Album reviews: The Cranberries, Elvis Presley, Vivabeat

Here are some new and noteworthy album reissues from the 1970s-90s.

The Cranberries

No Need to Argue

(Universal Music/Island)

The Cranberries were on a winning streak from the start with an internationally successful debut album. The Irish alt-rock band road tested many songs which appeared on 1994’s No Need to Argue – the one with massive hit “Zombie.” 

After re-teaming with producer Stephen Street to record demos, the results were so good that only minor tweaking had to be done later in the studio. This excellent 30th anniversary edition of the quartet’s captivating, multi-platinum second album features a new remix by Street, two eye-opening dance remixes from Chvrches’ Iain Cook, brawny live cuts from the Woodstock ’94 festival (“Ridiculous Thoughts” finds the late Dolores O’Riordan and company in ferocious form), and Liverpool Royal Court Theatre, demos, rarities (there’s a sublime Carpenters cover) and more. 

The informative liner notes have recollections from the band and producer, album background and the songs’ lasting legacy. Formats include single/double CD/LP and 41-track super digital deluxe. A must for all Cranberries fans.

udiscovermusic.com

Elvis Presley

Sunset Boulevard

(RCA/Legacy)

Even though we lost Elvis Presley in August 1977, RCA Records still manages to unearth fascinating rarities from the vaults on a near annual basis and presents them in wonderful box sets. 

Sunset Boulevard, a 5CD/2LP/digital collection, focuses on Elvis’ early-to-mid 1970s recording sessions and rehearsals at RCA’s legendary Los Angeles studios. Among the 89 tracks, more than half have never been released domestically. 

The fresh mixes have stripped overdubs, and you really get a better sense of Elvis’ heartfelt delivery on several contemplative country and adult contemporary ballads. The song interpretations by Kris Kristofferson, Paul Williams, Billy Swan and Don McLean are standouts, as are rare alternate studio versions of “Separate Ways,” “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” “Burning Love” and “Always on My Mind.” Elvis’ take on “Green. Green Grass of Home” is a stunner. 

Fans can also hear the frequently loose and joking rehearsals. Rare archival photographs, new liner notes and an introduction by lifetime Elvis friend Jerry Schilling round everything out. Recommended for diehard Presley enthusiasts.

elvis.com

Vivabeat

Party in the War Zone

(Liberation Hall)

Formed in 1978, short-lived LA new wave/glam rock band Vivabeat signed to a UK label upon the advice of Peter Gabriel. The former Genesis frontman was reportedly inspired by a whistling refrain in group’s song “Man from China” to later use a similar sound amid his own big UK hit “Games Without Frontiers.” Before joining Vivabeat, lead singer Terrance Robay portrayed James Dean in a London musical. On record, the openly gay Robay sported a sophisticated Bryan Ferry-meets-David Sylvian singing style augmented by two female keyboardists on backing vocalists.

The sextet’s solid debut and lone full length album Party in the War Zone, newly remastered here, is highlighted by hypnotic single “Man from China” (a dance club hit in several countries), the reggae-fied “Working for William,” frantic “Pop Girl,” mechanical “From the Bop” and sprightly bonus track “The House is Burning (But There’s No One Home).” The latter, from a follow-up EP, also achieved prominent European club play and a spotlight in Brian DePalma’s 1984 thriller “Body Double.” More recently, Vivabeat tunes have been heard in various series and films.

Although Vivabeat toured with several popular modern rock acts of the day (B-52’s, Thompson Twins, Gary Numan, Human League), major success eluded the band, and it split by the mid-1980s.

Also available on CD/download: The House Is Burning: The Best of Vivabeat (1979-1986) featuring unreleased songs, a Rolling Stones cover of “2000 Light Years From Home” and a guest appearance by Blondie drummer Clem Burke.

Both reissues serve as tributes to Robay, Consuelo De Silva and Alec Murphy, who all died of AIDS, and to Doug Orilio, who succumbed to complications from a prior motorcycle accident that left him a paraplegic.

bandcamp.com

Andy Bell of Erasure to embark on first solo tour of North America this fall

Following tours of Europe and the UK, Erasure's Andy Bell set his inaugural North American solo tour for October to support recent album Ten Crowns.

Bell wrote with Dave Audé, the Grammy award-winning producer, remixer and DJ. They previously collaborated on two Billboard Dance Club Songs number ones together: 2014’s ‘Aftermath (Here We Go)’ and 2016’s ‘True Original.' The live shows will feature a combination of tracks from Ten Crowns, as well as Erasure classics.

Tour dates: 

October 3 - Nashville, TN - Basement East
October 7 - Atlanta, GA - Buckhead Theatre
October 10 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
October 11 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
October 14 - Durham, NC - Durham Performing Arts Center
October 17 - Washington DC - Lincoln Theatre
October 18 - Washington DC - Lincoln Theatre
October 21 - Toronto, ON - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
October 23 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
October 24 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
October 25 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
October 28 - Pittsburgh, PA - Roxian Theatre
October 29 - Bethlehem, PA - Wind Creek Event Center
October 31 - Red Bank, NJ - The Vogel
November 1 - Boston, MA - The Wilbur
November 4 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
November 5 - Columbus, OH - The Anthenaeum
November 7 - Chicago, IL - Metro
November 8 - Chicago, IL - Metro
November 11 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room
November 13 - New Orleans, LA - Orpheum Theater
November 14 - San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theater
November 15 - Dallas, TX - Majestic Theatre
November 20 - Denver, CO - Summit Music Hall
November 21 - Park City, UT - The Marquis
November 22 - Park City, UT - The Marquis
November 28 - San Francisco, CA - Palace of Fine Arts
November 29 - San Francisco, CA - Palace of Fine Arts
December 2 - Portland, OR - Newmark Theatre
December 3 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue
December 4 - Seattle, WA - ShowBox at the Market
December 6 - Stateline, NV - Harrah's Lake Tahoe
December 9 - Phoenix, AZ - Van Buren
December 10 - San Diego, CA - Music Box
December 12 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theater
December 13 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theater

Photo by Sean Black

Veteran Aussie singer/songwriter Paul Kelly pens sequel to 'How to Make Gravy' on upcoming album '70' in November

Paul Kelly returns with new album Seventy, out November 7, on EMI.

On Seventy, the veteran Aussie pop and rock singer/songwriter draws on classic storytelling traditions — from The Canterbury Tales to The Decameron — where shared tales offer comfort, meaning, and light in the dark. The album has references spanning Yeats, The Lord of the Rings, Cicero, the French Resistance, and circling magpies.

