At the 20th anniversary of Elbow’s debut album, this vinyl reissue campaign treats the band’s early material with the loving touch its legacy warrants.

The Vince Guaraldi Trio’s score for the animated TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas continues to serve as a point of entry for new generations of fans to discover jazz music at any age.

MWP’s best solo work sees its vinyl debut. Don’t expect to be pinned to the wall by a pyrotechnic flash of frenetic guitars; this beautifully crafted album has a different and dreamier aim.

Given Slettedahl’s tenure as a songwriter and bandleader with The 88, it’s hard to think of You Know You Know as the debut of a fresh-faced solo act. Consider him instead as a fresh-faced veteran, deploying his refined gifts for cartwheeling pop melodies and relatable characterizations.

Despite the classic standing of the original work, Alone Together Again is essential listening for Mason’s audience. Fans will enjoy having this creatively reimagined album as a bookend to a catalog spanning five decades.

With varying levels of savvy interplay, plenty of evocative melodies, and styles drawn from around the globe, Camper Van Beethoven guitarist Greg Lisher’s imaginative writing and playing tell a range of stories without the need for words.

Seasoned bandleader and saxophonist Maceo Parker pays tribute to a couple of his titanic funk bosses alongside songs by favorite collaborators and original material on Soul Food: Cooking with Maceo. The album is infused with the sound of New Orleans.

“Sometimes, band reunions remind you of what initially went wrong,” writes drummer Jim Bonfanti. “In this case, I am reminded of what went right!” This live set caps the career of Cleveland garage-pop heroes the Choir.

Ocean Moon’s crafty retro-pop confections are intended as companions for the summer season, and the Foreign Films shine much-needed light in dark times.

Featuring former Church guitarist Marty Willson-Piper and his Noctorum partner Dare Mason, One Day will find fans among those who appreciated Pink Floyd’s instrumental send-off The Endless River or Mike Oldfield’s classic Tubular Bells.

Billed as EOB, the group introduced material from the founding Radiohead member’s debut solo album Earth and added a couple of revealing covers.

Vinyl fans without a need for a boxed set of the full Police catalog can now choose from four individual remastered LPs.

To mark four decades as a live band, Robert Smith and the Cure staged two ambitious concerts during the summer of 2018. Of the 57 songs split across the shows, only seven are repeated. One performance offers a deep dive into the Cure’s evolution, and the other is a career-defining celebration.

Craft celebrates the 50th birthdays of CCR’s classic third and fourth albums with heavyweight LP reissue.

This live set of hits and fan favorites finds founding Toto members including guitarist Steve Lukather, keyboardist Steve Porcaro, and keyboardist/singer David Paich celebrating the band’s 40-plus year legacy of blending slick pop-soul, technical chops, and hard rock.

Instead of stockpiling songs for album number 18, veteran alternative rock act the Choir has released a string of singles – including a pair of covers rooted in the band’s past and present.

The rivalry between the Rolling Stones and the Beatles may have been almost entirely fictional (Paul McCartney has called it “fake news” at concerts since the 2016 presidential election), but that doesn’t mean the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band would allow the Beatles 50th anniversary celebration of Abbey Road to go unanswered.

Rack Bridges to Buenos Aires alongside Bridges to Bremen, No Security and concert film Bridges to Babylon Tour ’97–98 for a broad overview of a year when the Rolling Stones circled the globe and played to well over four million fans. This set’s highlights set Bridges to Buenos Aires apart.

The former Duane Allman and Stevie Ray Vaughan sideman celebrates his 50+ year career in rock, soul, and country music with the release of his own first album.

The torch of great Midwestern power-pop passed from bands like Shoes and Cheap Trick is carried another mile by the Injured Parties on songs including the acerbic “Murder the Truth” and idealistic call to action “Obama’s Girl.”

The controversial ex-Smiths singer’s stellar showmanship won the day again.

Anticipation for Vampire Weekend’s sold-out San Francisco concert was sky-high after the band’s six-year absence.

Scone corrals a new cast of players for a different approach to a soulful party album that’s both rowdy and tender.

For many fans aboard during U2’s development, the band’s triumph isn’t The Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby. It’s 1984’s The Unforgettable Fire, which is released on colored vinyl alongside the Grammy-hoarding How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

Avant-rock trailblazer Adrian Belew brought his quartet to the Arcada Theatre with material from 2019’s Pop-Sided album. Songs representing stints with psychedelic pop heroes the Bears, prog-rock titans King Crimson, and uncategorizable legend Frank Zappa rubbed shoulders with Belew’s solo favorites.

Premier punk rock festival Riot Fest returned to Chicago for its 15th anniversary. Coverage of Day 3 includes Guided By Voices, the B-52s, Patti Smith, Nick Lowe, the Raconteurs, unlikely mosh pit instigators the Village People, and more.

