The Fat Angel Sings

It’s early it must be time to announce what’s going to be released on Record Store Day Black Friday, which is officially slated for November 28th, 2025. Over 170 vinyl releases have been slated for that most hallowed of days for collectors, so check your budget now.  there are special pressings of classic releases by Prince & The Revolution, Fleetwood Mac, Phil Collins, Led Zeppelin, Talking Heads, Bob Dylan, Alice Cooper and more.

I’ll list as many highlights as I can below, but if you want to see the full list immediately, go here, and scroll down to the “Web” and “PDF” options to see what’s what. Keep in mind that RSD releases are designated as follows: a) Exclusives: These titles are physically released only at indie record stores; b) RSD First: These titles are initially found at indie record stores only, but they might be released to other retailers at a later date at some point in the future (though not always); and c) Small Run/Regional Titles: These releases are either regionally based and sold at specific stores, or have press runs under 1,000 copies.

As many of you already know, the SRPs are never shared ahead of RSD, but they are usually fairly consistent across the board, and typically dependent on the size of the run and relative availability. If you miss getting what you want on RSD proper, prices tend to ratchet upward on eBay, Discogs, and elsewhere on the interwebs.

The RSD PR team highlighted a few of the titles-to-come they deemed important and/or of note, Highlights of my own. For the Dylanologists of the world, RSD is celebrating the May 1963 LP “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”, 62 years after its initial release by “re”-presenting the album as Dylan intended that is, and I quote, “before the suits at Columbia Records censored some of the tracks.

At any rate, “The Original Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” LP comes via Legacy (RSD Exclusive; 13,000 copies), and it includes “Rocks and Gravel,” “Let Me Die in My Footsteps,” “Rambling, Gambling Willie,” and “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues.” (The latter song is the one that prompted Dylan to walk off the Ed Sullivan Show when Ed wouldn’t let him play it.) some of the “Freewheelin’ tracks also appear on Bob’s Dylan’s upcoming “The Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through The Open Window, 1956-1963” 4LP box set.

RSD Black Friday also sees the release of a very special Bob Dylan “Masters of War” 7in single, recorded in Alan Lomax’s apartment in 1962. The B-side of this 7-incher will be a conversation Alan and Bob had after the recording . Additional/other RSD releases/announcements get added in right up until the date .

After decades of, er, hard work, Spinal Tap release the “RSD Scalpers Edition” of their “The End Continues” soundtrack album via Interscope (RSD Exclusive; 2,000 copies). In their official parlance, this RSD Black Friday release is, quote, “sure to please the flippers and hardcore fans who must own everything that Spinal Tap releases. ”The Scalpers Edition” includes three additional previously unheard tracks, a “unique” album cover, and a poster. Plus, and this is key, the vinyl itself is pressed on — of course! — 181g vinyl!

For the more modern-music-seeking out there, RSD Black Friday’s “Billie Eilish Live” EP on Interscope is a special 10in edition featuring live recordings of “Skinny,” “Wildflower,” “Birds of a Feather,” and “L’Amour de Ma Vie,” all culled from Billie’s recent London Palladium show (RSD First; 20,000). Chappell Roan places her latest two songs back-to-back for the first time on her own RSD Black Friday 7in single via Island, “The Island” b/w “The Giver” (RSD Exclusive; 30,000 copies).

Meanwhile, 2025 Record Store Day Ambassador is Post Malone who continues to show his love for indie record stores by offering fans an LP titled “Long Bed” on Mercury/Republic, featuring nine tracks that were previously only available digitally (RSD Exclusive; 5,000 copies).

Sir Elton John — an inveterate record collector in his own right — and 2020 Record Store Day Ambassador Brandi Carlisle performed songs from their collaborative 2025 release “Who Believes in Angels?” (as well as songs from their own respective catalogue’s) for a televised live special, and some of those performances comprise the “Who Believes in Angels? Live at the London Palladium” 2LP set on Interscope (RSD Exclusive; 4,000 copies).

Also on the master RSD Black Friday list are (again, in their words) “sure-to-be-coveted” vinyl from the likes of The Doors, Rhino will release “Live in Copenhagen, 1968“, featuring a previously unreleased concert in its entirety the legendary band recorded at Falokner Centret in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 17th, 1968. The 2 LP release on crystal-clear vinyl includes both the early and late sets, featuring electrifying performances of “Break On Through (To The Other Side),” “Light My Fire,” and “Hello, I Love You,” among others. Only 5,300 copies will be pressed globally.

