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.

Jethro Tull, Still Living in the Past (Parlophone/Rhino)

5CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Still Living in the Past reinterpret Jethro Tull’s original odds-and-ends compilation from 1972 as a 5CD/1 Blu-ray set boasting some 35 unissued mixes and versions alongside just about every one of the 21 original tracks that appeared on the original double album. Alongside the original mixes of the non-album material that comprised Living in the Past, Wilson has compiled his mixes of those tracks – both versions done for box set editions of This Was, Stand Up, Benefit and Aqualung and a few new ones – as well as a newly remixed and properly sequenced presentation of a 1970 live set from Carnegie Hall. The accompanying Blu-ray includes high-resolution versions of the original mixes and Wilson’s (along with some select 5.1 surround offerings, including the Carnegie Hall set) as well as four original promo videos. A 2LP set will replicate the original Living in the Past running order with Wilson’s remixes past and present. Whew!  Read more here.

Various Artists, Something There: Remembering Jeffrey Foskett (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore)

Omnivore Recordings has teamed with the late Beach Boys vocalist Jeffrey Foskett’s estate to celebrate his extraordinary musical legacy on a new collection.  Something There – Remembering Jeffrey Foskett features a whopping 25 songs (16 of which are previously unreleased) from the singer’s often-too-unheralded solo discography and beyond.  The guest list speaks for itself, including the late Brian Wilson, Mike Love, America’s Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, Robert Lamm, David Pack, Los Straitjackets, Henry Kapono, and Jeff Larson.  Highlights include the previously unreleased Brian Wilson song “Mary Honey,” Love’s Endless Summer Beach Band on “Barbara Ann,” and “Splash City” with John Stamos from Full House.​ Get more details here!

The Kinks, The Journey: Part 3 (BMG)

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

Following a pair of compilations in 2023 chronicling earlier parts of their storied career, British rockers The Kinks have one more in the chamber to commemorate their 60th anniversary as a group, focusing on a period of transition and finality in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.  The Journey – Part 3 offers, on two CDs or two 180-gram LPs, a dozen favorites originally released on Arista Records between 1977 and 1984, including the band’s last worldwide smash, “Come Dancing.” The newly remastered selections – which, in a first for The Journey series, are curated by the band – will be paired with a never-before-released recording of one of the group’s final concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in the summer of 1993. Phil Alexander has penned new liner notes, with the Davies brothers and other band members offering track-by-track commentary.  Read more here.

Backstreet Boys, Millennium 2.0 (Jive/RCA/Legacy)

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

The pop quintet’s 1999 blockbuster Millennium is celebrated for its belated 25th anniversary with a new 2CD, 2LP and digital set that pairs the original album with a baker’s dozen rare and unreleased tracks, including B-sides, demos, live cuts, and the new track “Hey.” It’s just in time for the group’s summer residency at the Sphere venue in Las Vegas. Beyond “Hey,” the bonus material includes four B-sides from the album’s European singles, six live tracks from a 2000 set at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (three of which are released for the first time) and two exciting rarities from the vault: a demo of fan favorite (what else?) “The Perfect Fan” and, for the first time, the original version of “I Want It That Way” with dramatically different lyrics. The album packaging also features the group recreating the original album’s white-attired front cover in a new photoshoot. Get the track listing and more here.

Kinky Boots: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Real Gone’s new 2LP reissue of Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein’s Tony Award-winning musical’s original cast recording comes on fuchsia vinyl.  Starring Billy Porter, Stark Sands, and Annaleigh Ashford, Kinky Boots is also available in two variants: a “Union Jack” colored vinyl, limited to 100 copies and available only from Real Gone’s website, and a Wax Mage edition.  The package also features a gatefold jacket and a color insert.

Vince Guaraldi, You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown: 50th Anniversary Edition (LMFP)

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

Lee Mendelson Film Productions is continuing its series unveiling never-before-released soundtracks to classic Peanuts specials.  This 50th anniversary edition premieres Vince Guaraldi’s score to You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown; bonus tracks include alternate and unused cues and rare tracks from the 1974 short educational film Bicycles Are Beautiful.  Guaraldi’s trio for these recordings is rounded out by Mark Rosengarden and Seward McClain.  A 45RPM vinyl edition pressed on “eco-black” vinyl follows on September 12.

