The COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of things in turmoil and uncertainty; for record fans, one of the most immediate was the shuffling of Record Store Day. Normally taking place twice a year in April and on Black Friday (the big shopping day after Thanksgiving), 2020 saw the April festivities delayed into three weekends in the late summer and early fall; 2021's first date also became two "drops" in June and July.
Happily, 2021's Record Store Day Black Friday looks to be as smooth sailing as it can be - and dozens of exciting vinyl titles will be available at participating record stores on Nov. 26. For the classic rock fans, we've picked out a few of our favorites below:
Dio lovers will have the chance to pick up the late metal singer's first two solo albums, Holy Diver and The Last in Line, releasing as picture discs that feature each album's iconic art (who remembers that the demonic fella on these covers is named Murray?) pressed onto the vinyl. For picture disc and metal fans alike, Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears will also get a picture pressing.
Dire Straits last year released a great vinyl box set of their studio output, but it was missing the band's live works. Their last official release will be making its way to LP: the Encores EP. Released in 1993 as a sequel to the live album On the Night, this four-track concert piece will be pressed on pink wax and comes with a special lithograph of the cover art.
And that's not all if you're looking for great live rarities. Fleetwood Mac's deluxe Live box set is one of the year's coolest, and the double album Alternate Live will feature, for the first time on vinyl, the unreleased recordings issued on CD in that box. If you're a Little Feat lover, you're in particular luck with the release of Electrif Lycanthrope: Live At Ultra-Sound Studios, 1974. It's an unreleased live-in-studio set recorded between the sessions for Dixie Chicken and Feets Don't Fail Me Now. Additionally, Aerosmith are releasing 1971: The Road Starts Hear, a never-before-heard rehearsal recording (on vinyl and cassette) that predates their debut album.
Finally, Todd Rundgren has made the news this week for a great interview that doesn't hold much back. He similarly didn't hold much back on Healing, his 1981 song cycle on the human condition. It'll be reissued on clear vinyl for its 40th anniversary and will come with the original 7" that accompanied the original pressings (featuring the songs "Time Heals" and "Tiny Demons."
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