Lost/destroyed/shelved albums...

I'm always fascinated with albums that never see the light of the day, for whatever reason. Seems like every second and third tier glam/sleaze band that came out in the late 80s/early 90s had an album that was completed and in the bag but shelved by the record label when they dropped the band because of poor album sales and a changing musical climate. And it's been fun with many of these albums getting released in the past few years. I'm sure there are more, but off the top of my head Vain, Pretty Boy Floyd and Killer Dwarfs all had shelved albums released.

Then there are, of course, tales of albums being destroyed and lost, things like that. Here are three instances off the top of my head, and these kinds of stories just interest me, so post more, please. Two of these have nothing to do with metal, but I do find the stories interesting.

-Void. One of the best punk/hardcore bands from the early 80s recorded a more crossover/thrashy album in 1983 called Potion for Bad Dreams. For whatever reason, the band didn't like it and refused to let it be released. They still refuse to let it be released, though it has been bootlegged many times.

-Inspectah Deck of the Wu Tang Clan. For most hip hop fans, 1993 to 1997 is considered Wu Tang's golden age. Pretty much every album as a group or solo from those years is still considered a classic and is highly revered. I recently read on Wikipedia, for whatever it's worth, that Inspectah Deck had originally recorded his solo record as part of the first wave of solo albums, and it was to be released in 1995, smack in the middle of the prime years. Apparently the tapes were destroyed in a fire at RZA's studio, so he had to start from scratch. His first solo album wasn't released until the early 2000s, at a point when many fans, such as myself, no longer cared.

-MC Ren. After NWA broke up, MC Ren released an EP in 1992 called Kizz My Black Azz, and it was awesome. The cover had something like "From the forthcoming album "________" (I forget the proposed album title). In 1993, MC Ren released an album with a different title and a completely different sound (it was bad). The album touted on the cover of the EP never surfaced. I always wondered about that, and fairly recently took to the internet. According again to Wiki, he completed the album as originally intended, but before it was released he converted to the Nation of Islam. His new beliefs did not gel with what he had previously recorded and he no longer wanted to release it. So he went back to the studio and wrote and recorded an entirely new record. I have to assume those original tapes exist in a vault somewhere. I would love to hear them.

So, anything else like this you guys got?

Didn't Cinderella do an album after Heartbreak Station and before Still Climbing that was shelved? Or maybe it was after Still Climbing.

Another one that comes to mind is Damn Yankees 3 that was never released but many of the songs have shown up on Styx and Nugent albums.

Legend has it that Motley Crue had completed (or almost completed) a 2nd album with John Corabi on vox (to be called Personality #9) but then shelved it in favor of reuniting with Vince Neil.

The one I've always wanted to hear is the shelved fourth Grim Reaper album that was to be called Nothing Whatsoever To Do With Hell. My understanding was conflict with Ebony Records kept that album from being done. I am not sure if they actually recorded any tracks for it, but it would be cool to hear them if they were recorded.

Man, there are so many.

Not necessarily an album, but I'd love to hear what Def Leppard did with Jim Steinman after Pyromania before scrapping it all to work with Mutt Lange on what would become Hysteria.

Tora Tora's Revolution Day was recorded in 1994, but not officially released until 2011. Doesn't quite fit the criteria of this post, but I'm just typing as thoughts come. Haha.

Isn't there a fifth Cinderella album in a vault somewhere, fully recorded but never released, held hostage by Sony?

And off-topic a bit, but I think Wu-Tang is one of the most overrated hip-hop groups ever. They seemed to be the first band to start that wave of hip hop that focused more on the rap than the beat and, more important, the song. That trend just continued. No real hooks, in either the lyrics or the music. You'll disagree, I'm sure. =)

I remember that Aerosmith's record label pretty much rejected most of the songs that they had written for Get a Grip and made them bring in 'rent a hit' guys to help with the writing.

The Cult's Peace album has now finally seen the light of day.

Quote :

Isn't there a fifth Cinderella album in a vault somewhere, fully recorded but never released, held hostage by Sony?

I've heard that they started work on new stuff but never got past the demo stages before they were dropped, therefore no "proper" album recordings exist... but I suppose only the Cinderella guys and John Kalodner know for sure.

