Features / Release Round-Up

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.

Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, The Ultimate Collection (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada/ Real Gone Music)

Real Gone delivers the definitive tribute to Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme with this 4-CD box set.  Previously available only as a Public Television pledge incentive, The Ultimate Collection has been curated by David Lawrence and is thematically arranged by disc.  It features highlights from Steve and Eydie’s vibrant discography from their early days at ABC-Paramount and United Artists through their halcyon period at Columbia Records, subsequent classics for Calendar, RCA, and MGM, and favorites from their own Stage 2 and GL Music labels. A number of rarities are featured, including Steve’s “You and I” (from Goodbye, Mr. Chips), “Being Alive” (from Stephen Sondheim’s Company), and Paul Williams and Roger Nichols’ “The Drifter.”   Disc 1 is dedicated to Duet Classics, while Disc 2 is focused on the solo Steve and Disc 3 on the solo Eydie.  The fourth disc features a bevy of Broadway favorites from the duo. The audio for the 4-CD box set has been mastered by Eric Boulanger at The Bakery.  A 24-page booklet designed by John Sellards accompanies the release, boasting numerous rare and previously unpublished photos of the artists as well as comprehensive liner notes from The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese.  You’ll find the full track listing here!

Talking Heads, Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Initially released as a clear LP with 7″ single for Record Store Day Black Friday in 2025, this collection of early archival material from acclaimed art-rockers Talking Heads is greatly expanded on CD with more than 30 additional archival tracks, including the band’s demo session for CBS Records and an assortment of live cuts before the group became a quartet. (A black vinyl version of the original RSD vinyl will be released the same day.)  Read more here!

Barbara Lewis, The Many Grooves of Barbara Lewis (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

After five albums for Atlantic, Barbara Lewis moved to Stax imprint Enterprise for this 1970 album.  Produced by Ollie McLaughlin, the LP features a grittier sound than Lewis’ earlier efforts and includes covers of such songs as Clarence Carter’s “Slip Away” and Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman’s “The Windmills of Your Mind.”  The Many Grooves would prove to be Lewis’ final album as she stepped back from the public spotlight only reemerging later in the decade when Yvonne Elliman topped the Easy Listening charts in 1977 with a cover of Lewis’ composition “Hello Stranger.”  Real Gone’s new release marks the first ever vinyl reissue of the album and is an all-analog pressing.  It comes on black vinyl or purple PET plastic vinyl.

Ernie Hines, Electrified (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Soul musician Hines recorded this album for Stax imprint We Produce in 1972.  Produced by Jo Bridges and Tom Nixon, the LP has become a cult classic over the years due in large part to the song “Our Generation.”  Hines’ gospel-infused version of Leon Moore’s socially-conscious song was sampled in the 1992 hit “Straighten It Out” and then covered by John Legend and the Roots in 2010.  Real Gone’s new reissue is remastered from the original tapes and is an all-analog pressing.  It comes on black vinyl and also magenta vinyl.

Peter Gabriel, Live at WOMAD 1982 (Real World)

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

Released digitally last year, Peter Gabriel’s first performance at the World Of Music, Arts and Dance in England (which he founded) was a special treat for concertgoers, offering the live debut of nearly every track off his fourth album, released eponymously (and as Security in America) several months after this performance. The set features “San Jacinto,” “I Have the Touch,” “Shock the Monkey” and more. UPDATE: THIS RELEASE HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK TO MAY 8, 2026.

Rainbow, The Temple of The King 1975-1976 (Edsel) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

After leaving Deep Purple, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore found success with his new band Rainbow. The ever-changing line-up was notable in its early incarnation for featuring Elf vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who would of course become a towering figure in metal as a singer in Black Sabbath and his own eponymous band Dio. The Temple of the King is a 9CD box set collecting the early Dio years of Rainbow, including the remastered studio albums Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow and Rainbow Rising, three live sets from 1976 and a collection of rare tracks, including four unreleased tour rehearsals. It’s all mastered by Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham, housed in a 7″ package alongside 28 pages of original album artwork, rare photos, memorabilia, and new liner notes by writer Rich Davenport. It’s also slated to be the first in a series of Rainbow retrospectives at Edsel, with Blackmore’s full endorsement.

