get the Springsteen since it’ll be on CD. While I’m hit and miss on Bruce’s music for the past 30-some years (Love his politics, but the music’s been inconsistent) this show has enough classic songs and better newer ones to make this worthwhile.

    6000 vinyl and 3700 CDs? Sony did right with this. Now compare the crappy job they did for RSD Black Friday for the widely desired Billy Joel Live From Long Island. Only 1500 vinyl copies, no CD. Billy and Bruce are Sony’s two biggest artists of all time. Why did Billy fans get screwed on that, while Bruce fan should have no problem finding this release?

    1. I’m with you on Bruce – I don’t traffic too much in the Nugs material (I’ve been gifted a few, and think Legacy could have fun doing a box of a set from each tour) – but when something is released officially, as here, I’m in.

      John Jackson was recently on the Glass Houses podcast talking about some future plans, and it sounded like they were trying to find some better sources for Live from Long Island that would’ve included some additional material. So perhaps a potential CD would be worth the wait – I hope so, anyway!

      1. Thanks, Mike! I will have to seek that out. Billy’s camp and Sony have waited way, WAY too long to open the vaults. Odd, given Billy hasn’t made an album in over 30 years. You’d think they’d want to do more given his drawing power.

        Anyhow, Long Island could sound better, it’s true. Maybe a CD (and expanded video?) could still happen. If they they need to restore the snippets they cut from the LP – some boogie woofie piano before “Movin’ Out” and the into to “Souvenir” were both cut for reasons unknown.

      2. Hey again, Mike. Yeah, I’ve already let me favorite shop know I’m wanting Bruce, Pink Floyd (Both on CD! Hooray!) the Billy Strings “Timy Desk” concert, and the Jerry Garcia “Reflections” 50th. Sure wish those last two were on CD.

        I’ve got a few Nugs Bruce shows. I’m generally only interested in 70s and 80s Bruce shows, and I’m glad Nugs has issued plenty. The sound quality has been an issue on several of them, but it’s still great to have those 1975, epic 1978, and 1980-81 shows out there. I have a couple from 1984 and that excellent Stockholm 1988 show too. My one post 80s show (For now) is the show from the Seeger Sessions tour. Great album, great band, great tour I was fortunate to attend.

        Bruce fans have it really good. Just wish Billy Joel fans could have it even half as good.

  3. Great to see a full, live Pink Floyd show getting released too. Just like the Bruce release, plenty of copies to go around, both on vinyl AND on CD.

    Love that, but again I have to wonder why Sony couldn’t have done the same for a coveted Billy Joel concert that fans waited over 40 years to have a full release.

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