Vinyl Minded, Gift Guide Edition Vol. 3The Monkees

Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd (Rhino/Warner)

Part of the wonderful Rhino High Fidelity, arguably the most adventurous album by The Monkees has been given the heavyweight vinyl treatment, which offers us a chance to revisit an underrated gem.

The 180-gram release has been cut from the original analog tapes at Cohearent Audio. "Released at the height of Monkeemania in November 1967, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. was The Monkees’ fourth consecutive #1 album—and their third release that year alone," a statement reads. "It spent five weeks atop the Billboard 200 and earned double platinum certification. Building on the creative control they established with Headquarters, the album marked a turning point in the band’s sound, incorporating sharper lyrics, electric banjo, and one of the earliest uses of a Moog synthesizer on a rock album. Recorded amid a grueling tour schedule and across multiple studios, the sessions captured both the group’s growing studio ambitions and the fragmented pace of their late-’60s reality. The result was one of their most adventurous—and enduring—records."

It's tough to ignore the Beatles comparisons on this one, particular the "Salesman"/"Taxman" of it all. But it's also undeniable that, when they stretched out and allowed the creativity to flow, as they did here, the Monkees were a real force. The whole "they were just actors for a TV show" thing should be put to bed.

The Cranberries

MTV Unplugged (Island/Universal)

It was 1995--30 years ago--that The Cranberries recorded one of the great MTV Unplugged sets, and it's available for the first time here in full, on newly mastered vinyl.

It's bittersweet because, boy, do we still miss singer Dolores O'Riordan. But having the opportunity to hear her in a stripped down environment, crooning her band's better known songs--that's a real treat.

"Linger," "Empty," "Zombie" -- these are glorious versions given new life in a space setting. Nirvana pulled the same trick with an MTV Unplugged, and here we are entering 2026, wishing Delores and Kurt were still with us.

"If you saw the episode, it's time to relive the majesty of their hypnotic performance that chilly February night in 1995," reads a statement. "If you hadn't seen it, be prepared to be awed."

Eternity's Children

Eternity's Children (High Moon)

Timeless (High Moon)

In the case of both of these albums from "sunshine pop legends" Eternity's Children, this is the first time they've been released on vinyl since the late '60s. We can thank the fine people at High Moon Records for that--the label has been helping us rediscover many a lost gem of late. Both of these fall into that category.

“Possessed of two exceptional lead vocalists and a self-penned hit single, immensely talented, college-educated, and great-looking to boot, they toured with some of the biggest names in music, and worked with the finest producers and musicians,” writes Steve Stanley, who produced these for reissue and wrote the liner notes. “They transformed the songs they covered – many composed by the industry’s top songwriters – and made them their own. Eternity’s Children clearly had all the ingredients necessary to conquer the pop world, yet their career path was littered with more pitfalls and landmines than most artists could ever fear to endure. Why did this band, whose talent far surpassed that of many of their more renowned contemporaries, fail to achieve the measure of acclaim and financial success they deserved?”

That is the big question. Eternity's Children certainly had the tunes, and there was a time when their very Hair, "Dawning of Aquarius" vibe was in vogue. Now, it feels like a product of its time but that's no bad thing. It's nice to look back, and enjoy.The post Vinyl Minded, Gift Guide Edition Vol. 3 first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.