Vinyl Reports

Well, it’s one for the money (pause), two for the show (pause) . . . and I bet you know the rest. Seeing how we’re fast approaching the 70th anniversary of the song those opening lines adorn — Carl Perkins’ perennial rockabilly classic, “Blue Suede Shoes” — the timing couldn’t be any better for an audiophile-centric reissue of this January 1956 single. To that end, Intervention Records have just announced that the first vinyl release in their new Intervention Sun Records Hi-Fi Series will be the album that “Blue Suede Shoes” ultimately landed on — 1957’s Dance Album of Carl Perkins — and it’s expected to ship in December 2025. Read on to see how the historically important AAA 180g 45rpm mono LP Dance Album reissue came to be. . .

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., 1) Mike Mettler, your intrepid AP editor, and 2) chief LP reviewer, Mark Smotroff — we have listened to multiple-hundreds’ worth of albums on vinyl in 2025 apiece, so check out Part 1 to see what our 10-plus favorite archival reissue LPs of the year are. . .

Often dividing fans as far as favorite Steely Dan albums go, their fifth studio LP on ABC, May 1976’s The Royal Scam, is an arguable breakpoint between the harder-rocking early incarnations of the group and the more progressive, smoothly jazz-infused albums to come. Read Mark Smotroff’s combo review of the recently released Analogue Productions 200g 45rpm 2LP UHQR edition and companion “standard” remaster 1LP version from Geffen/UMe to see why The Royal Scam deserves a reassessment by those who may not be giving it its proper due. . .

When it comes to the King of Rock & Roll, nothing is too EPiC (acronym-derived case sensitivity specifics very much intended) for director Baz Luhrmann to tackle. Relative to the theatrical premiere of Luhrmann’s latest visual ode the King, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert — which hits theaters with a one-week exclusive IMAX engagement on February 20, 2026, followed by a global theatrical release from NEON and Universal Pictures International a week later on February 27, 2026 — RCA/Legacy will be releasing a companion 2LP soundtrack on April 24, 2026. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s EPiC report to see if this hunk o’ double-Elvis vinyl-to-come belongs in your collection. . .

Look through any window, and what do you see? In this case, we’re eyeballing the next entry in Bob Dylan’s acclaimed Bootleg Series that’s on deck. More specifically, The Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through The Open Window, 1956-1963 is arriving via Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music as a 4LP box set on October 31, 2025. Read on to see which 42 tracks of that key early Dylan era — 18 of them previously unreleased, and nine of them considered as being “super-rare” — have made the vinyl cut. . .

A pair of recent reissues of two raw, rockin’ classic LPs by Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters are arguably ground zero for modern electric blues music as we know it today. Kicking off UMG’s 75th anniversary celebration of the venerable Chess Records label late last fall, Howlin Wolf’s Moanin’ in the Moonlight (1959) and Muddy Waters’ The Best of Muddy Waters (1958) are two of the LPs that ushered in the parent label’s Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series, with Acoustic Sounds handling the 180g pressings. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why both of these reissues are vital additions to your collection. . .

For a British band with such a potentially foreboding name as The Darkness, their music is anything but grim. Instead, they choose to celebrate what we call a “tongue in chic” (spelling intended) wink/nudge approach to rock conventionalism by meeting all of it head on with layered riffs, clever arrangements, and operatic vocals galore — and their latest smokin’ hot LP, Dreams on Toast, is the living analog proof. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s interview with Darkness guitarist/producer Dan Hawkins to see what he doesn’t want to hear on test pressings, why “flow” is critical to vinyl sequencing, and what albums he and his older brother, Darkness lead singer Justin Hawkins, bought and shared together when they were growing up. . .