The AllMusic 2024

Year In
Review

Alongside of all the new music of 2024, there was plenty of opportunity to dig into the archives and examine numerous compilations and reissues, including the eighth volume of Miles Davis' Bootleg Series, two sets of demos from Broadcast, Alice Coltrane's Carnegie Hall Concert, and a set of Hot Buttered Singles from Isaac Hayes.

Alice Coltrane

The Carnegie Hall Concert

This previously lost concert features the great pianist and harpist with an all-star double quartet performing her own and John Coltrane's compositions.

Andy Williams

When You Fall in Love: Lost Columbia Masters 1977-1982

An achingly romantic collection of rare soft rock and disco tracks from the crooner's final years at Columbia.

Austin Peralta

Endless Planets

The reissue of the late young pianist/composer's iconic third album from 2011 sounds ahead of its time more than a decade later.

Barry Ryan

The Albums 1969-1979

Comprehensive look at the recorded works of one of England's oddest singers of the late '60s/early '70s with a large cache of singles and unreleased tracks added.

Blue Magic

Stop to Start: The ATCO & WMOT Recordings 1973-1977

A six-disc box that reissues and expands the first five studio albums from the underappreciated Philly soul group.

Broadcast

Distant Call: Collected Demos 2000-2006

The group's final release brings listeners closer than ever to their music with pared-down versions of some of their best-loved songs.

Broadcast

Spell Blanket: Collected Demos 2006-2009

Gathering demos for what would have been the pioneering electronic pop duo's fifth album, this collection abounds with raw brilliance.

Bryan Ferry

Retrospective [Super Deluxe Edition]

Career-spanning box set nicely detailing the broad scope and musical élan of the Roxy Music icon's solo work.

Can

Live in Paris 1973

Essential document of the group at their prime, using material from Ege Bamyasi as the launching pad for extended freak-outs.

Cannonball Adderley

Poppin' in Paris: Live at L'Olympia 1972

This 1972 date catches the quintet in excellent form with new members George Duke and Walter Booker.

Comet Gain

Radio Sessions BBC 1996-2011

Collection of radio sessions that includes tracks from the band's lost second album along with plenty of inspired and energetic indie rock brilliance.

Cookie Crew

Pick Up on This: 1987-1992

Box set of the British duo's entire discography, proving that they were equally skilled at club-friendly pop-rap and socially conscious hip-hop.

Cranes

Collected Works, Vol. 1: 1989-1997

Six-CD box set compiling nearly everything the British dream pop group released when they were signed to Dedicated.

Crazy Horse / Neil Young / Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Early Daze

Largely previously unreleased versions of songs tracked in 1969 create an alternate-reality album that ranks with the best of these rustic rock legends' work.

Creation Rebel

High Above Harlesden 1978-2023

Box set containing nearly every album by the futuristic, Adrian Sherwood-produced dub/roots reggae collective.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Live at Fillmore East, 1969

Full acoustic and electric sets from one of the earliest live shows of this classic rock supergroup, newly mixed and restored from the original tapes.

Curve

Unreadable Communication: Anxious Recordings 1991-1993

Four-CD box compiling the innovative alternative band's first two albums, early EPs, B-sides, single versions, and remixes.

Davy Graham

He Moved Through the Fair: The Complete 1960s Recordings

An exhaustive eight-disc box set covering the influential U.K. guitarist's entire 1960s output.

Dorothy Ashby

Afro-Harping [Deluxe Edition]

Produced by Richard Evans, this is arguably the harpist's most ambitious and funky album, but keeps hard bop and modal jazz at its center.

Double Exposure

My Love Is Free: The Salsoul Recordings 1976-1979

Four discs featuring the Philly vocal group's three albums and a bounty of material sourced from 7" and 12" releases.

Elvis Costello

King of America & Other Realms [Remastered & Expanded]

An epic-scale exploration of one of Costello's finest albums, and the creative doors it opened for him.

Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou

Souvenirs

Home recordings made between 1977 and 1985 add vocals to this Ethiopian pianist's normally instrumental meditational compositions.

Emily Remler

Cookin' At The Queens: Live In Las Vegas 1984 & 1988 [2 CD]

A stellar live offering with more than an hour of unreleased material documents the talent and taste of a guitarist who left us too soon.

Galaxie 500

Uncollected Noise New York 88-90

This chronological 24-track archival collection includes previously unheard songs from every session this incredibly important indie band played in their brief lifetime.

