Release Round-Up: Week of February 6

February 6, 2026 By The Second Disc — 1 Comment

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.

Roberta Flack, With Her Songs: The Atlantic Albums 1969-1978 (Atlantic/Rhino, 2026) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Roberta Flack’s With Her Songs: The Atlantic Albums 1969-1978 brings together the late artist’s first eight studio albums in one compact 8CD package. Albums include First Take, Chapter Two, Quiet Fire, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, Killing Me Softly, Feel Like Makin’ Love, Blue Lights in the Basement, and Roberta Flack. No bonus material is featured, but Discs 4-8 are newly remastered for this collection. Watch this space for a full review, and read more here.

Yes, Tales from Topographic Oceans: Super Deluxe Edition (Atlantic/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Following a deluxe box set of Yes’ Close to the Edge last spring, Rhino gives the lavish treatment to 1973’s Tales from Topographic Oceans. This whopping 12CD/2LP/Blu-ray box set offers more than a dozen unreleased outtakes and live tracks alongside a suite of new mixes of the original album by acclaimed engineer Steven Wilson. Building upon a mix he was commissioned to do in 2016, Wilson has now revisited the original double album in stereo, Dolby Atmos, and DTS-MA 5.1 surround – along with an instrumental mix – all available across the first half of the new set and its accompanying Blu-ray. (The remastered original mix will be included on two CDs and two LPs.) Writer and Yes aficionado Syd Schwartz has penned new liner notes for the set. Read more here.

Sananda Juvenilia — BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Sananda Maitreya, Juvenilia: The Columbia Years (Treehouse Publishing/Music on Vinyl/Sony) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Site (with signed print))

Prolific pop/rock/soul singer/songwriter Sananda Maitreya is set to release an artist-approved colored vinyl box set featuring remastered and slightly redesigned editions of his early albums for Columbia, originally released under the name Terence Trent D’Arby but now issued under his current name. Includes Into the Hardline According to… (1987 – translucent green), Neither Fish Nor Flesh: A Soundtrack of Love, Faith, Hope and Destruction (1989 – red), Symphony or Damn (Exploring the Tension Inside the Sweetness) (1993 – gold double vinyl) and Vibrator (1995 – blue double vinyl), each of which come with new liner notes from the artist. Get more details here.

NRBQ, Grooves in Orbit: Expanded Edition (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

NRBQ’s lone album for Bearsville Records, 1983’s Grooves in Orbit, returns from Omnivore with seven bonus tracks (including a promo spot with the late Captain Lou Albano), new liner notes by John DeAngelis, and a fresh remastering courtesy of Michael Graves.

The Emotions, Untouched Love (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The soul-gospel trio from Chicago were going through some professional changes with their second album, 1971’s Untouched Love. Originally comprised of the Hutchinson sisters (Wanda, Jeanette and Sheila), Jeanette departed the group in 1970 to be replaced by Theresa Davis. This album on the Stax label finds them teaming with producers including Isaac Hayes, Ronnie Williams, and David Porter. It produced the No. 13 Soul hit “Show Me How” and also featured “Blind Love,” which has been sampled the by a variety of artists. Real Gone’s new vinyl reissue is an all-analog pressing mastered from the original two-track master. A “clearwater blue” and Wax Mage variant are available from Real Gone’s website.

The Temprees, Lovemen (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This vocal soul trio (Jasper “Jabbo” Phillips, Harold “Scotty” Scott and Deljuan “Del” Calvin) was signed by Josephine “Jo” Bridges to her We Produce label, a Stax imprint, in 1970. This 1972 album was their first for the label. Featuring Phillips’ falsetto, the LP includes several slow jams, including a cover of “Dedicated to the One I Love.” For this first-ever vinyl reissue, Real Gone has given it an all-analog transfer from the original two-track tapes and is pressing two versions: a standard black vinyl and a “eco-friendly, sonically superior valentine red PET plastic” vinyl.

Solomon King OST — BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Various Artists, Solomon King: The Original Soundtrack From the Motion Picture (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Produced in the wake of Shaft and Superfly, 1974’s Solomon King was the brainchild of Oakland, California entrepreneur Sal Watts who produced, wrote, directed and starred in the film. To arrange and conduct the funky score, he enlisted Ray Charles’ collaborator Jimmy Lewis. The album was released on Watts’ own Sippi Records label. Real Gone is reissuing the album on vinyl and CD, both expanded with bonus tracks, all originally released on another of Watts’ labels, Sal/Wa. The “tiger swirl” vinyl adds two tracks by Papa’s Results (“Sister Sheila” and “Sister Sheila – Instrumental Part 2”) and one by The Sal/Wa Singers (“Solomon King”). The vinyl also has two variants available from Real Gone’s website: a “quasar” vinyl limited to 75 copies and Wax Mage edition, limited to 25 copies. The CD version adds three more bonus tracks in addition to the vinyl’s three: two more by Papa’s Results (“There’s No Such Thing As A Little Bit of Me” and Theme From King”) and one from Little James and Big Louie Watts (“Ain’t That Nothing” – Alternate Version).

