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.

The 5th Dimension, Let the Sunshine In: The Soul City & Bell Albums 1967-1974 (Second Disc/Cherry Red/Strawberry)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red

2026 marks 60 years of The 5th Dimension–and the celebration is kicking off with the first-ever box set dedicated to the legendary “champagne soul” fivesome!  Second Disc Records is proud to team with Cherry Red’s Strawberry imprint for Let the Sunshine In: The Soul City & Bell Albums 1967-1974.  This comprehensive 6CD collection brings together all of Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue, and the late Ron Townson and LaMonte McLemore’s albums and singles for the Soul City, Bell, and Arista labels, plus bonus selections including live tracks, the group’s rare pre-5th Dimension single under their original name, The Versatiles, and their previously unreleased rendition of Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s “Hi-De-Ho.” Nick Robbins has newly remastered the audio.  Joe Marchese’s liner notes provide an oral history of the group based on a 2025 roundtable with McCoo, Davis, and LaRue; previously unpublished interviews with Bones Howe and producer John Florez; and archival quotes from McLemore, Townson, and others.  Topping it all off, Jimmy Webb has written a new introduction for the box set.  The deluxe booklet designed by John Sellards additionally boasts rare photos of the group. Let the Sunshine In: The Soul City & Bell Albums 1967-1974 is the ultimate celebration of the original 5th Dimension. Read more here !

Sue Glover, For No Reason at All (7a Records)

U.K. Purchasers: Amazon U.K.
U.S. Purchasers: ImportCDs.com

As one-half of the duo Sue and Sunny with her sister Sunny Leslie, Sue’s powerful voice graced many of the most significant records of the rock era.  A (very!) partial list of her credits includes Elton John’s “Your Song” and “Tiny Dancer,” Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes,” T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy” and “Children of the Revolution,” Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” and “On the Radio,” and Tom Jones’ “She’s a Lady.”  As a member of Brotherhood of Man, Sue’s voice was prominent on the international hit “United We Stand.”  Now, Sue is releasing her first album since 1976’s Solo – and it’s been well worth the wait.  For No Reason at All collects 20 gems from Sue’s archives, almost all of which have never been heard before.  In addition to duets with vocalists Bob Saker (whose songs were recorded by The Foundations, Helen Shapiro, Slade, and others) and her bandmate in The Brotherhood of Man, Tony Burrows (the voice of Edison Lighthouse, First Class, The Pipkins, and White Plains, For No Reason at All premieres a duet with the late Davy Jones, the enchanting and romantic “You’re My Everything.”  The album also features songs by Barry Mann, Roger Webb, Tony Waddington, and Sue herself.  TSD’s Joe Marchese provides the liner notes. Read more here.

All Summer Long: Conversations with The Beach Boys from Surfin’ to SMiLE (Bloomsbury Academic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

There’s no shortage of books about The Beach Boys, but this new title from Endless Summer Quarterly‘s David Beard has already earned a place among the most indispensable written about America’s Band.  All Summer Long: Conversations with The Beach Boys from Surfin’ to SMiLE focuses on the period from the group’s formative days through May 1967, taking in the first, heady days of fame and the creation of the hits and landmark albums such as Pet Sounds that still form the bedrock of their catalogue today.  Featuring a foreword by John Stamos, the book (available in hardcover and digital formats) has been crafted as an oral history.  In addition to remembrances from Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks, and Bruce Johnston, All Summer Long welcomes a host of the band’s family and friends including Dean Torrence and Jan Berry, Van Dyke Parks, The Honeys’ Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford and Ginger Blake, manager-promoter Fred Vail, Wrecking Crew legends Hal Blaine and Don Randi, T.A.M.I. Show director Steve Binder, Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher, and others.  Beard’s approach is a loving and knowledgeable one, and he’s beautifully organized these quotes into a cohesive narrative that’s both familiar and new at the same time.  It’s impossible to read All Summer Long without being flooded by one’s own memories of this music which has more than stood the test of time; the book offers insight into the band’s creative process without giving short shrift to the dynamics which defined the group through good and bad times.  A 26-page photo section is also included, as is a selected discography of the period.  Of course, the story of The Beach Boys was far from over in 1967; numerous essential recordings were yet to come, and even today, Mike Love tours with a line-up of the band while Al Jardine leads the former members of Brian Wilson’s band in another touring act.  The first-hand accounts shared by Beard in this beautiful tome will only deepen one’s appreciation of The Beach Boys’ art and music; one hopes that Volume Two is on the way.  (For more on David, please check out our interview here!)  You’ll be having fun All Summer Long with this breezy and essential read.

