Features

Oh, where did the time go. . .? It’s been yet another year of acquiring, archiving, cleaning, spinning, and listening to LP after LP, and box set after box set — and sometimes, even some EPs and 45s got into that mix as well!

Naturally, before the big mid-week holiday festivities take over our front-of-mindsets, we here at AP feel it’s the exact right time to determine the best of what we’ve heard on vinyl during the past 12 months — and we’ll be covering our favorites of the year in two installments. Between the two of us — i.e., a) yours truly, Mike Mettler, your intrepid AP editor, and b) our chief LP reviewer, Mark Smotroff — we have listened to multiple-hundreds’ worth of LPs in 2025 apiece (not to mention all the ones we’ve gotten in hand with the best of listening intentions, but have yet to crack the plastic seals on yet, as much as we’d like to do).

It’s never easy whittling our favorite LPs down to our final selections in our annual year-ending best-of listings, but we do feel we’ve covered a wide array of the absolute best new and reissued LPs we’ve heard this year. Here in Part 1, we’re tackling our Top 10 archival reissue LPs; in Part 2, which will post tomorrow, December 24, 2025, we’ll be covering our Top 10 new LPs of the year. Note that the majority of (though not all) the albums listed here were reviewed on AP proper in 2025, and those reviews can be found via the Album Reviews, AAA Vinyl, Features, New Wax Wednesday, and Short Cuts pull-down headers that appear underneath the main Music menu header, and/or by typing the artist/album names into our search bar, and/or clicking on the provided links.

MIKE METTLER’S TOP 5 ARCHIVAL LPs OF 2025
First up are my Top 5, duly presented in reverse order. Do any of my choices intersect with your own favorite archival/reissue LPs of 2025? Let’s find out. . .

5. GENTLE GIANT
PLAYING THE FOOL: THE COMPLETE LIVE EXPERIENCE
3LP (Alucard)
There is progressive music, and then there is Gentle Giant. In recent years, 180g vinyl reissues of this beyond-adventurous British collective’s studio catalog on Alucard have been remixed by the omnipresent Steven Wilson, but this live offering — a standard-weight 3LP Complete expansion/update of January 1977’s Playing the Fool 2LP set initially released on Chrysalis (UK) and Capitol (U.S.) that has been expertly helmed by Dan Bornemark, who worked with the original source tapes — is yet another example of envelope-pushing, genre-defying music that continues to inspire endless awe and wonder. “It is, of course, a passion project, because it was our passion to be musicians onstage,” GG vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Derek Shulman told me in a Zoom interview we conducted earlier this year (a full, separate posting of which is still to come). “We’re also giving you the best performances of the period — and I’m especially glad Ray [Shulman’s] complete violin solo [which comprises the second half of LP3, Side 5] is now included here.” (Me too!) All six sides of Fool are well worth regular rotation on your turntable. “I’m just doing what I want to do,” Derek declares during the first half of “Just the Same / Proclamation” (LP1, Side 1, Track 2), a nice one-cut pairing of tracks from two different albums — and by gentle gum, they do it better than just about anyone of that quite fertile mid/late-’70s period. (Go here to get your Complete copy, STAT.)

4. VAN HALEN REISSUE SERIES
Five 180g 45rpm 2LP sets (Warner Bros./Mobile Fidelity)
I could subtitle this one “Everybody Wants One-Step!!” — and with good, fully justified reason. As I covered in much deep depth over in my regular New Wax Wednesday column just last week on December 17, 2025 (go here for the full VH heavy-skinny), Mobile Fidelity has served up a master class in how to present a full round of Ultradisc One-Step Original Master Recordings (a.k.a. UD1S OMRs) on vinyl with how they’ve handled Van Halen’s first five LPs with David Lee Roth as their lead singer. (Entry No. 6 for 1984 is slated for early 2026 release to complete the DLR hexagon, so to speak.) Kudos to MoFi mastering engineers Rob LoVerde and Shawn R. Britton, as well as MoFi’s original master tapes mastering maven Krieg Wunderlich, for doing what they do to give us the band’s best on-vinyl representation to date. As I observed in my original NWW post, “I’ve spent the balance of the last year (on and off, of course!) listening to each VH UD1S LP as they’ve arrived, and I’ve also compared them to my original Warner Bros. LPs (and some of their subsequent reissues), and it’s pretty much been no contest.” Whatever Diamond Dave-era VH album floats your listening boat the most, any/all of these UD1S OMRs are worth the time/money investment.