George Duke

From Me to You: The Definitive Collection 1977-2000

This five-disc package from the U.K.'s Robinsongs offers tracks from the pianist's Epic, Elektra, and Warner Bros. solo albums and in the Clarke/Duke Project.

His Name Is Alive

How Ghosts Affect Relationships 1990-1993

Collecting the band's first three 4AD albums and plentiful bonus material, this set documents their inventive, emotive dream-pop brilliance.

Hugo Largo

Huge, Large, and Electric: Hugo Largo 1984-1991

Compilation of the New York art rock band's studio output as well as previously unreleased demos and live performances.

Irakere

Grupo Irakere

Melding Cuban sounds with jazz and funk, the first proper album from Cuban legends Irakere showcases an ensemble arriving full formed.

Isaac Hayes

Hot Buttered Singles 1969-1972

The Black Moses of Soul's A-sides and B-sides from a period during which he put five straight albums on top of the R&B chart.

Joe Henderson / McCoy Tyner

Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs'

The jazz stars come together for a fiery evening in 1966 at the storied East Village club.

Kevin Ayers

All This Crazy Gift of Time: The Recordings 1969-1973

This ten-disc, 140-track lavishly illustrated box set contains definitively remastered versions of Harvest albums with unreleased material, alternates, and more.

Linda Smith

I So Liked Spring

Originally available only on cassette, this 1996 album features the words of Victorian-era poet Charlotte Mew as interpreted by a pioneer of lo-fi indie.

Loleatta Holloway

We're Getting Stronger: The Gold Mind/Salsoul Recordings 1976-1982

Five-disc box containing the powerhouse singer's four Salsoul albums and essential club mixes by the likes of Walter Gibbons, Larry Levan, and Tom Moulton.

Los Reyes 73

Baila Mi Son

The vibrant self-titled debut from the genre-bending Cuban band showcasing their Afro-Cuban funk, Latin pop, and psych-rock sound.

Majesty Crush

Butterflies Don't Go Away

A Numero Group anthology of the storied '90s Detroit band chosen to lead off Third Man Records' Southeast of Saturn compilation.

Margo Guryan

Words and Music

Archival compilation tracking the songwriter/performer's evolution from her jazz upbringing to her creation of some of the most stellar baroque pop of the 1960s.

Mark Wirtz

Dream, Dream, Dream: The Anthology

Well-chosen and executed set that shines much-deserved attention on one of the more interesting and accomplished behind-the-scenes pop artists on the '60s U.K. scene.

Miles Davis

Miles in France 1963 & 1964 - Miles Davis Quintet: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8

The origins and fruition of the trumpeter's "second quintet," performing with fire and virtuosity in France in the early '60s.

Robbie Basho

Snow Beneath the Belly of a White Swan: The Lost Live Recordings

Compiled from the late guitarist's personal collection, this box is a multi-dimensional gift of rare live material offering unissued tunes and favorites.

Roedelius

90

An archival dig of unreleased sketches and songs from this ambient forebear, recorded primarily between 1968 and 1980.

Shampoo

Complete Shampoo

Cherry Red's comprehensive set celebrates the South London duo's proudly plastic -- and surprisingly influential -- fusion of punk and pop.

Shop Assistants

Will Anything Happen [Deluxe Edition]

Expanded edition of a foundational indie-noise-twee (sort of) pop album by one of the exemplary groups of the style's early days.

Soft Machine

Høvikodden 1971

The band's complete killer 1971 run at Norway's Henie Onstad Art Centre, with another unissued concert from the night before, in stellar sound.

Sonic Youth

Walls Have Ears

The band reclaim a vital part of their history with the official release of these pivotal 1985 performances.

Sonny Rollins

Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Recordings [3 CD]

These trio concerts (all with bassist Henry Grimes) capture the saxophonist in Europe at a creative peak before entering a self-imposed exile.

Steve Lacy / Mal Waldron

The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp

A previously unreleased concert from 1995 finds the headliners with Andrew Cyrille and Reggie Workman delivering canny Monk tunes and poignant originals.

Sun Ra

Lights on a Satellite: Live at the Left Bank

Newly unearthed concert footage from 1978 captures Sun Ra and his large cosmic jazz band at the height of their powers.

Sylvester

Live at the Opera House: The Complete Recordings

Loving documentation of the charismatic gay icon's celebratory March 1979 performance in his adoptive hometown of San Francisco.

