Vinyl Reports

Welcome to the first installment of New Wax Wednesday for 2026! We already have plenty of great 2026 releases to cover in future columns, but we wanted to kick off the new year by instead diving into something we ran out of time to post about at the tail end of 2025 — namely, Rhino’s 4LP deluxe edition commemorating The Replacements’ final indie release on Twin/Tone, October 1984’s truly seminal Let It Be. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s inside look at how the expertly expanded Let It Be collection should in no way leave any of its listeners “Unsatisfied”. . .

In the 60 years since its initial release in 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas has become not only a family tradition, but also something of a musical heirloom that gets passed on through the generations, thanks to its universally appealing TV special and — of course — its gorgeous, perfect soundtrack LP by Vince Guaraldi. As part of its 60th anniversary celebration, A Charlie Brown Christmas just received a wonderful new 200g 45rpm 2LP UHQR update from Analogue Productions, and its aural rewards can easily be enjoyed throughout the year. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why the new UHQR edition of A Charlie Brown Christmas is well worth getting now for 365-day enjoyment purposes. . .

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. . .

Mobile Fidelity have been on quite a tear of late. Besides their consistent slate of Original Master Recordings (OMRs), they’ve also been making a mark with their Ultradisc One-Step releases — most especially with the ongoing UD1S 180g 45rpm 2LP OMR Van Halen reissue series. Read AP Editor Mike Mettler’s combo review of all five UD1S VH OMR LPs, as well as his exclusive interview about how they came to be with MoFi President Jim Davis and MoFi mastering engineers Rob LoVerde and Shawn R. Britton. . .

Tori Amos is the type of artist who relishes pushing the creative envelope at practically every turn, and she went all-in by creating 12 separate character identities/personas for how she approached interpreting the dozen, male-penned covers she tackled on her September 2001 release on Atlantic, Strange Little Girls. The album has never been officially released on vinyl, but Rhino plans to rectify that ill by dropping a 2LP Strange Little Girls (Expanded Edition) on February 20, 2026, that will also feature a pair of B-side rarities along with an additional pair of previously unreleased recordings. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s Strange Little assessment, in addition to some exclusive, vinyl-centric comments he got directly from Amos herself. . .

It’s always refreshing to see young blood making a clear impact on the world of new vinyl — and this time, the artist doing so literally has the exact right name for the job. In this case, we’re talking about British punk-pop vocalist Yungblud, who recently collaborated with veteran American rock icons Aerosmith on One More Time, a tough ’n’ tender five-song EP that was released on November 21, 2025. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s review to see if the Aero-lads once again get back in the vinyl saddle where they belong. . .

Before we all drive and/or fly off to our respective Thanksgiving festivities for the long weekend ahead, we want to share the full aural bounty that comprises today’s New Wax Wednesday column. This one is all about Wings, a self-titled 180g 3LP compilation of 32 tracks culled from the better-than-you-may-think output of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles 1970s band that was released on November 7, 2025, via MPL/Capitol/UMe. Read AP editor Mike Mettler review to see if the Wings box is indeed fab enough for you to add to your collection (plus, you’ll get his firsthand impressions of seeing Macca’s just-completed Got Back tour). . .