REISSUE THE WHO  Quadrophenia: The Criterion Edition    [Criterion] Forget Tommy, that convoluted pinball fantasia that for some reason stands as the better known, better loved of the Who’s two rock operas. The real masterpiece is Quadrophenia, a brilliant 1973 album whose equally excellent 1979 film adaptation has finally been given the Criterion treatment. Set in 1964 or ’65 at the height of Britain’s mod craze, the story centers on Jimmy,... 

REISSUE PANTERA   Vulgar Display of Power (Deluxe Edition)   [Rhino] Few albums in rock history have boasted a cover that so perfectly matched the contents. Pantera’s groove-metal landmark Vulgar Display of Power is indeed a musical blow to the head—and the fist that delivers it was never more tightly clenched than in 1992. Singer Phil Anselmo, guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, bass player Rex Brown and drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott together... 

REISSUE R.E.M. Lifes Rich Pageant (25th Anniversary Edition) [I.R.S./Capitol] While the following year’s Document would be the group’s true commercial breakthrough, the stage for that momentous event had been set by its predecessor, 1986’s Lifes Rich Pageant. The indie-rock heroes signaled a willingness to meet the mainstream halfway—OK, at least a little bit of the way—by tapping John Mellencamp producer Don Gehman. Singer Michael Stipe’s... 

PEARL JAM 1993-1995 [Epic/Legacy] REISSUE The period following the mammoth success of their 1991 debut album, Ten, was a turbulent period for Pearl Jam. The adjustment to stardom was a difficult one, and the strain only grew with the suicide of Seattle contemporary Kurt Cobain, its doomed antitrust lawsuit against promoter Ticketmaster, guitarist Mike McCready’s growing alcohol abuse and the bubbling internal personality conflict between Vedder... 

REISSUE REVIEW Duran Duran Duran Duran [Capitol] As the 1980s dawned over England, both punk and disco seemed to be in decline. Bands like Birmingham’s Duran Duran began weaving strands of both styles together into a form that came to be known as “New Romantic”—a danceable, synthesizer-driven style that placed a premium on cutting-edge fashion and cutting-edge hooks alike. The band’s self-titled debut served as a template for a sound it... 

The Jayhawks The Jayhawks [Lost Highway] In 1986 a young band from Minnesota released its self-titled first album, pressing only 2,000 vinyl copies on a small local label called Bunkhouse Records. The Jayhawks went on to find a national audience for their peculiarly Midwestern blend of rock and country, highlighted by the harmonic and creative interplay between singer-songwriters Mark Olson and Gary Louris. As the group’s influence grew and its... 

REISSUE REVIEW IGGY AND THE STOOGES Raw Power (Legacy Edition) [Columbia/Legacy] There’s something unsettling about seeing one of the most chaotic and dangerous bands ever to destroy a stage institutionalized in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but this year indeed marks Iggy Pop and his Stooges’ induction. Likewise, it’s a little odd to be confronted with a fancy expanded reissue of something as primal and fierce as 1973’s Raw Power, an album...