Sometimes a band knows well in advance what the name of their upcoming album will be and sometimes they don't know until late in the game. Then you also have occasions where a band seems set on a title and they announce it in interviews, but then they change it late in the game. Here are some examples.
Ozzy Osbourne-Ozzy's fourth solo studio album was originally due out in the fall of 1985 and it was to be called "Killer of giants". However it got delayed until early 1986 and the name was changed to "the Ultimate Sin".
Ted Nugent-The Nuge's 1986 release was originally going to be called "Choose your weapon", but it eventually was changed and released as "Little Miss Dangerous".
Lita Ford-Lita's third album was originally going to be called "The Bride wore black" and was originally slated to be released in 1986. The stories vary a little on this one. The most popular story goes like this. Apparently she did record this album, but her label Mercury records didn't like it so she asked to be released and she was. She hired Sharon Osbourne as her manager and she signed to RCA records. Then her third album finally came out in early 1988 as "Lita".
Grim Reaper-This band's third album was scheduled to come out as early as late 1986 and be called "Night of the vampire". However it was delayed and eventually came out in the summer of 1987 and it was called "Rock you to hell".
It was even rumored that Queensryche considered calling their most recent album "We need the money really bad", but instead they opted for the only slightly more subtle "Operation Mindcrime 2". Actually I made this one up, but the others are true.
Do you know of any albums that went through title changes before being released?
I'm not sure what other titles were thrown around, but I know when "Highway to Hell" was being recorded, the label didn't want AC/DC to use that.
ReplyDeleteVoivod's last album was supposed to be called "The Multiverse" but is it was released as a self-titled CD.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to explain the delay of Grim Reaper's album. I read a 1989 interview with guitarist Nick Bowcott who said the band recorded their third album in the spring on '86, but they were not happy with the production. They scrapped the recordings, fired the producer and re-recorded the entire thing with another producer.
ReplyDeleteBTW..."Lita" was a kick-ass cd. Smart move for her to sign with Sharon Osbourne.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing Warrant open for Motley Crue one time shortly before "Cherry Pie" came out, and Jani Lane introduced a new song by saying it was from their upcoming release which they were going to call "Vertical Smile."
ReplyDeleteI think Guns N' Roses was working on an album called "Chinese Democracy," and when it was finally released in June 2017, it was retitled "Who the F--- Cares Anymore?"
ReplyDelete-- david