Record Store Day 2025: What releases should you be looking out for?

The 2025 edition of Record Store Day comes a little earlier this year, as 20 April is overtaken by Easter. So, RSD has been bumped up to this Saturday (12 April).  

Regardless, it’s still the same annual celebration of independent record stores who come together to curate events and boast exclusive releases to treat music fans the world over. 

The hundred of titles pressed exclusively for RSD 2025 is as rich and varied as ever, with the reissuing of classics, one-off releases of rarities, and exclusive live performances pressed on vinyl for the very first time. 

We’ve combed through this year’s list of releases, which you can find on the RSD website and come up with our selection of the 10 vinyls you shouldn’t miss out on.  

Happy hunting.

The Cure – Head On The Door (Picture Disc) & Alone (Four Tet Remix)

The Cure are Record Store Day regulars and this year they’ve got two releases: a picture disc version of their best studio album, 1985’s ‘The Head On The Door’ (featuring classics like ‘In Between Days’, ‘Close To Me’ and the oft overlooked ‘Six Different Ways’), remastered by Robert Smith and cut by Miles Showell; and a one-sided 12″ with a Four Tet remix of ‘Alone’ off last year’s ‘Songs Of A Lost World’. The proceeds from the sales of that single benefits Doctors Without Borders. 

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart

Scottish singer Isobel Campbell and the late, great Mark Lanegan worked on three albums together from 2006 to 2010 – including the Mercury Music Prize-shortlisted ‘Ballad Of The Broken Seas’, and the glorious ‘Sunday At Devil Dirt’. This year’s exclusive release features six songs that are available on vinyl for the very first time: the brand new title track and five songs from the ‘Sunday At Devil Dirt’ sessions. Not one to miss out on if you’re in the mood for some country-tinged folk rock.

Rage Against The Machine – Live On Tour 1993

Legacy Recordings has put together a new compilation of raw and unmixed live tracks from Rage Against The Machine’s first world tour in 1993. This three-sided LP includes explosive renditions of ‘Bombtrack’, ‘Killing In The Name’ and ‘Freedom’. Considering we’re unlikely to ever see the band tour again, this is the consolation prize.  

Dead Or Alive – Youthquake Remixes

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’, two different limited and numbered 12″s are being released of the absolute banger for RSD 2025. Don’t miss out.

De La Soul – Bigger & Respect

Speaking of brilliant singles, two previously unreleased De La Soul songs are finally dropping on vinyl this year. ‘Bigger’ and ‘Respect’ were originally recorded in 2004, and we can’t wait to get our hands on these two.  

David Bowie – Ready, Set, Go

Granted, since his death in 2016, there’s always been some exclusive David Bowie pressing going at RSD. However, this year’s one is a good’un. Recorded live at London’s Riverside Studios in 2003, ‘Ready, Set, Go’ is Bowie performing his underrated 2003 album ‘Reality’ in its entirety. It also features several tracks from the brilliant ‘Heathen’ and ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ from ‘Outside’.

Tom Waits – Get Behind The Mule (Spiritual)

This previously unreleased version of ‘Get Behind the Mule’ is an alternate take of ‘Mule Variation’’s iconic track. The blurb for the RSD release states: “This stripped-down rendition amplifies the dark narrative of murder and perseverance, with the lyrics even slightly altered, rendering it with an even starker intensity than the original LP version.” Sold.    

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

Lou Reed’s 1975 album was essentially a massive “fuck you” to his record label at the time. Following on from the glorious triple-tap of ‘Transformer’, ‘Berlin’ and ‘Sally Can’t Dance’, ‘Metal Machine Music’ was a departure: 64 minutes of unstructured compositions that eschewed melody for noise music guitars. It was released as a double album, critically panned, and then taken off the shelves three weeks later. Since then, the album has been reappraised by fans of experimental music. It’s a tough listen but there’s still plenty to enjoy and puzzle over. Plus, this year’s 50th anniversary edition has been pressed on a silver vinyl, and the cover arka is all kinds of lovely. 

Lianne La Havas – Is Your Love Big Enough?

British alt-soul singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas released her debut album in 2012, and finding it on vinyl has been something of a mission over the years. Thankfully, the LP featuring singles like ‘Forget’, ‘Lost & Found’ and ‘Au Cinema’ is coming back for RSD on pink and blue marble vinyl, with each vinyl being individually pressed – making every copy unique. Yes please.    

The NeverEnding Story Original Soundtrack

We finish with a nostalgia hit. The OST for the 80s classic has been out of print for decades, and this remastered edition will be a rare find. Only 2,000 units will be available worldwide. So best of luck and congrats in advance to those who’ll evvel again get to listen to the stellar work by legendary disco producer Giorgio Moroder and Klaus Doldlinger of the German jazz group Passport. Just don’t think too hard about Artax the horse drowning in the mud while you do…