An interesting set from Joni Mitchell when she was on Bob Dylan’s “The Rolling Thunder Tour These recordings of her sets from Bob Dylan’s legendary all-star tour were released for the first time last year as part of the boxed set “Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 4,” but this is the first stand-alone edition, and many of the tracks were not previously on vinyl.

Brendan Benson, The Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, the Grateful Dead, Prince & The Revolution, Miles Davis, George Harrison, The Flaming Lips, and Led Zeppelin, among many others. All of this vinyl goodness is accompanied by, as the RSD cognoscenti oh-so-aptly put it, “something special that music fans can get only at a record store.”

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, “Live in 24” (1,500 copies) At last, some shaped vinyl — specifically, a paper airplane shaped EP. The four song collection was inspired by the band’s “Flight b741” album and incorporates songs from various live recordings as part of the band’s Bootlegger series.

Those RSD diggers going for deeper dives can seek out the Black Friday offerings from the likes of Jeff Tweedy/Wilco/Daniel Johnston, Bobby Womack, Deltron 3030, Nico, Tangerine Dream, Ramones, David Johansen and The Harry Smiths, 2 Chainz, La Luz, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Sugar, and Warren Zevon, with a live recording, “Epilogue: Live At The Edmonton Folk Music Festival” (2,200 copies)
Zevon’s final concert, recorded August 9th, 2002 at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, now available for the first time for RSD. It’s on double black vinyl with an etched fourth side, with liner notes from longtime Zevon band member Matt Cartsonis, who accompanied him for the set no one knew would be his last.

along with holiday releases from Kesha and Devo.

Randy Newman, “Trouble In Paradise: Demos” (3,500 copies) Previously unissued demos from one of Newman’s most revered albums, the one that brought “I Love L.A.” — including some that didn’t make the final album, like “Big Fat Country Song.”

Also a interesting release from Talking Heads, “Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live” (7,500 copies)
Recorded by the trio of David Byrne, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz when they were students at Rhode Island School of Design and in a college band called the Artistics. In the spring semester of 1974, the band gathered in Frantz’s Benefit Street apartment to record a cassette demo tape, which included future classics “Warning Sign” and “Psycho Killer.” This collection includes this newly discovered material alongside an additional 11 demo and live tracks recorded by the original trio line-up of the band in 1975-76. Unreleased Talking Heads stuff is always some of the first stuff to disappear, as recent-era Record Store Days go, and while 7,500 copies once would have been considered a lot for an RSD exclusive, it no longer is, so pick this one up early .

A few more MM RSD bulletpoints now, zeroing in on some of our fave RSD Releasers, You can always count on Rhino to cover a myriad of requisite RSD bases, and this year they’re serving up 35 exclusive albums from their diverse artists roster. Highlights include LPs from Phil Collins, The Doors, Matchbox Twenty, Joni Mitchell, Son Volt, an archival live set for Van Halen (this time from 1995), in addition to a Rhino Reserve title from Curtis Mayfield (“Curtis“; RSD Exclusive; 2,700 copies), a Devo picture disc, and 12in releases from a-ha, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and The Flaming Lips, along with box sets from Dwight Yoakam and a special release from Arthur Lee’s band Love “The Album Collection”.

This year’s RSD selection from archival giants Craft Recordings features first-ever vinyl editions, rare live recordings, vibrant colour pressings, and imaginative new packages that span funk, rock, punk, psych, salsa, soundtracks, holiday jazz, and more.

Creed — “Live in San Antonio” on 2 LP metallic silver vinyl, limited to 4,800 copies globally. Captured November 14th, 1999, at San Antonio’s Freeman Coliseum, “Live in San Antonio” drops you right into the roar of a sold-out Texas crowd as Creed storms through the “Human Clay” era. Newly remastered for vinyl, the set bottles the band’s late-’99 ferocity—Scott Stapp’s baritone cutting through Mark Tremonti’s towering riffs, underpinned by Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips in lockstep. The 13-song sprint balances fist-pumping anthems (“Are You Ready?,” “What If,” “My Own Prison”) with breakout hits (“Higher,” “With Arms Wide Open”) and fan-favourite deeper cuts.

Jazz Dispensary’s latest cinematic caper, “Green Bullets“, a fuel-injected compilation that imagines a lost ’70s heist flick.

Other Craft RSD Black Friday exclusives include Jonathan Richman’s tender “You Must Ask the Heart” finally making it onto vinyl; “Flowers in the Afternoon: Late-1960s Sunshine”, the third entry in Craft’s psych/garage RSD series; the first-time-on-vinyl “Punk Goes Acoustic“, an all-analog cut of Ray Barretto’s salsa landmark “Together“; and two score-lover must-gets: Alan Silvestri’s “The Back to the Future Trilogy” .

