Decembers are often a time when new music releases slow to a crawl. Usually not a rock star is stirring – not even a Ratt. But, as with so much about this year, 2021 is different – except in an awesome way.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse will issue a new album, Barn, his first since 2019’s Colorado. In the meantime, however, Young has been active with archival projects, releasing shelved studio material (1975’s Homegrown) and live records (1971’s Young Shakespeare, 1990’s Way Down in the Rust Bucket) while previewing a massive amount of other music – including 1982’s Johnny’s Island (previously titled Island in the Sun), the album that Trans replaced in his catalog.
He’s joined in this late-year burst of new records by Ozzy Osbourne, whose remixed version of “Hellraiser” featuring the late Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead headlines a new EP. It’s arriving 30 years after the original song was released on Osbourne’s No More Tears. Chuck Berry‘s posthumous live album titled Live From Blueberry Hill focuses on a series of shows played between July 2005 and January 2006 at the landmark diner and music club located in his native St. Louis.
The 50th-anniversary deluxe reissue of L.A. Woman, the Doors‘ sixth and final album with Jim Morrison, includes the original LP newly remastered by the Doors’ longtime engineer and mixer Bruce Botnick, and two bonus discs containing more than two hours of unreleased session outtakes. A 50th-anniversary box focusing on the Band‘s fourth album, Cahoots, will also feature outtakes and alternate versions of songs from the era, along with a partial 1971 bootleg concert recorded live at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, a Blu-ray audio disc, rare photographs and new liner notes.
Green Day‘s new 16-track BBC Sessions live album spans songs recorded between 1994 and 2001. Depeche Mode‘s expanded high-def version of 1989’s 101 follows their trek in support of Music for the Masses.
More information on these and other new rock-related efforts can be found below. Remember to follow our continuously updated list of 2021 New Music Releases for details on projects issued throughout the year.
Dec. 3
Can, Live in Brighton 1975
Depeche Mode, 101 (expanded high-definition reissue)
The Doors, L.A. Woman (anniversary deluxe reissue)
Ozzy Osbourne, Hellraiser (EP)
Paul Weller [The Jam, Style Council], An Orchestrated Songbook
The Waterboys, The Magnificent Seven (1989-90) (5CD/dvd set)
Dec. 10
The Band, Cahoots (expanded 50th anniversary reissue)
Gene Clark, Collected (3CD set)
Green Day, BBC Sessions
Hawkwind, Dust of Time: An Anthology (6CD or 2CD sets)
Mark Knopfler [Dire Straits], The Studio Albums 1996-2007 (6CD set)
Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Barn
T. Rex, The Alternative Singles Collection (2CD set)
Dec. 17
Chuck Berry, Live From Blueberry Hill
John Fogerty, The Blue Ridge Rangers (remastered reissue)
Nektar, Retrospektive 1969-1980 (2CD set)
Arriving in Early 2022
David Bowie, Toy
Elvis Costello the Imposters, The Boy Named If
Jethro Tull, The Zealot Gene
Scorpions, Rock Believer
Slash with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, 4
Guns N’ Roses, Hard Skool (EP)
Tears for Fears, The Tipping Point
Bryan Adams, So Happy It Hurts
Georgia Satellites, Lightnin’ in a Bottle: The Official Live Album
Ted Nugent, Detroit Muscle