Release Round-Up: Week of November 13
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.
Talking Heads, Fear of Music: Super Deluxe Edition (Sire/Rhino)
3CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
6LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Another deluxe box set version of a Talking Heads album is out today, expanding 1979’s Fear of Music to a 3CD/Blu-ray set. Similar to packages created for Talking Heads 77 and More Songs About Buildings and Food (as well as the demo/live collection Tentative Decisions), Fear of Music will include the newly remastered album, a selection of previously released studio rarities, two full concerts (one of which generously contributed to the band’s live double album The Name of This Band is Talking Heads), and new Atmos, surround, and hi-res mixes alongside a small amount of live footage. Will Hermes writes new liner notes in the 60-page booklet. A 6LP version retains all the audio in the CD/Blu-ray box, while a 2LP edition features the album and studio rarities. Read more here!
John Coltrane and Wilbur Harden, The Savoy Recordings (Craft Recordings)
3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Craft Recordings highlights a lesser considered period of the legendary John Coltrane’s work. The Savoy Recordings, available as a 3CD or 3LP set, offers new pressings of Trane’s three albums for the Savoy label as co-leader with trumpeter/flugelhorn player Wilbur Harden. Mainstream 1958, Jazz Way Out and Tanganyika Strut have all been newly remastered (Amazon lists Paul Blakemore as mastering engineer, while Craft’s official site specifies Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio as the one cutting for RTI-pressed vinyl from the original tapes) and feature new liner notes from jazz aficionado Syd Schwartz. Read more here.
Louis Armstrong, One Night in Highland Park (Verve) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Verve has unearthed a previously unreleased concert from Satchmo: a 1957 fundraiser held at Highland Park High School in Illinois and recorded by the student stage manager (!) for posterity. Tracks include “Mack the Knife,” “Blueberry Hill,” and “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Available on CD and LP.
Def Leppard, Volume Four (Bludgeon Riffola/UMe)
6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
11LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Def Leppard continues its sporadic reissue series with Volume 4, available as a 6CD or 11LP set. The collection continues the thread of albums plus the rarities that these sets have been known for since the first volume in 2018, collecting the group’s studio output between 1978’s The Def Leppard E.P. and 1987’s Hysteria (plus one rarities set and a Pyromania-era live set). Subsequent volumes covered the British group’s ’90s output (2019’s Volume Two) and covers-heavy ’00s (2021’s Volume Three). Very few albums have been released by the band since then: there was a self-titled album in 2015 and the neoclassic rock-flavored Diamond Star Halos (2022), as well as an inevitable collection of remixed and re-recorded tracks backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2023’s Drastic Symphonies). So the box turns itself over to hidden gems – three CDs’ worth, including a host of truly rare material. All the tracks on Volume 4 have been newly remastered by frequent band producer/engineer Ronan McHugh. Packaging includes a hardcover book offering rare photos by Ross Halfin and liner notes by Paul Elliott of Classic Rock, featuring contributions from all five band members. Read more here.
The Clash, The World According to The Clash (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The 1982 Epic promo-only LP The World According to Clash (originally released without consent of the band) has gotten a slightly adjusted title, all new artwork, a different Sony label, and a tweaked track listing for its commercial debut on both CD and LP. Essentially, it’s a neat little 12-track sampler of what makes this band so enduring. Includes “Train in Vain,” “Rock the Casbah,” “London Calling,” “I Fought the Law,” “The Magnificent Seven,” and more.
Evita: The Complete Motion Picture Soundtrack (Warner/Rhino)
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Rhino reissues the complete soundtrack to the film Evita, starring Madonna and based on the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical, to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The new 3-LP edition marks the album’s first appearance on the format. A new 2-CD edition is also being released. The new 3-LP edition comes on translucent red vinyl, housed in a trifold jacket with a 20-page, 11” X 11” booklet featuring stills from the film. A limited “Gold Nugget” vinyl edition is available exclusively at Madonna’s and Rhino’s websites. In addition, the 2-CD softpak edition includes a 20-page booklet with the movie stills. Read more here.
Rent: Original Broadway Cast Recording – 30th Anniversary Edition (Decca Broadway/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
For the first time, the Broadway Cast Recording of the late Jonathan Larson’s Rent – originally released by Dreamworks Records and starring Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Jesse L. Martin, and others – comes to vinyl just as the show is enjoying a smash hit 30th anniversary revival in London’s West End. This 3LP edition has been newly mastered for vinyl by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound. This deluxe package includes a 24-page booklet with a nearly-20,000-word oral history of the musical while the LPs themselves are housed in poly-lined sleeves.
The Flaming Lips, At War with the Mystics: 20th Anniversary Edition (Warner/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
This lavish 6CD set includes a new remaster of the Grammy-winning 2006 album – The Flaming Lips’ 11th studio LP – plus demos, B-sides, radio sessions, and two concert albums (one from the Hollywood Bowl and one from the Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre).
Waylon Jennings, Diamonds (Son of Jessi/Thirty Tigers) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Following Songbird, Diamonds is the second release in a series of posthumous albums compiled by Waylon’s son Shooter Jennings. The late Glen Campbell is featured as guitarist on the title song, while Waylon’s wife and Shooter’s mother Jessi Colter appears on “I’m Tired.” Available on CD, LP, cassette, and digitally.
Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose: Expanded Edition (Third Man) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Loretta Lynn’s “comeback” album, Van Lear Rose won the 2005 Grammy Award for Country Album of the Year (as well as another Grammy for the duet “Portland, Oregon” with the album’s producer, Jack White) and introduced the songstress to a new generation of fans. It became the biggest crossover album of Lynn’s legendary career. It’s getting a refresh today with the addition of “Just to Have You Back,” originally available only as part of Third Man Records’ subscription Vault series. Available on CD, LP, and digitally.
Randy Travis, Same Old Way (Warner) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
This great week for country fans continues: Warner Music Nashville has unearthed a dozen tracks from Randy Travis recorded before the 2013 stroke that severely affected the superstar’s ability to speak and sing. While Travis has embraced modern technology and recently released recordings by an AI approximation of his voice, these organic recordings are “the real thing,” per the label, “strip[ping] away the technology” to reveal Travis’ own voice. Available on CD and digital/streaming.
Twisted Sister, Totally Twisted: The Studio Albums 1982-1987 (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
This 5LP or 5CD box presents the band’s first five albums: debut album Under the Blade (1982), You Can’t Stop Rock `N’ Roll (1983), Stay Hungry (1984), Come Out and Play (1985), and Love Is for Suckers (1987). This 5CD set includes the bonus track, “King of the Fools,” exclusive to the CD version of Come Out and Play. The 5LP set is housed in a side-loading package with each album pressed on a different color of vinyl.
Bad Company, Live in London (Primary Wave) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
This live album recorded on October 29, 2016 at London’s O2 features the band’s final performance with founding guitarist Mick Ralphs (who passed away in 2025). Available on CD, 2LP, and digitally.
U2, Carnaval de Luz (Island)
Standard: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Deluxe Box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
U2’s 16th studio album, Carnaval de Luz features a posthumous vocal from Dolly Parton on “Torn” as well as other originals including “Street of Dreams” and “Silencio.” Available on CD (including an Amazon exclusive with alternative cover artwork), LP, and digitally. A deluxe box includes the new album plus two EPs making their physical debuts, Ash and Lily.
Various Artists, 20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan (Rubyworks) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The late Pogues frontman is celebrated by the illustrious likes of Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, U2, Johnny Depp, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Tom Waits, and fellow Irishman Glen Hansard (who passed away earlier this year). Available on CD, LP, and digitally.
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