Eyesore wrote:

And off-topic a bit, but I think Wu-Tang is one of the most overrated hip-hop groups ever. They seemed to be the first band to start that wave of hip hop that focused more on the rap than the beat and, more important, the song. That trend just continued. No real hooks, in either the lyrics or the music. You'll disagree, I'm sure. =)

Lots of cool examples, and I would love to hear those Def Lep cuts too. I was just reading about that recently, as I kinda got the itch to dig into the hystery of Hysteria.

But to continue off topic. I can see how someone could consider Wu Tang overrated. I would agree with that for certain albums, even ones considered classics like Wu Tang Forever [which like all double albums (except live ones) could be cut in half or more and made into one really good record] and Ghostface's Iron Man. But when it comes to 36 Chambers, the first Method Man and the first GZA albums, I definitely disagree that those records are overrated and feel they are worthy of any and all praise and adoration. Wu Tang Clan definitely changed hip hop quite a bit, whether that is good or bad to one's eye (though to be honest, I don't really like how they changed it--the copycats and others who adopted their styles, aesthetics, etc, did not really do it well in my opinion. So you had a phenomenal, creative record come out, and then a sea of clones, which made subsequent Wu Tang releases seem boring and derivative anyway).

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...

One that I've always wanted to hear was the second Electric Angels album "New York Times".

NC band Animal Bag recorded a 3rd release called Image Damage that was way heavier than their S/T album and Offerings ep.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Legend has it that Motley Crue had completed (or almost completed) a 2nd album with John Corabi on vox (to be called Personality #9) but then shelved it in favor of reuniting with Vince Neil.

Woah. I would spend a lot of money on this. A lot.

corplhicks wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Legend has it that Motley Crue had completed (or almost completed) a 2nd album with John Corabi on vox (to be called Personality #9) but then shelved it in favor of reuniting with Vince Neil.

Woah. I would spend a lot of money on this. A lot.

Supposedly some of the material ended up being reworked into Generation Swine (Vince's "comeback" album). Corabi took MC to court at one point cuz he claimed he'd written bits of Swine but he wasn't being given credit for it.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Supposedly some of the material ended up being reworked into Generation Swine (Vince's "comeback" album). Corabi took MC to court at one point cuz he claimed he'd written bits of Swine but he wasn't being given credit for it.

I'd say the Crue did him a solid by not crediting him on that record.

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Supposedly some of the material ended up being reworked into Generation Swine (Vince's "comeback" album). Corabi took MC to court at one point cuz he claimed he'd written bits of Swine but he wasn't being given credit for it.

I'd say the Crue did him a solid by not crediting him on that record.

This.

That album should have been shelved and lost.

corplhicks wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Supposedly some of the material ended up being reworked into Generation Swine (Vince's "comeback" album). Corabi took MC to court at one point cuz he claimed he'd written bits of Swine but he wasn't being given credit for it.

I'd say the Crue did him a solid by not crediting him on that record.

This.

That album should have been shelved and lost.

plus the album Corabi did "sing" on. Talk about a band that fell off from their heyday.

nevermore wrote:

One that I've always wanted to hear was the second Electric Angels album "New York Times".

NC band Animal Bag recorded a 3rd release called Image Damage that was way heavier than their S/T album and Offerings ep.

Such an underrated band. You can get that album and an EP called Ape Shit here: http://www.animalbag.com/media

Definitely check out the God's Water folder and grab the Skin album and the tracks in Misc. Excellent band! I discovered them through this site. Guess they ran in the same local circles before Animal Bag got a deal and moved to LA.

exact33 wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Supposedly some of the material ended up being reworked into Generation Swine (Vince's "comeback" album). Corabi took MC to court at one point cuz he claimed he'd written bits of Swine but he wasn't being given credit for it.

I'd say the Crue did him a solid by not crediting him on that record.

This.

That album should have been shelved and lost.

plus the album Corabi did "sing" on. Talk about a band that fell off from their heyday.

Certainly a big departure for them, but I love that album! Generation Swine, not so much.

Eyesore wrote:

exact33 wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Supposedly some of the material ended up being reworked into Generation Swine (Vince's "comeback" album). Corabi took MC to court at one point cuz he claimed he'd written bits of Swine but he wasn't being given credit for it.

I'd say the Crue did him a solid by not crediting him on that record.

This.

That album should have been shelved and lost.

plus the album Corabi did "sing" on. Talk about a band that fell off from their heyday.

Certainly a big departure for them, but I love that album! Generation Swine, not so much.

to me the Crue lost it all after Dr. Feelgood. Saints of Los Angeles was ok but I dont like anything else after Feelgood.