Leon Ware, Leon Ware (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This album from 1982 on Elektra was actually singer/songwriter/keyboardist/producer Leon Ware’s second self-titled album. The first was a decade earlier on United Artists. Between the two releases, he worked with artists including Quincy Jones, Minnie Riperton, Marcus Valle, Donny Hathaway, Melissa Manchester, and others. He also wrote much of Marvin Gaye’s I Want You album as well as Motown hits such as “I Wanna Be Where You Are.” 1982’s Leon Ware was his second and final album for Elektra. It underperformed commercially upon release but has become a cult favorite. Real Gone’s reissue is the first time the album has been reissued in vinyl in the U.S., and it comes on an “orange crush” vinyl.

Olu Dara In the World — BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Olu Dara, From Natchez to New York (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Cornetist and guitarist got his professional music start in the 1960s, playing in the 1970s and 1980s with such artists as David Murray, Henry Threadgill, Hamiet Bluiett, Don Pullen, Charles Bracken, James Blood Ulmer, and Cassandra Wilson, among others. This 1998 album was his first on Atlantic. Dara plays mostly the guitar on this mix of jazz and country blues. His son Nas contributes vocals to “Jungle Jay.” Real Gone’s release marks the album’s first appearance on vinyl. It comes on green “okra” vinyl and includes an insert. It is limited to 1,000 copies.

Bayete, Seeking Other Beauty (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 1973 album from Bayete, a.k.a. Todd Cochran, is filled with far-out jazz grooves – some of the most out-there music ever released on the venerable Prestige label. Pat Thomas provides the liner notes for this first-time reissue, and Real Gone has given it the all-analog treatment. Available on black vinyl as well as “plasma” vinyl and Wax Mage variants via Real Gone’s website.

The Blasters, The Blasters / Hard Line (Liberation Hall)

The Blasters: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Hard Line: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Liberation Hall continues reissuing The Blasters’ catalogue on CD and LP with the roots-rock band’s second album (The Blasters, with future Shakin’ Stevens hit “Marie Marie”) and fourth (Hard Line, featuring John Mellencamp’s production of “Colored Lights”).

Clifton Chenier, King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco (Arhoolie/Smithsonian Folkways) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco celebrates the late Clifton Chenier (1925-1987) with this 4CD or 6LP box set boasting 67 tracks, 19 of which are previously unreleased, from the groundbreaking artist.

Ragtime 2025 OBC — BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Ragtime: 2025 Broadway Cast Recording (Concord Theatricals) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty’s Ragtime took Broadway by storm in 1998 despite being somewhat overshadowed by the massive success of Disney’s The Lion King. Whereas that blockbuster is still running today, Ragtime closed in 2000 after (a very respectable) 834 performances; it subsequently inspired productions all around the world including a smaller-scale 2009 Broadway revival. Now, the epic musical based on E.L. Doctorow’s 1975 novel is back and arguably more powerful, and more relevant, than ever. The cast recording of the production directed by Lear DeBessonet has arrived on Concord Theatricals, starring Joshua Henry (Coalhouse), Nichelle Lewis (Sarah), Caissie Levy (Mother), Colin Donnell (Father), Brandon Uranowitz (Tateh), and Ben Levi Ross (Younger Brother). Featuring William David Brohn’s grand original orchestrations, this new recording of Ahrens and Flaherty’s sweeping and anthemic score captures the power of the stage production. It’s out now digitally and on CD, with the 2LP vinyl version due April 3.

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Funk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Bayete, Clifton Chenier, Jimmy Lewis, Leon Ware, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, NRBQ, Olu Dara, Roberta Flack, Sananda Maitreya, The Blasters, The Emotions, The Temprees, Yes

The Second Disc

The Second Disc is devoted to the weird, wild and wonderful world of music catalogue projects. Every week, Mike Duquette, Joe Marchese, and Randy Fairman bring you news, reviews, commentary and features on remasters, reissues, compilations and box sets.

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1 thought on “Release Round-Up: Week of February 6”

Beto
February 8, 2026 at 1:12 am

The Emotions were a great group. Glad to see this release.
Olu Dara is a little-known southerner whose music cannot be classified. I have the CD of this release.
Tales from Topographic Oceans is bloated beyond redemption. Glad that the live section will be released as a record.

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Release Round-Up: Week of February 6

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