Cream, Wheels of Fire: Super Deluxe Edition (Polydor/UMC)

5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Cream’s penultimate album, issued in 1968, combined a disc of studio material (including the worldwide hit “White Room” and “Politician”) with a quartet of performances recorded at The Fillmore West and Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, from a killer Eric Clapton arrangement of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” to the Ginger Baker drum solo “Toad.” The deluxe 5CD edition includes four mixes of the album, including a stereo restoration and rare reference reels from producer Felix Pappalardi; an additional bonus selection of live audio (including an exclusive track from a Record Store Day triple album issued last month) and unreleased alternate mixes and single-only tracks. A 3LP edition, White Room: In the Studio, complements the aforementioned RSD set, with three LPs offering the restored stereo and mono reference mixes of the album with highlights from the alternate mixes disc. Read more here.

Yes, Live at Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, 17 June 1976 (Rhino/Atlantic)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Yes’ 50th anniversary release Live at Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, 17 June 1976 takes listeners back to the long-gone New Jersey venue for the concert broadcast on WNEW-FM and bootlegged countless times since.  It will be available on 2 CDs or 3 LPs, including an edition exclusive to Rhino.com with a Roger Dean lithograph and a “Spirit of ‘76” edition exclusive to independent record stores as part of Rhino’s summer campaign.  The show boasts such Yes favorites as “Siberian Khatru,” “I’ve Seen All Good People,” and “Roundabout,” as well as a cover of The Beatles’ “I’m Down.”  This marks the concert’s first official appearance. Get the track listing here.

Robbie Robertson, Filmworks: Insomnia (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Omnivore brings the recent Record Store Day release to CD.  Filmworks compiles selections from Robbie Robertson’s soundtracks to The Last Waltz (performed by The Band), Carny, and Raging Bull, and debuts a previously unissued track from Carny.  Film music historian Jon Burlingame provides the liner notes.

Tommy Steele, Live in Concert (Stage Door Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Stage Door has unearthed another treasure from the legendary entertainer Tommy Steele: a 1977 concert recorded at Paignton, England’s Festival Theatre in which he brings his signature style to such songs as “Sweet Caroline,” “I Am a Song (Sing Me),” “Flash Bang Wallop,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Hey Jude,” and “Little White Bull.”

George Thorogood and The Destroyers, The Baddest Show on Earth: Greatest Hits Live (Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 11-track anthology of live performances spanning 1978-2024 includes eight previously unreleased tracks on CD and four on vinyl; Scott Billington has written new liner notes.

Triumph, The Best of Triumph (Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Craft also celebrates the arena rockers this week with a best-of collection on CD and vinyl including such tracks as “Lay It On the Line,” “Magic Power,” “Fight the Good Fight,” and “Hold On,” most of which are in their original single versions.

Various Artists, Hit That Perfect Beat: The London Records Story (London) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Tying into a podcast of the same name, Hit That Perfect Beat: The London Records Story chronicles the venerable label’s “comeback” era with such artists as Bananarama, Bronski Beat, The Communards, Fine Young Cannibals, The Bluebells, Happy Mondays, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Marcella Detroit on 2 CDs.

Keith Urban, Flow State (MCA Nashville) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The country superstar celebrates yacht rock on this new album featuring covers of such familiar tunes as “Summer Breeze,” “How Much I Feel,” “I Just Wanna Stop,” “Guitar Man” (featuring John Mayer), “Magnet and Steel” (featuring Little Big Town), and “On and On,” plus the original song “We Go Back” with guest Michael McDonald. Available on CD, LP, and digitally.  Amazon has an exclusive CD with poster, as does Walmart.

Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs, Mission of Mercy (Soundly) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers returns with his latest studio LP joined by The Dirty Knobs – their fourth record.  It features a dozen new Campbell compositions and guest appearances from Kate Pierson of The B-52’s and Morgane Stapleton.  Available on CD, LP, and digitally.