Eyesore wrote:

exact33 wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Supposedly some of the material ended up being reworked into Generation Swine (Vince's "comeback" album). Corabi took MC to court at one point cuz he claimed he'd written bits of Swine but he wasn't being given credit for it.

I'd say the Crue did him a solid by not crediting him on that record.

This.

That album should have been shelved and lost.

plus the album Corabi did "sing" on. Talk about a band that fell off from their heyday.

Certainly a big departure for them, but I love that album! Generation Swine, not so much.

I'm saying Generation Swine should have been shelved and lost. Corabi's Crue album is the best damn thing they've ever done. Decades later and I'm still not tired of that record.

"UNCA JACK! CAN YOU HEAR THEM SC-SCREAMIN'?!"

Eyesore wrote:

exact33 wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Supposedly some of the material ended up being reworked into Generation Swine (Vince's "comeback" album). Corabi took MC to court at one point cuz he claimed he'd written bits of Swine but he wasn't being given credit for it.

I'd say the Crue did him a solid by not crediting him on that record.

This.

That album should have been shelved and lost.

plus the album Corabi did "sing" on. Talk about a band that fell off from their heyday.

Certainly a big departure for them, but I love that album! Generation Swine, not so much.

In the past 15 or so years, as I got older I started going back to the early 90s albums that I either turned my nose up at, because like everyone else I was moving on from the glam/sleaze/LA bands that made up my youth, or completely missed. So many records I either avoided or was simply unaware they even existed at the time, and many of them I later discovered that I liked as much or even better than the classic/staple/early records.

So I tried and tried and re-tried to find what it is that people see in the Motley Crue '94 record. I just don't. That album, to me, deserves the snub I gave it back when it first came out. I don't mind Corabi's voice...no qualm with him replacing Vince Neil or anything. I just think the actual music is terrible. It's definitely become a bit of a cult classic in the 21st century. Save for Dangerous Toys' "R-Tist 4-merly Known As", I'd say it's the release I later tried to check out that I dislike the most from a band I once loved.

exact33 wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

exact33 wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Supposedly some of the material ended up being reworked into Generation Swine (Vince's "comeback" album). Corabi took MC to court at one point cuz he claimed he'd written bits of Swine but he wasn't being given credit for it.

I'd say the Crue did him a solid by not crediting him on that record.

This.

That album should have been shelved and lost.

plus the album Corabi did "sing" on. Talk about a band that fell off from their heyday.

Certainly a big departure for them, but I love that album! Generation Swine, not so much.

to me the Crue lost it all after Dr. Feelgood. Saints of Los Angeles was ok but I dont like anything else after Feelgood.

Dr. Feelgood is their last great album, yeah. The self-titled is really good, but it's hard to even call it Motley Crue, it's so different. The stuff since the turd that is Generation Swine is okay.

Weird how Nikki Sixx, who has written some of the coolest riffs/songs ever, can't seem to rise above mediocrity these days. Or for the past 25 years, I guess.

Back on topic, there is an unreleased Green Day album out there. If I recall correctly, it was actually stolen. So I guess maybe it's not out there anymore. But it was recorded, at least.

I also remember a rumored Dr. Dre/Ice Cube album that was supposedly recorded in the 90s. I'd love to hear that one.

Unida's self-titled album was recorded for American Recordings but was shelved. The band wanted to purchase the masters but the label demanded $300,000. John Garcia (vocalist) then personally leaked the album online so the world could at least hear it.

Lita Ford was supposed to release an album called "The Bride Wore Black" in 1986 or 87, but it never saw the light of day. Apparently it was going to be a lot heavier than her first two albums. Of course, when we did get "Lita", it made those first two albums sound like Anthrax by comparison.

Realm recorded a third album which was never released.

I did a post on this same subject on S.D.'s boards a while back and the three I'm wanting the most are Motley Crue-Personality #9 (Motley Crab is my fave Crue), Van Halen-Love Again (with Cherone) and Jimi Hendrix-Black Gold but there was also an alleged Jimi Hendrix/Arthur Lee album and The Alan Parsons Project had an instrumental album called "The Sicilian Defence" that has never been released but one song surfaced on the Deluxe Edition of 'Eve'. Also Neil Young-Chrome Dreams, I have an album by him by that title from the '70s but not sure how close it is to the one he intended on releasing.