Peter Gabriel, i/o
It’s been a dozen years since the last time our man Peter released a full-length studio album, but after you’ve taken a moment to realize that 2010’s Scratch My Back was a covers album and 2011’s New Blood was a collection of orchestral re-recordings, you realize that it’s actually been a bit over two decades since his last album of new material...and suddenly the arrival of i/o becomes an even bigger deal than it already seemed to be. Yet if you’ve been paying attention, you know that, starting in January 2023, Gabriel began releasing a new single every time there was a full moon, and this album is really just a collection of those. However you want it look at it, though, there’s still technically a new Peter Gabriel album this week, and if you’re a fan, then it’s something to applaud nonetheless.
Soft Cell, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret: Super Deluxe Edition
There are those who would argue that no one in their right mind needs to see this iconic synthpop album transformed into a 6-disc extravaganza, but those people are wrong, wrong, wrong...or, at the very least, they’ll find their funds spent far better elsewhere. In addition to the original album, which includes the trifecta of “Tainted Love,” “Bedsitter,” and “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” the LP includes a total of 96 tracks, 40 of which have never before been released, including a mixture of 12” mixes, BBC Radio One sessions, early versions, Instrumentals, and live performances
Violent Femmes, Violent Femmes: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
One of the most iconic college-rock albums to emerge during the ‘80s, this – for those who don’t keep track of such things – is the LP that gave us such alt-rock radio staples as “Blister in the Sun,” “Kiss Off,” “Add It Up,” and “Gone Daddy Gone,” which received a new life in 2006 after being covered by Gnarls Barkley. This anniversary edition finds the band’s self-titled album expanded into a 2-disc, 34-track affair, with the second disc filled with a mixture of demos and live tracks from 1981 and 1983.
