At the time of this writing, the winter holidays are just a few short months away. What follows are essential gift-giving suggestions for almost every music lover in your life, especially those who appreciate new and special reissues by their favorite artists.

We gays already loved Joni Mitchell to the moon and back, but her appearance onstage at the Hollywood Bowl with Cyndi Lauper for the latter’s final date on her farewell tour not only cemented her status but probably also earned her legions of new fans. Those existing and new fans would be wise to listen to the newly re-released in audiophile quality Original Master Recording edition of Mitchell’s 1976 masterpiece “Hejira” (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab/Asylum). Available as an UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM SuperVinyl 2LP Box Set as well as a Super Audio CD, the groundbreaking recording still sounds as breathtaking as it did when it was first released nearly 50 years ago. From immediately accessible classics such as “Black Crow” and “Coyote” to deeply personal epics including the title tune, “Song For Sharon,” “Refuge of the Roads,” and “Amelia,” listeners will have “no regrets.”

With the new 13-disc David Bowie box set “I Can’t Give Everything Away [2002-2016]” (ISO/Parlophone), which includes four late-career studio albums, two EPs, two live albums, and the latest installment in the “Re:Call” compilation series, fans of the late musical genius should be all caught up with his prodigious output. Stunningly packaged and including a 128-page book, this set is particularly poignant, as it includes bisexual Bowie’s final full-length album, “★ (Blackstar).” Spanning from 2002’s “Heathen,” Bowie’s first album of the 21st century, and its 2003 follow-up “Reality” (featuring covers of Jonathan Richman’s “Pablo Picasso” and George Harrison’s “Try Some, Buy Some”) through “The Next Day,” Bowie’s return after a 10-year hiatus, containing the Grammy-nominated song “The Stars (Are Out Tonight),” and 2016’s “★,” released two days before his untimely passing.

Contemporary stage musicals continue to evolve, not just sonically, but also in the subject matters they explore. Available on purple vinyl, the remixed and remastered 15th anniversary double LP edition of Next To Normal: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Ghostlight) is a perfect example. The musical is about Diana (Alice Ripley), a bipolar, suburban mother who never got over the death of her infant son and imagines him alive as a teenager. Naturally, this not only has a debilitating impact on her life, but also on that of her husband and daughter. With book and lyrics by gay playwright Brian Yorkey, and direction by gay director Michael Greif, “Next To Normal” won three Tony Awards, including Best Actress in a Musical for Ripley, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

By the time The Pretenders, led by Chrissie Hynde, burst onto the scene with its trailblazing 1979/1980 eponymous debut album, we’d already witnessed the firepower of female vocalists leading punk bands in the form of Patti Smith, Debbie Harry, Poly Styrene, Ari Up, Siouxsie Sioux, Poison Ivy, Lydia Lunch, and others. However, no one was prepared for what Hynde and her male band members were going to achieve, including having a massive state-side hit single with “Brass In Pocket.” The Pretenders’ newly remastered and repackaged 16-track 1987 compilation “The Singles” (Parlophone/Real/Warner), available on CD and double LP vinyl, improves on the original in new ways. In addition to being presented as a snazzy gatefold (in both formats), the back cover lists the songs followed by the years in which they were released, spanning 1979 (“Stop Your Sobbing,” “Kid,” and “Brass In Pocket”) through 1986 (“Don’t Get Me Wrong,” “Hymn To Her,” and “My Baby”). A must-have!

Would a band such as The Cranberries, featuring the late lead vocalist Dolores O’Riordan, exist without the Pretenders and the groundwork laid by Chrissie Hynde? Regardless, when the Irish quartet released its 1993 debut album, “Everybody Else Is Doing It, Why Can’t We?,” containing the massive hit singles “Linger” and “Dreams,” one thing was certain: no one had ever heard a voice quite like O’Riordan’s. The combination of her distinctive lilt and phrasing with band’s modern rock ethic was as sweet as it was tart (see what I did there?). To mark the 30th anniversary of The Cranberries’ second album, “No Need to Argue” (Island/UMe), featuring the huge hit single “Zombie” and “Ode To My Family,” it is being reissued in various formats. The double LP set includes the newly remastered original album with the addition of new remixes by Iain Cook, a demo, and live recordings. The album cover is also a variation on the original, including a new message along the bottom, reading “We miss and will always love you Dolores!”