New releases last two weeks: Rock

Review: Canadian rock outfit Big Wreck celebrates this year's Record Store Day with the first-ever vinyl release of their acclaimed Albatross album. This deluxe anniversary edition includes a bonus track, 'Fade Away', as well as alternate versions by Eric Ratz and Ian Thornley, plus a live recording from Suhr Guitar Factory. The original album came back in 2012 and saw Albatross earn chart-topping success and critical praise for its soaring guitar work and powerful vocals. They make just as much of a mark now, more than a decade on and with the addition of the new cuts, this reissue brings all new depth to the record.

Review: First released in 2012, Broken Bones would serve as the 11th full-length studio effort from glam metal-tinged Los Angeles hard rockers Dokken. The first album in the band's entire tenure to not feature drummer Mick Brown due to scheduling conflicts (replaced for the recording sessions by studio drummer Jimmy DeGrasso), as well as their only work to feature bassist Sean McNabb (Quiet Riot, XYZ, Queensryche), the album served as follow up to 2008's Lightning Strikes Again while initially perceived as a swansong due to the major decade-long gap until 2023's Heaven Comes Down. Packed to the brim with triumphant riffage and soaring choruses, it may not entirely capture the Dokken magic of old but still delivers a retro-fitted 45 minutes of classic-style cuts with its standout track easily being their unique rendition of Jefferson Airplane's 'Today'. Reissued for Record Store Day 2025 on super cool and artwork complimentary blue & black splattered wax.

Review: This Price album was originally part of the 2023 Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe box set, but now the triple vinyl live recording arrives on standalone yellow vinyl in a fancy triple gatefold sleeve. It was initially captured on January 11, 1992, at Prince's Glam Slam club in Minneapolis and is a performance that showcases Prince and The New Power Generation at their creative peak, just ahead of their epic world tour. Spanning over 100 minutes and 14 tracks in all, the still electrifying set focuses on material from the Diamonds and Pearls era and includes a preview of the then-unreleased 'Sexy M.F.' to make for a fine snapshot of a new era in Prince's evolving sound.

Review: Half a century young, the third album from America's genuinely iconic leather-clad glam queen Suzi Quatro was a bit of sidewinder, seeing her switch from the brash rock pop fusion of her first two LPs to take in a funk influence, still working under the winning production duo of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. Check the title track and its echoes of Sly & The Family Stone or Steve Wonder, wonderfully twinned with Quatro's sassy vocal attitude, for evidence of the stylistic refresh, her distinctive and groove-heavy bass playing pushed further into the centre of the sound. 'Can't Trust Love', meanwhile, is a headnodding, blunted delight, too, while the futuristic synths of 'Strip Me' are closer to Herbie Hancock's Headhunters than The Sweet in vibe. Well ahead of its time, this is timeless stuff.

Review: Marc Bolan's influence on rock music is huge. Everyone from Morrissey and Oasis to newcomers like Bobbie Dazzle worship the ground his stack heels walked on, not forgetting the break he gave The Damned by taking the band's original lineup on tour with him. It extends way beyond the obvious big hitting singles, as this less comprehensive, more completely exhaustive collection of B-sides corralled for RSD 2025 demonstrates. He's the master of the short, sharp pop track - no song reaches four minutes and most are under three - and just about anything here would qualify as A-sides in a lesser band's arsenal. From the folksy strumalong 'Sitting Here' to the electric shock guitar of 'Free Angel' and even a glorious cover of Otis Redding's 'Dock Of The Bay' featuring "The Queen of Northern Soul" Gloria Jones, this is yet more evidence of why the man was a huge, huge legend.