New vinyl reissues: October 30, 2026

As we get closer to the holidays, the vinyl reissues keep mounting up. It’s another bustling week at the record counter, so let’s dive in without much more ado.

Okay, some ado. I usually kick off these weekly posts with news of the most exciting announcements and preorders. Those have tapered off as the holiday season approaches—we’ve already gotten most of the big announcements for 2026, and the labels are understandably too focused on their schedules for the rest of the year to be worrying too much about what’s coming in 2027. Still, a few things of note have popped up, including 1-LP versions of U2’s The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby that are due in January. These versions mimic the original vinyl releases that put the 50-plus-minute-long albums on two sides of wax, as opposed to the current 2-LP pressings, which offer a little more groove space at the added cost of an extra disc. Also, the first vinyl reissue of Van Morrison’s 1990 compilation The Best of Van Morrison will be released on Morrison’s own Exile Records on December 11. Unlike the 1990 vinyl version, this is a 2-LP set that includes all 20 tracks from the CD edition. Look to your local retailer to preorder any of these. Lastly, Sony just announced an expanded edition of Prince’s 2006 album 3121 as a 3-LP set (preorder here).

Here’s this week’s playlist, which features music from all the reissues discussed below, and then some. It’s only available to our paid subscribers, who also get additional perks, such as full site access, commenting privileges, and the ability to enter our monthly vinyl giveaways. It’s a pretty cool place to be, and paid subscribers directly support The Vinyl Cut—which, unlike virtually everywhere else on the internet, doesn’t have any ads, sponsors, or affiliated links. You might’ve noticed. If you have, and if you think that’s nice, maybe you’d like to become a paid subscriber, too.

The Who: The Who by Numbers [Polydor/Geffen/UMe]

After you deliver a run of albums that includes Tommy, Live at Leeds, Who’s Next, and Quadrophenia, how do you come back down to earth? The Who did the only thing they could, really—they scaled back, and The Who by Numbers was the result. The 1975 effort has been called by some as Pete Townshend’s singer/songwriter album, and while it does contain the Who guitarist’s most confessional song (“However Much I Booze”) as well as a gentle number he strums on ukulele (“Blue Red and Grey,” one of the loveliest in the Who canon), this is a Who album through and through, with lead singer Roger Daltrey heralding the way on “Slip Kid” and “How Many Friends,” and bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon delivering their trademark thunder throughout. Following the pattern of previous Who deluxe editions, this new version of The Who by Numbers expands the album to five CDs, with live tracks, alternate mixes, and demos. And like previous Who boxes, the 3-LP vinyl configuration is only a sliver of what’s on the bigger box, with just the album itself and a 1976 live show from Swansea, Wales, that has been released in bits and pieces over the years but never in its entirety until now. Single-disc versions of the album are also available, in a cream-marble vinyl version and as a half-speed master cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road. From my point of view, all three of these vinyl editions are unsatisfying—give us a great-sounding cut of the album (from the analog master tape, if possible) as a stand-alone, and a vinyl box with as much bonus material as possible, please and thank you.

The Zombies: Continue Here [Beechwood Park]

You can’t go into Halloween weekend without some Zombies. And now that the British band has regained full ownership of their back catalog, we’re getting the third vinyl installment in a series of lovely reissues that revisits their golden ’60s era. This album, Continue Here, never existed back in the day, but it’s a presentation of what might have been had the Zombies had a little more luck and label support. It contains the 18 non-album tracks the Zombies released on singles from 1964 to 1967, filling the gap between their two LPs, 1965’s Begin Here and their 1968 masterpiece Odessey and Oracle. As such, it contains absolute Zombies classics like “I Love You” and “She’s Coming Home” and some slighter but nevertheless charming numbers like “I Must Move” and “Just Out of Reach.” Seeing these orphaned tracks, strewn across so many different compilations over the years, now coming together to form a proper Zombies album (in the original mono!) is nothing short of heartwarming. It’s available on black vinyl, on “London Calling” grey vinyl, on coke-bottle clear vinyl at independent retailers, and on a “Splatter Scene” multicolored variant exclusively from Levitation Records.

