20 Record Store Day 2025 exclusives that we’d actually like to buy

The 2025 edition of Record Store Day is a little earlier than it usually happens — this year it’s the Saturday before Tax Day, not after. But otherwise it’s business as usual, with hundreds of titles pressed exclusively for RSD and available only at independent record stores, plus “RSD First” titles that you can pick up ahead of their proper release date. There are over 300 releases this year, and that’s just ones coming out in North America.

We’ve combed through this year’s official list of exclusives, which as often is the case includes releases from Bowie, members of the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac and Ramones, for 20 records that we are hoping to snag for ourselves this year. (A few of the artists we chose had more than one, so it’s actually more like 27.) Our picks include classic rock legends, out-of-print albums from ’80s and ’90s indie artists, soundtracks, live albums, a few from present day artists, and more.

Check out our RSD25 exclusives list below and happy hunting.

Air – Blue Moon Safari ++ Moon Safari Live & Demos

Air are back for a second year with two separate RSD releases surrounding their classic debut album Moon Safari. Blue Moon Safari is a full-album remix by producer/DJ Vegyn that manages to chill these songs out even more and comes on appropriate blue vinyl. Live & Demos is just what it sounds like, compiling demos and live radio sessions from the era (BBC, KCRW), plus a cover of Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain” recorded in Amsterdam in 1998. Matching the band’s outfits, this comes on white vinyl.

Belly – King (30th Anniversary Edition)

Belly struck alt-rock radio gold with their 1993 debut Star and its single “Feed the Tree,” but the follow-up is definitely underrated. Made with new bassist Gail Greenwood and producer Glyn Johns (Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones), King added heft and crunch to Belly’s signature bewitching sound and spawned three singles: ‘Now They’ll Sleep’, ‘Seal My Fate’ and ‘Super-Connected’. This 30th anniversary edition has been remastered and pressed on green vinyl, and is the album’s first reissue since its original 1995 release.

Camper Van Beethoven – Telephone Free Landslide Victory (40th Anniversary Edition)

Camper Van Beethoven’s 1985 debut album was a uniquely Californian blend of punk rock snottiness and hippy flower power, incorporating ska and Eastern European folk — and Jonathan Segel’s distinctive violin playing — for a very unique sound. “Take the Skinheads Bowling” was an instant college radio hit and Telephone Free Landslide Victory also features such classics as “The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon,” “Where the Hell Is Bill?” and their cover of Black Flag’s “Wasted.” This 40th anniversary edition is the first vinyl pressing since the ’80s, comes on clear orange wax, and reproduce’s the album’s original KraftPak board sleeve.

Charli XCX – Number 1 Angel & “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish

Number 1 Angel, the first of two mixtapes Charli XCX released in 2017, has a stacked list of collaborators with production from A.G. Cook, Sophie, Danny L Harle, Life Sim, Easy FX, and John Hill, and CupcakKe, Uffie, Abra, MØ, Starrah, and Raye each featuring on tracks. The Record Store Day pressing is on apple vinyl and comes with a poster. Also out is a 7″ of brat‘s saucy “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish.

The Colourfield – Virgins & Philistines (40th Anniversary Edition)

After leading The Specials and Fun Boy 4, Terry Hall formed The Colourfield in the mid-’80s, a group with a jazzier pop side. Released in 1985, the band’s debut album is a lost classic, featuring bitter, poison-pen lyrics set to lush production. Virgins & Philistines includes twisted love songs “Thinking of You” and “Castles in the Air,” record biz invective “Pushing Up the Daisies” and covers of The Roches’ “Hammond Song” and The Four Seasons’ “I Can’t Get Enough of You Baby” (later made a hit in the ’90s by Smash Mouth). This 40th anniversary edition comes with a bonus disc of rare outtakes and b-sides, including a karaoke version of “Thinking of You.”

The Cure – Head on the Door (Picture Disc) & “Alone (Four Tet Remix)” 12″

The Cure almost always participate in Record Store Day and this year they’ve got two releases: A picture disc version of their classic 1985 album The Head on the Door (featuring “In Between Days,” “Close to Me” and more) that has been remastered by Robert Smith and cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios; and a one-sided 12″ with a Four Tet remix of “Alone” off last year’s Music of a Lost World (with proceeds benefiting Doctors Without Borders).

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – Barafundle

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci were one of a few Welsh groups who garnered a lot of attention in the ’90s — in the UK music press at least — thanks to the the fertile Cardiff scene (see also: Catatonia, 60 Ft Dolls). Led by Euros Childs (now of Teenage Fanclub), Gorky’s were the quirkiest of the bunch, originally singing exclusively in Welsh with a sound that echoed early-’70s mossy psych-folk. After a few acclaimed independent releases, Gorky’s signed to major label Fontana and released their best album, Barafundle, in 1997 which spawned three (minor) UK hits with “Young Girls & Happy Endings,” “Patio Song” and “Diamond Dew.” Out of print since its original release, this remastered pressing marks Barafundle‘s first-ever North American release and comes on “jungle swirl” vinyl.

The Grateful Dead – Beacon Theatre, New York, NY 6/14/76 & On A Back Porch Vol. 1 / Jerry Garcia – Don’t Let Go

It’s not Record Store Day without some Grateful Dead and this year we go back to 1976 on both coasts – the Dead’s complete 6/14/76 Beacon Theatre show on vinyl for the first time and a Jerry Garcia solo show from San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre that same year. There’s also a live Dead compilation and an alternate version of Dead lyricist Robert Hunter’s sophomore solo album Tiger Rose.

