By any fair assessment, 2025 was an awful year.  Thank the heavens that we have a bunch of rock n roll culled from the vaults to keep us going in these troubled, divided times. It’s always nice to close the B&V lab door behind me, set down my phone to get away from the “socials,” and turn up some classic rock n roll music and just let the rock n roll wash over me… “Calgon, take me away…” indeed. 

We lost some real rock n roll legends this year. We lost Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Sly Stone from Sly & the Family Stone within days of each other. We lost Garth Hudson, the last member of the Band who was still standing.  And those are merely a few of the greats we lost this year. Hopefully everybody stays happy and healthy in 2026. 

We got a little bit of everything this year, from ‘Super Deluxe Editions’ of some of our favorite classic albums to mere singles from great bands like Guns N Roses (“Atlas” and “Nothing”) and Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs’ “Heart In The Heartland” which I thought heralded a new LP from those guys but alas, it was a one off, or so it seems. We even got artists who released their entire solo catalogs like Pete Townshend and David Lee Roth… although admittedly both of those wonderful boxes, like the solo careers they represented, suffered from the law of diminishing returns. 

In the past I’ve always lumped in contemporary/current live albums in with the vault stuff and I’m starting to realize (yes, it took me this long) that maybe these great live albums culled from current/recent tours should probably be paired with our previously published “Best of 2025’s New LPs” category. For administrative purposes I’ll split those out here and adjust my post accordingly next year. Of course we’re notorious for our love of live LPs...  These were my favorite new live LPs from the year that was 2025:

• Sting, Sting 3.0 Live – Just when I thought you could count Sting out, he strips his band back down to a trio, much like say, uh, the Police, where he got his start and bangs out a rocking new live LP. Nicely done! 
• Pretenders, Kick ‘Em Where It Hurts – Chrissie Hynde is the only one left standing from the original lineup but these guys still kick up quite a racket. Special nod to James Walbourne, Chrissie’s latest lead guitar player/collaborator. 
• Sammy Hagar & The Best Of All Worlds Band, The Residency  – On this one, Sammy is paying homage to his late bandmate Eddie Van Halen by doing a nice set of Van Hagar tunes. Brilliant to bring Joe Satriani along to play Eddie’s parts. Sammy also put out a couple of nice singles this year including the tribute to Eddie, “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight” and “Fortune Teller Blues” with Joe Bonamassa. 
• Depeche Mode, Momento Mori: Mexico City – I still can’t believe I didn’t motivate the Rock Chick to get out on the road and find a Depeche show to attend. There are four bonus tracks taken from the Momento Mori sessions that a wonderful cherry on top. A must listen. 
• David Gilmour, Luck And Strange Concerts – David Gimour, erstwhile lead guitarist from Pink Floyd, always puts out such wonderful live LPs and this is no exception. The guy puts on a lead guitar clinic here… 

I urge everyone to check out those great live albums at maximum volume. Scare the neighbors. If I’ve been over served, I like to stand on a chair to the sound of the applause at the end and pretend they’re clapping for me! Best have some adult supervision if you try that move…

Now, without further ado I turn my attention to the great vault releases we were treated to in 2025. There were so many more but I’ve cut the list down to these favorites of mine:

• Neil  Young, Oceanside Countryside – Another lost classic from Neil’s archives. If you can’t plunk down the big bucks for his Archives box sets, I highly recommend picking up this album. 
• Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes, Live At The Greek – On it’s 25th anniversary, Jimmy and the Crowes go back to this great live LP but this time they add the Crowes tunes they played in with the Zeppelin tunes and blues covers that were on the original release. Super stuff. 
• Rush, Rush 50 – Greatest hits albums rarely make my list but this was a great look at Rush’s storied career, mixing live cuts with studio gems. Great listening. They were such a powerhouse live. 
• Dire Straits, Brothers In Arms: 40th Annivesary Edition – Super Deluxe set with a concert from the original tour. 
• Bruce Springsteen, Tracks 2 and Nebraska: ’82: Expanded Edition – It was a superb year for Springsteen fans. We’d been waiting decades for Tracks 2, with 7, yes SEVEN, unreleased albums and then a spectacular set from the Nebraska sessions that included stellar outtakes and the mythical Electric Nebraska. My vault cup runneth over. 
• Talking Heads, More Songs About Buildings And Food: Super Deluxe – Great set that includes a concert from the tour for their spectacular second LP. 
• The Who, Live At The Oval 1971 and Who Are You: Super Deluxe Edition – It was also a great year for Who fans. The historic, powerful show from the Oval in 1971 ranks up with Live At Leeds as an essential live Who document. I also really enjoyed the Super Deluxe treatment Who Are You got this year… Keith Moon’s last LP with the band. “Not To Be Taken Away.” 
• Led Zeppelin, Live EP – Sight but substantial, these are powerful live tracks released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Physical Graffiti. 
• Buckingham Nicks, Buckingham Nicks – After 50 years the original Buckingham Nicks album gets re-released. I got my copy in the late 80s but this album is so good everybody needed to hear it with fresh ears. 
• Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here 50 – My favorite Pink Floyd album with outtakes and a live show! 
• Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series, Vol 18, Through The Open Window 1956 – 1963 – Early Dylan from that era captured by the Timothy Chalamet movie. This was significantly more compelling than I thought it was going to be. 
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Bold As Love – Sandwiched between their debut and the spectacular double LP, Electric Ladyland, I often overlooked this gem. This Super Deluxe edition got me re engaged with a classic. 
• The Black Crowes, Amorica (Deluxe Edition) – An album I didn’t love when it first came out has aged very, very well. This was definitely worth the immersion. 

That’s it from B&V in terms of 2025. These were our favorite new boxes/vault releases of the year. Have no fear we’ll be out here reporting from the rock n roll wilderness in the new year… I’ll always have my ear to the ground for great new rock from older artists who we grew up loving and any important vault stuff. Thanks for all the support in ’25 and I look forward to our conversation continuing in ’26. 

Cheers and Happy New Year! Be safe out there!