3. BUCKINGHAM NICKS
BUCKINGHAM NICKS
180g 1LP (Rhino High Fidelity/Warner Records)
As I noted here back on July 23, 2025, this one comes direct from the WWNC files (as in, “Will Wonders Never Cease”) — the reissue of an LP scores of us had been hoping and praying to get back onto our turntables for literal decades, a pseudo-pipe dream now officially unfrozen. September 1973’s Buckingham Nicks, one of the last true Holy Grails of coveted 1970s wax, has indeed been reborn anew on vinyl as cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearant Audio from the original master tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. B/N is well worth the wait, as nascent Lindsey and Stevie tracks like “Crying in the Night” (Side 1, Track 1), their pre-Fleetwood Mac version of “Crystal” (Side 1, Track 4), “Stephanie” (Side 1, Track 2), “Races Are Run” (Side 2, Track 3), and “Frozen Love” (Side 2, Track 5) all lay the groundwork for the superstardom that rightly came their way upon joining the mighty Mac train just a few scant years following this LP’s original release. Thanks to this stellar reissue, my original 1973 Polydor LP (PD 5058) is officially retired — and not a moment too soon. Multiple configurations for Buckingham Nicks on Rhino HiFi vinyl are still available exclusively here at Rhino’s official site store, so don’t delay.

2. FRANK ZAPPA
ONE SIZE FITS ALL – 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
180g 1LP Blue Galaxy vinyl & 2LP Black Glitter vinyl (Zappa/UMe)
I pointed out in my extended, non-stink Footnotes that accompanied my esteemed colleague Mark Smotroff’s review that posted here on October 10, 2025, that One Size Fits All is one of my favorite Zappa LPs ever. “Inca Roads” (Side One, Track 1) and “Po-Jama People” (Side One, Track 4) are among my Top 5 favorite Zappa tracks, period — and “Inca” may very well be No. 1, truth be told — so I couldn’t recommend either of the OSFA 50th anniversary color variant LP offerings any higher, as neither of my copies experienced any of the nagging issues that are often frustratingly native to other color LP releases. Fellow Zappa fanatics may want to seek out the 2LP version since it includes eight bonus cuts — an octagonal mixture of rough mixes, basic tracks, and outtakes. Also like I said in those FZ post-notes, I’ll be keeping my original OFSA 1975 LP and 2015 reissue because, well, that’s just what we completists do — but I’ll be playing the 2025 versions in their stead. Final fun fact revisited: Scramble the letters in the album title’s abbreviation, and you’ll get a word that both represents a certain object that’s plainly visible on the front cover and is being used in a pair of its song titles. (Go here to get your own copy/copies from Zappa’s official site store.)

