Vinyl Reports

Since we ended 2025 with a review of one of the two best-selling jazz albums in history, it is only appropriate — and remarkably timely! — that we begin 2026 by reviewing a most important 180g 2LP update of the other album of such esteemed, 5x-platinum-selling lineage: Miles Davis’ August 1959 Columbia landmark, Kind of Blue. The offering of a new, definitive audiophile version of Kind of Blue from Analogue Productions — one that is based on the much-sought-after speed-corrected edition originally issued by Classic Records in 1995 — is certainly big news, so read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if this new Kind of Blue release is worthy of getting in your hands and onto your turntable ASAP. . .

Bioscope is a thrilling ambient prog collaboration between Steve Rothery, co-founder of and guitarist for Britain’s perennial prog stalwarts Marillion, and Thorsten Quaeschning, musical director of German ambient pioneers Tangerine Dream — and their debut 2LP set Gentō comes out via earMUSIC this upcoming Friday, August 22, 2025. In the Q&A portion of this post, AP editor Mike Mettler and Rothery discuss the overall sonic goals for Bioscope, his appreciation of half-speed mastering and film soundtracks, and which Marillion LPs the guitar maestro suggests the AP faithful and newbies alike should spin on their turntables to get a sense of their musical intentions and inclinations. . .

Miles Davis would have been 100 years old this year, and in celebration of that most momentous centennial milestone, Columbia/Legacy have returned one of the most requested, pivotal, and iconic live performances in the artist’s storied career to the marketplace: The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965, a 10LP box set reissued on January 30, 2026. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why this historically important collection deserves both its reputation and its rightful place in your collection. . .

Is it love, or lies? Well, when it comes to the sound and content of Linda Ronstadt’s rightly hailed September 1975 opus Prisoner in Disguise, it is very much of the love variety. In celebration of this important mid-’70s LP’s 50th anniversary, Mobile Fidelity has just seen fit to reissue it as a 180g 2LP 45rpm edition, remastered from the original master tapes. AP editor Mike Mettler reports on its overall spin-worthiness, and he also includes firsthand comments from interviews he conducted with Ronstadt and one of her key collaborators on the album — the late, great JD Souther. . .

In the wake of the success of Michael, the recent biopic that focuses on Michael Jackson’s extraordinary musical career, we here at AP wanted to recommend his best work on vinyl. Thankfully, Mobile Fidelity has a trio of audiophile-level MJ releases all worthy of our needle-drop attention. Read on to see Mark Smotroff’s review of the MoFi One-Step versions of Off the Wall and Thriller, while AP editor Mike Mettler tackles the Original Master Recording version of Dangerous (and offers his thoughts on the other two MoFi MJ releases in his footnotes). . .

Today, we’re delving into two new versions of The Beach Boys’ seminal May 1966 masterpiece, Pet Sounds, which has been released in two separate high-grade vinyl editions in celebration of its 60th anniversary: a) Capitol/UMe’s Vinylphyle series 2LP mono/stereo set, and b) Interscope/Capitol’s ultra-premium Definitive Sound Series (DSS) One Step edition. Read Mark Smotroff’s in-depth review of both editions to see how and why they’ve each met our own exacting standards, and how a long-lost 1972 master put one of them over the top. . .