New vinyl reissues: August 28, 2026

It’s another big week in the world of vinyl reissues, with some exciting obscurities coming our way from my two favorite Spanish reissue labels. Plus, the first two Analogue Productions UHQR pressings of the Who are in the process of leaving the Salina, Kansas, warehouse as we speak. The big drop this week, of course, was the Jethro Tull box set from Rhino High Fidelity, which was announced on Monday and about which you can read more here. But before we look at the rest of what’s hitting record store shelves and mail trucks this week, let’s look at some more announcements that materialized for reissues that are coming a little further down the line.

Interscope-Capitol’s Definitive Sound Series announced an upcoming one-step all-analog pressing of Dr. Dre’s 2001, with lacquers cut from the master tape by Chris Bellman. The album, released in 1999, was Dre’s official follow-up to his huge The Chronic from 1993, which also is available as a DSS (although it may be on the verge of selling out). As with other DSS releases, this edition of 2001 is a one-step pressing on high-quality Neotech vinyl, with a heavyweight gatefold jacket inside a slipcase. That comes out October 23, with preorders live now.

Meanwhile, Impex Records, the audiophile label partnered with Elusive Disc, announced that they will be releasing Boston’s self-titled album as part of a 50th anniversary edition. The announcement coincided with the album’s 50th birthday but the record itself won’t actually be out until the second quarter of 2027—making it officially the most anticipated reissue of next year, although it has a clear head start in that regard. The original album will be paired with an additional 12-inch EP of demos at 45 RPM, and the discs are cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, although the pre-release info does not mention that they are cut from tape, so it’s likely that there is a digital step somewhere. The release comes with the blessing and participation of Boston songwriter, guitarist, and producer Tom Scholz, who was the architect of the band’s orchestral blend of soaring electric guitars. Preorders are here; there are gold or black vinyl versions and an SACD among the options.

Mobile Fidelity is continuing their reissue series of the Doobie Brothers’ catalog with an upcoming 45 RPM 2-LP reissue of their 1976 album Takin’ It to the Streets; the release date is TBA. Universal announced a 20th-anniversary edition of Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, expanded to a triple-LP set with demos, B-sides, and a live disc recorded in Amsterdam in February 2007. The set, due out October 23, comes with alternate cover art and liner notes by Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi; a CD edition has a few extra tracks and there’s also a zoetrope picture disc. And Rhino is reissuing a deluxe version of Foreigner’s third album, 1979’s Head Games. That will be a 3-CD set with a Blu-ray including a Dolby Atmos mix, but the single-disc vinyl configuration (out October 30) will feature a new remix of the album, although I imagine some of the extra material from the CD set could someday trickle out on vinyl via a Record Store Day release.

Last but closest to my heart, Fontana’s Thousand Club has announced two more titles in their all-analog, ultra-limited vinyl reissue series. These choices surprised me, as they’re decidedly off the beaten path, and all the better for it. They’re Tinkerbells Fairydust’s self-titled album, an mega-rare British psychedelic album from 1969, and Marlena Shaw’s terrific 1969 soul album The Spice of Life, originally released on Cadet, a sublabel of Chess. That second choice, wonderful as it is, is a little confusing to me, as it’s an American-recorded album and thus veers away from the series’ standard operating procedure thus far of using UK original tapes. Did the Cadet master tape somehow make its way across the pond over the years, possibly due to the Northern Soul scene’s devoted embrace of Shaw’s music? Or are they using a UK copy tape? It’s unclear. Both of these can be ordered from the Thousand Club website, but for North American buyers the shipping costs will be significant, so it’s worth looking for an online retailer that won’t be so expensive—I recommend Rough Trade. These two terrific selections come out on October 23.

Congratulations to Tony for winning our August vinyl giveaway! Tony will receive a copy of Freddie King’s excellent triple live album that was released on Record Store Day earlier this year. Feeling Alright: The Complete 1975 Nancy Pulsations Concert was mastered by Matthew Lutthans and is a searing document of the blues-rock guitarist in terrific form. If you’d like to be eligible for our monthly vinyl giveaways, simply upgrade to The Vinyl Cut’s paid tier, where you’ll get to enter each of these contests, plus get full access to the site’s archives and have commenting privileges on each and every article. Have some thoughts on an album that we’ve reviewed? Be sure to let other readers know by leaving a comment. 