Roky Erickson and the Aliens: The Evil One [Fire]

Throw away your copies of Thriller and “Monster Mash”—Roky Erickson’s album The Evil One is the greatest Halloween album of all time. With tracks like “I Walked with a Zombie,” “Night of the Vampire,” and “Two Headed Dog,” how could it not be? But it’s complicated. There are actually two albums here from the former 13th Floor Elevators frontman, with 15 tracks that overlap between the two. releases. Ten of the songs came out on 1980’s Roky Erickson and the Aliens, which was released on CBS Records in the UK, while five of those, and five new ones, appeared on The Evil Ones in the US, which came out on 415 Records in 1981. A 1987 CD combined both tracklists, and that’s generally been the version available ever since, including a fine three-sided 2-LP set from Light in the Attic a few years back. Now Fire Records in the UK are cutting the 15-song version at 45 RPM across four sides, with the original 1981 US cover art and liner notes by Joe Nick Patoski. Halloween or not, this is just an incredible album, with Erickson’s fantastic, disturbed songwriting and the Aliens playing jagged, glammy, psychedelic rock that sounds amazing all year round. It’s available on black or black-and-white splatter vinyl.

Philip Lynott: Fatalistic Attitude [UMR/Mercury]

Thin Lizzy bassist/frontman Phil Lynott only released two solo albums before his death in 1985. The second was released in 1982 as The Philip Lynott Album, but this new disc presents an early version of the album, titled Fatalistic Attitude, with an altered tracklist that includes the B-side “Somebody Else’s Dream” and an unreleased song called “Hate.” Other than that, I can’t find too much more info about this release, although I imagine these are different mixes than what ended up on The Philip Lynott Album and maybe in some cases even alternate takes. Still, details are scant, and the album is currently only available on Universal’s UK sites and Thin Lizzy’s webstore. Hopefully it will cross the pond at some point, as the Irish-born Lynott remains one of the rock-’n’-roll greats, and Thin Lizzy fans can never get enough—quite rightly so.

Love: Forever Changes [Rhino High Fidelity]

This was announced last Friday, October 23, just missing the cutoff for last week’s New Vinyl Reissues newsletter, so I’m including it in this week’s. The Rhino High Fidelity series is reissuing a cult classic that has matured into one of the key texts of rock music. Love’s 1967 album Forever Changes likely needs no introduction, a baroque folk-rock psychedelic opus that is still just as full of mystery, darkness, intrigue, and beauty today as it was nearly 60 years ago when it first emerged from the drug-fueled Los Angeles underground. There have been some simple-minded complaints from some quarters that this is too familiar and oft-reissued an album for Rhino to be giving it the High Fidelity treatment (which means analog mastering by Kevin Gray from the original master tape, pressing from Optimal, a tip-on gatefold, and intelligently written liner notes). Frankly, those complainers sound like mouth-breathing slow-wits. Forever Changes is one of the crown jewels in the Warner Music catalog and one of the singular masterpieces of 20th-century music. Of course it deserves to be part of Rhino’s premium vinyl reissue line. You already own a copy? Great. Don’t buy this one. But if you are without, this is a golden opportunity to rectify that with what is likely to be a phenomenal-sounding version. (A reel-to-reel is also available, but we don’t talk about such dark arts here.)

Various Artists: Incorporated! CTI Records and the Genius of Creed Taylor 1969–1974 [BGP/Ace]

No Jazz Alley this week, but BGP Records (part of the Ace family) is releasing this very appealing-looking 2-LP set that surveys the jazz label CTI, started by Verve producer Creed Taylor in 1967 as a subsidiary of A&M and which released commercially oriented jazz through the 1970s. This comp focuses on the first half of the ’70s, when Taylor broke away from A&M and CTI became an independent. The tracklist includes some of the biggest names of the day, including George Benson, Freddie Hubbard, Eumir Deodato, Bob James, Hubert Laws, and Gabor Szabo, and emphasizes Taylor’s production work, which would frequently augment the ensembles with orchestras. It’s a sophisticated, heady sound that, for better or worse, came to characterize the era, and while almost every worthwhile record collection already has a CTI album or two (those beautiful gatefold covers are tough to resist), this overview should provide crucial context.