British New Wave icon Adam Ant took fans at the Vic Theatre on a time warp 37 years backward to 1982, performing his top-selling solo album Friend or Foe. [Updated 9/9/2019 with approved photos.]

With standouts including “Selling the Drama,” “I Alone,” and circle-of-life ode “Lightning Crashes,” Throwing Copper struck platinum in the space between alternative rock and grunge. This anniversary reissue includes includes Live’s landmark set before 200,000 people at Woodstock ’94.

Mark Knopfler has consistently defied the conventional definitions of guitar hero and rock star – while earning his reputation at the top of the heap. Knopfler brought worthy new songs from Down the Road Wherever to Chicago.

The Squeeze Songbook Tour date celebrated the band’s 45th anniversary and a rich back catalog that long ago earned appellations naming the songwriting engine of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook as the Lennon and McCartney of their generation. It’s a heavy crown for any songwriters to bear, but Difford and Tilbrook have done their best to keep it gleaming.

One of the world’s premiere heavy metal bands of the 20th century, British powerhouse Iron Maiden continue to be a force in the new millennium. The sextet returned to the Chicago area on Thursday, bringing its “Legacy of the Beast” tour with dazzling spectacle, virtuoso playing, and relentless energy.

Mike Peters has written anthems to match the best of them, and the Alarm’s recent output and performances suggest more rousing sessions to come.

Kids from ages one to at least 53 will welcome these utterly charming companion albums featuring Fred Rogers’ gentle truths and Johnny Costa’s sometimes-mellow, sometimes-stunning jazz piano.

The Stray Cats revived rockabilly for generations of music fans in the ’80s, and the trio’s own songs continue to resonate. The band has returned with worthy new material from its 40th anniversary album.

George Clinton’s farewell One Nation Under A Groove tour featured Parliament-Funkadelic, Fishbone, Dumpstaphunk, and Miss Velvet & the Blue Wolf. For all of current society’s decisiveness, there was nothing but unity and diversity in the house as everyone was “getting down for the funk of it.”

Rock and Roll Circus may have been initially shelved, but today it stands as a colorful time capsule of the Rolling Stones’ youthful days and vibrant reminder of popular music’s cultural power in the late ‘60s.

Universal celebrates the Seattle heavyweight’s 35th anniversary and the 25th anniversary of its Superunknown LP with 180-gram, colored double-vinyl reissues of band’s three most influential albums.

A clutch of then-fresh songs are testament to the notion that the Glimmer Twins had gas in the tank as a songwriting team during the ‘90s. After 21 years in the vault, Bridges to Babylon is a worthy addition for those who love the Rolling Stones’ eternal road show.

With her third solo album, Janet Jackson declared fierce independence from her famous brothers and launched true control of her own musical identity.

Roger Daltrey has sung enduring classics like “Pinball Wizard” and “See Me, Feel Me” from the 1969 rock opera Tommy too many times to count. However, he has never performed the material in quite the way that Who fans can hear on for The Who’s Tommy Orchestral.

Starr’s good-spirited message of peace and love remains well worth sharing, and the evening proved to be a great escape from the news cycle as well as a joyous musical celebration for generations of Beatles and Beach Boys fans.

Music fans up the road at Lollapalooza may have had their pick of more than 40 bands, but the Night Running tour packed adventurous musical variety onto one stage. Fans left Northerly Island confident that they had just seen the most spectacular rock show in Chicago.

Peter Frampton performed his final Chicago concert on Sunday, July 28, 2019. The set included hits like “Show Me the Way,” “Baby, I Love Your Way,” and “Do You Feel Like We Do” alongside Humble Pie favorites and new songs from #1 Billboard Blues album All Blues.

After 46 years in the vault, Eagle Vision is releasing Carole King’s landmark 1973 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival for the first time.

Andrew Bird played a hometown show that made a strong case for the accurate naming of his new album My Finest Work Yet.

The show encapsulated Alvin’s breakthrough as a songwriter and solo voice, and served as a calling card to draw people back for the new songs and stories he continues to tell.

Thirty miles from downtown Chicago in Naperville, Ribfest continues to be a summertime destination event for music fans in Illinois. This year, the crowd of thousands enjoyed Living Colour, Billy Idol, ZZ Ward, Grand Funk, Bad Company and more.

A multi-generational crowd assembled at Moline, Illinois’ TaxSlayer Center to hear the most celebrated catalog in popular music, delivered by the living legend responsible for it.

Get Pocket Full of Fire as a primer of band’s prowess through a collection of its best songs recorded live, but don’t miss a chance to see this compelling culture clash in person.

This live set will be warmly received by Deadheads and fans of intuitive and skillful jam band playing. Not many songs are duplicated among these three shows spanning five years, but there are a handful of opportunities to hear how the band flexes and twist songs in different moments.