First single, “Rita Wrote A Letter,” is out now alongside a video featuring Australian actress Justine Clarke, that was directed by acclaimed Australian filmmaker Imogen McCluskey and produced by Dollhouse Pictures. 

A follow-up to his 1996 classic “How to Make Gravy” - a song so beloved and iconic in Australia it has inspired an unofficial national holiday, “Gravy Day” (December 21) - the track arrives nearly thirty years after we first met Dan, Joe and Rita, Kelly, and brings them back with a ghost story. 

Told from Rita and Joe’s point of view, the song revisits familiar characters that often take on lives of their own. Watch the official music video below, and find the lyrics here.

"I've been mulling over the idea of a sequel to ‘How To Make Gravy’ from Rita's point of view for quite some time," Kelly explains. "About five years ago I wrote down the words, 'Rita wrote a letter,' and thought, 'There's my title.' I scratched away intermittently and fruitlessly for several years but never got very far until Dan Kelly sent me a recording of something he'd written on piano with a rough melody over the top. The words started rolling after that. As often happens, they took me by surprise. You could say the song took a dark turn but to my mind it's a black comedy. A ghost story. You hear Rita's voice loud and clear, but Joe talks even more. I couldn't shut him up."

Throughout Seventy, Kelly blends new work with a couple of favourite poems set to music, including a full-band take on W.B. Yeats’ poem with “Sailing to Byzantium.” It was first recorded with an orchestra more than a decade ago. 

“Happy Birthday, Ada Mae” was written directly to his granddaughter; other songs are about two old friends holding fast as life nears its end, a couple whose unbridled desire keeps finding new paths, and lyrics that capture the simple pleasures of a morning breeze, a shared meal, and the fleeting moments that linger longest in our memory.

With a career spanning over four decades and 30 albums, Paul Kelly has collaborated across genres and often set poetry to music. 

Track listing:

1. Tell Us A Story: Part One
2. Don't Give Up On Me (feat. Meg Washington)
3. Rita Wrote A Letter
4. The Body Keeps The Score
5. I Keep On Coming Back For More
6. Take It Handy
7. Happy Birthday, Ada Mae
8. The Magpies
9. Made For Me (feat. Rebecca Barnard)
10. Sailing To Byzantium
11. My Body Felt No Pain
12. I’m Not Afraid Of The Dark
13. Tell Us A Story: Part Two

New John Lennon and Yoko Ono box set 'Power To The People (Super Deluxe Edition)' arrives in October

John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s new 12-disc boxed set and digital collection, Power To The People (Super Deluxe Edition), will be released through Capitol/UMe on October 10, one day after John would have been 85. 

Produced by Sean Ono Lennon and his 5x GRAMMY® Award-winning team, who together took home the 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Boxed Set Or Special Limited Edition Package for the boxed set, John Lennon’s Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection (Super Deluxe Edition), Power To The People (Super Deluxe Edition) is a  123-track collection, including 90 never-before-heard and previously unreleased tracks, that chronicles John and Yoko’s most political era. 

The set spans from Plastic Ono Band’s 1969 Bed-In anti-war anthem “Give Peace A Chance,” to a new version of their 1972 album, Sometime In New York City, and that year’s One To One Concerts at Madison Square Garden in NYC – John’s only full-length concerts after leaving The Beatles and also the last concerts John & Yoko ever performed together. It also has unreleased demos, home recordings, jam sessions, live cuts, unique mixes and more.

“That Madison Square Garden gig was the best music I enjoyed playing since The Cavern or even Hamburg,” John Lennon told NME in 1972. “It was just the same kind of feeling when The Beatles used to really get into it.”

“The One To One concert was our effort in Grassroots Politics,” writes Yoko Ono Lennon in the Preface to Power To The People. “It embodied what John and I strongly believed in – Rock for Peace and Enlightenment. And this one in Madison Square Garden turned out to be the last concert John and I did together. Imagine Peace. Peace is Power. Power To The People!”

“I was completely floored putting this collection together and getting to remix the concerts and hearing all the unreleased material from my parents’ archive for the first time,” said Sean Ono Lennon. “People may not realize how special it is for me to hear my dad talking or to see him. I grew up with a set number of images and audio clips that everyone’s familiar with. So to come across things that I’ve never seen or heard is really deep for me, because it’s almost like getting more time with my dad. When I was eleven, my mum put out the Live in New York City album and film. So I grew up listening to it. It was a concert that had a legendary status in my mind, because it was my dad’s last concert. For the concerts, Paul Hicks and Simon Hilton and I spent a lot of time finding the best possible balance to keep the feeling of a live show while refining the overall sound as much as possible and Sam Gannon did some meticulous and miraculous work with audio restoration. I won’t disclose all our techniques but there was some ‘movie magic’ required, and I think in the end, the shows sound better than ever.”

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

Power To The People (Super Deluxe Edition) comprises 9 CDs and 3 Blu-Ray audio discs packaged in a 10-inch slipcase with silver foil titling and a lenticular cover of John and Yoko’s faces that when layered on top of each other presents a 3D effect.

It is accompanied by a 204-page hardback book designed and edited by Simon Hilton featuring an oral history about all the included music through the words of John & Yoko and those involved sourced from both archival and new interviews. The book is illustrated with unseen photos, lyrics, drawings, tape boxes and memorabilia. Additionally, the set includes a newspaper print poster, sticker sheets and a VIP envelope containing replica concert tickets, backstage and aftershow passes that have all been reproduced with textured, archival materials.

THE ONE TO ONE CONCERTS

The centerpiece of Power To The People is the One To One Concerts, which presents both the matinee and evening performances together for the first time. The concerts raised more than $1.5 million (2025 equivalent of $11.5 million) to support children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. All tracks have been completely remixed and re-engineered from the original analog tapes by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon, using brand new HD multitrack transfers by Rob Stevens with the mixes mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios.

The concerts are available separately as both “Afternoon” and “Evening” shows and also as a single “Hybrid” show, which brings together performances from both shows. The concerts are available in stereo on the CDs and in HD Stereo and immersive 5.1 HD Surround Sound and Dolby Atmos mixes on the Blu-ray audio discs. Previously only old mixes of select performances were available on the long out-of-print 1986 posthumous live album, Live In New York City.

The films of the remixed, restored and re-edited concerts are due for release next year as “Power To The People,” directed by Simon Hilton and edited by Ben Wainwright-Pierce.