A pair of Warner Records limited-edition first-time pressings of albums by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Benson Boone deserve extra attention. Boone’s 2023 “Pulse” EP emerges on electric yellow and bright blue splatter vinyl, and it also includes a 12x24in poster (RSD Exclusive; 6,000 copies).

Meanwhile, Tom Petty &The Heartbreakers’ “The Live Anthology – From The Vaults Vol. 1” 2LP set boasts a foil-stamped number cover, and it appears on turquoise blue vinyl. As you may recall, in November 2009, Petty and Co. released “The Live Anthology”, a massive 7LP box set of live material that encompassed the band’s career up to that point, with a track-list curated by Petty himself. A separate, very limited-edition version of “The Live Anthology” was also released that included a bonus CD with 14 tracks of additional Petty classics, rarities, and covers. These 14 tracks are now being released on vinyl for the first time—and I’m all-in for this one, beyond a shadow of a doubt (RSD First – 7,500 copies for the U.S. market; 11,000 copies total worldwide).

Rhino will release “Fleetwood Mac: Live 1975″, which captures the incredible electricity of the band’s first tour with the legendary line-up of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joining Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Christine McVie. Recorded 50 years ago at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ on October 17th, 1975, and Jorgensen Auditorium at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT on October 25th, 1975, the album features the band’s at-the-time recent hits “Rhiannon” and “Landslide,” along with some early Fleetwood Mac favourites, including “Hypnotized” and “Oh Well.” Pressed on vinyl for the very first time and limited to 5,000 copies globally.

Led Zeppelin’s classic single “Trampled Under Foot” is being reissued as a reproduction of the original UK 7-inch. The release features “Black Country Woman” on the B-side.

This year’s RSD Black Friday offerings from Sony Legacy include live performances, soundtracks, and unreleased rarities. Besides the earlier-noted Dylan title and LPs from Cage the Elephant, Danny Elfman, Wilco/Jeff Tweedy/Daniel Johnston, and the intriguingly self-explanatory Lou Reed/Various collaborative offering the “Metal Machine Music: Power to Consume, Vol. 1”,  limited to 2,100 copies. Inspired by Lou Reed’s groundbreaking 1975 noise opus “Metal Machine Music“, this collection assembles a formidable line-up of sonic provocateurs—Aaron Dilloway, Drew McDowall, Thurston Moore, Pharmakon, The Rita, and Mark Solotroff—to explore the outer edges of distortion, feedback, and raw electronic texture. Each artist channels the spirit of Reed’s original manifesto of anti-music, pushing their own boundaries through modular synthesis, tape manipulation, harsh noise, and industrial decay. The result is a visceral, immersive experience that celebrates chaos, confronts structure, and redefines what music can be.

Grateful Dead, “The Warfield, San Francisco, CA — Oct 4 & 6, 1980” (6,000 copies on vinyl, unknown quantity on CD) Two acoustic sets from the Warfield shows in October 1980, celebrating the Grateful Dead’s 15th Anniversary. On 2-LP, 180-Gram Vinyl with Stoughton tip-on jacket. Also available on 2CD. Produced for release by David Lemieux.

Legacy will release Wilco/Jeff Tweedy/Daniel Johnston’s “dBpm 15” on a single red LP, limited to 3,400 copies. Twelve rarities and unreleased tracks highlighting fifteen years of music on dBpm Records. Most available for the first time on vinyl, the set includes a previously unavailable version of “Casper The Friendly Ghost” by Daniel Johnston and Jeff Tweedy, and Wilco’s cover of The Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down.”

we also get Billy Joel’s “Live From Long Island” 3LP set with an awful cover that makes it look like one of those Music For Pleasure releases, which highlights his Nylon Curtain tour homecoming concert at Nassau Coliseum on December 29th, 1982,

The Piano Man’s classic Nylon Curtain Tour homecoming concert at Nassau Coliseum newly mixed from the original master tapes and produced by Billy’s longtime live sound engineer Brian Ruggles. Only 1,500 copies will be pressed globally.

Beside those releases, Prince & The Revolution’s “Around the World in a Day: The Singles” is on RSD tap, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of the titular album that was originally released in April 1985. The audio is newly remastered by original mastering engineer Bernie Grundman, with additional mastering by Chris James, and this vibrant 7-incher box set features all four singles from the album (“Raspberry Beret,” “Paisley Park,” “Pop Life,” and the extended version of “America”), plus a brand new exclusive 7in single of the 1985 track “4 the Tears in Your Eyes,” which Prince originally contributed to that year’s “We Are The World” charity album. Each 45 is presented in a unique vinyl coloured vinyl and are presented in their original 7in sleeves in a clamshell box, all featuring elements of the titular LP sleeve that was originally designed by Doug Henders (RSD Exclusive; in a quite-apropos run of 1,985 copies).

