There may have been a bunch of great albums released over the course of 2019 -- check out our AllMusic Loves 2019 list for proof -- but this past year has also seen a ton of great older music reissued in new editions. Some of these reissues are indeed splashy super deluxe editions of beloved albums, such as an edition of Prince's 1999 loaded with unreleased material from his legendary vaults, a box set rendition of the Beatles' Abbey Road, and a series of expansions from Stereolab, whose 1990s catalog has now been overhauled. Elsewhere, there were weighty box sets covering Bakersfield country, the early years of Nat "King" Cole, the career of Ronnie Lane and the golden era of the Go-Betweens, excavations of unheard music by John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, not to mention a revival of the little-heard new wave band Roger C. Reale & Rue Morgue. Then there were plenty of compilations focusing on specific scenes, sounds and eras: Japanese new wave music from the '80s, junkshop glam and proto-metal pub rock from the '70s, the birth of Scottish indie music, and British synth pop all were chronicled, as was a myth-puncturing complete document of 1969's Woodstock festival as well. All of these, plus many other exceptional titles, gave us many reasons to love the reissues of 2019.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Various Artists - Woodstock: Back to the Garden
Various Artists - The Bakersfield Sound: Country Music Capital of the West 1940-1974
Various Artists - Jobcentre Rejects: Ultra Rare NWOBHM 1978-1982
Nat King Cole - Hittin' the Ramp: The Early Years 1936-1943
Stereolab - Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements [Expanded Edition]
Various Artists - Jon Savage's 1969-1971: Rock Dreams on 45
Bob Dylan - The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings
Prince - 1999 [Super Deluxe Edition]
Various Artists - Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
Roger C. Reale & Rue Morgue - The Collection
The Replacements - Dead Man's Pop
The Beatles - Abbey Road [50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition]
Various Artists - Cadillac Baby's Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection
Elvis Presley - Live 1969
Mike McGear - McGear [Remastered & Expanded Edition]
John Coltrane - Blue World
James Brown - Live at Home with His Bad Self
Harry Nilsson - Losst and Founnd
Various Artists - Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969
Various Artists - Bob Stanley/Pete Wiggs Present Three Day Week: When the Lights Went Out 1972-1975
Heather Phares
Mort Garson - Mother Earth's Plantasia
Stereolab - Expanded Editions
Mercury Rev - All Is Dream [Deluxe Edition]
His Name Is Alive - All the Mirrors in the House
The Yummy Fur - Piggy Wings
Josie Cotton - Everything Is Oh Yeah
Laid Back - Laid Back [Bonus Tracks]
Various Artists - Optimism/Reject: Punk and Post Punk Meets D-I-Y Aesthetic
Various Artists - Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986
The Beatles - Abbey Road [50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition]
Tim Sendra
Duster - Capsule Losing Contact
The Yummy Fur - Piggy Wings
The Go-Betweens - G Stands for Go-Betweens, Vol. 2
Wire Train - In a Chamber [Expanded]
Friends Again - Trapped and Unwrapped [Expanded Edition]
Various Artists - Big Gold Dreams: A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989
Television Personalities - Some Kind of Happening: Singles 1978-1989
Stephen Duffy - I Love My Friends [Expanded Edition]
Various Artists - Optimism/Reject: Punk and Post Punk Meets D-I-Y Aesthetic
Various Artists - All the Young Droogs: 60 Juvenile Delinquent Wrecks, Rock 'N' Glam (And a Flavour of Bubblegum) from the 70’s
Stereolab - Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night [Expanded Edition]
Mort Garson - Mother Earth's Plantasia