Rhino Rocktober

The final Friday of Rhino’s Rocktober campaign may be the biggest one yet, with eight new Rhino Reserves, two Rhino High Fidelity pressings coming to retail, and a bevy of other fine things. Let’s start with the Reserves, which cover a diverse array of styles under the “rock” umbrella. In chronological order, they are:

• Todd Rundgren’s first two solo albums (coming after the breakup of Nazz), 1970’s Runt and 1971’s The Ballad of Todd Rundgren (credited to his band Runt, but essentially another solo effort, with Rundgren playing most of the instruments and point the way forward to his 1972 breakthrough, Something/Anything?)
• Buddy Guy and Junior Wells’s 1972 collaborative soul-blues album Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play the Blues
• Alice Cooper’s second solo album, 1976’s Bob Ezrin–produced, lovably bombastic Alice Cooper Goes to Hell
• The B-52s’ beloved 1989 comeback Cosmic Thing
• Submarine Bells, the 1990 album from Dunedin/Flying Nun greats the Chills
• The Cramps’ nondescript 1994 album Flamejob
• The second Porno for Pyros album, 1998’s Good God’s Urge

All were cut from analog tape by Matthew Lutthans except for Rundgren’s Runt, the Cramps’ Flamejob, and Porno for Pyros, which were cut from digital; also, Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl did the cut for the Porno for Pyros disc.

Meanwhile, the five Mudhoney albums from the 2024 Record Store Day box set Suck You Dry: The Reprise Years are getting individual releases: 1992’s Piece of Cake (on green vinyl), 1995’s My Brother the Cow (pink), 1998’s Tomorrow Hit Today (red), the Live! 1993–1998 compilation (white), and an LP combining the 1993 EP Five Dollar Bob’s Mock Cooter Stew with some four-track demos (also on white vinyl).

ZZ Top’s Greatest Hits is on two LPs with yellow and blue vinyl, using the original album mixes for the older tracks and not the god-awful ’80s remixes that were on the 1992 CD. Two Ministry albums get 2-LP expanded editions, 1996’s Filth Pig and 1999’s Dark Side of the Spoon, and Killswitch Engage’s 2009 debut is reissued as well.

Lastly, two Rhino High Fidelities that were previously only available on Rhino’s site get brick-and-mortar releases: the Stooges’ classic Fun House and the Velvet Underground’s just-as-classic Loaded, both originally released in 1970. [Paid subscribers can read my review of the RHF pressing of Loaded here.]

