LATEST ADDITIONS

Upon the first listen to the opening notes of The Smashing Pumpkins’ debut single “I Am One” in mid-1990, we were immediately hooked on the four-piece Chicagoland band’s conjoined drive hard but also play dreamy dynamic — which was even more in evidence on the next song, “Siva,” which sported not one but two low-volume vocal/noodly guitar breaks before the band chaos returned to take the track back by storm. The ensuing album those tracks appeared on, May 1991’s Gish, further cemented our love of SP’s inventive explosiveness. To celebrate the impending 35th anniversary of Gish, multiple 180g 1LP vinyl variants via Martha’s Music/Virgin/UMe will mark the occasion on May 29, 2026, literally 35 years and a day after the album’s original release. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s report to see why Gish endures, and why you need to hear it anew on vinyl. . .

For many music enthusiasts just getting into jazz, the arguable best way to discover the work of the legendary saxophonist John Coltrane is to, in fact, listen to his seminal recordings made for the Atlantic label in the early 1960s — and listen to them in mono. And thus, that leads us directly to today’s review subject, John Coltrane’s 1960–1964 Mono, a 180g 6LP box set released via Rhino’s most excellent High Fidelity Series back in late November 2025 as the ostensible kickoff celebration for this year’s Coltrane Centennial. (The late, great Trane was born in September 1926.) Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see exactly why you should make the investment to get your hands (and ears) on the 1960–1964 Mono collection. . .

Progressive music and classically trained orchestras go together like, well, progressive music and classically trained orchestras. Truth is, the marriage of music made by forward-thinking artists with widely expanded symphonic arrangements has always appealed to our own open-minded compositional sensitivities. Though sometimes it’s a union that perhaps works better on staff paper, when the prog/orchestral sonic matrimony works, it really works — and that was clearly the idea behind Yes’ Symphonic Live, a 180g 4LP set that documents a full 14-song set from the band’s 2001 Symphonic Tour that was released via Mercury Studios/UMG on January 23, 2026. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s review to see if the half-speed-remastered Symphonic Live conducts itself in a manner worthy of immediate acquisition. . .

In December 1973, Yes issued Tales From Topographic Oceans, a double album that some fans consider to be the greatest record they ever made, while others view it as a time-marker pinpointing the precise moment where the entire progressive rock genre went off the rails. Either way you look at it, the galvanizing, chart-topping Tales From Topographic Oceans is being rightly celebrated today, February 6, 2026, with the release of an exemplary, expansive super deluxe edition from Atlantic/Rhino that includes 2LPs, 12CDs (yes, 12 CDs), and 1BD — a truly deep-dive for (re)consideration of this remarkable recording. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see exactly why this new collection of Tales is worthy of repeat sailing, er, spinning on your turntable . . .