Taana Gardner

When You Touch Me: The West End Recordings

Overdue anthology of the singer's West End recordings, including eternal club hits "Work That Body," "When You Touch Me," and "Heartbeat."

Talking Heads

Talking Heads: 77 [Super Deluxe Edition]

This expanded edition of the band's groundbreaking debut includes a superb 1977 live show from CBGB.

The Go-Betweens

G Stands for Go-Betweens, Vol. 3

The legendary group's second incarnation is lovingly honored with a box set that collects remastered albums, a 1999 radio session, EP tracks, rough mixes, and a wealth of intimate demos.

The Ladybug Transistor

The Albemarle Sound [25th Anniversary Expanded Edition]

Brilliant chamber pop album that's musically accomplished, emotional powerful, and full of tender songs that are joyful and heartbreaking at once.

The Mystic Tide

Frustration

Remastered anthology collection of this obscure Long Island garage band who took their homespun psychedelia further out than most.

The Rascals

It's Wonderful: The Complete Atlantic Studio Recordings

All seven studio albums (and more) that the kings of blue-eyed soul recorded during their glory days at Atlantic Records.

The Saints

(I'm) Stranded [Deluxe Edition]

The Australian band's debut is punk rock at its most melodic, determined, and fundamentally pure; it's presented here remastered with loads of bonus tracks.

The Salsoul Orchestra

It's Good for the Soul: The Vince Montana Years 1975-1978

Big band disco at its finest, this set collects all the group's albums and singles from their -- and disco's -- exciting early years.

Tsunami

Loud Is As

The '90s D.I.Y. paragons are given the full Numero Group treatment on this sharply presented five-LP box containing their three albums and non-album material.

Various Artists

Tomorrow's Fashions: Library Electronica 1972-1987

Fascinating collection of futuristic, synth-heavy compositions made for production libraries like Music de Wolfe and Bruton.

Various Artists

SAM Records: The Sound of New York City 1975-1983

Fun and danceable set of tracks culled from the vault of the legendary N.Y.C. disco label.

Various Artists

Pour a Little Sugar on It: The Chewy Chewy Sounds of American Bubblegum 1966-1971

Comprehensive genre overview that gathers up titans and nobodies in equal numbers while stretching the boundaries and getting in plenty of "ba-ba-ba's."

Various Artists

No Songs Tomorrow: Darkwave, Ethereal Rock and Coldwave 1981-1990

Four-CD set tracing the development of dark, atmospheric alternative music from post-punk to goth club favorites and neo-classical dream pop.

Various Artists

New Jill Swing 1988-1994

Classics and deep cuts from SWV, Jade, Karyn White, En Vogue, and other women who exemplified contemporary R&B in the post-Control era.

Various Artists

Kampire Presents: A Dancefloor in Ndola

A well-curated selection of African dance records from the '80s and '90s, including styles such as rhumba, soukous, and township bubblegum.

Various Artists

Heaven Sent: The Rise of New Pop 1979-1983

This fun and educational collection documents the brief blink of time when post-punk artists began to gleefully embrace the sound and trappings of pop.

Various Artists

Ghana Special, Vol. 2: Electronic Highlife & Afro Sounds in the Diaspora 1980-93

Stellar compilation documenting the influence of post-disco, new wave, and Caribbean sounds on Ghanaian music post-1980.

Various Artists

Devil Rides In: Spellbinding Satanic Magick & the Rockult 1967-1974

This fascinating mix of hard rock, prog, folk, jazz, and more traces the dark side to the hippie fascination with the occult.

Various Artists

Congo Funk! Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River (Kinshasa/Brazzaville 1969-1982)

An overview of the Congolese scene of the late '60s and early '70s, when fresh possibilities for musical expansion and collaboration abounded.

Weezer

Weezer 30 [Anniversary Super Deluxe]

This swag-filled reissue of the band's landmark debut album includes almost 40 previously unissued recordings.

West Coast Consortium

All the Love in the World: Collected Recordings 1964-1972

Collection of all the first-rate British psychedelic harmony pop band's officially released singles plus three discs' worth of mostly unheard until now home recordings.

Yusef Lateef

Atlantis Lullaby: The Concert in Avignon

Newly revealed, beautifully recorded concert by the great multi-instrumentalist with Kenny Barron, Bob Cunningham, and Tootie Heath.