The One To One Concert will be available outside of the boxed set in a variety of configurations including the Afternoon and Evening shows as an Audiophile 4LP Deluxe Collector’s Edition containing four 180-gram black vinyl records with rice paper inner sleeves and an 8-page booklet housed in a 12-inch rigid lift-off-lid box, with the same silver foil titling and lenticular cover as the boxed set as well as the same replica VIP envelope with concert tickets and passes and poster.

A 2CD Deluxe Edition with a triple gatefold digisleeve featuring a lenticular cover of John and Yoko’s faces includes a 20-page booklet. The hybrid concert will also be available on its own, including on 2LP 180g audiophile black vinyl, limited edition transparent green vinyl and on CD. The vinyl versions contain an 8-page, 12-inch booklet with a 6-panel newsprint poster that provides visual and historical context, alongside 2 full-color postcards. For more information on the various offerings or to pre-order, visit: https://johnlennon.lnk.to/PowerToThePeoplePR

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

SUPER DELUXE EDITION 9CD/3BR/BOOK BOXED SET

9 CDs ⋆ 3 HD AUDIO BLU-RAY DISCS ⋆ LENTICULAR COVER

103 TRACKS ⋆ HD STEREO ⋆ HD 5.1 SURROUND ⋆ DOLBY ATMOS
204-PAGE BOOK ⋆ NEWSPRINT POSTER ⋆ 2 POSTCARDS ⋆ 2 STICKER SHEETS ⋆ 2 REPLICA TICKETS, VIP BACKSTAGE PASS AND VIP AFTERSHOW INVITATION

THE ONE TO ONE CONCERT

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant’s Memory and Special Guests
Live at Madison Square Garden, New York City
30 August 1972

CD1 / BR1

HYBRID ‘BEST OF’ SHOW

1. Power To The People (intro)* †
2. New York City*
3. It's So Hard*
4. Move On Fast* †
5. Well Well Well †
6. Born In A Prison* †
7. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)*
8. Mother*
9. We're All Water †
10. Come Together †
11. Imagine*
12. Open Your Box* †
13. Cold Turkey* †
14. Don’t Worry Kyoko* †
15. Hound Dog
16. Law And Order
17. Give Peace A Chance
* denotes afternoon show, otherwise the performance is from the evening show

CD2 / BR1

AFTERNOON SHOW

1. Power To The People (intro) †
2. New York City
3. It's So Hard
4. Move On Fast †
5. Well Well Well
6. Born In A Prison †
7. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
8. Mother
9. We're All Water †
10. Come Together
11. Imagine
12. Open Your Box †
13. Cold Turkey †
14. Don’t Worry Kyoko †
15. Hound Dog †

CD3 / BR1

EVENING SHOW

1. Power To The People (intro) †
2. New York City †
3. It's So Hard †
4. Move On Fast †
5. Well Well Well †
6. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) †
7. Mother †
8. We're All Water †
9. Born In A Prison †
10. Come Together †
11. Imagine †
12. Open Your Box †
13. Cold Turkey
14. Hound Dog
15. Law And Order
16. Give Peace A Chance

CD4 / BR2

NEW YORK CITY (THE ULTIMATE MIXES)

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant’s Memory plus Invisible Strings

1. New York City (Ultimate Mix)
2. Sisters, O Sisters (Ultimate Mix)
3. Attica State (Ultimate Mix)
4. Born In A Prison (Ultimate Mix)
5. Sunday Bloody Sunday (Ultimate Mix, extended)
6. The Luck Of The Irish (Ultimate Mix)
7. John Sinclair (Ultimate Mix, extended)
8. Angela (Ultimate Mix)
9. We're All Water (Ultimate Mix)

CD5 / BR2

NEW YORK CITY (THE EVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY)

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant’s Memory plus Invisible Strings

1. New York City (Evolution Documentary) †
2. Sisters, O Sisters (Evolution Documentary) †
3. Attica State (Evolution Documentary) †
4. Born In A Prison (Evolution Documentary) †
5. Sunday Bloody Sunday (Evolution Documentary) †
6. The Luck Of The Irish (Evolution Documentary) †
7. John Sinclair (Evolution Documentary) †
8. Angela (Evolution Documentary) †
9. We're All Water (Evolution Documentary) †

CD6 / BR2

NEW YORK CITY (STUDIO JAM)

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant’s Memory

1. Jazz Freakout †
2. You Can't Sit Down †
3. Roll Over Beethoven †
4. Honey, Don't †
5. Ain't That A Shame †
6. My Babe †
7. Send Me Some Lovin' †
8. Fools Like Me †
9. Down In The Caribbean †
10. Happy Birthday Yoko Ono †
11. That's Right †
12. Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog †
13. Yoko's Rhythm †
14. Whole Lotta Shakin' / It'll Be Me †
15. Yakety Yak †
16. Road Runner †

NEW YORK CITY (THE ELEMENTS MIXES)

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Invisible Strings

17. Sisters, O Sisters (Elements Mix) †
18. Born In A Prison (Elements Mix) †
19. The Luck Of The Irish (Elements Mix) †
20. Angela (Elements Mix) †

CD7 / BR3

LIVE JAM 1

John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band and A Star Studded Cast of Thousands
Peace and Love for Christmas, in aid of UNICEF
Live at the Lyceum Ballroom, The Strand, London
15 December 1969

1. Cold Turkey (live)
2. Don’t Worry Kyoko (live)

John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band with Frank Zappa and The Mothers
Fillmore East, New York
6 June 1971

3. Well (Baby Please Don't Go) (live)
4. Jamrag [Say Please / King Kong / Aawk] (live)
5. Scumbag (live)
6. Aü (live)

CD8 / BR3

LIVE JAM 2

John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band with David Peel and The Lower East Side
Live at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally, Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan
10 December 1971

1. Attica State (live) †

2. The Luck Of The Irish (live)
3. Sisters, O Sisters (live) †
4. John Sinclair (live)

John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band
Live at the Benefit for the families of the victims of the riot at Attica State Correctional Facility
Apollo Theater, Harlem, NYC
17 December 1971

5. Attica State (live)
6. Sisters, O Sisters (live) †
7. Imagine (live)

John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band

Live on the David Frost TV Show, The Little Theatre, 240 West 44th Street, NYC
16 December 1971

8. Attica State (live) †
9. Sisters, O Sisters (live) †
10. John Sinclair (live) †

John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Elephant’s Memory Band
Live at the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, Americana Hotel, NYC
4 September 1972

