ALBUM RELEASE NEWS

Call it a case of, shall we say, “capitol gains.” The capitol spelling there is quite deliberate, for it relates to the Washington, D.C., hometown locale of the notable ethereal goth-rock band Strange Boutique, who are finally back on the scene with their first new album in 31 years, Let the Lonely Heart Sing. The LP was released yesterday, June 10, 2025, in a pair of limited-edition color vinyl options by The Circle Music, a Greek label. Read on to see why you should procure either/both versions of Strange Boutique’s stunning new LP ASAP. . .

We duly announce that The B-52’s The Warner Reprise Years 9LP box set is slated for release from Warner Records/Reprise/Rhino on June 20, 2025. All 9LPs in this massive collection, which spans the balance of the pioneering alt-punk band’s kaleidoscopic recording career from 1979 to 1992, have been remastered and repressed on a literal rainbow variety of color vinyl options, so read on to see what those colors are, and how good each LP sounds. . .

“It was the hippest of times, it was the squarest of times — mostly the latter.” Ever cleverly dour, that was how the principal members of Steely Dan (a.k.a. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen) opened the three-paneled liner-notes portion of the folded booklet within the MCA CD reissue of their masterful May 1976 ABC album The Royal Scam. Thankfully, the music found therein was much more hip than square — and, now, after a 40-year wait (!), The Royal Scam is finally seeing proper vinyl reissues courtesy separate Geffen/UMe and Analogue Productions editions on June 6, 2025. Read on to see all the royal LP details. . .

If I could wave my magic wand, I’d set every unofficially released Rush track free — oh wait, it looks like the band’s parent labels read my mind (well, mostly). To that end, we’ve been informed that, on March 21, 2025, UMe/Mercury and Anthem Records collectively plan on celebrating the iconic Canadian trio’s half-century milestone marker with Rush 50 — a.k.a. R50 — a wide-ranging 50-track anthology that will be available as a 180g 7LP/4CD Super Deluxe Edition and 180g 7LP Deluxe Edition (among other configurations), and it will include a number of rare and unreleased Holy Grail tracks to boot. Read on to see all that R50 entails, and how to get any/all versions of it. . .

The listening glory is all ours with the latest pair of top-shelf releases from Rhino’s High Fidelity (Hi-Fi) series. Television’s potent April 1978 sophomore effort Adventure and Faces’ March 1973 swan song Ooh La La both get the patented AAA Hi-Fi 180g 1LP treatment and are being released today, January 10, 2025. Read Mike Mettler’s combo review to see why you need both of these fine Hi-Fi LP reissues ASAP. . .

It’s beginning to look a lot like. . . holiday vinyl. Tis that time of year when holiday music is in the air, and there is no shortage of holiday vinyl to go around for any and all of your holiday listening proclivities and/or gift-giving needs. Read Part 1 of Mark Smotroff’s holiday LP roundup to see which of these eight featured new vinyl releases could make their way onto your “nice” list for listening and/or gifting this year. . .

Record Store Day 2024, the Black Friday edition, is soon upon us — just two days from now on November 29, 2024, in fact. Read on to see ten cool RSD 2024 picks from AP editor Mike Mettler and chief LP reviewer Mark Smotroff that might be worth adding to your own shopping list for that special day. . .