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

Pekka Airaksinen: Hevajra [Other Power]
Atreyu: A Death-Grip on Yesterday [Craft]
Lorne Balfe: Mission: Impossible - Fallout [Mutant]
Al Basim: Revival [Different Strokes]
The Beach Boys: The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album (liquid-filled) [UMe]
Birdy: Birdy; Fire Within [Atlantic]
The Blackeyed Susans: All Souls Alive [Eminent]
Blink-182: Take Off Your Pants and Jacket [Interscope]
*Glenn Branca: Lesson No. 1 12” [Superior Viaduct]
Bun B: Trill [Rap-a-Lot]
Mariah Carey: Glitter [Def Jam/UMe]
The Cimarons: Mother Earth [LMLR]
*Coil: Gold Is the Metal [Mute]
Coil: How to Destroy Angels EP [Sub Rosa]
*Cold War Kids: Robbers & Cowards [UMe]
Nat King Cole: The Christmas Song (liquid-filled) [UMe]
Loren Connors: Battle of Clontarf [Recital]
Coroner: Death Cult; R.I.P.; Punishment for Decadence; No More Color [High Roller]
Bing Crosby: Ultimate Christmas (liquid-filled) [UMe]
Deep Purple: The Infinite B-Sides and Bonus Songs [Earmusic]
Drexciya: Hydra Doorways 12” [Tresor]
*Driveway Ceiling: Death of the Walden Newspaper Co. [Independent Project]
*Ernst: Ernst [Subway]
Cesaria Evora: Cafe Atlantico [Music on Vinyl]
The Fates: Furia [Extended Voices]
Foreigner: Head Games (2026 remix) [Rhino]
Aretha Franklin: Christmas Essentials [Sony]
*Steve Gunn: Sundowner [Three Lobed]
Daryl Hall & John Oates: Rock ’n Soul Part 1 [Sony]
Bo Harwood: Bo Harwood [Sometimes Occasionally]
*Screaming Jay Hawkins: A Portrait of a Man and His Woman [Charly]
HIM: Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (zoetrope) [BMG]
Michel Houellebecq: Presence Humaine [Tricatel]
Infiniti (aka Juan Atkins): The Infiniti Collection [Tresor]
*Iron Maiden: Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980–1989 [BMG]
*Millie Jackson: For Men Only [Southbound/Ace]
Ahmad Jamal: First Impressions [Elemental]
Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy & Peace [Music on Vinyl]
Ricardo Marrero & The Group: A Taste [Mr Bongo]
Dean Martin: Classic Christmas [Sony]
Marvelous Kid: Immanuel’s Manuel [Seelie Court]
Gigi Masin: Wind [Numero Group]
Bear McCreary: Outlander: Blood of My Blood [Music on Vinyl]
The Mission: God’s Own Medicine; Children; Carved in Sand [Demon]
Mitski: Puberty 2 (10th anniversary, green vinyl) [Dead Oceans]
Mogwai: Mogwai Young Team; Come On Die Young [Chemikal Underground]
*The Monkees: The Monkees (1-LP/3-CD) [Rhino]
*Mötley Crüe: Too Fast for Love (45th anniversary 8-LP) [BMG]
Kacey Musgraves: A Very Kacey Christmas (picture disc) [Lost Highway]
*Willie Nelson: Songbird [Lost Highway]
Harry Nilsson: Nilsson Schmilsson [Sony]
Phantogram: Three [UMe]
*Primal Scream: Evil Heat [Sony]
Ratt: Dancing Undercover [BMG]
Raekwon: Shaolin vs Wu-Tang [Fat Beats]
*Queen: Budapest [Legacy]
Sviatoslav Richter: Live in East Germany Vol. I [The Lost Recordings]
Terry Riley: In C [Music on Vinyl]
Lalo Schifrin: Dirty Harry soundtrack [Aleph]
Frank Sinatra: Ultimate Christmas (liquid-filled) [UMe]
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum: Grand Opening and Closing; Of Natural History; In Glorious Times [Joyful Noise]
Sparks: Music That You Can Dance To [Curb]
Iggy & the Stooges: Raw Power [Sony]
Texas Tornados: Live from Austin, TX [New West]
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282: Lovelyville [Bulbous Monocle]
Carrie Underwood: Greatest Hits: Decade #1 [Sony]
Widespread Panic: Live from Austin, TX [New West]
Zeni Geva: Total Castration [Skin Graft]
Various Artists: A La Altura: Visionary Mexican Music 1977–1999 - Volume 1; A La Altura: Visionary Mexican Music 1980–1997 - Volume 2 [Light in the Attic]
Various Artists: Connectors: Sydney Post-Punk 1979–1983 [Eminent]
Various Artists: Deptford Northern Soul Club [Kent]
Various Artists: Jon Savage’s 1976: Something Was Going to Happen [Ace]
Various Artists: Krismasi: Christmas Songs from Africa 1968–1982 [Strut]
Various Artists: A Motown Christmas (liquid-filled) [UMe]
Various Artists: Platinum Christmas [Sony]
Various Artists: Practical Magic soundtrack [Rhino]
Various Artists: Yerevan Nights (Soviet Armenian City Pop 1986–1992) [Discotchari]