11. Imagine (live) †
12. Now Or Never (live) †
13. Give Peace A Chance (live) †

CD9 / BR3
HOME JAM

John Lennon
Home Recordings at the St. Regis Hotel, New York
10 September 1971

1. Shazam †
2. Honey, Don’t †
3. Glad All Over †
4. Lend Me Your Comb †
5. Wake Up Little Susie †
6. New York City †
7. Wake Up Little Susie †
8. ‘Hey, que pasa?’ †
9. You’re So Square (Baby I Don’t Care) †
10. Vacation Time †
11. Heartbeat †
12. Peggy Sue Got Married †
13. Peggy Sue †
14. ‘Phone call from Henry Gotsello’ †
15. Peggy Sue †
16. ‘Now we’d like to change the mood a little...’ †
17. Maybe Baby †
18. Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues †
19. Rave On! †
20. Twelve Bar Blues †

John Lennon

Home Recordings at the St. Regis Hotel, New York
27 October 1971

21. I Got You †
22. Hi-Heel Sneakers †
23. Slippin’ And Slidin’ †
24. Gone From This Place †

John Lennon
Home Recordings at Campus Inn, Ann Arbor, Michigan
10 December 1971

25. Send Me Some Lovin’ †
26. He Got The Blues †
27. When The Teacher †
28. Pill †
29. It’s Real

John Lennon and Phil Ochs
Home Recordings at Campus Inn, Ann Arbor, Michigan
10 December 1971

30. I Ain’t Marching Anymore †
31. Joe Hill †
32. Chords Of Fame †
33. Ringing Of Revolution

Aussie electronic pop trio Mansionair ready new album for fall

Since these guys were one of my highlights when I caught them at Coachella, I'm looking forward to hearing the album...

Sydney-based indie electronic trio Mansionair shared new single, “The Way You Move in Me,” via Arista Records. It comes with a visualizer and is the third song unveiled from the group’s third album, Some Kind of Alchemy, due out October 10.

Listen to “The Way You Move in Me” HERE.

Watch the visualizer for “The Way You Move in Me” HERE.

Pre-order Some Kind of Alchemy HERE.

“The Way You Move in Me” follows “ATLAS,” and “Lose Yourself Again,” which became the most-played track on Australia’s Triple J radio, hit top 10 on multiple Shazam charts, and scored top 40 airplay status on Australian radio overall. 

Watch performance videos for both “ATLAS” and “Lose Yourself Again.”

With over 377 million Spotify streams to their name over 11 years, Mansionair's first new music in three years follows their 2022 album, Happiness, Guaranteed. and 2019 debut Shadowboxer. Mansionair has amassed ARIA Gold-certified hits “Easier” and “Astronaut (Something About Your Love),” the latter of which entered Billboard’s US Rock Airplay Chart; the Grammy-nominated “Line of Sight” with Seattle’s ODESZA; viral collabs with superstar producers Claptone (“Right Into You”) and Dom Dolla (“Strangers”), and a buzzy appearances at festivals like The Great Escape, Lollapalooza, and Coachella.

Some Kind of Alchemy was entirely written and produced by Mansionair — a first for the band. 

Track listing:

Heavyweight

Lose Yourself Again

Sucker / Psycho
The Way You Move In Me
On Your Side
Orbit
Like Fire
Eraser
Skin On Skin
Atlas

My Morning Jacket news

My Morning Jacket will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their acclaimed 2005 album, Z, with a new Deluxe Edition, arriving via ATO Records on October 3. Pre-orders/pre-saves are available now. 

Remastered from the original master tapes, the Z 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will be available digitally, on CD, and as a 3LP set on pink, coral and blue-colored vinyl, with outtakes from singles and film work, previously unreleased material, demos, and more, including the new single, “Where To Begin,” now at all DSPs and streaming services.

Written especially for Cameron Crowe’s 2005 film Elizabethtown – set in Kentucky and partially shot in MMJ’s hometown of Louisville – “Where to Begin” was among the first songs recorded by the band with then-new members keyboard player Bo Koster and guitarist Carl Broemel, the latter on stone-country pedal steel guitar.

“That was one of the coolest things,” says My Morning Jacket singer-guitarist-songwriter Jim James, “that Carl could play pedal steel. We’d never had that before.”

LISTEN TO “WHERE TO BEGIN”

PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE Z 20TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION

READ DAVID FRICKE’S ALBUM LINER NOTES

To further commemorate the 20th anniversary of Z, My Morning Jacket have slated some shows that will see them performing the collection in its entirety. The Z – 20th Anniversary shows will take place as part of previously announced dates on the upcoming second leg of their MY MORNING JACKET “is” ON TOUR, including Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre (August 15), Los Angeles, CA’s Hollywood Palladium (August 19), Brooklyn, NY’s Brooklyn Paramount (October 16), Chicago, IL’s The Salt Shed (October 26), and Atlanta, GA’s Fox Theatre (November 1).

Tickets for all five Z – 20th Anniversary shows are on sale now. For complete details, please see www.mymorningjacket.com/tour.

“October 4 is the 20th anniversary of our album Z. It’s pretty wild to think about that,” says James. “To celebrate two decades of it being out in the ether, we’re excited to be turning five of our shows into special Z anniversary shows, where we’ll play that album – and some other songs, don’t worry – front to back.”

Z was co-produced with British producer John Leckie (XTC, Stone Roses, Radiohead). The fourth studio album was first to feature its current lineup of James, keyboard player Bo Koster, guitarist Carl Broemel, bassist Tom Blankenship, and drummer Patrick Hallahan. 

From the radiant “Wordless Chorus” and big-riff crunch of “Gideon” to the astral-funk spinout, “Off the Record,” and improvisational thunder of “Dondante,” the album proved My Morning Jacket’s breakthrough, employing such surprising influences as dub, reggae, and electronica to create an awe-inspiring collection that wasn’t simply rock ‘n’ roll, yet in James’ words, “moved you like rock ‘n’ roll.”

2025 has seen My Morning Jacket's 10th studio album and first full-length new collection in more than three years,, is, available everywhere now via ATO Records. It was produced by 3x GRAMMY® Award-winner Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam).

