Record Store Day 2026: Best Releases

2x LP, 15,400 copies (Legacy Recordings)
CD, 3,250 copies (Legacy Recordings)

Originally released in 2001, this lively concert document marked the second posthumous live album from the Jeff Buckley estate that captures the late singer and his band during a two-night stand at the Olympia in Paris while on his 1995 European tour supporting his sole studio LP, 1994’s Grace. Among the highlights featured in this striking set includes impassioned covers of the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams,” Edith Piaf’s “Je N’en Connais Pas la Fin” and, of course, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” plus a cheeky riff on Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” and transcendent versions of such key Grace cuts as “Dream Brother,” “Eternal Life” and the Gary Lucas-copenned title track. Also featured is “What Will You Say,” a song written by Carla Azar of Autolux and Fishbone’s Chris Dowd Buckley performed with Alim Qasimov in a competitive Qawwali singing duet from a festival of sacred music.

7″ vinyl, 8,000 copies

Originally recorded in 2017 but completed during the COVID-19 lockdown for her fourth album, 2020’s How I’m Feeling Now, “Party 4 U” enjoyed a renaissance in 2025 after it went viral on TikTok when the second verse was used in a dance challenge. Now, nearly a year after peaking at No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Party” returns to vinyl — for the first time — as a 7-inch single, pressed on ultra-clear acetate with an etching on the flip side, and housed inside a PVC bag with a transparent sticker.

LP, 2,000 copies (Org Music)

It wasn’t uncommon for open-minded music fans of a certain age to have both The Doors and Public Enemy in their tape collection back in the day. So this union between former RSD ambassador Chuck D and legendary Doors drummer John Densmore, though entirely unexpected, isn’t a complete shock. In fact, these two vets gel quite well on this debut album from the project they’re calling doPE. Cut exclusively for Record Store Day, No Country for Old Men exists at the crossroads of rhythm and revolution as both men swirl their respective styles together in a singular message of intergenerational reflection.

2x LP, 7,200 copies (Rhino)

Originally released in 2001 as a limited-edition bonus amendment to the band’s acclaimed Greatest Hits set, Acoustic Hits found The Cure borrowing the MTV Unplugged concept to craft lively nonelectric renditions of all 18 tracks handpicked by Robert Smith himself, including “Boys Don’t Cry,” “The Lovecats,” “Just Like Heaven,” “Lullaby” and “Lovesong.” While Greatest Hits was previously released as a Record Store Day exclusive in 2017 (and making a return again this year with 7,300 copies), 2026 marks its counterpart’s RSD debut, pressed on silver bio vinyl across two discs.

LP, 2,000 copies (Brainfeeder)

Named after the year he was born, 1983 was FlyLo’s debut transmission into the instrumental hip-hop ether, two decades before he would redefine the art of beat making with such classics as 2010’s Cosmogramma, 2014’s You’re Dead! and 2021’s underrated Yasuke soundtrack. Originally released on Los Angeles-based IDM indie Plug Research, there’s a straightforward nature to this first album that sets itself apart from its more experimental successors. But 20 years later, it serves as an intriguing snapshot into the mind of Steven Ellison as a young beatmaker, revamped for vinyl by his influential imprint Brainfeeder for RSD.

3x LP, 2,050 copies (Elemental Music Records)

“Freddie King carved out his place in the blues pantheon by fusing raw tradition with explosive modern energy, creating a sound both deeply soulful and fiercely electrifying,” proclaims veteran music journalist Cary Baker in the liner notes of this remarkable 3-LP live document of the Texas blues icon’s complete performance on Oct. 10, 1975, at the Nancy Pulsations Jazz Festival in Nancy, France, before a crowd of 50,000 fans. Produced by Zev Feldman for Elemental Music, Feelin’ Alright captures Freddie in full flight a year before his death at just 42, with the recording bridging the gap between blues and rock in ‘75 with impassioned renditions of Junior Wells’ “Messin’ With the Kid,” John Lee Hooker’s “Boogie Chillun” and Traffic’s “Feelin’ Alright,” plus his own guitar anthem “Goin’ Down.“

7″ vinyl, 2,000 copies

Of the songs that comprised her 2025 20-minute mixtape Fancy That, it seems as though “Girl Like Me” was the one fans of wunderkind British singer-producer PinkPantheress gravitated toward the most. Mashing together two Basement Jaxx tunes (from 2001’s “Romeo” and 1998’s “Always Be There,” respectively), the artist born Victoria Beverley Walker crafted a U.K. garage anthem popping enough to bring Gen Z back to the club. With a strictly limited run of 2,000 copies, “Girl Like Me” arrives on 7-inch vinyl, augmented by remixes from Kaytranada and Oklou, both of which originally appeared on the extended remix LP Fancy Some More? and offer two unique excursions away from the song’s root rhythm.