1. THE BEATLES
ANTHOLOGY COLLECTION
180g 12LP (Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMG)
The Beatles are not automatic shoo-ins for putting out the best archival release of any given year — but they more than made their case for nabbing the top spot here in 2025 with this beyond-fab 180g 12LP box set that brought together notable upgrades of the first three 3LP Anthology sets from 1995-96 along with a fourth, all-new 3LP edition that includes 36 more cuts (many of which were previously unreleased, two of them being newly demixed exclusives) under one well-housed roof. In our jointly written review that posted here on November 19, 2025, both Mark and I agreed that Anthology Collection joins what I’ll now officially dub “The Beatles box sets for the ages pantheon.” For one thing, thanks to this collection’s new Anthology 4 demixes, I was able to A/B both “Free as a Bird” (Anth 4, LP3, Side 6, Track 1) and “Real Love” (Anth 4, LP3, Side 6, Track 2) with their corresponding predecessors on my copies of their respective original Anthology LP releases, and found said demixed versions on Anth 4 to be infinitely more pleasing. The stereo soundfield is much wider overall, and other elements of both tracks are more distinct. And now that “Now and Then” (Anth 4, LP3, Side 6, Track 3), the ostensible “final” Beatles track, has thus been conjoined on the same side with the demixed “Bird” and “Love” tracks, its own Fabs-postscript intent fits even more smoothly. This box set is not only about those final three tracks, of course, as there are many more gems to be discovered and/or rediscovered herein on its 23 other sides. To my ears, The Beatles’ 180g 12LP Anthology Collection is an unquestionable A-level addition to any Beatles fan’s collection, and it should be obtained immediately — if not sooner.

And now, let me hand the vinyl reissue assessment baton over to Mark, who will now unveil the listings and related explanations for his five favorite archival LPs of the year. Over to you, brotha Mark!

MARK SMOTROFF’S TOP ARCHIVAL LPs OF 2025
Thanks, Mike! The following are my picks for the five best reissues of 2025 presented in no particular ranked order, per se. (Okay, I admit that I’m actually choosing six reissues here overall — don’t tell!)

GRATEFUL DEAD
BLUES FOR ALLAH
180g 1LP (Rhino)
My love for one of my favorite Grateful Dead albums went up a few notches this year because of this fine 50th anniversary reissue LP, which features spectacular sonic restoration courtesy of Plangent Processes, exemplary remastering from David Glasser of Airshow Mastering, and lacquers cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Blues for Allah is a remarkable album to begin with, but now the whole LP somehow holds together more solidly — especially the experimental parts of Side 2, a.k.a. “The Other Side,” including the title track (Track 3), which always used to lose my attention and focus on past editions. It all now seems to hold together better, and it propels you forward with the band more cohesively. I explore the ins and outs of this LP much more in my full review that posted here on September 26, 2025 — but whatever side of Shakedown Street you are dancing on, there are many reasons to seriously consider picking up this most excellent new reissue.

DAVID BOWIE
6: I CAN’T GIVE EVERYTHING AWAY: 2002 – 2016
180g 16LP & 2EP (Parlophone)
When I first reviewed this literally massive David Bowie box set — all 18lbs’ worth of it! — I had already hinted that it might make the cut for our 2025 best-of list. A contender from the get-go, 6: I Can’t Give Everything Away: 2002 – 2016 covers the final stages of Bowie’s career from his June 2002 masterwork Heathen on through to his lifetime’s swan song, January 2016’s ★ (BLACKSTAR). My review, which posted here on September 19, 2025, goes into much more detail about what captured my imagination across all the remastered studio albums as well as the wealth of rarities, live, and studio material across the 16 LPs and 2EPs (count ’em!) in this set. On its own, the 4LP set-within-a-set at the end of this collection, Re:Call 6, is an incredible compendium, pulling together single and radio edits, streaming-only tracks, and mixes previously exclusive to SACDs and movie soundtracks. In all seriousness, I Can’t Give Everything Away is one of the more impressive box sets I’ve experienced to date.