Track list: 

Wordless Chorus
It Beats For You
Gideon
What a Wonderful Man
Off the Record
Into the Woods
Anytime
Laylow
Knot Comes Loose
Dondante

B-Sides

Where to Begin
Chills
How Could I Know (Oxen)
The Devil’s Peanut Butter
Wordless Chorus (Jim Demo)
It Beats For You (Jim Demo)
Laylow (Jim Demo)
Into the Woods (Band Dance Version)
Off the Record (Jim Demo)
Anytime (Jim Demo)
Knot Comes Loose (Jim Demo)
Dondante (Jim Demo)
Original Ending (Off the Record)
Where to Begin (Jim Demo)

Tour dates: 

* INCLUDES Z – 20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOWS *

AUGUST

16 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre †

19 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium † *
20 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl †
22 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek Theatre †

SEPTEMBER

5 – Raleigh, NC – Hopscotch Music Festival ‡

OCTOBER
8 – Washington, DC – The Anthem §
10 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met §
11 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met §
13 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway §
14 – Portland, ME – State Theatre §
16 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount § *
17 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount §
18 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount §
20 – Cincinnati, OH – MegaCorp Pavilion §
22 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee §
24 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed §
25 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed § (SOLD OUT)
26 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed § *
29 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle §
31 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre §

NOVEMBER
1 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre ^ *

* Z – 20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW
‡ FESTIVAL APPEARANCE

W / SPECIAL GUESTS
† Melt
§ BALTHVS
^ Babehoven

Third album from Kentucky country artist Adam Mac arrives in October

Queer country singer/songwriter Adam Mac will put out his third album, Southern Spectacle, on Oct. 24.  

Raised in Russellville, Kentucky, Mac grew up as a The Spice Girls and Shania Twain fan. By 22, he had moved to Nashville to write songs he thought the mainstream would accept, but by his own admission, nearly 10 years of struggle led nowhere – until he realized he was doing “three chords and the truth” all wrong. 

Fusing soul with a danceable country-funk mix, 2023's “Disco Cowboy” was a breakout hit. The music video held the #1 spot on CMT’s 12-Pack Countdown for four weeks, leading to a full album of the same name. 

After protestors forced Mac to cancel a hometown headlining festival performance in 2023, waves of supporters joined his cause, including Kelsey Ballerini and Maren Morris, who invited Mac to open her Lunatic Tour in Chicago. Additionally, Mac played CMA Fest that year.

He expanded on the previous albums' sound with this new project and has been releasing tracks from the forthcoming album the last few months including the title track and "Last Rodeo," with a video surrounding his recent wedding vows for husband Lee. Some fans have recently dubbed him "cowBoy George" on socials. Next week sees the release of "All Dollars, No Sense" on Aug. 22. 

Southern Spectacle merges country music and queer identity. The dozen songs were co-written by Mac with close friends (including at least one other queer creator on each song).

Track listing:

Dust Off Your Boots

Southern Spectacle

Turpentine

Problem Child

Old Photograph

Last Rodeo

Rhinestoned

All Dollars No Sense

Daydream

The Outside (with Chris Housman)

Don't Want This Smoke

Golden Boy 

For more info, go to adammacmusic.com.

This October, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders releases all-star duets album

Chrissie Hynde has relayed details of a new album as Chrissie Hynde & Pals titled Duets Special, due for release digitally as well as on black vinyl LP, and CD on October 17 via Rhino.

The album consists of 13 duets featuring k.d. lang, the late Mark Lanegan, Dave Gahan, Cat Power, Brandon Flowers, Debbie Harry, Shirley Manson, and more. The first single, "Always On My Mind (Feat. Rufus Wainwright)," is streaming everywhere, and the album is available for pre-saves and pre-orders now.

LISTEN TO "ALWAYS ON MY MIND (FEAT. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT)"

PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE DUETS SPECIAL

Speaking about the origins of the Duets Special album and "Always On My Mind," Hynde says: “I never thought about doing a Duets album before. I think the idea came about in 2023. I was talking to Jörn, Rufus Wainwright’s husband, on the phone. I think we were recommending novels to each other, and for some reason, I said Hey, maybe Rufus and I should do something, and quickly scribbled out 10 songs off the top of my head. So Jörn asked Rufus, who was up for it, and that’s how it started. A spontaneous and what I thought would be a fun thing.”

Duets Special isn't just Chrissie Hynde's fourth studio album under her own name. It follows the Pretenders’ latest studio album, Relentless, which resulted in the new live record, Kick 'em Where It Hurts. 

Outside of the studio, painting has become an inseparable part of Hynde's creative life. In the last seven years, her artwork has been exhibited to acclaim in London, New York, and Massachusetts. It has also graced the sleeve of her 2019 album of cover versions, Valve Bone Woe, as motifs on garments in Vivienne Westwood’s Spring-Summer 2021 collection, and most recently through a new exhibition of paintings titled Hynde Sight. The latest installment, Hynde Sight II is currently open at Harvey & Woodd, Edinburgh, until 23 August www.chrissiehynde.art.

Track listing:

01. Me & Mrs Jones (feat. k.d. lang)

02. Can’t Help Falling In Love (feat. Mark Lanegan)
03. Sway (feat. Lucinda Williams)
04. Dolphins (feat. Dave Gahan)
05. First Of The Gang To Die (feat. Cat Power)
06. Always On My Mind (feat. Rufus Wainwright)
07. Every Little Bit Hurts (feat. Carleen Anderson)
08. I’m Not In Love (feat. Brandon Flowers)
09. It’s Only Love (feat. Julian Lennon)
10. Try To Sleep (feat. Debbie Harry)
11. County Line (feat. Alan Sparhawk)
12. Love Letters (feat. Shirley Manson)
13. (You’re My) Soul And Inspiration (feat. Dan Auerbach)

Radiohead's 'Hail to the Thief: Live Recordings 2003-2009' out now digitally; limited edition LP to follow on Halloween

Past Coachella headliner Radiohead has announced 'Hail to the Thief: Live Recordings 2003-2009' - a new live album that is available now digitally, and available to pre-order as a one-off LP pressing, released on October 31. 

It comprises performances of songs in London, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Dublin between 2003-09; watch here for a live video performance of “There, There” from Buenos Aires, taken from the album. 

Speaking about the new live album, Thom Yorke says:

“In the process of thinking of how to build arrangements for the Shakespeare Hamlet/Hail To The Thief theatre production, I asked to hear some archive live recordings of the songs. I was shocked by the kind of energy behind the way we played. I barely recognised us, and it helped me find a way forward. We decided to get these live recordings mixed and released (it would have been insane to keep them for ourselves). It has all been a very cathartic process. We very much hope you enjoy them.”

The one-off vinyl pressing is also available in a limited-edition red colorway from independent stores and on cyan-colored vinyl, exclusively from Radiohead’s W.A.S.T.E. store.

Thom Yorke recently co-created the critically acclaimed Hamlet Hail to the Thief, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, set to a deconstructed score of reworked songs from 2003’s Hail to the Thief. 

