RSD Black Friday: Nas, Joni Mitchell and more vinyl releases
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Nas' "I Am... the Autobiography" finally arrives. Photo: Burak Cingi/Redferns/Getty Images
Black Friday is a day of deals — and a day when new vinyl is released at local record stores across the nation.
Why it matters: Record Store Day's Black Friday promotion features rare releases from some of the greatest music artists of all time, several of which have been out of print for decades, at record stores around the country.
Worthy of your time: We've highlighted five of the more than 170 special releases on vinyl, CD and cassette dropping Friday:
Nas — "I Am… the Autobiography"
The intrigue: "I Am… the Autobiography" is what Nas' third studio album "I Am…" was supposed to be before it leaked online prior to its 1999 release.
- It gets its first commercial release with two unreleased tracks on a double-LP vinyl.
Goo Goo Dolls — "Goo Goo Dolls"
The intrigue: Before they were cranking out hits like "Iris" and "Slide," the Goo Goo Dolls were a modest punk band trying to make it out of Buffalo, New York.
- The group's 1987 debut album — recorded on a $750 budget — has long been unavailable on vinyl.
The intrigue: This release re-creates the rare, promotional 12-inch vinyl of Prince's single "Gett Off," which introduced his new backing band, the New Power Generation, to the world in 1991.
- The release features a nearly 10-minute version of the song on one side with the other side of the vinyl blank.
Joni Mitchell: "Court and Spark Demos"
The intrigue: Mitchell's best-selling album gets the demo treatment with never-before-heard versions of songs from 1974's "Court and Spark."
- Highlights of the vinyl release include two early takes of "Down to You" and a raw version of "Help Me."
The intrigue: Holiday lovers and pop-punk fans can enjoy the 10th-anniversary release of Fearless Records' Christmas compilation that arrived at the height of pop-punk's 2000s rain.
- The double-LP vinyl features original holiday songs from New Found Glory, Set It Off, Yellowcard and more.