Mary Chapin Carpenter, Come On Come On (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Back in November, Real Gone released a vinyl version of Mary Chapin Carpenter’s Stones In the Road.  Now, the label is returning to her catalog with a vinyl debut of the album that preceded Stones, 1992’s Come On Come On.  This album was a huge hit for Carpenter and remains her most commercially successful album, selling around 3 million copies.  It hit No. 11 on the country charts and No. 31 on the pop side.  Guests on the record included Joe Diffie, Rosanne Cash, The Indigo Girls, and Shawn Colvin.  No less than seven singles were released, all which made the country survey:  “I Feel Lucky” (No. 4), “Not Too Much to Ask” (with Diffie, No. 15), “Passionate Kisses” (a cover of the Lucinda Williams song, No. 4/also No. 57 Pop), “The Hard Way” (No. 11), “The Bug” (a cover of the Dire Straits song, No. 16), “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her” (No. 2), and “I Take My Chances” (No. 2).  Real Gone’s reissue comes on grape vinyl and includes a printed inner sleeve with lyrics.

Bernard “Pretty” Purdie and The Playboys, Stand by Me (Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get) (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Legendary drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie and The Playboys – a.k.a. guitarist Cornell Dupree, bassist Chuck Rainey, keyboardist Harold Wheeler, trumpeter Snooky Young, and reedman Seldon Powell – are back with this reissue of their 1971 jazz-soul gem.  Purdie wrote three songs on the album: “Modern Jive” (with Richard Tee), “Artificialness” (with Gil Scott-Heron), and “Funky Mozart” (with Harold Wheeler and Mort Goode).  The rest of the album is made up of covers such as the two in the title and a pair from Carole King (“It’s Too Late,” “You’ve Got a Friend”), among others.  Get the track listing for this title and more info on the rest of Real Gone’s July slate here!

Bronski Beat, Forbidden Fruit: The Age of Consent Remixed (London) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Bronski Beat’s lone album with Jimmy Somerville, 1984’s Age of Consent, is revisited here with a new album of remixes by Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Erasure), Kinky Roland (Boy George, Marc Almond), and others.  Forbidden Fruit: The Age of Consent Remixed also features extended versions of 2024 remixes by Superchumbo (ft. Neil Tennant) and The Knocks (ft. Perfume Genius) as well as a 16-minute mix of “I Feel Love/Love to Love You Baby” with Marc Almond, reimagined as “I Feel Love (Ultramix).”  Available on CD, LP, and digital formats.

Vivabeat, Party in the War Zone: Expanded (Liberation Hall) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Los Angeles band Vivabeat’s lone album – 1980’s Party in the War Zone, originally released on the U.K.-based Charisma label at the behest of Peter Gabriel – gets an expanded edition today from Liberation Hall.  Formed from both the L.A. and Boston punk scenes, the group featured Marina Muhlfriedel (also known as Marina del Rey) of Backstage Pass; Doug Orilio and Alec Murphy of Ready Teddy and Human Sexual Response, respectively; Consuelo de Silva; and Marina’s husband-to-be Mick Muhlfriedel.  The album included “Man from China,” which would reportedly inspire Gabriel’s own “Games Without Frontiers.”  Party in the War Zone was produced by Jeffrey Lesser (Rupert Holmes, Jason Robert Brown, Sparks), while a couple of the four bonus tracks here – three of which are previously unreleased – were helmed by Earle Mankey (Sparks, The Runaways).  Selected tracks on this reissue have been remastered by Scott Davies of Rubellan Remasters.  The Mulhfriedels contribute a brief introduction in the digipak sleeve.  This release follows The House Is Burning: The Best of Vivabeat 1979-1986, also on Liberation Hall.

Melanie, Melanie in Nashville: Anyway That You Want Me (Cleopatra) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The seemingly-endless stream of Melanie archival releases from Cleopatra continues today with Melanie in Nashville: Anyway That You Want Me.  This set draws on the singer’s Music City recordings made in the early 1980s and includes original songs as well as covers of The Troggs’ title track, Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces,” and Anne Murray’s “Son of a Rotten Gambler.”

Maria Muldaur, One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey (Nola Blue) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Roots music specialist and “Midnight at the Oasis” hitmaker Maria Muldaur salutes her mentor in the blues, the late Victoria Spivey (1906-1976), on this new set. Available on CD and digital/streaming.

Steve Hackett, The Lamb Stands Up Live at the Royal Albert Hall (InsideOut Music)

2CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Genesis’ Steve Hackett celebrated 50 years of the band’s The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in October 2024 at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall.  Now that concert is coming to a variety of formats.  Hackett and his band plus guests Ray Wilson, Steve Rothery, Amanda Lehmann, and John Hackett played selections from The Lamb as well as other Genesis favorites and solo songs.  Available on 2CD/Blu-ray and 4LP as well as digital/streaming.