Track listing:

Side A

2 + 2 = 5
Sit Down. Stand Up
Sail to the Moon
Go to Sleep
Where I End and You Begin
We Suck Young Blood

Side B

The Gloaming
There, There
I Will
Myxomatosis
Scatterbrain
A Wolf at the Door

Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Joseph Arthur team up for another album slated for October

Arthur Buck – the musical partnership of singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur and ex-R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck – has unveiled details of second album, Arthur Buck 2, arriving via Arthur’s own Lonely Astronaut Records on Friday, October 3. Pre-orders/pre-saves are available now.

Arthur Buck’s first new collection since their self-titled 2018 debut, Arthur Buck 2 sees the duo joining forces with GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Jacknife Lee (R.E.M., U2) along with all-star backing that includes Buck’s longtime collaborators in such bands as The Minus 5, The Baseball Project, and Filthy Friends, bassist Scott McCaughey and drummer Linda Pitmon, along with veteran keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Gregg Foreman (The Delta 5, Cat Power, Jesse Malin), and more. The album's opening track, “Sleep With One Eye Open” is available everywhere now. An official music video directed by Joseph Arthur and Amelie Chopinet is streaming on YouTube.

“A classic rock ‘n’ roll tune with a simple theme,” says Joseph Arthur. “To be the protector, or perhaps the paranoid partner? This one introduces some wah-wah lead work by me, which becomes a bit more prevalent as the album continues. Intense background vocals by Corin Tucker from Sleater-Kinney and a welcome horn section give it even more classic rock gravitas.”

LISTEN TO “SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN”

WATCH "SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN" OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE ARTHUR BUCK 2

Singer and songwriter Joseph Arthur and guitarist Peter Buck had been friends and occasional collaborators for almost two decades before they finally teamed up to record an album under the name Arthur Buck. Having first met in 2000 when Arthur opened a string of dates for R.E.M., Buck would occasionally join Arthur on-stage in the years that followed. 

2016 saw Arthur invited to perform at the Todos Santos Music Festival, an all-star event presented by Buck near his home in Todos Santos, Mexico. Arthur left his Dobro guitar behind, and in 2017, he returned to Todos Santos in hopes of finding it. Buck invited him to spend some time at his home, where they spent several days swimming in the ocean and playing guitars together. Arthur shared a few ideas he’d been working on, and it instantly sparked a collaboration. The pair knocked out eight tunes in little more than three days, making their live debut as Arthur Buck the next evening at a benefit concert for local firefighters.

Arthur returned home and soon thereafter invited Buck to sit in at a Los Angeles gallery show, where they debuted three more songs written earlier that day during soundcheck. Four days later, Arthur Buck set to work in a Portland, OR studio, tracking the songs they’d written together in just seven productive hours. Additional overdubs were recorded in the two musicians’ respective home studios and then shared with legendary mixer Tchad Blake (Elvis Costello, T Bone Burnett, The Black Keys) to weave into what proved Arthur Buck’s self-titled debut album. 

Released in June 2018, Arthur Buck contained a roughly hewn but expertly crafted blend of classic rock, indie folk, and socially conscious lyricism. 

Arthur Buck did a series of North American and European live dates. Now, more than half a decade later, Arthur and Buck have rekindled their partnership with Arthur Buck 2. Many songs originated during their 2018 tour. 

Track list:

Sleep With One Eye Open

Where Did You Go?
Love At First Sight
No Answer
Fall In Love With Me
Average Ghost
Don’t Try To Understand
Not So Modern Now
Pow
Muscle Shoals

Old 97’s singer Rhett Miller readies solo album for October and tour

Acclaimed singer/songwriter Rhett Miller announced A lifetime of riding by night, his 10th studio album that will be released on October 10 via ATO Records. Produced by his Old 97’s bandmate Murry Hammond, the 13-song collection was recorded just days before undergoing surgery on his vocal cords. 

The album's personal nature is attributed to revelations gleaned through his recent work in teaching songwriting at The New School in Manhattan, as well as co-writers including Turnpike Troubadours frontman Evan Felker, Caitlin Rose, Nicole Atkins, and Jesse Valenzuela of Gin Blossoms. The album is now available for pre-order, including a limited edition vinyl run of 300 copies pressed on frosted Coke bottle, available only via Rhett Miller’s and ATO’s web store.

First single “Come As You Are” features Felker, who also co-wrote the song, on background vocals. Miller has also announced a national album release tour that will kick off this October. 

Find a full list of tour dates below or visit his website.

Watch the official video for “Come As You Are.”

About the song, Miller explains, “That song came together at a time when Evan and I were both wrestling with the difficulty of leaving our loved ones behind to go on tour. It’s a sweet song but there’s a sadness to it, which feels reflective of the true human condition. Evan's band Turnpike Troubadours recorded a version of the song a few years back as a single, but it's always been in my mind that I wanted to record my own version of the song. Despite it being a co-write, ‘Come As You Are’ feels like a really personal moment. That said, I get a tickle out of hearing Evan's harmony on there – he's such a talented guy and a great friend."

Evan Felker adds, “Rhett has been a never-ending source of inspiration and wit and humility for my career and for the times when I didn’t have one. He writes with a passion for the world that is as reckless as it is correct and smart. Whatever deal he made with the devil, I want that one too. He’s the prime example of why you should meet your heroes.”

Mainly recorded at Dave’s Room in Los Angeles, the album marks Miller’s first time enlisting Hammond as a producer since his solo debut album Mythologies (a 1989 LP created when he was 17-years-old). “Murry was a mentor to me when we made that first record all those decades ago, and this album felt like the right time to work with him in that capacity again,” Miller says. “I gave him carte blanche in a way I never have with any other producer—we went in and recorded 20 songs, and I flew home to New York without even knowing which songs he’d end up using or what the finished versions would sound like. I just let go and trusted Murry completely.”

His first solo effort since 2022’s The Misfit centers on folk/indie-rock. 

“There’s a lot of terrifying stories about the type of surgery I received, and I wanted to record the album first because I knew the worst outcomes were on the table,” he says. “I was in a lot of physical pain as I was singing these songs; there are moments when you can hear me really struggling. But as much as I thought about going back and re-recording the vocals once I’d recovered, I knew those imperfections were part of the DNA of the record. To me there’s something very human about a singer trying to sing the best he can despite being compromised.”

It all follows Old 97’s 2024 album American Primitive that celebrated their 30th anniversary.