THE BEATLES
ANTHOLOGY COLLECTION
180g 12LP (Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMG)
In many ways, the headline to our combo review that posted here on November 19, 2025, sums up the entire story: “The Beatles’ Anthology Collection Aims to Again Enthrall and Excite Generations of Listeners With Improved, Expanded 30th Anniversary 12LP Super Deluxe Edition Set, Featuring Remarkable Restorations and New Volume 4 Bonus 3LP of Rarities.” Similar to what Mike said in his earlier assessment of this box set in his own list, for me, the pièce de résistance was found on the last side of the last disc in the set — the new-to-2025 restorations of the two original “reunion” recordings, “Free as a Bird” (Anth 4, LP3, Side 6, Track 1) and “Real Love” (Anth 4, LP3, Side 6, Track 2). These aren’t just remixes, mind you. John Lennon’s vocals have been dramatically transformed, his voice fully isolated from the piano portion of his lo-fi home cassette recordings by way of using Get Back director Peter Jackson’s proprietary demixing technology. The results are startling, for now we can hear Lennon singing these songs purely and clearly as never before. This allowed producer Jeff Lynne to better integrate and properly remix these final Beatles tracks to tremendous effect. There are many other exciting improvements throughout this box, of course, including those for some of the earliest-known Beatles-related home recordings from the 1950s! Anthology Collection is worth seeking out, especially if you previously only had any of this material digitally.

JOHN LEE HOOKER
IT SERVE YOU RIGHT TO SUFFER
180g 1LP (Impulse!/Verve/UMe)
John Lee Hooker’s albums have often intrigued me, but few have floored me right from the start as did 1966’s It Serve You Right to Suffer, which was reissued earlier this year as part of the fine, ongoing Verve/Acoustic Sounds series. A knock-out LP that pairs excellent production quality with a hot band of seasoned jazz players backing up Hooker, Suffer delivers blues rawness floating over a more swinging vibe. As I summed up in my Short Cuts review that posted here on March 14, 2025: “In short: this LP rocks!” With rare original pressings of Suffer selling online for upwards of $200 as of this posting, a fine and more affordable reissue like this one was long warranted. Now, more people can discover what a great — and great sounding — album Suffer is.

BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
180g 4LP (World Circuit/BMG/Analogue Productions)
Purely based on our ratings — 11 for Music, 10 for Sound — Analogue Productions’ 180g 45rpm 4LP reissue/upgrade of September 1997’s iconic Buena Vista Social Club release was a must-include for our target list. This summary, from my review that posted here on March 27, 2025, sums up the joy of listening to this collection on audiophile vinyl: “Consider it this way: listening to Analogue Productions’ new 180g 45rpm 4LP edition of Buena Vista Social Club is like enjoying a huge slice of your most favorite-est birthday cake, in which you can — and will — want to savor each and every bite, guilt free.” A grand collection sounding even more grand than ever makes this edition of BVSC an essential release.

STEELY DAN
THE ROYAL SCAM – UHQR EDITION
200g 45rpm 2LP (MCA/Geffen/Analogue Productions)
Steely Dan’s May 1976 LP The Royal Scam is my favorite album by the band, and thus, this outstanding 200g 45rpm 2LP UHQR incarnation of it — which I reviewed here on August 29, 2025 — warrants your attention as the best-sounding version available to date on vinyl. Remarkably underappreciated for a Top 5 Grammy-winning hit LP, for me, The Royal Scam struck the perfect balance between the harder-rocking early incarnations of the group (November 1972’s Can’t Buy a Thrill through March 1975’s Katy Lied) and their more smoother jazz-infused latter-era sounds (as on September 1977’s Aja and November 1980’s Gaucho). For what it’s worth, the recent UHQR edition of Katy Lied (which was reviewed collectively by myself, Mettler, and Ken Micallef here, on February 20, 2025) is also excellent, but it comes in a close second to Scam for me. With an SRP of $150, UHQR editions are typically pricey considerations for even the most well-heeled high-end audiophile — but The Royal Scam UHQR is worth every penny.

Be sure to come back tomorrow, December 24, 2025, to find out what our Top 10 New LPs of 2025 are!

Mark Smotroff is an avid vinyl collector who has also worked in marketing communications for decades. He has reviewed music for eCoustics, among others, and you can see more of his impressive C.V. at LinkedIn.