Friday New Releases – February 20, 2026

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Another Friday is upon us. Another Friday New Releases. Yes!! We don’t have a ton for you, but I’m excited because I have a couple I’m looking forward to hearing. First for me is Michael Monroe’s Outersteller and the other is the new Veer Union album Reinvention. Those will be cranked on my stereo today. What do you want to hear this week? Or what are we missing that is out today? Let us know. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend!

  • Michael Monroe – Outerstellar – (Silver Lining Music)
  • The Veer Union – Reinvention – (Arising Empire)
  • Mumford & Sons – Prizefighter – (GOTR / Glassnote Entertainment Group)
  • Megan Moroney – Cloud 9 – (Sony Music)
  • Tori Amos – Strange Little Girls – (Rhino Entertainment / Warner Music / Atlantic Records)
  • Hilary Duff – Luck…Or Something – (Atlantic Records)
  • New Found Glory – Listen Up! – (Pure Noise Records)
  • Elvis Presley – Epic: Elvis Presley In Concert – (RCA Records / Sony Music)
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‘Shakespeare’s MacBeth: A Rock Opera (Featuring Jeff Scott Soto)’ – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Many years ago, Greg Cherone and John Bettencourt got together with an idea to turn William Shakespeare’s most tragic of tragedies into a Rock Opera. The tragedy in question is MacBeth, one of his most well-known works. Greg and John got through a number of songs in the first Act done, but the project was shelved for years collecting dust and going no where. That was until a new collaborator was brought in who had a background in musical theater, Greg’s cousin, Robert Clapp Jr. Greg asked Robert to work on one song called “A Dangerous Thing” and after that was done, Robert agreed to work on another, then another until he was in hook, line and sinker. After a year or so of work, we get a finished project with two full acts, 27 songs telling the story of MacBeth.

Robert played all the instruments and even sang all the parts to kick things off so they had a base tracking of the album. They added vocals to each song by using friends, family members and even hiring singers using the app Fiverr which was very successful for them. But they still needed a name, a person that would help draw some interest into the project. Their main goal was to get a backer to help stage the show in the theater and bring these songs to life. Greg mentioned to me that he styled the Rock Opera in the same way as Jesus Christ Superstar of which all three of them are a huge fan. I believe Robert Clapp was actually in Jesus Christ Superstar at one time.

As luck would have it, during the Monsters of Rock cruise back in March of 2025, an evening dinner would start the interest in someone to sing MacBeth. On the cruise was the band Extreme and as it so happens, Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt of the band are the brothers of Greg Cherone and John Bettencourt the creators of the MacBeth Rock Opera. Gary was having dinner with Jeff Scott Soto and talked to him about the MacBeth project. Later, Gary told Greg about Jeff so Greg reached out and asked Jeff to sing on one song. Jeff did it and they loved his work so they thought, why not ask Jeff to do all the MacBeth. The worst he could do is say No. Well, Jeff doesn’t like to say No and he happily agreed to handle all the vocals as he had barely enough time before his next project, a Brazilian tour.

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Needtobreathe – Best of The Insiders: 5th Edition – 2026 Insiders Club

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For the 2022 Insiders Club, Needtobreathe changed things up. They were no longer going to release a physical product and only do the Digital Songs only. I stopped being a member right then and there as I want a physical product. Well, I think the backlash was swift and loud as a few months in to the year, that all changed. They decided that there will be a new tier level in the Insiders Club, more expensive of course, but a physical product would be given. This time around instead of only a CD, you will get an autographed vinyl copy as well. They still have the digital songs, which are different then the ones on the vinyl. The new CD and Vinyl are now a Best of The Insiders giving us the 9-10 songs from the 8 years of The Insiders CD series they had started 8 years earlier. The 1st Edition came in March 2023 almost a year after the announcement, but the band was smart as they went ahead and worked on the 2023 Edition at the same time they were working on the 2022 Edition. We received this vinyl in April 2023. Then in February 2024, we got the 3rd Edition and a year later in February 2025, we get the 4th Edition. And if you have figured out the trend now, February 2026 we get the 5th Edition. And I have them all…

This time around, we get 9 songs but you have to remember they are trying to fit them on easily on a vinyl with only a set amount of time, so I’m okay with only 9 songs. We did get the CD again which is unsigned but that gives me all five of those as well…

You also got a handful of other items including including a 2026 calendar…

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My Sunday Song – “Who’s The One” by Winger

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For My Sunday Song #471, we are going to discuss “Who’s The One” by Winger from their 1993 album ‘Pull’. An often overlooked album. By 1993, the music landscaped had completely changed for the 80’s glam metal scene. Gone were the bands I’d had grown up loving and replaced by Grunge, but that didn’t stop bands from putting out albums. In fact, for one band, Winger, it might have produced its best album to date. The band was down to three members with Kip Winger, Rob Morgenstein and Reb Beach. Released on May 18, 1993, ‘Pull” showcased a very mature Winger and a band that wasn’t going to be stopped creating and putting out their best material (even though this was their last album for years to follow).