Also—paid subscribers get the weekly playlists that appear in each of these “New Reissues” posts, featuring the best, weirdest, and wildest music that’s coming back to wax this week. Speaking of, here’s this week’s playlist, which is an epic sonic journey through psych, jazz, city pop, bossa nova, riot grrrl, Argentinian space rock, and much, much more. Want to hear it? Click the “Upgrade” button above.

Now, let’s get into this week’s newest reissues.

The Who: Tommy; Who’s Next [Analogue Productions]

The next installments of Analogue Productions’ Who series are here, with UHQR pressings of their two most esteemed albums: 1969’s double-LP rock opera Tommy, and the 1971 studio follow-up, Who’s Next, which is in the running as one of the best rock albums of all time. These hugely expensive UHQRs are touted as top-of-the-line renditions, using metalwork from the lacquers that Chris Bellman cut from the original master tapes in the early 2000s for Classic Records. The UHQR pressings are on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl, with heavyweight jackets inside a slipcase. If you have money to burn and are an enormous fan of the Who, these are pretty exciting releases—although unlike the reissues they’ve done thus far (My Generation, Live at Leeds, both in non-UHQR pressings), these are cut at 33 RPM, not 45 RPM, which is puzzling to me. I imagine these sound pretty outstanding, and they’d better, at that price point. Will they be definitive? I suspect not, unless you thought the Bellman cuts in their Classic Records versions were the best these albums have ever sounded, as these will be exactly the same, just on nicer vinyl. These are limited editions, with Tommy limited to 3500 copies and Who’s Next limited to 7500. (Note: Per Chad Kassem, some of the Tommy jackets were not up to scratch; the first 2000 will ship on time, but the copies beyond that will be delayed, perhaps up to eight weeks.)

Velocity Girl: 1989–1992 [Slumberland]

College Park, Maryland, band Velocity Girl incorporated dream pop, noise pop, and shoegaze into their expressive and influential indie-rock sound, and a new compilation from Slumberland collects their earliest recordings, before the group signed to Sub Pop. These rare singles, compilation-album tracks, and unreleased tunes showcase the band’s early lineup with singer Bridget Cross as well as her replacement Sarah Shannon. With the band’s decided melodic chops and a fondness for both fuzz and fizz, these recordings are shot through with equal parts ecstasy and melancholy, making for perfect pop and setting the template for countless indie records to come.

A Perfect Circle: Thirteenth Step [Definitive Sound Series]

Interscope-Capitol’s Definitive Sound Series released a one-step pressing of A Perfect Circle’s 2000 debut Mer de Noms last year, and now they give the same treatment to APC’s 2003 follow-up, Thirteenth Step (which, again, is a one-step, despite the album’s title slightly confusing matters). This album continued the collaboration of Tool singer/sushi enthusiast Maynard James Keenan and guitarist Billy Howerdel, with an arty angle on metal and hard rock that paid homage to prog and art-rock antecedents. This DSS one-step was mastered by Levi Seitz at Black Belt Mastering from 24/96 files transferred from analog flat masters, excepting the song “Crimes and Lullaby,” which was mastered from a 24/44.1 file.

Munster and Vampisoul

This late-summer drop from Spanish label Munster and its sister imprint Vampisoul is one of their biggest yet, with six full-lengths and three 7-inches. On the Munster end, they’re reissuing: Flower Travellin’ Band’s renowned Satori, the Japanese band’s 1971 heavy-psych masterpiece; Antorcha’s Music to Set Everything on Fire, a 2-LP set compiling tracks that the Mexican hard-rockers released on 7-inch EPs from 1971 to 1976, with organ-laden psych reminiscent of Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly, and the MC5; and Derribos Arias’ 1983 debut full-length En la Guía, en el Listín, an intense, angular exploration of post-punk in both guitar- and synth-led guises. And Vampisoul has its mitts on Litto Nebbia’s 1975 Argentinian art-rock slab Fuera del Cielo, centered around the former Los Gatos vocalist’s 17-minute title track and accompanied by other prog and space-jazz explorations; Juan Carlos Calderón’s Bloque 6, a terrific 1968 modern-jazz album played by the finest Spanish jazz musicians of the day; and Kingo Hamada’s Midnight Cruisin’, a 1982 slice of vintage Japanese city pop. I don’t even have room to get into the 7-inches here, but go to Munster/Vampisoul’s site to goggle all the bounty (and American readers, get your preorders in over at Forced Exposure, their exclusive US distributor).

