Record Store Day is this Saturday, April 18th. Here’s what to get here early for.
Over 400 titles drop at independent record stores this weekend — which means the real skill isn’t knowing what Record Store Day is. It’s knowing what to run for when the doors open. We’ve gone through the full list so you don’t have to. These 10 releases span rock, jazz, pop, post-punk, hip-hop, and beyond — and every one of them has a real reason to exist beyond a label cashing in on vinyl nostalgia.
Doors open early at 8am! First come, first served. One copy per customer on RSD Exclusive titles. See you in line.
1. Taylor Swift — Elizabeth Taylor (7″ Violet Glitter Vinyl)
Genre: Pop | Label: Republic Records
The most-requested title on the 2026 list, full stop. “Elizabeth Taylor” — one of the defining tracks from Swift’s chart-demolishing The Life of a Showgirl — comes pressed on a galactic purple-and-blue glitter vinyl (officially called “Cry My Eyes Violet Glitter”) with an exclusive So Glamorous Cabaret Version on the B-side that you won’t find anywhere else. The cover art is collectible black-and-white. The pressing is limited. If you want one, be here when we open. Swifties already know. The rest of you are now warned.
2. Pink Floyd — Live From the Los Angeles Sports Arena, April 26th, 1975 (4LP Clear Vinyl)
Genre: Psychedelic Rock | Label: Legacy Recordings | ~15,400 US copies
This is the big one for rock collectors. A full concert from the Wish You Were Here tour — captured by legendary bootlegger Mike Millard, restored and remastered by Steven Wilson, and released officially on vinyl for the very first time. The setlist is extraordinary: early versions of Animals-era songs (“Dogs” and “Sheep” in their pre-album forms), Dark Side of the Moon performed in full, and “Echoes” as the encore. Four LPs pressed on crystal-clear vinyl. For anyone who spent years hunting down the Millard boot, this is the dream release.
3. Bruce Springsteen — Live From Asbury Park 2024 (5LP)
Genre: Rock | Label: Legacy Recordings | 6,050 US copies
Springsteen told Rolling Stone it was one of the top three shows he’s ever played. On September 15th, 2024, he brought the E Street Band back to the beach in Asbury Park — the same town where he wrote his first songs — and played a three-hour set for 35,000 people that reached back to the very beginning. Rarities like “Thundercrack,” “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?” and “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” sat alongside “Thunder Road,” “Born to Run,” and “Dancing in the Dark.” This is the first time it’s been pressed to vinyl, in a limited run of just over 6,000 copies in the US. One of the most emotionally significant live documents in his catalog.
4. Bruno Mars — Collaborations (LP)
Genre: Pop / R&B | Label: Atlantic Records | 11,000 copies
As the 2026 RSD Ambassador, Bruno Mars is doing it right — a one-time-only compilation of his greatest collab hits, pressed exclusively for independent record stores and nowhere else. We’re talking “Uptown Funk” with Mark Ronson, “Die With A Smile” with Lady Gaga, “APT.” with ROSÉ, and more chart-dominating moments on a single LP. This won’t be pressed again. If you want it on wax, Saturday is your only shot.
5. Laufey — A Matter of Time: Live at Madison Square Garden (2LP Big Apple Red Vinyl)
Genre: Jazz / Pop | Label: AWAL | 17,000 copies
The Grammy-winning Icelandic-Chinese artist made her Madison Square Garden debut in 2025, and the whole show is here on a gorgeous Big Apple Red 2LP, complete with a booklet of never-before-seen tour production art. All 25 tracks — from “Clockwork” and “Bewitched” to “From the Start” — captured at full scale. Laufey’s fanbase treats vinyl like a religion, and this one will move fast. A genuinely beautiful release.
6. Grateful Dead — Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/11/76 (5LP)
Genre: Jam / Rock | Label: Rhino | 6,100 US copies
The second vinyl breakout from the legendary (and long sold-out) June 1976 CD box set. This is the show Deadheads point to when they talk about how good the ’76 band really was — Mickey Hart freshly back in the fold, the Wall of Sound retired, the band playing intimate theaters for the first time in years, and the vocal harmonies locked in tighter than any other era. “Scarlet Begonias,” “St. Stephen,” “Eyes of the World” — 180-gram vinyl, newly remastered by Jeffrey Norman with Plangent Processes tape restoration. For the serious collector, this is essential.
7. Slint — untitled (albini rough mixes) (12″ Gray Vinyl)
Genre: Post-Rock / Indie | Label: Touch and Go Records | ~2,150 US copies
The most historically significant release on the entire 2026 list for indie and post-rock fans. In 1989, Steve Albini invited Slint to fill some unexpected studio downtime and cut two tracks — “Glenn” and “Rhoda” — in raw, unreleased form. When Touch and Go founder Corey Rusk heard these mixes the next day, he signed the band on the spot for what would become Spiderland, one of the most influential albums of the last 40 years. These are those mixes. Pressed on gray vinyl in a tiny run. If you care about the history of underground music, this is the one.
8. Blur — Live at the Budokan (2LP Red Vinyl)
Genre: Britpop / Indie Rock | Label: Parlophone/Warner | ~2,000 US copies
Recorded in November 1995 at the absolute peak of Britpop, this live set existed for decades only as a Japan-exclusive release and a rare UK fan-club mail-order CD. RSD 2026 is its first vinyl pressing, ever. Blur in 1995 were a different band than the introspective outfit of 13 and Think Tank — this is the version playing to thousands of delirious fans at the top of the world. Red vinyl, gatefold sleeve, roughly 2,000 copies headed to the US. A genuine rarity made even rarer.
9. Masayoshi Takanaka — All Of Me (2LP) & On Guitar (LP)
Genre: Jazz Fusion | Labels: Universal Music Japan / Victor Entertainment
Two import releases from the Japanese jazz fusion guitar legend who has quietly become one of the most sought-after artists in the crate-digging world over the last few years.
Younger vinyl fans discovering Takanaka for the first time have been hunting his original pressings at steep prices — these official reissues are a chance to actually own the records.
All Of Me and On Guitar consistently show up on want lists across Discogs and in the trade. Both will go fast.
10. Talking Heads — The CBS/Columbia Demos (2LP)
Genre: New Wave / Art Rock | Label: Rhino
Early demos from one of the most important bands in American music, hitting vinyl for the first time. Following the renewed cultural wave of interest in Talking Heads — driven in part by the Stop Making Sense reissue era — the timing on this couldn’t be better. Hearing where these songs started is a different kind of thrill than the finished records. Essential for fans, and a strong collector’s piece for anyone building a serious new wave section.
The Poet’s Vault is a participating Record Store Day 2026 store. All titles are available in-store only on April 18th, first come first served. Quantities are strictly limited — no holds, no pre-orders.Â