I have a lot of favorites on here and the final track from pull might be #1. This one was written by Kip Winger and Reb Beach. It seems to have some socio-political leanings towards it as well as a crisis of faith. It feels as the song is about a complete lost of faith in religion and the government. There are is an utter darkness to the lyrics with lines like “When all the colors begin to fade” and “What will be your savior now / Dragon or machine”. The Dragon usually means drugs and the machine is quite possibly the government. Both depressing saviors.

There are so many religious lines and so many lines about guns and armies. This is 1993 and the U.S. was involved in Somalia which was a horrific event. This could all stem from his thoughts on that political matter. I don’t really know, but I do know the lyrics carry a lot weight. The video for the song, gives you a good idea of all the crap we were dealing with at the time.

The song is an acoustic ballad that is my all time favorite ballad by the band. Kip’s vocals with the acoustic guitars are a perfectly blend of melodies and harmonies between a voice and an instrument. He also is feeling the song as he sings as he pulls a lot of emotion in to it. It is one of the most beautiful songs the band has ever done. The chorus is a huge payoff as the percussion done by Rob also adds some beautiful flavors to the song. But it is the emotion coming off those acoustic guitars where you feel that weight of the lyrics. If a song can be perfect, this would be as close as you could get. What a way to go out, leave me wanting more.

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Friday New Releases – February 13, 2026

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It’s Friday the 13th!! And that is lucky day because we have a batch of releases for you this week. Around 40 which means that there is probably something for everyone…but me. Nothing I have to have this week, but let me know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope the rest of your day be just as great!!

  • Black Swan – Paralyzed – (Frontiers Records)
  • Temple Balls – Temple Balls – (Frontiers Records)
  • Austen Starr – I Am The Enemy – (Frontiers Records)
  • Charli XCX – Wuthering Heights – (Atlantic Recording Co.)
  • Colony House – 77 (Pt. 2) – (LastDaze Records)
  • Jill Scott – To Whom This May Concern – (Blues Babe Records)
  • Story of the Year – A.R.S.O.N. – (Sharptone)
  • Eric Church – Evangeline vs. The Machine: Comes Alive – (Mercury Nashville / BigEC Records / UMG)
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Kiss – ‘Return to Thunder: Winter Tour 1976/1977’ (2015) – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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When Kiss were preparing to tour their album ‘Rock And Roll Over’, They rented some space at Camp Curtis Guild Armory in Reading, Massachusetts and rehearsed. They recorded one rehearsal on November 15, 1976 which is a very famous bootleg that has been going around for years. In fact, I recently reviewed this rehearsal on a vinyl bootleg I have called ‘Choppers ‘N Chicks’. This time around it is the CD from 2015 called ‘Return to Thunder: Winter Tour 1976/1977’. We get that whole show rehearsal as well as some bonus tracks not on that last release.

This package comes in a cardboard vinyl sleeve replica with some cool live shots as well as the Kiss logo from the Rock & Roll Over album. The disc is housed in a cardboard sleeve and if that wasn’t enough they included a 4-page booklet that has 4 pictures. One of each Kiss member including Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, the late, great Ace Frehley and Peter Cris…oops…they have a typo…it should be Peter Criss with two S’s.

This is another disc that was included in the John Humphrey Collection I bought last year at auction. where I got my hands on 38 Bootleg CDs from his personal collection. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…which I did.

Track 1-19: Rehearsals Camp Curtis Guild Armory, Reading, Ma, U.S.A. November 15 1976:

The album opens with a fade in as the band is doing “Detroit Rock City”. It picks up right as Paul starts singing the lyrics. It all sounds a little hollow due to the type of recording, but you can hearing everything fairly well. Vocals are good as no one has blown their voice yet as this is only rehearsals. They aren’t half-assing anything as Peter sounds on point, and Ace’s solo is full on like you’d expect.

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The Collection: Ep. 90 – Shakespeare’s MacBeth: A Rock Opera – Interview with Greg Cherone, John Bettencourt & Robert Clapp Jr.

