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

Elvis Costello, King of America and Other Realms (UMe)

6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
140-gram Black LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
140-gram Gold Nugget LP: Official Store / uDiscover Music / The Sound of Vinyl

Elvis Costello is looking back on his tenth studio album King of America - and its effect on his future live and studio work - on a lavish new box set. The remastered 1986 album is paired with a disc of demos and outtakes (six of them previously unreleased), a previously unissued show recorded in 1987 at Royal Albert Hall in London, and three discs of potpourri showcasing the effect of King of America on subsequent material, including various dabblings in American styles, in American studios, and with American musicians. The 12" x 11.5" package, produced by Costello and Steve Berkowitz, includes 57 pages of liner notes, including a lengthy essay by Costello on the making of the album plus rare and unseen photos. (A 2CD cut-down will be issued as well. For LP fans, the remastered original album will be pressed on 140-gram black vinyl, with a "gold nugget" variant exclusive to Costello's official web store, uDiscover Music and The Sound of Vinyl.  Read more here, and watch this space for our review!

Carpenters, Christmas Once More (A&M/UMe)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store (Gold Vinyl)

Curated and remixed by Richard Carpenter, Christmas Once More presents highlights from both of Carpenters' original Christmas albums as well as "Merry Christmas Darling" from the duo's 2018 album Carpenters with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.  It offers both secular favorites ("Sleigh Ride," "The First Snowfall/Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!," "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" featuring a newly-recorded drum track) and timeless carols ("Little Altar Boy," "Christ Is Born," "Ave Maria").  Available on CD, LP, and digitally. Read more here!

Weezer, Blue Album: 30th Anniversary Edition (Geffen/UMe)

3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP/10"/7": Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Three decades after one of the quirkiest, catchiest rock albums of the '90s first hit stores, Weezer celebrates their self-titled debut with a box set packed with unreleased demos, studio and live material.  Known the world over as "The Blue Album" - one of six self-titled albums the band has issued with color-coded covers - the debut is reissued as a 3CD set or vinyl equivalent spanning four LPs, a 10" EP and a 7" single. Both physical (and all digital) formats come with 40 bonus tracks that trace the band's evolution from 1992 to just after the album's release in 1995: rough early practice tapes and rehearsal recordings, live performances from the band's early club days in Los Angeles (as well as a BBC session ahead of their first European tour), and - for the first time in its entirety - the complete release of the band's Kitchen Tape, a much-treasured set of 1992 demos. (Three tracks from said tape were first released on a 10th anniversary deluxe edition of the album in 2004; that 2CD set included all the released B-sides and a few pre-production recordings which are not replicated here, with the exception of "Jamie," included on a compilation issued by the band's label DGC and featured here as part of a longer pre-signing session cut at Loyola Marymount University in 1993.) The box features an assortment of extra goodies, including four lithographs, a poster of the band in KISS-adjacent makeup, stickers, a 12-sided die and an enamel pin. Longtime band archivist/historian Karl Koch has penned new liner notes for the collection.  Get the track listing and more here!

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

The Best of Ronnie Milsap gathers up 12 of the artist's biggest hits from his first tenure at RCA, including "It Was Almost Like a Song," "Any Day Now," and "What a Difference You've Made in My Life." Craft's parent company, Concord Music, acquired the rights to 16 of Milsap's RCA albums from between 1977-2006 in 2019, and this is the first physical product to come from the acquisition (an expanded digital version of this compilation featuring 25 songs was released last June by Craft and is available now).  Paul Blakemore has remastered all tracks, and TSD's Joe Marchese provides the new liner notes.  This is the same compilation released in 2020 as a vinyl Cracker Barrel exclusive; this marks its wide release.  Get more details here!

Todd Rundgren, Arena: Deluxe Edition (Cleopatra) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Rundgren's 2008 arena rock salute is expanded with three (previously issued) bonus tracks: The Prog Collective's "Worlds on Hold" and covers of The Beatles' "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man."

Melanie, Live at the Met (Cleopatra) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Melanie's 1974 New York concert at the Metropolitan Opera House is issued as part of Cleopatra's ongoing series on this two-disc set with new liner notes by her longtime manager Dave Thompson.

Uncle Walt's Band, Thought You'd Never Ask: The Complete 1975 Armadillo Recordings (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Omnivore has unearthed 22 tracks - 19 of which are previously unreleased - from the pioneering Americana group.  These tracks were recorded for a possible deal with Warner Bros. Records that never panned out, but the sessions yielded a strong crop of material that fits comfortably within, and stands as a highlight of, Uncle Walt's discography.  Bill Bentley provides the new liner notes.

Various Artists, Dolby Atmos Blu-rays (Rhino)

Chicago, IX: Greatest Hits: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Carly Simon, No Secrets: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Flaming Lips, Yoshimi & The Pink Robots: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Seal, Seal: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

These four Blu-ray Audio Discs previously available as Rhino.com exclusives come to wide release today.  Each features a Dolby Atmos mix of the original album as well as high-res stereo and 5.1 presentations.  Carly Simon's No Secrets also has a 4.0 Quadio mix.

Kelly Clarkson, When Christmas Comes Around...Again (Atlantic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Kelly Clarkson revisits her 2021 Christmas album with two new bonus tracks ("You for Christmas" and "Sleigh Ride") plus the three bonus cuts on deluxe editions of the original release.  It appears that this release is manufactured on demand (a CD-R).  Also available digitally.

Willie Nelson, Last Leaf on the Tree (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Willie Nelson's 76th studio album follows his 91st birthday and recent headlining spot on the Outlaw Music Festival tour (from which he was delayed due to illness).  Last Leaf on the Tree has been produced by his son Micah Nelson and features guest spots from Daniel Lanois and The Doors' John Densmore as well as Willie's longtime bandmate Mickey Raphael.  Songs have been plucked from the catalogues of Tom Waits, Warren Zevon, Neil Young, The Flaming Lips, Beck, Nina Simone, and Keith Richards, while Willie has revisited his own 1962 tune "The Ghost" and co-written "The Color of Sound" with Micah.  Available on CD, LP, and digitally.