2x LP, 7,000 copies (Rhino)

When Paramore emerged more than 20 years ago with debut album All We Know Is Falling, the band members were literal high schoolers. Met with ignorant indignation by naysaying critics at the time, those same scribes surely ate their fair share of crow as these youngsters evolved over the last two decades. Falling is ripe for reevaluation in that regard, just in time for this RSD exclusive release of its deluxe edition, which augments the original LP with the four tracks that make up The Summer Tic EP, initially sold on CD during the 2006 Warped Tour and debuting on vinyl now.

12″ vinyl, 3,500 copies (Geffen)

At 19 minutes and 35 seconds, “The Diamond Sea” — the final cut from 1995’s Washing Machine — is the longest Sonic Youth song out there. While the band was on tour in support of the album, the tune took on many forms and shapes during its extended instrumental interlude. And for this special RSD release, Canadian composer John Oswald utilizes the same “plunderphonics” technique he used to transform the Grateful Dead’s “Dark Star” on his 1994 LP Grayfolded to create two distinctive collages based on “Diamond Sea” performances from 1995 (Side A) and 1996 (Side B). Pressed on white vinyl, this is a must-own for diehard fans of SY’s Geffen era.

2x LP, 1,500 copies (Craft Recordings)

Fleetwood Mac just might be the one band, even more than The Beatles, who has managed to have a significant impact on every generation, from the boomers on up to Gen Alpha. At least that’s what my local record store clerk tells me. The fact that Rumours — originally released in 1977 — ranked at No. 25 on Billboard‘s year-end Billboard 200 Albums for 2025 should tell you everything you need to know. This super-stacked tribute album features appearances from Best Coast, the late Marianne Faithfull, HAIM, Lykke Li, MGMT, The Lee Ranaldo Band featuring J. Mascis, Tame Impala and others taking on their favorite Mac tracks. This limited-edition 2-LP set arrives on translucent sea blue vinyl.

LP, 2,200 copies (Time Traveler Recordings)

Few artists defined the vibrancy of modern jazz in the year 2000 quite like the late trumpet great Roy Hargrove. This previously unreleased live recording from the International Jazzfestival in Bern, Switzerland, from May of that year captures the 30-year-old horn player in top form as he cooks with a money quintet rounded out by Sherman Irby on alto, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Willie Jones III. Issued on producer Zev Feldman’s Time Traveler Recordings imprint, these five performances will remind you why Roy was the go-to musician for Erykah Badu and D’Angelo back in that Y2K era.

“As the music on this knockout concert recording confirms, he was pushing himself to ever-greater heights, like an elite Alpinist daring to chase a new peak,” writes jazz journalist Nate Chinen in the accompanying liner notes to this 180-gram limited edition LP.

7″ vinyl, 3,000 copies (Republic Records)

Second generation hopeful Violet Grohl makes a different kind of noise than dear old dad Dave has done in his 40 years in the biz. But as her fantastic forthcoming debut LP, Be Sweet to Me, illustrates, she no doubt was listening to what her famous father was playing in the car: The Muffs, L7, Juliana Hatfield, Cocteau Twins. The May 29 release date is a little ways off for the Justin Raisen-produced set, so for an appetizer, Ms. Grohl presents two non-album tracks on 7-inch wax: a tribute to David Lynch called “What’s Heaven Without You” and a crunchy, brooding original tune dubbed “Yellowtail,” both of which can be heard only if you purchase one of the 3,000 copies that have been pressed.

5x LP, 6,050 copies (Legacy Recordings)

When he’s not living rent-free inside the mind of Donald Trump by calling him out with his most recent studio single, “Streets of Minneapolis,” Bruce Springsteen continues to enthrall his legions of fans with a live performance that’s just as exhilarating in 2026 as it was in 1976. This RSD exclusive, recorded at the 2024 Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park, N.J., just before Trump won the presidency for a second time, the Boss and his mighty E-Street Band pulled out all the stops for his hometown crowd, from early singles (“Blinded by the Light,” “Growin’ Up”) to smash hits (“Hungry Heart,” “Dancing in the Dark”) and true-school fan faves (“Tougher Than the Rest,” “Racing in the Street”), all performed with the power of a man who still believes America is the land of hope and dreams.

LP, 10,000 copies (Republic)

A technicolor explosion of drama, anime, action and musicality, 2025’s KPop Demon Hunters cruises into the spring of 2026 as the most watched original title in Netflix history, with 500 million views and counting. So, no surprise that this HUNTR/X Edition of the film’s super popular soundtrack is at the top of this list — this one is gonna bring the crowds to their local mom-and-pop. This RSD exclusive, pressed on “special effect” vinyl, features new cover art by “KPop Demon Hunters” vis dev (visual development) artist Marion Bordeyne and includes a foldout poster, sticker sheet and a trio of snapshot cards from 12 possible versions.

For the mega KPop Demon Hunters fans, consider also picking up the Saja Boys Edition of the soundtrack on RSD, which will also have 10,000 copies pressed.