Harvey Danger – King James Version (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

Not just one-hit wonders for “Flagpole Sitta,” underrated ‘90s alt-rockers Harvey Danger give their even-more-underrated sophomore album its first-ever vinyl release for its 25th anniversary, pressed as a double-LP on colored vinyl with bonus tracks, new liner notes, new artwork, and more.

The House of Love – The House of Love (Early Singles Comp)

London’s The House of Love were the first indie superstars on Creation Records, thanks to proto-shoegaze classics like “Shine On” and “Christine” that would influence the label’s next wave of bands (including Ride and Slowdive). This compilation of the band’s early singles, which includes the hard-to-find “Destroy the Heart” and “Christine” b-side “The Hill” featuring lead vocals by Andrea Heukamp, was only ever released in Germany and has long been a sought-after release. It’s available for the first time on these shores, and pressed on orange vinyl.

Jethro Tull – Songs From The Vault: 1975-1978

Progressive rock legends Jethro Tull have compiled rarities and outtakes from the sessions that produced several of their classic ‘70s albums—Minstrel In The Gallery, Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young To Die!, Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses—for Songs From The Vault: 1975-1978. The majority of these have never previously been on vinyl.

The Jesus Lizard – Flux

Post-hardcore/noise rock legends The Jesus Lizard returned in 2024 as sneering and caustic as ever on their first album in 26 years, Rack, and there’s more where that came from. They’ve been rolling out other equally-great songs from the sessions and now they’ve compiled those tracks for this new RSD-exclusive EP.

MJ Lenderman – And The Wind (Live and Loose!)

Before he released one of our favorite albums of 2024, Manning Fireworks, MJ Lenderman gave everyone a taste of his fantastic band, The Wind, on 2023’s And The Wind (Live and Loose!), his first-ever live album, which transforms the songs from 2022’s Boat Songs (along with a few more) on stage at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, IL and Lodge Room in Los Angeles, CA. Originally just a digital released, it’s coming out on double-LP vinyl for the first time this Record Store Day.

Post Malone – Post Malone Tribute to Nirvana

This year’s Record Store Day Ambassador made waves during the COVID quarantine era with his all-Nirvana covers livestream (with Travis Barker on drums), and then he ended up singing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with surviving members of the actual Nirvana for SNL50. Now, the recording of that livestream comes to vinyl — yellow vinyl to be specific — with 100% of net proceeds donated to Musicares’s Addiction Recovery/Mental Health division.

Shudder To Think – Pony Express Record / First Love, Last Rites: Music From The Motion Picture

Shudder to Think are back together, so it’s perfect timing for these two remastered RSD reissues from the band’s mid-’90s years on Epic Records. 1994’s Pony Express Record, their major label debut that features singles “Hit Liquor” and “X-French Tee Shirt,” comes with five bonus tracks recorded live to 2-track in ’94; The soundtrack to First Love Last Rights features Shudder to Think backing Jeff Buckley, Liz Phair, Billy Corgan, The Cardigans’ Nina Persson, Low’s Mimi Parker & Alan Sparhawk, and more, and this is its first-ever vinyl pressing.

Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music (50th Anniversary Edition)

Seen as a massive middle finger aimed at his record label RCA — and perhaps fans — when it was released in 1975, Lou Reed’s fifth solo album was 60 minutes of sheer punishing noise. Dubbed “The greatest record ever made in the history of the human eardrum” by famed rock critic Lester Bangs on its release in 1975, Metal Machine Music was a punchline for years but has gained fans in recent decades as experimental music has neared the mainstream. This 50th anniversary edition has been pressed on silver vinyl and given reimagined cover art.

The Replacements – Tim 2xLP (original mix / Ed Stasium “Let It Bleed” mix)

The Replacements’ 1985 major label debut, Tim, is one of those albums that is a classic despite being generally regarded, in technical terms, as sounding like ass. In 2023, producer Ed Stasium remixed the album from the ground up to great effect. It was like hearing it for the first time. For those who like to compare versions, this double-LP set puts the original mix of the album on the first disc, and the Stasium mix on the second, all pressed on purple vinyl.

Various Artists – Over the Edge Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Matt Dillon made his big screen debut in the 1979 coming-of-age film Over the Edge about a group of teens who rebel against their small town’s adult authority after one of their friends is killed. It was based on real life events and became a “troubled teens” cult classic thanks to its gritty rebel themes and soundtrack that included songs by Ramones, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, The Cars and more. This is the first reissue of the soundtrack since its original release and comes pressed on New Granada Blue vinyl.

Various Artists – The Virgin Suicides (Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition)

Sofia Coppola’s feature film directorial debut is best known, musically, for its score by French band Air (who are elsewhere on this list), but The Virgin Suicides also sports a killer soundtrack featuring mostly original hits from its ’70s backdrop (Heart, Todd Rundgren, 10cc) as well as Air’s “Playground Love” (featuring Phoenix’s Tomas Mars) and Canadian alt-rock greats Sloan. This 25th anniversary edition features reimagined artwork, an bonus 7″ flexidisc of Bread’s “Make It With You,” and new liner notes from the film’s music supervisor, Brian Reitzell.

Waxahatchee – “Much Ado About Nothing” b/w “Mud” & “Next To Me”

The bonus tracks from Waxahatchee’s 2024 album Tigers Blood (one of our favorite albums of the year) are just as good as the album itself, and they’re collected on a limited edition 7″ for Record Store Day.

Check out the full Record Store Day 2025 exclusive releases list here.