Features / The Weekend Stream

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. You’ve been good so far this Christmas season, so we’re giving you this present a day early – with new tracks from Guns N’ Roses, live tracks from The Hooters and one of our favorite bands for Bandcamp Friday!

The Hooters, 45 Alive – Keswick Live in Concert (self-released) (Apple / Amazon)

Philly band The Hooters – perhaps best known for the melodica-augmented 1985 hit “And We Danced” among its sterling discography of rootsy rock – celebrated their 45th anniversary this year by getting their early-’90s repertoire through MCA (1993’s Out of Body and 1994’s The Hooters Live) onto digital music services for the first time. They also went on tour, heading on a summer trek through Germany (where they are quite popular) before a pair of “homecoming” shows at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA – a now decade-long tradition of theirs. Last year’s sets form the new live set 45 Alive, featuring classics from their back catalogue (“All You Zombies,” “Karla with a K”) and intriguing covers, from The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” to Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” to songs that members of the band’s nucleus, Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian, have written or co-written for others (Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” Joan Osborne’s “One of Us”).

No Jersey, MONDO COOL! (Telegraph Hill) (Apple / Amazon / Bandcamp)

One of the most fun indie bands in the New York metro area, No Jersey (vocalist/guitarist Sam Paxton, vocalist/bassist Dylan Roth and drummer Julian Ames, all of whom used to play in The Hell Yeah Babies) have released their debut album, a feel-good LP for feel-bad times with left-leaning standouts like “How to Make It in America” and “You and Me and the Means of Production” along with Weezer-esque slacker anthems like “Mexican Coke” and “Suburban Homesick Blues.” Download their album from Bandcamp today and take advantage of the extra revenue artists make on Bandcamp Friday, then catch them Saturday, December 13 at Main Drag Music for their album release show!

Guns N’ Roses, “Nothin'” / “Atlas” (Geffen)

“Nothin'”: Apple / Amazon
“Atlas”: Apple / Amazon

Guns N’ Roses have been surprisingly active since frontman Axl Rose – the band’s sole consistent member – welcomed back classic-era guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan in 2016. They’ve toured all around the world since (with a new trek planned for 2026) but have also released a half-dozen tracks since 2021, mostly believed to stem from the group’s mythic Chinese Democracy sessions that finally yielded the band’s most recent album in 2008. Today brings not one but two of these cuts: the rocker “Atlas” and the introspective “Nothin’,” both of which feature Rose, Slash, McKagan, longtime keyboardist Dizzy Reed and early-to-mid ’00s members Richard Fortus (guitar) and Bryan “Brain” Mantia (drums).

Grateful Dead, Merry and Grateful (Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)

A little holiday treat for Deadheads in the form of a streaming collection that offers four hours of live fan favorites recorded during various Decembers through the ’70s. Includes a rendition of Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” from St. Louis’ Fox Theatre in 1971, to make things extra seasonal!

Squeeze, “Trixies, Pt. 2” (Love/BMG) (Apple / Amazon)

The second part of the title track to Squeeze’s forthcoming album – a loose concept LP consisting of the first batch of songs bandleaders Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook wrote as teens in the ’70s – is now digitally available. The full album drops March 6.

Aerosmith & YUNGBLUD, “Wild Woman” (feat. Lainey Wilson) (Capitol) (Apple / Amazon)

The Bad Boys from Boston made an unexpected comeback after Steven Tyler’s vocal issues forced them to cancel their farewell tour, collaborating with British rock singer YUNGBLUD on the One More Time EP. (It made a surprise debut at No. 9 the Billboard 200, giving Aerosmith a Top 10 album in six decades from the ’70s to the ’20s.) After releasing a version of lead single “My Only Angel” with, of all people, Steve Martin on banjo, they’re courting country once more with a new mix of “Wild Woman,” featuring vocals from this year’s Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, Lainey Wilson.