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This week on The Collection, I sit down with the creators of Shakespeare’s MacBeth: A Rock Opera that features Jeff Scott Soto as MacBeth. I interview Greg Cherone, John Bettencourt and Robert Clapp Jr and we talk through how they came up with the Rock Opera, how they picked the cast and we walk through all the great songs on this release. We do talk about Jeff Scott Soto and how he became a part of this production. The show is a broken out into Two Acts and delivers all the best parts of MacBeth with all the drama, danger, deaths, treason, suicides and even some humor. It is as dark tragedy that is such a compelling and interesting story, you can’t help but get sucked in and want to hear it over and over again. Come join us as we talk through as much as we can. Lots of great information and here is hoping they get a chance to bring this to the stage with Jeff as MacBeth. That would be awesome. I’d go see that.

So go check it out as it is live right now on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

If you want find out more about the Rock Opera, you can go to MacbethARockOpera.com and check it out.

My Sunday Song – “Let There Be Shred” by Megadeth

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For My Sunday Song #470, we are tackling the new single “Let There Be Shred” from the brand new and final Megadeth album, ‘Megadeth’. The song was dropped as a single on December 19, 2025, but I didn’t hear it until I bought the new album which was released on January 23, 2026. I have not stopped listening to this album and song ever since. The song helped propel Megadeth to their First #1 Album in their 40 year history. What a way to go out as this is their last album, according to Dave Mustaine. Go out on top…not many bands can do that.

The song was written by Dave Mustaine, Teemu Mäntysaari and Dirk Verbeuren. All members of Megadeth. The only one missing is James LoMenzo. The song is a blistering fun romp down memory lane. It is a nostalgic driven song about their love for Thrash metal. It is about the destruction of playing guitar with a fierce, adrenaline-filled passion that leaves everyone else in your dust. “Clawing at Fretboards”, “Smash my guitar”, “Thunderous command”, “Guitars are all screaming”, “A machine gun on meth”…all ways of describing their playing and it fits it perfectly.

Musically, the song is total fire. This is a guitar showcase song for sure. You get two solos, one from Teemu Mantysaari and one from Dave himself. During the second solo, the whole feel of the song changes and the solo obliterates your ears. The drums, from Dirk, pummel you until you are black and blue. Dave’s gravely, dirty vocals are masterful and reminds you that although he isn’t the best singer out there, he is perfect for this type of music. I can’t imagine anyone else singing this song. But again, the highlight are the frightening brutal riffs, screaming solos and wall-to-wall destruction by the guitar. These guys were definitely born with a guitar in their hand!!

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Friday New Releases – February 6, 2026

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Welcome to Friday New Releases. February comes in with a little of a whimper. Not a lot here this time around, but there is one that will be big for sure and that is Nick Jonas. I won’t be getting it, but I am sure a lot of people will. For me, there is really nothing I need, maybe I’ll stream the new Puscifer album, but outside of that, probably nothing else. Let me know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend!

  • Nick Jonas – Sunday Best – (Republic Records / UMG)
  • Joe Bonamassa – B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100 – (KTBA Records)
  • Yes – Tales From Topographic Oceans (Super Deluxe Edition) – (Atlantic Recording Corp / Warner Music Group)
  • Marc Broussard – S.O.S. V: Songs of the ’50s – (G-Man Touring Inc)
  • Puscifer – Normal Isn’t – (Alchemy Recordings)
  • Silversun Pickups – Tenterhooks – (New Machine Recordings)
  • KMFDM – Enemy – (Metropolis Records)
  • Visions of Atlantis – Armada: An Orchestral Voyage – (Napalm Records)
  • Mayhem – Liturgy of Death – (Century Media Records)
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Kiss – ‘Watching Us’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with some things.

This time around we have a cool bootleg that consists of a collection of performances Kiss did on various TV shows over the years. It is called ‘Watching Us’ and I am not sure what year this was released as it is not listed on the back cover nor does Discogs have it listed. It is 16 tracks covering appearances from 1974 up to 1986. The cover photo and a couple others were taken from a photoshoot on October 19, 1976. This was where they did a photoshoot for Creem magazine and they used polyurethane “fake” snow which is actually so toxic that it is no longer used. I am assuming the guys didn’t suffer any long-term effects from being exposed to it.

The disc starts off with ABC’s in Concert which aired on March 219, 1974. It kicks off with “Nothin’ to Lose and Peter on vocals. The quality is decent enough, a little hollow sounding like it was from a copy of a copy. The crowd sounds good and loud while the band is on fire as they are young and hungry. After that opening track, they go into the classic, “Firehouse”. Paul confidently and effortlessly delivers a stellar vocal. I like the long drawn out ending and the siren ringing loudly. After that, they go into one of my favorites, “Black Diamond”. This one sounds so good despite the quality of the recording. The band simply kills it. Peter’s vocals are spot on. He is so into it and gives it his all. Another great, long, drawn out, explosive ending. This was back when they were all the best they could be.

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