Track listing:

1) A Little Song (Prologue)
2) All For You
3) Ellie On The Wharf
4) Come As You Are
5) Be Mine
6) People Are Lifted
7) A Little Song (Interlude)
8) The Bells of St. Mike’s
9) All Over Again
10) Time Again
11) A Lifetime of Riding by Night
12) A Little Song
13) Brand New Heart

Tour Dates:
Aug. 24 – Amagansett, NY – The Stephen Talkhouse
Aug. 27 – Pawling, NY – Daryl’s House Club
Sep. 12 – Arlington, TX – Texas Live!
Oct. 2–4 – Halifax, NS, Canada – The Carleton
Oct. 9 – Worcester, MA – Off The Rails
Oct. 10 – Bar Harbor, ME – Criterion Theatre
Oct. 15 – Los Angeles, CA – Largo at the Coronet
Oct. 16 – Ramona, CA – Ramona Mainstage
Oct. 17 – Hermosa Beach, CA – Saint Rocke
Oct. 18 – Fontana, CA – Stage Red
Oct. 20 – San Francisco, CA – Cafe Du Nord
Oct. 21 – Santa Cruz, CA – Moe’s Alley
Oct. 23 – Eugene, OR – WOW Hall
Oct. 24 – Portland, OR – The Showdown
Oct. 25 – Seattle, WA – Clock-Out Lounge
Oct. 28 – New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge
Nov. 6 – Houston, TX – McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Nov. 8 – Fischer, TX – Devil’s Backbone Tavern
Nov. 9 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
Nov. 12 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark
Nov. 13 – Cleveland, OH – Music Box Supper Club
Nov. 14 – Bloomington, IN – Buskirk-Chumley Theater
Nov. 15 – Covington, KY – Madison Theater
Nov. 16 – Bloomington, IL – The Castle Theatre
Nov. 20 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
Nov. 22 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
Nov. 23 – Tulsa, OK – Mercury Lounge
Dec. 2 – Indianapolis, IN – Hi-Fi
Dec. 3 – Madison, WI – Atwood Music Hall
Dec. 4 – Milwaukee, WI – Vivarium
Dec. 5 – Davenport, IA – Raccoon Motel
Dec. 11 – Washington, D.C. – Union Stage
Dec. 12 – Wayne, PA – 118 North
Dec. 14 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern

Jordan Davis news: album, tour, TV appearances

Multi-platinum-selling and award-winning country artist Jordan Davis releases his new album Learn The Hard Way on August 15 via MCA Nashville. The day before it drops, Davis will head to Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! on August 14 to perform his top 10 hit single, “Bar None,” and on TODAY August 21 to promote the official release of his new album and the upcoming launch of his fall Ain’t Enough Road tour. 

The headlining tour kicks off in September in the Greater Palm Springs, CA area. Purchase tickets for the Ain’t Enough Road tour here. The ACM and CMA award-winning artist’s single “I Ain’t Sayin’” reached No. 1 on US Country Radio after being the most added on add week and also secured eight weeks at No. 1 on the UK Country Radio Airplay Chart, making the single the most weeks at No. 1 on UK Radio Charts in 2024. 

“I Ain’t Sayin’” is one of the five released songs from Learn The Hard Way. 

The new album joins Davis’ Platinum-selling debut album, Home State, and is the follow up to his Platinum-selling album Bluebird Days, which produced four consecutive No. 1 singles (“What My World Spins Around,” “Tucson Too Late,” “Buy Dirt” and “Next Thing You Know”) and two Song of the Year award-winning hits “Next Thing You Know” (ACM) and “Buy Dirt” (CMA and NSAI) off of one album.

Track listing:

1. Her Way Or The Highway
2. Bar None
3. Mess With Missing You (With Carly Pearce)
4. In Case You Missed It
5. Ain’t Enough Road
6. Son Of A Gun
7. Jesus Wouldn’t Do
8. Learn The Hard Way
9. I Ain’t Sayin’
10. Good Gone Bad
11. Memory Don’t Mess Around
12. Keeping The World Away
13. Know You Like That
14. Only All The Time
15. Turn This Truck Around
16. Louisiana Stick (With Marcus King)
17. Muddy The Water

Tour Dates:

Thursday, September 11, 2025 – Greater Palm Springs, CA - Acrisure Arena

Friday, September 12, 2025 - Concord, CA - Toyota Pavilion at Concord
Thursday, September 18, 2025 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
Friday, September 19, 2025 - Phoenix, AZ - Arizona Financial Theatre
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Friday, September 26, 2025 - Independence, MO - Cable Dahmer Arena
Saturday, September 27, 2025 - St. Louis, MO - Chaifetz Arena
Thursday, October 2, 2025 - New York City, NY - Radio City Music Hall
Friday, October 3, 2025 - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway
Thursday, October 9, 2025 - Lincoln, NE - Pinnacle Bank Arena
Friday, October 10, 2025 - Rosemont, IL - Allstate Arena
Saturday, October 11, 2025 - Milwaukee, WI - BMO Pavilion
Thursday, October 16, 2025 - Dayton, OH - Wright State University Nutter Center
Friday, October 17, 2025 - Hershey, PA - Giant Center
Thursday, October 23, 2025 - Duluth, GA - Gas South Arena
Friday, October 24, 2025 - Savannah, GA - Enmarket Arena
Saturday, October 25, 2025 - Estero, FL - Hertz Arena

AFI returns with 'Silver Bleeds the Black Sun' in October

AFI - the longtime alt-rock band led by Davey Havok - announce their new album Silver Bleeds the Black Sun due October 3 via Run For Cover Records. It marks the 12th album from AFI and will include the lead single “Behind the Clock.” Alongside the new single, AFI share a music video directed by Gilbert Trejo.

Speaking about the “Behind the Clock” video, director Trejo offers, “We wanted the video to feel like you’re seeing something you shouldn’t. In effect you are, because that’s how Davey writes lyrics. He’s expressing himself so openly, that you’re let behind this curtain. It’s a world that most artists don’t cut to, marrow deep.”

Sharing the experience working with Trejo, vocalist Davey Havok shares, “Gilbert’s video has sublimated the essence of ‘Behind the Clock.’ His vision and expertise is inspiring. Working with him was a privilege and utter joy. He is an artist of the purest form.”

This fall, AFI will embark on their headline North American tour with special guests TR/ST to celebrate the release of Silver Bleeds The Black Sun, marks AFI’s first full-scale outing since their 2021 release Bodies. Tickets available HERE.