Kylie Minogue, Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped) (Parlophone/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)

A bit of a confusing one, so bear with us: for the 10th anniversary of Australian dance-pop queen Kylie Minogue’s holiday album, she’s released a new version with a revised and resequenced track list and new artwork. At 12 songs, it’s shorter than its original release (or a “Snow Queen Edition” that followed in 2016) – but it also features three new originals (“Hot in December,” “This Time of Year,” “Office Party”), with a fourth (“XMAS”) exclusive to Amazon Music. It also features previously released duets with her sister Dannii (“100 Degrees”) and a time-bending take on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” featuring vocals from Frank Sinatra.

Olivia Newton-John, Xanadu 45 (Primary Wave) (Apple / Amazon)

Another Record Store Day Black Friday title making its digital debut, this two-track single features a vintage live version of Olivia Newton-John’s title track to the cult classic Xanadu along with a modern remix of the same song.

O.A.R., Stories of a Stranger (20th Anniversary Edition) (Craft) (Apple / Amazon)

A slow-burn breakthrough of sorts for the heart-on-sleeve Maryland rockers (single “Love and Memories” would eventually earn a gold record four years after its release), 2005’s Stories of a Stranger – produced with mannered energy by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads – gets a digital expansion for its two-decade mark, featuring studio rarity “Sometimes” and three live tracks.

Theory of a Deadman, Gasoline (20th Anniversary Edition) (Roadrunner/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)

A generous digital expansion of the sophomore album by rockers Theory of a Deadman, featuring “No Surprise” (a Top 10 hit on the U.S. mainstream rock chart) and “Santa Monica” (a Top 20 hit in their native Canada). Extras include a trio of studio bonus tracks (including covers of Alice in Chains’ “Got Me Wrong” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “What’s Your Name”) and seven unreleased demos and acoustic versions.

Kristen Hall, Be Careful What You Wish For… (Windham Hill/High Street) (Apple / Amazon)

Delivered with the help of SuperVisible Multi Media, folk-rocker/future Sugarland co-founder Kristen Hall’s 1994 follow-up to Fact & Fiction (also recently released to digital music stores) builds on its predecessor nicely. Guest musicians include Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls plus legends of folk-pop (John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful) and power-pop (Jules Shear and Matthew Sweet).

Thad Jones, Frank Wess, Kenny Burrell & Mal Waldron, After Hours (Remastered 2025) (Riverside/Craft) (Apple / Amazon)

A 1957 release by Prestige all-stars (Jones on trumpet, Wess on flute and tenor sax, Burrell on guitar and Waldron on piano, plus Paul Chambers and Art Taylor on bass and drums) is as high-class jazz as it gets – and now, it’s newly remastered for streaming and download.

Charles Fox, Salsa ‘Til Dawn (Gold Entertainment Media Group/Intrada) (Apple / Amazon)

Before he was the noted songwriter behind such hits like “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and “I Got a Name” – not to mention TV themes to Wonder Woman, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, The Love Boat and others – Charles Fox was an arranger for major Latin acts including Tito Puente and Ray Barretto. The live album Salsa ‘Til Dawn combines these dual passions, with Fox’s arrangements of his own compositions and other salsa favorites performed in Cuba by some of the most significant musicians in the country, including the Orquesta Aragon.

Puddles Pity Party, “Only You” (self-released) (Apple / Amazon / Bandcamp)

If you caught “Weird Al” Yankovic’s Bigger & Weirder tour this past year, your head was surely turned by opener Puddles Pity Party, a towering clown dressed in black and white singing oddball covers in a thunderous baritone (Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”) with wacky video projections behind him (including a Kevin Costner tribute scored by a mash-up of “Stairway to Heaven” and the theme to Gilligan’s Island). He just dropped a frankly gorgeous and arresting version of a gorgeous and arresting song: Yazoo’s synthpop classic “Only You.” Here’s hoping he performs it on his next trek with Al in 2026!

Finally, The Second Disc would like to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of guitar great Phil Upchurch, whose passing on November 23 was reported yesterday. An accomplished bandleader and sideman, Upchurch was part of the house band for Cadet Records (heard on many albums by The Soulful Strings), co-wrote the soul smash “You Can’t Sit Down,” and collaborated with luminaries like Donny Hathaway (playing on all of his albums), Chaka Khan (“I’m Every Woman”), Michael Jackson (“Workin’ Day and Night”), George Benson, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Rotary Connection and many more. Thanks for your life and work, Phil.