Features / Release Round-Up

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available this week!  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Who, The Who by Numbers (Polydor/UMe)

5CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Who Official Store
1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K./ Amazon Canada Links TBD / The Who Official Store
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Who Official Store
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Who Official Store

Polydor and UMe celebrates 51 (!) years of The Who by Numbers with a new 5CD/1Blu-ray Super Deluxe Edition.  The set boasts 92 previously unreleased tracks and mixes, including new stereo, 5.1, and Dolby Atmos mixes of the original album overseen by Pete Townshend on Blu-ray.  The first CD has a remastered edition of the original album, while CD 2 has eleven of Pete’s original demos (all but three of which are previously unreleased).  The third and fourth discs take a deep dive into the sessions and beyond with alternate versions, jams, rough mixes, radio commercials, live tracks, and more, while the fifth CD offers the June 12, 1976 concert in Swansea, Wales (billed here as “the fullest version [of this show] released to date”).  The date at Swansea FC’s Vetch Field was originally mooted for a live album, and while selected tracks from the show have been released before, all existing tracks have been restored and resequenced from the original tapes here.  The show turned out to be Keith Moon’s final proper concert in front of a British audience.The Blu-ray Disc has Townshend’s new stereo, 5.1, and Dolby Atmos mixes as well as The Who’s Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan concert of December 6, 1975 sourced from 2” videotape.  The video has been restored and the audio remastered for this release.  A 1LP edition pressed on Cream Marble Vinyl contains the remastered 1975 album while a 2CD edition pairs that remaster with 12 highlights from the box set including demos, session material, and two live cuts from Swansea.  A 3LP set has the remastered album plus the Swansea concert recording.   Read more here.

Foreigner, Head Games: Super Deluxe Edition (Atlantic/Rhino)

3CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
7″: Rhino.com

Following last year’s deluxe expanded edition of Foreigner’s 1981 album 4 – the band’s fourth overall album – Rhino turns back the clock to another multi-platinum album, 1979’s Head Games.  Head Games is returning in a 3CD/1Blu-ray edition as well as a standalone 1LP vinyl edition of the new album remix at the centerpiece of the full box set.  The Super Deluxe 3CD/1BD edition opens with a newly remixed presentation of the original 10-track studio album.  The second disc dives into the recording sessions with 16 Outtakes, Rough Mixes, and Alternative Versions (including “Trouble” with new guitar from Peter Frampton) while the third CD premieres a previously unreleased concert from the Head Games tour recorded at the Rochester Community War Memorial in Rochester, New York on October 27, 1979.  The set is rounded out by a Blu-ray Audio Disc with the 2026 stereo remix in high-resolution and a new Dolby Atmos mix.   Read more here. Watch this space for our full review!

Queen, Queen Budapest (Hollywood/Sony/Legacy)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4K UltraHD: Official Store
Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

The last concert Queen recorded with original frontman Freddie Mercury is getting dramatically restored for its 40th anniversary, with presentations on multiple audio and video formats. Queen Budapest – recorded at the Hungarian capital’s Népstadion in the summer of 1986 – offers the legendary show with newly remastered footage (digitized by the country’s National Film Institute and restored at 4K high-definition by Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post team) and remixed audio from the original multitracks. The complete concert audio will be released on triple vinyl for the first time, with 2CD and digital editions arriving, as well, to coincide with the film’s 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD home releases. In keeping with a billion-dollar deal inked in 2024, Sony Music and Legacy Recordings handle international release of the audio and worldwide home release of the film (alongside Trafalgar Releasing and Sony Music Vision for the theatrical exhibition), while the audio is released in America by Queen’s longtime label Hollywood Records. Get more details here.

The Monkees, The Monkees: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Rhino)

The basis of this 60th anniversary set is Rhino Handmade’s long out-of-print 4CD box set from 2014.  The 60th anniversary 3CD/1LP version opens with the original stereo album on vinyl only.  It then continues with 3 CDs containing most of the material that premiered on the 2014 set.  The CDs open with the original mono album plus four rehearsals and demos.  The second disc continues with eighteen TV Versions, Alternate Takes, and Radio Spots, while the third and final disc of the box, Backing Tracks and Demos, culls fifteen such tracks from the earlier box.  What’s missing?  This iteration of the box drops a handful of then-new 2014 stereo mixes as well as two versions of “(I Prithee) Do Not Ask for Love.” Also missing is Davy Jones’ 1965 Colpix debut David Jones (in both mono and stereo) and its associated single sides, as well as six early singles from Michael Blessing, a.k.a. Nesmith.  Still, for those who don’t have the earlier set, there’s a lot of fantastic material here in a handsome package.  Get the full track listing and more here!