Additionally, Sony Legacy serves up Miles Davis’ “Live at The Plugged Nickel: December 23, 1965 – Set Two“, which is culled from what has long been considered to be one of the most legendary engagements in jazz history. That night saw trumpeter Miles, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, keyboardist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams deliver a masterclass in what’s been described as “controlled volatility, dismantling tradition and reshaping their language night after night.” I’ve also been told that Legacy will reissue the box set containing all seven performed sets of “The Complete Plugged Nickel Sessions” in January 2026 as their first salvo in a year-long Miles Davis Centennial celebration — but first we get this 2LP Black Friday/black vinyl primer that contains over an hour of familiar songs turned inside out, including standards such as “All of You” and “My Funny Valentine” and Miles originals like “So What” and “Agitation” (RSD Exclusive; 5,900 copies).

A strange one is Robbie Robertson, “Filmworks: Insomnia” (1,800 copies) A compilation of Robertson’s music and scores from the films “The Last Waltz,” “Carny” and “Raging Bull,” including a previously unissued track from “Carny.” Jon Burlingame wrote the liner notes. It’s being released in conjunction with Robertson’s posthumously published memoir “Insomnia,” also due this autumn.

Phil Collins will see “12″ers” on vinyl, limited to 3,500 globally as an RSD Exclusive via Rhino. As part of a whole host of celebrations to mark 40 years of Phil Collins’ spectacular third studio album “No Jacket Required, 12″ers” is reissued as a special limited edition six-track EP of extended mixes, with a track list previously only released on CD and one track making its debut on vinyl. The 12-inch remixes are an immersive sonic experience, providing a refreshed and extended look at some of Phil Collins’ most loved solo work.

B.B. King, “Broadcasting the Blues: Live from Germany & Sweden” (2,500 copies) Two European concerts from 1968 and 1973, featuring Sonny Freeman and the Kingpins, and a full horn section for the Stockholm, all never before released. Derek Trucks is among those contributing to the copious liner notes. 

Award-winning producer Zev Feldman, the “Jazz Detective” himself, is back for Record Store Day Black Friday with four historic, never-before-released albums spanning punk, jazz, and blues from Bad Brains, Bill Evans, Yusef Lateef, and B.B. King. Each title has been restored and mastered from archival recordings, and they are said to offer fresh insight into landmark moments across music history — from Bad Brains’ earliest live shows to unheard Bill Evans trio sessions (RSD Exclusive; 4,000 copies), Yusef Lateef’s spiritual experiments, and B.B. King’s powerful 1968 and 1973 European concerts. These RSD releases underscore Feldman’s curatorial mission to bring lost performances to light and celebrate genre-defining legacies.

The Flaming Lips, “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots – “Live at the Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, August 30, 2024” (4,000 copies) The band performed the album “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots” live in its entirety at the Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre on August 30th, 2024. The hometown show will be released in a 2-LP, 45rpm colour vinyl format with new artwork by Wayne Coyne.

Finally, Mack Avenue comes to the RSD Black Friday party with a legendary album from the Strata-East catalogue The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe’s “A Spirit Speaks” on 180g vinyl with audio cut directly from the original master tapes. (Three other classic Strata-East titles from Charles Tolliver & Stanley Cowell, The Heath Brothers, and Cecil McBee will follow on December .)

One of many projects on Strata-East spearheaded by bassist, composer, and arranger Bill Lee (father of legendary director Spike Lee), The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe’s only album, 1974’s “A Spirit Speaks”, enlisted Bill Lee’s brother and sisters — Clif Lee, A. Grace Lee Mims, and Consuela Lee Moorehead — to form a group named in tribute to their enslaved ancestors. Combining elements of jazz, gospel, soul, and blues, among other influences, “A Spirit Speaks” has become one of the most sought-after albums from the Strata-East catalogue — and rightly so (RSD First; 1,500 copies).

Music fans will also be able to purchase Icona Pop and Charli XCX‘s ‘I Love It’ LP, Young Fathers‘ ‘White Men Are Black Men Too (10th Anniversary Edition)’, a 12″ of Faithless‘ hit ’90s single ‘Insomnia’, 

And, with that — happy RSD list compiling, and happy hunting come Friday November 28th!