Track listing:

1. The Bird of Prey

2. Behind the Clock
3. Holy Visions
4. Blasphemy & Excess
5. Spear of Truth
6. Ash Speck in a Green Eye
7. VOIDWARD, I BEND BACK
8. Marguerite
9. A World Unmade
10. Noneunderground

North American Tour Dates:

9/14 - Washington, PA @ Four Chord Music Festival

9/30 - Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
10/2 - Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
10/3 - Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed
10/4 - Columbus, OH @ The Bluestone
10/6 - Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo RiverWorks
10/7 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues Cleveland
10/9 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem 
10/10 - Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues
10/12 - Wallingford, CT @ Dome at Toyota Oakdale Theatre
10/14 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
10/15 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
10/17 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
10/18 - Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
10/20 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
10/21 - North Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues Myrtle Beach
10/23 - Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
10/24 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ War Memorial Auditorium
10/25 - Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor
10/28 - Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
10/29 - Austin, TX @ ACL Live at Moody Theater

10/31 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
11/1 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Rockwell at the Complex
11/4 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
11/5 - San Diego, CA @ SOMA
11/16 - Mexico City, Mexico @ Corona Capital

Out now: Peter Gabriel digital live album from WOMAD Festival '82

It was a simple idea; to create a festival out of all the brilliant music and art made all over the world, stuff made outside of the mainstream – music that wasn’t getting on the radio and was even harder to find in record stores.

The very first WOMAD Festival took place at the 240-acre Bath and West Showground, Somerset over the weekend of July 16–18, 1982. With the dream ‘not to sprinkle world music around a rock festival, but to prove that these great artists could be headliners in their own right’, the three days and five stages played host to 60 bands from over 20 countries; a line-up that included The Drummers of Burundi, Pigbag, Salsa de Hoy, Simple Minds, Musicians of the Nile, Echo and the Bunnymen, Prince Nico Mbarga, Rip, Rig and Panic, The Beat and many more.

“I remember this gig well,” says Peter Gabriel. “We played a mix of old and brand-new material. I would normally be very nervous about playing some of this stuff for the first time, however my mind was very preoccupied with the running of our very first WOMAD festival and the potential financial disaster that it was heading towards.

Because WOMAD was unique in its focus on music and art from around the world, and mixing it with up with rock and jazz, no-one knew how many people might turn up and we had seriously overestimated our appeal. But those that had decided to check out WOMAD and its weird and wonderful lineup were open-minded, bold and curious - a great audience.

It was a landmark and edgy gig for me both personally and musically and brings back lots of memories.”

Across the three days ‘an evening concert series’ took place in the Showering Pavilion on the festival site. On the Friday night that concert featured Tian Jin (a song and dance troupe from China), Simple Minds and, with a ‘special festival set of non-album material’, Peter Gabriel.

Live at WOMAD 1982 is a recording of that Friday night concert. The non-album material in question are seven of the eight songs that would make up the album Peter Gabriel 4. An album that wouldn’t be released for a further two months.

On-stage, Peter is joined by David Rhodes (guitar), John Giblin (bass), Larry Fast (synthesisers). Jerry Marotta (drums), Peter Hammill (guitar, vocals) and “the wonderful Bristol-based drum and dance group,” Ekomé (drums, percussion).

“We wanted to show that wherever you were born, whatever colour or language, whatever religious or sexual persuasion, powerful passionate and joyful work would have a warm welcome in WOMAD.

At the beginning, most music industry professionals told us that we had no chance of making this dream work, we had all the wonderful naïve misguided optimism of the young, and were convinced that we would prove all the cynics wrong. However, at the end of the first festival, it was clear we had an artistic success, but not a financial one… but that’s for another story.”

Peter Gabriel’s Live a WOMAD 1982 takes us back to not only the birth of a festival – one that has now hosted more than 160 editions in 27 countries - but also to the premiere of an album with songs, like The Rhythm of the Heat, San Jacinto and Shock the Monkey, that have become central to the Gabriel canon. More than just a live album, Live at WOMAD 1982 is a pivotal moment, available now for the very first time.

Available at all major DSPs.

Track listing:

PG23

San Jacinto

The Family and the Fishing Net
I Have the Touch
Lay Your Hands on Me
Shock the Monkey
I Go Swimming
The Rhythm of the Heat
Kiss of Life
Biko

Cher's '02 farewell tour album to get vinyl debut reissue in Spetember

Cher will reissue her concert album, The (First) Farewell Tour, on 2LP Vinyl and streaming platforms for the first time on Sept. 26 via Warner Records. The exclusive physical edition will be pressed on hot pink and purple 2LP vinyl. 

Pre-order the 2LP Vinyl HERE. Pre-save The Farewell Tour on all DSPs HERE.

Cher heralds its arrival by sharing the live recording of “All I Really Want Do.” The Bob Dylan penned song was her first solo hit single in the Summer of 1965. Listen HERE and watch the live video HERE.

The newly remastered collection features three tracks, “Save Up All Your Tears,” “We All Sleep Alone” and “Different Kind of Love Song,” which were previously only included on the EMMY® Award-winning special and multiplatinum concert film Live! The Farewell Tour.

During 2002, the Academy® Award-winning and GRAMMY® Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® Inductee and Kennedy Center® Honoree embarked on Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, circling the globe for 325 shows. 

The show made history as Cher achieved the Guinness World Record for the “Highest Grossing Tour by a Female Artist” at the time. She chronicled this run with Live! The Farewell Tour and accompanying record of the same name and captured her performance at American Airlines Arena in Miami, FL on November 7, 2002. The album hit shelves on August 26, 2003, and it was only available on CD… until now.

22 years since its initial release, The Farewell Tour finally makes its first appearance on DSPs and vinyl. It consists of the original 18 songs in addition to boasting three bonus tracks: “Save Up All Your Tears,” “We All Sleep Alone,” and “Different Kind of Love Song.” 

Last year, Cher revealed the career-spanning Forever as a special double vinyl package and one CD configuration. She accompanied it with the digital release of Forever Fan Edition. She was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame® and capped the year off with her autobiography, CHER: The Memoir, Part One, which held the #1 spot on The New York Times Bestseller List.

Track Listing: 

1. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

2. Song for the Lonely
3. All or Nothing
4. I Found Someone
5. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
6. All I Really Want To Do
7. Half-Breed
8. Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves
9. Dark Lady
10. Take Me Home
11. The Way of Love
12. After All
13. Just Like Jesse James
14. Heart of Stone
15. The Shoop Shoop (It’s in His Kiss)
16. Strong Enough
17. If I Could Turn Back Time
18. Believe
19. Save Up All Your Tears*
20. We All Sleep Alone*
21. Different Kind of Love Song*