The Zombies, Continue Here (Beechwood Park) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Arriving from The Zombies’ own Beechwood Park label, Continue Here is being billed by the band as “the record that never was, until now.” Bridging the gap between Begin Here and Odessey & Oracle, Continue Here collects all 18 of the group’s non-album singles and B-sides from 1964-1967 in their original mono mixes.  Available on CD, LP, and digital formats. 

Kim Wilde, Another Step: Expanded Edition (Cherry Pop) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Cherry Pop serves up an expanded 3CD/DVD edition of Kim Wilde’s fifth studio album, originally released in 1986. Featuring the international hit cover of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” this packed set is filled with 12″, 7″, club, and extended remixes across three CDs as well as a DVD featuring promo videos as well as footage from such BBC programs as Wogan and Top of the Pops.  A 140-gram 2LP set with the original album and the bonus track “Victim” is also available today.

Sparks, Music That You Can Dance To: 40th Anniversary (Curb) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Sparks revisit their 1986 album with a deluxe, expanded edition featuring 17 bonus tracks including demos and remixes.  Bill Inglot has remastered the audio.  Available on 2CD or 2LP.

Soft Machine, Slightly All The Time: Recordings 1970-1974 (Sony Music UK) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 14CD/3BD set presents the band’s five CBS albums, all newly remastered from the original quarter-inch tapes, plus loads of bonuses.  It has an alternate version of their fifth LP as well as all of their existing BBC recordings and numerous complete concert recordings from the U.K., France, Belgium, and Germany.  This 12×12″ package includes a thick hardcover book with rare photos and liner notes by Sid Smith.

Motley Crue, Too Fast for Love: 45th Anniversary Edition (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

BMG’s new edition of Motley Crue’s 1981 debut (featuring “Live Wire”) is freshly remastered for CD and vinyl; it appears that this edition utilizes the 1982 Elektra version of the album rather than the 1981 original.

Driveway Ceiling, Death of the Walden Newspaper Co. (Independent Project Records) (Bandcamp)

This previously digital-only title from the Connecticut-founded indie psych-pop quartet makes its debut on CD and LP from IPR.  Death of the Walden Newspaper Co. is a concept album (or “almost-concept album,” per the band!) about a small-town newspaper run by the “nearly irredeemable Mr. Walden.”  Over fifteen songs and nearly 45 minutes, the album blends trippy sunshine pop with art-rock and spoken word interludes to bring its characters to life.  Inspired in equal parts by The Beatles and The Kinks and the indie likes of Apples in Stereo and Elf Power, these four twentysomethings (led by primary singer-songwriters Liam Mottolese and Colin Walsh) have created an original album that draws on past(s) and present alike.  It’s brimming with bright, varied melodies and shimmering harmonies, rendered in sometimes-clean, sometimes-hazy production.  IPR’s physical presentation is, as always, gorgeous, with both CD and vinyl formats containing an eight-page newspaper with lyrics printed on it.  This band is one to watch.

Pentatonix, Christmas in the City: Deluxe Edition (Republic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Pentatonix revisits their 2025 Christmas album with a new deluxe edition adding 3 new songs (including their take on the classic Barbra Streisand/Judy Garland medley “Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy”) and 7 live performances from their recent tour. Amazon has an exclusive cover for the CD.  Also available on 2LP and digitally.

The Oak Ridge Boys, Buried Treasure (Lightning Rod) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Despite the loss of Joe Bonsall, Duane Allen, William Lee Golden, and Richard Sterban (along with new recruit Ben James) are keeping the legacy of Oak Ridge Boys burning brightly.  This new album, overseen by producer Anderson East and executive producer Dave Cobb, features the original song “Buried Treasure” alongside covers of “How Great Thou Art,” “Deep River,” and classic inspirational songs written and/or popularized by Paul Simon (“Bridge Over Troubled Water”), Bill Withers (“Lean on Me”), Louis Armstrong (“What a Wonderful World”), and others.  Available on CD, LP, and digital formats.

Itzhak Perlman, The Way We Were: My American Songbook (Green Hill) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The violin virtuoso is exploring the pop songbook as he celebrates his 80th birthday.  The Way We Were features his renditions of the Marvin Hamlisch/Alan and Marilyn Bergman title track alongside classics by Stephen Sondheim (“Not While I’m Around,” “Send in the Clowns”), the Gershwins (“Summertime,” “Someone to Watch Over Me”), Rodgers and Hammerstein (“Some Enchanted Evening”),” and others.  Jon Batiste guests on “Summertime,” while the voice of the late Ella Fitzgerald is heard on “Someone to Watch Over Me.”  Josh Groban is among Perlman’s other guests.  Available on CD, LP, and digitally.