Guerssen Records

My other favorite Spanish reissue label, Guerssen, has a slightly less prolific release slate this month but one that’s no less impressive. They’ve got a new pressing of Captain Marryat’s self-titled record, a super-rare 1974 private-press album from the Scottish prog-tinged rockers. This will also be available stateside through Noble Records, the boutique label run by the esteemed record store in Matthews, North Carolina. Plus, they’ve rounded up an LP’s worth of Black Sabbath covers played in 1970 by the Scottish heavy rockers Iron Claw, learned via a bootleg recording bassist Alex Wilson made of a 1969 Sabbath live gig and, in some cases, recorded before Black Sabbath even released them. And last, they’re reissuing Damon’s Song of a Gypsy, the 1968 private-press record that has become a foundational text of Southern Californian psychedelia.

Transoceânica

I don’t know much about this new label Transoceânica, a European—possibly Portuguese—imprint taking advantage of copyright laws and reissuing Brazilian classics in a decidedly unofficial capacity. But I can’t fault their taste thus far, as the four albums they have in circulation are all home runs for collectors of Brazilian music. Caetano Veloso’s 1972 album Transa was recorded in exile while in London; Elis Regina and Antônio Carlos Jobim’s Elis & Tom is a late-model bossa nova gem from 1974; Jorge Ben and Gilberto Gil’s 1975 collaborative double album Ogum Xango (aka Gil e Jorge) is a sprawling, tremendous collection of samba rock; and Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges’s 1972 masterpiece Cluba de Esquina likely needs no introduction to any fan of Brazilian music. That last one remains perhaps the most coveted Brazilian album to have on vinyl and one for which a legitimate repress remains maddeningly elusive. These Transoceânica pressings won’t solve the legitimacy problem, and I have no idea how they were sourced or pressed, let alone how they sound. But goddamn, they contain some magnificent music, and vinyl addicts abhor a vacuum, so if the rights-holders won’t give us the legitimate pressings we desperately need, what’s a music lover to do? (No links for these; you’re on your own tracking them down.)

Jazz Alley

There’s not a ton to talk about back in Jazz Alley this week, but Acoustic Sounds has two more new ones in their Verve series. Elvin Jones recorded Dear John C. at Rudy Van Gelder’s in 1965 with production from Bob Thiele, and it’s an exciting set led by the drummer, with songs by Mingus, Ellington, and Parker/Gillespie as well as Thiele’s title track, which tips the cap to Coltrane. And there’s also Johnny Hartman’s 1964 album The Voice That Is!, similarly recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s with Bob Thiele producing; the set features arrangements from Bob Hammer for both trio and octet, each equally capable of supporting the velvet-voiced Hartman. Matthew Lutthans cut both of these from analog tape, with pressings done at QRP. Lastly, Mack Avenue has a six-LP box set from Oscar Peterson called World Tour, collecting concerts recorded for radio in Detroit, Toronto, Brazil, Switzerland, and New Zealand between the years 1969 and 1996. More info on that set is available here.