Various Artists - Jobcentre Rejects: Ultra Rare NWOBHM 1978-1982
The 39 Clocks - Next Dimension Transfer
Ronnie Lane - Just For a Moment: Music 1973-1997
The Electric Banana - The Complete de Wolfe Sessions
Billy Childish - Punk Rock Ist Nicht Tot! The Billy Childish Story 1977-2018
Josie Cotton - Everything Is Oh Yeah
Laid Back - Laid Back [Bonus Tracks]
The Cigarettes - You Were So Young
Matt Collar
John Coltrane - Blue World
Art Pepper - Promise Kept: The Complete Artists House Recordings
Nat King Cole - Hittin' the Ramp: The Early Years 1936-1943
Airto Moreira - Samba de Flora
Gene Clark - No Other [Deluxe Edition]
Eric Dolphy - Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions
Johnny Costa - Plays Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
The Stan Getz Quartet - Getz at the Gate
Suzanne Ciani - Flowers of Evil
Various Artists - Nigeria 70: No Wahala (Highlife, Afro-Funk & Juju 1973-1987)
Various Artists - Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990
Various Artists - Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986
Andy Kellman [Spotify]
Ian Carr & Nucleus - Torrid Zone: The Vertigo Recordings 1970-1975
Suzanne Ciani - Flowers of Evil
Gene Clark - No Other [Deluxe Edition]
Lol Creme/Kevin Godley - Consequences
Fabio & Grooverider - 30 Years of Rage
Mort Garson - Mother Earth's Plantasia
Lalah Hathaway - It's Somethin': The Virgin Years
Isaac Hayes - Shaft [2019 Deluxe Edition]
His Name Is Alive - All the Mirrors in the House
Janet Jackson - Control: The Remixes
Malaria! - Compiled 2.0
Ana Mazzotti - Ana Mazzotti
Prince - 1999 [Super Deluxe Edition]
Rema-Rema - Fond Reflections
Shellac - The End of Radio
Stereolab - Expanded Editions
Mark Stewart and the Maffia - Learning to Cope with Cowardice/The Lost Tapes
David Torn - Cloud About Mercury
June Tyson - Saturnian Queen of the Sun Ra Arkestra
Various Artists - Big Gold Dreams: A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989
Paul Simpson [Spotify]
Aphex Twin - Peel Session 2
Arthur Russell - Iowa Dream
Bogdan Raczynski - Rave 'Till You Cry
Brian Eno - Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks [Extended Edition]
Burial - Tunes 2011-2019
Ela Orleans - Movies for Ears
Gramm - Personal Rock
His Name Is Alive - All the Mirrors in the House
Mort Garson - Mother Earth's Plantasia
Michael Rother - Solo
Mark Stewart and the Maffia - Learning to Cope with Cowardice/The Lost Tapes
Múm - Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today Is OK [20th Anniversary Edition]
Nahawa Doumbia - Grande Cantatrice Malienne, Vol. 1
Patrice Rushen - Remind Me: The Classic Elektra Recordings 1978-1984
Patrick Cowley - Mechanical Fantasy Box
The Fall - The Fall: 1982
Venetian Snares - Greg Hates Car Culture
Various Artists - Electrical Language: Independent British Synth Pop 78-84
Various Artists - Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990
Various Artists - Third Noise Principle: Formative North American Electronica 1975-1984
James Wilkinson
Various Artists - You're Not from Around Here
Stereolab - Expanded Editions
Various Artists - The Time for Peace Is Now: Gospel Music About Us
Saint Etienne - Tiger Bay [25th Anniversary Edition]
Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
The Delines - Scenic Sessions
Various Artists - The Daisy Age
Neil Young & the Stray Gators - Tuscaloosa
Dorothy Ashby and Frank Wess - In a Minor Groove
Little Ann - Detroit's Secret Soul
David Bowie - Spying Through a Keyhole
Mary Lou Williams - Mary Lou Williams Presents Black Christ of the Andes
Barbara Howard - On the Rise
Alice Clark - Alice Clark
Various Artists - Sad About the Times
Sanford Clark - They Call Me Country
The Stairs - Mexican R&B [Deluxe Edition]
Brian Eno - Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks [Extended Edition]
Collocutor - Instead
Various Artists - Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990