Soul to Soul: Music from the Original Soundtrack (Liberation Hall) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Liberation Hall has revisited the landmark 1971 concert that saw American artists travel to Ghana to take part in a marathon concert to celebrate Ghana’s independence from British rule.  The film has been restored to its originally edited version using 2K transfers from the original elements – it’s due on Blu-ray and DVD in May – and the soundtrack has gotten polished up and remastered, too.  While Roberta Flack and Eddie Harris & Les McCann’s performances were unavailable for this resequenced and reimagined reissue, the CD and LP soundtrack add cuts from Santana (“Jungle Strut,” “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen”), The Staple Singers (“When Will We Be Paid”), Ike and Tina Turner (“River Deep-Mountain High”), and Wilson Pickett (“In the Midnight Hour”).

Klaus Nomi, Nomi (Omnivore Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Omnivore brings four albums from the groundbreaking German performance artist and singer to a 4LP vinyl box.  Nomi collects the studio albums Klaus Nomi (1981) and Simple Man (1982), the live In Concert (posthumously released in 1986), and the collection Encore (1983) in one deluxe package.

Static X, Cannibal (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 2007 album from the industrial metal group is the first to contain guitar solos with every song but one featuring a solo.  It is also the group’s shortest album at 37 minutes and the first to be produced by John Travis.  It was also their first album for Reprise Records and is considered to be one of their heaviest efforts.  The song “No Submission” was featured on the Saw III soundtrack.  Real Gone’s new vinyl reissue features one bonus track, “Light It Up,” and comes on blood and bronze splatter vinyl and is housed in a gatefold jacket.

Obituary, Slowly We Rot (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Gone is kicking off a series of Obituary reissues with this vinyl release of their debut album from 1989.  This album, produced by Scott Burns, is considered to be one of the fundamental albums for the death metal genre.  Real Gone’s release is the first ever US vinyl reissue of the album and expands it with demo versions of “Find The Arise” and “Like The Dead” (the same bonus tracks from the 1997 CD reissue).  The release comes on “corpse blue with blood splatter” vinyl.

The Tony Rice Unit, Manzanita (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) / The Donnas, Spend The Night (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Gone is releasing new color variants for a couple of titles they first released on vinyl in 2024.  The first is 1979’s Manzanita by The Tony Rice Unit.  The second album by the band, the line-up for this LP includes Rice, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, David Grisman, Darol Anger and Todd Phillips.  Real Gone’s new reissue is on root beer vinyl.

Spend The Night is The Donnas’ debut album for Atlantic Records from 2002.  It was the group’s first charting record and includes their most successful single, “Take It Off.”  Real Gone’s new reissue comes on clear vinyl with canary and pink splatter.

John Pizzarelli, Dear Mr. Bennett (John Pizzarelli) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli pays tribute to the late, great Tony Bennett with this new album adorned with a drawing of John by his friend Tony (on a cocktail napkin, no less!).  Selections on Dear Mr. Bennett include “When in Rome,” “It Amazes Me,” “The Best Is Yet to Come,” and, of course, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”  Available on CD, LP, and digitally.

Squeeze, Trixies (BMG)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD/Blu-ray Audio: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Messrs. Difford and Tilbrook are back with a new concept album written when they were just teenagers.  Trixies was demoed then and re-recorded for this fully-produced album.  Available on a standard CD as well as a 2CD/BD edition with demos and live tracks on CD and a Dolby Atmos surround mix of the album.  Also available digitally.

Morrissey, Make Up Is a Lie (Sire) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Morrissey’s new studio album recorded in France features eleven original songs (including the title track and “Lester Bangs”) and a cover of Roxy Music’s “Amazona.”  Available on CD, LP, and digitally.