OTHER REISSUES OF NOTE:
(*star denotes inclusion in this week’s paid-subscriber playlist)

Aborym: With No Human Intervention [Subsound]
*Nino Antonellini, Roland Kayn, Coro da Camera della RAI, Roma, Marino Zuccheri: Roland Kayn: Cybernetics III / Luigi Nono: Contrappunto dialettico alla mente [DG Avantgarde]
Atheist: Piece of Time; Unquestionable Presence [Nuclear Blast]
*Bikini Kill: Reject All American [Bikini Kill]
Beach Bunny: The Early Days [Alternate Side]
Marco Beltrami: Scream soundtrack [Varèse Sarabande/Craft]
*Butthole Surfers: Electriclarryland [Capitol Record Club]
Candlemass: Dactylis Glomerata [Peaceville]
Cornelius Cardew & The Scratch Orchestra: The Great Learning [DG Avantgarde]
*A Certain Ratio: The Joy of Sextet; Force Majeure [Mute]
Code Blue: Live at the Fab Mab ’78 [Nickel and Dime/Triple X]
Common: Can I Borrow a Dollar? [Music on Vinyl]
The Cramps: Fiends of Dope Island [Vengeance]
D’Angelo and the Vanguard: Black Messiah [Sony]
*Die Kreuzen: Die Kreuzen; October File [Touch and Go]
The Fall: Cerebral Caustic [Cherry Red]
Faun Fables: The Transit Rider [Drag City]
FM: Indiscreet [Music on Vinyl]
Aretha Franklin: Knew You Were Waiting: The Best of Aretha Franklin 1980–2014 [Sony]
F.S.K.: Ca C’est le Blues [A-Musik]
The Gates of Slumber: The Awakening; Like a Plague Upon the Land [Svart]
Golden Earring: You Know We Love You! [Music on Vinyl]
Harry Gregson-Williams/John Powell: Shrek score [Varèse Sarabande]
James Horner: Legends of the Fall soundtrack [Music on Vinyl]
Horse Feathers: Words Are Dead [Kill Rock Stars]
*HTRK: Work (Work, Work) [Ghostly Int’l]
Israel Vibration: IV [Diggers Factory]
Michael Jackson: The Definitive Collection [Motown]
*Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, Tompall Glazer: Wanted! The Outlaws [Sony]
*Joan Jett & The Blackhearts: I Love Rock ’n Roll [Blackheart]
Jodeci: Diary of a Mad Band (black vinyl) [Motown]
Sara K.: Closer Than They Appear [Chesky]
Mauricio Kagel: Exotica [DG Avantgarde]
Kitchen Knife Conspiracy: Handicapitated [Deko Music]
Korn: The Nothing [Atlantic]
Lucius: Wildewoman [Mom & Pop]
Lusine: A Certain Distance; Sensorimotor [Ghostly Int’l]
Metal Molly: Surgery for Zebra [Music on Vinyl]
The Muffs: Live at Fort Apache (wide release after RSD) [Omnivore]
*Willie Nelson: Stardust [Sony]
*Klaus Nomi: Klaus Nomi; Simple Man [Omnivore]
NOFX: 40 Years of Fuckin’ Up soundtrack [Fat Wreck Chords]
Nurse with Wound: Merzbild Schwet; Huffin’ Rag Blues [Rotorelief]
OK Go: Oh No [Capitol]
Opera de Nuit: Opera de Nuit [Dark Entries]
Opeth: Pale Communion [Atlantic]
Pineapple Thief: Your Wilderness [Kscope]
Post Malone: August 26 [Big Loud]
*Prince: Timeless [Sony]
Rainbow: In Concert 1976: Live in Nürnberg [Demon/Edsel]
The Seeds: The Seeds [Big Beat/Ace]
The Selecter: At the BBC: The Complete Recordings 1979–1981 [Chrysalis]
Sepultura: Beneath the Remains [Atlantic]
Status Quo: Live in Glasgow 28th October 1976 (Night 2); Live in Glasgow 29th October 1976 (Night 3) [Demon]
Three Drives: 2000 [Music on Vinyl]
Tim Dog: Penicillin on Wax [Music on Vinyl]
2 of Clubs: Walk Tall: The Fraternity Recordings 10” [Ace]
Truly: Twilight Curtains [Bang]
Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle: One from the Heart soundtrack [Music on Vinyl]
*Kim Wilde: Another Step [Cherry Pop/Cherry Red]
Gabriel Yared: The Talented Mr. Ripley soundtrack [Music on Vinyl]
Various Artists: Histoire de Coeur Vol. 2: Lost French Synth-Pop 7’ers & Euro-Bombs (1985–88) [Caroline True]
Various Artists: My Fair Lady soundtrack [Music on Vinyl]