[Cover photo credit to Autumn de Wilde]
Third Man Records is celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Raconteurs’ classic debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, with a new Opaque Green Vinyl variant out on Friday, December 11, 2026, and available at select record stores on December 18. In addition, the digital edition of Broken Boy Soldiers (Deluxe) has just been released, featuring the original studio album plus a full-show recording at New York City’s Irving Plaza on April 7, 2006, the band’s first-ever live performance in the United States.
While previously available as a one-time, vinyl-only pressing in a truncated form, this digital reissue of the Raconteurs first-ever show on American soil at Irving Plaza from April 7th, 2006 adds three previously unreleased takes from the encore, “Blue Veins”and covers of “It Ain’t Easy,” as popularized by David Bowie, and “Headin’ For The Texas Border,” originally by the Flamin’ Groovies.
The announcement follows The Raconteurs’ surprise reunion during Jack White’s concert at Nashville’s The Truth on October 10. The five-song encore, which marked the band’s first live performance in nearly seven years, saw performances of Broken Boy Soldiers favorites “Steady, As She Goes,” “Hands,” “Level,” and “Broken Boy Soldier,” as well as “Carolina Drama” (from 2008’s Consolers of the Lonely).
Released in May 2006, the Raconteurs’ debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, received international critical praise and led to a string of singles including “Steady As She Goes,” “Hands,” and “Broken Boy Soldier.” Two decades after its initial impact, the album stands as an example of the power of a band of four people, four instruments, and occasional harmonies, which was a template solidified and popularized by the Beatles.
BROKEN BOY SOLDIERS (DELUXE)
(Third Man Records)
TRACKLIST:
Digital Disc 1 – Studio Album
Steady, As She Goes
Hands
Broken Boy Soldier
Intimate Secretary
Together
Level
Store Bought Bones
Yellow Sun
Call It A Day
Blue Veins
Digital Disc 2 – Live at Irving Plaza
Level – Live at Irving Plaza
Intimate Secretary – Live at Irving Plaza
Hands – Live at Irving Plaza
Steady, as She Goes – Live at Irving Plaza
Together – Live at Irving Plaza
A House Is Not a Motel (Love cover) – Live at Irving Plaza
Store Bought Bones – Live at Irving Plaza
Call It a Day – Live at Irving Plaza
Yellow Sun – Live at Irving Plaza
Broken Boy Soldier – Live at Irving Plaza
Five on the Five – Live at Irving Plaza
It Ain’t Easy (David Bowie cover) – Live at Irving Plaza
Blue Veins – Live at Irving Plaza
Headin’ for the Texas Border (Flamin’ Groovies cover) – Live at Irving Plaza
