Album releases in CD+Magazine combos have been around for several years.
This release is known as the “Zine Version” of an album release.
This usually comes with a zine book with tons of pictures, sometimes it also has the songs’ lyrics as well as some words from the artist.
This CD combo may have been popular up to this day thanks to actual magazines like Mojo and Uncut releasing their monthly issues, even to this day, accompanied with CDs of song compilations.
In this article, we’ll be presenting you with a list of 10 album releases with this combo.
Table of Contents
#1. THE KINKS – THE JOURNEY
The very first one on our list is an actual magazine issue from Mojo. The magazine cover features David Bowie as the magazine celebrates his 50th year in the industry.
Consequently, the CD for this issue titled A 60th Anniversary Sampler is from The Kinks who are celebrating their 60th Anniversary. It included 10 samples of their songs throughout the years compiled by Ray Davies, Dave Davies and Mick Avory.
We included this issue to our list because even though it’s not an actual album release, this is a promotional tactic for their actual release of The Journey Parts 1 & 2.
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#2. TAYLOR SWIFT – REPUTATION VOL.1
For the second one, we have Taylor Swift’s Reputation album.
The very theme of this album’s visuals is a magazine so it’s a no brainer when Swift released a Magazine for it.
The collectible magazine is a 72-page book that includes her Deluxe CD version. What makes the release even cooler is the little detail of copying how magazines state “CD INCLUDED” on the cover page of the magazine.
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#3. ED SHEERAN – SUBTRACT
Ed Sheeran’s latest album ‘–’ (Subtract), which ended his decade-long mathematical album era, was released last May 5.
Among the many merchandise he released together with his album, a limited edition magazine was included.
The magazine included a deluxe version of the CD which included 4 bonus tracks. The magazine has the lyrics for every song of the album and even includes a message from Ed himself.
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#4. GIDLE – I LOVE
“I Love” is a mini album by (G)I-DLE that was released in October 2022.
The album features six songs about the different kinds of love, from the excitement of new love to the pain of heartbreak.
Like most K-pop album releases, it includes a booklet with 100 pages that is composed of pictures of the group and its members.
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#5. TRAVIS SCOTT – UTOPIA
Utopia is the recently released album by American rapper Travis Scott.
He released a total of six zine book versions with special edition CDs for it.
The books have 112 pages that feature artwork pieces and photography from various artists. It is a book that shows us what utopia is for different people from different walks of life.
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#6. HARRY STYLES – HARRY’S HOUSE VOL 2.
Harry Styles released a magazine for his 2022 album Harry’s House.
This volume 2 version of the magazine is full of photos documenting the behind the scenes of his Late Night Talking music video.
Aside from the magazine, it of course has a color blue CD included.
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#7. LOUIS TOMLINSON – FAITH IN THE FUTURE
For Louis Tomlinson’s second studio album Faith in the Future, he released a Photo Fanzine. It’s an 82-page magazine with a deluxe version of the CD inserted on its back page.
The delux version includes the standard 14 tracks of the album and two additional tracks titled Headline and Holding on to Heartache.
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#8. STYX – ICON 2
Next we have Styx’ Icon 2’s limited edition zinepak.
This includes a 60-page magazine commemorating their anniversary.
Two CDs, containg 24 iconic songs from the band, are also included in this zinepak together with a collectible magnet.
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#9. DERMOT KENNEDY – SONDER
Dermot Kennedy’s album Sonder was released together with an exclusive zine book.
It’s a 32-page bound book with exclusive imagery and photos, lyrics and handwritten notes.
A CD copy of the album was also included in it, of course.
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#10. RITA ORA – YOU & I
After a four-year hiatus, Rita Ora has returned with her new album, “You & I.” The album features the singles “You Only Love Me” and “Praising You,” which have already been topping the charts.
She released a Zine version of the album which included a 52-page lyric and photo book and a deluxe CD of the album featuring two bonus tracks titled Love, Die, Repeat and Rest of my Life.
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These Zines are awesome, right?
If you’re planning to release one, give us a call. We’ll help you come up with the most badass zine. 🙂
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