Missing in Action: The Albums They Don't Want You to Hear
Record companies, managers, and artists aren’t always about getting the music to the most listeners possible. Sometimes they go out of their way to stop you from hearing a release, because they don’t feel it best represents the artist or doesn’t jibe with their current artistic vision. That’s why, on some occasions, you’ll hear about an obscure album released before an artist rocketed to stardom that has mysteriously disappeared from the marketplace. Of course, to superfans, these rare releases become a Holy Grail of sorts.
“Many of my customers are completists when it comes to the output of their favorite artists,” says Brady Rifkin, who runs the online retailer Gatefold Records, which specializes in collectibles and memorabilia. “These rare records offer insight into their earliest inspirations and influences, and hardcore fans are often willing to pay top dollar for such releases.”
Here’s a look at some of them.
Charlie Puth’s The Otto Tunes and Ego
This young singer/songwriter/producer is perhaps best known for appearing on Wiz Khalifa’s Furious 7 hit “See You Again.” “Marvin Gaye,” his own official debut single released in February, featured Meghan Trainor and was a huge international hit. He followed that with the Some Type of Love EP in May, and a full album, Nine Track Mind, is due in January. But prior to all that, Puth put out a few other records that you’ll have a hard time getting your hands on. He issued The Otto Tunes, titled after his middle name, in 2010, and Ego in 2013, but those releases mysteriously disappeared from iTunes and Spotify after Puth inked a deal with Atlantic.
Lana Del Rey’s Lana Del Ray a.k.a Lizzy Grant and the Kill Kill EP, etc.
Before she was known as Lana Del Rey, modern rock’s favorite ice queen, she recorded under the name Lizzy Grant, a shortened version of her real name, Elizabeth Woolridge Grant. In fact, under her birth name she registered a seven-track album with the U.S. Copyright Office. There was also a 2006 album, titled Sirens, which was recorded under the pseudonym May Jailer and later leaked online. After she was initially signed by 5 Points Records, she recorded the Kill Kill EP, released in 2008, with producer David Kahne, known for his work with the Bangles, Paul McCartney, New Order, and others. A second release for 5 Points Records, released in 2010, documented her transition to her new persona with the title Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant, although she hadn’t quite perfected the spelling of her new assumed last name (the album used “Del Ray” instead of “Del Rey”). When the label ran into financial problems, the album disappeared from circulation and the world would have to wait a few years before Lana Del Rey made her official major label debut in 2012 with Born to Die.
Lady Gaga’s Words and Red and Blue EPs
Prior to taking the world by storm as Lady Gaga, the shock-pop queen went by her real name, Stefani Germanotta, and fronted the Stefani Germanotta Band. The group self-released two EPs, Words and Red and Blue, which were sold at their gigs back in 2005. The latter, featuring the dark-haired singer on the cover, turned up on the Internet (in fact, I have a copy in my iTunes library), but has generally been withdrawn from circulation.
Katy Perry’s Katy Hudson
Long before she became a pop star with the breakthrough hit “I Kissed a Girl,” the teenage dreamer went by her birth name, Katy Hudson, and drew on her religious upbringing for her self-titled Christian rock album, released on Red Hill Records in 2001. The album was a commercial flop, but garnered a favorable review from Billboard, although AllMusic’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine later noted that “everybody is better off with Katy tasting cherry Chapstick instead of communion wine.”
Alanis Morissette’s Alanis and Now Is the Time
In 1995, Alanis Morissette became a star with her Jagged Little Pill album, fueled by the gritty breakup anthem “You Oughta Know,” but prior to that, she was a teen pop star in her native Canada. Her debut album, 1991’s Alanis, went platinum in her home country, earning her comparisons with American teen queens Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. But the young Morissette couldn’t sustain the momentum. Her second album released on MCA Records Canada, Now Is the Time, failed to match the success of her debut, leaving her temporarily without a record deal, until she went on to bigger things.
Tori Amos’s Y Kant Tori Read
Another ‘90s female star with a false start, but Tori Amos began her career not as a teen pop star, but as the frontwoman of a rock band called Y Kant Tori Read, which referenced her inability to read music – instead, she played piano by ear. The musicians backing Amos on the 1988 self-titled effort included guitarist Steve Caton, who would stay with Amos through the '90s, and future Cult and Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum. Despite the talent, Amos later claimed the album suffered from record company interference; it flopped when it was issued by Atlantic Records and soon fell out of print. Four years later, Amos would emerge as a very different-sounding solo star with the release of Little Earthquakes under her own name.
Dave Grohl on Dain Bramage’s I Scream Not Coming Down
Before Dave Grohl was in Foo Fighters, Nirvana, and even Scream, he initially played guitar in this short-lived D.C. punk rock band, before switching to drums. They released one album, I Scream Not Coming Down, in 1986, before Grohl abruptly quit to join Scream.
Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks's Buckingham Nicks
The duo recorded this self-titled effort in 1973 at the now-legendary Sound City Studios (as seen in Grohl’s documentary, Sound City). Although the album stiffed, it was discovered by Mick Fleetwood, who invited the duo to join a revamped version of Fleetwood Mac, just prior to the group’s breakout success. Although the album was never re-released, some of its songs, including “Long Distance Winner,” “Stephanie,” “Crystal,” and “Don’t Let Me Down Again,” have turned up on solo releases by Nicks and Buckingham, as well as Fleetwood Mac projects.
Pantera’s Metal Magic, Projects in the Jungle, I Am the Night, and Power Metal
Before the Texas-spawned “Cowboys From Hell” rode up the charts with their own brutal brand of hardcore metal, they were a hair-metal band with a different lead singer. Terry Glaze fronted the band for its first three albums – 1983’s Metal Magic, 1984’s Projects in the Jungle, and 1985’s I Am the Night, which featured a sound more akin to Poison than Metallica. In 1988, the band began to shift gears on Power Metal, after Glaze was replaced by Phil Anselmo, although Pantera didn’t forge its true identity until the release of 1990’s Cowboys From Hell, so it let its first four albums go out of print and fade into obscurity.
