5 Unfinished Albums That Were Released Anyway: The Beach Boys, Jeff Buckley, And More

There are probably thousands of unfinished albums out in the world right now that will never see the light of day. As someone who lives for music, this is a scary thought, since some of those could be classics that noboby will ever get to hear for one reason or another. These five artists don't have that problem, though, as their unfinished albums ended up being released anyway.

1. Daniel Johnston - Hi, How Are You? (1983)

Though the excessively lo-fi and homemade nature of Daniel Johnston's earliest albums made them all seem like unfinished demos, there was one album that he actually considered unfinished: 1983's Hi, How Are You, which is subtitled The Unfinished Album. The mentally unstable Johnston claimed he had a nervous breakdown recording the album, which would go on to become one of his most popular.

2. Jeff Buckley - Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk (1998)

One of the greatest tragedies in rock history is the death of singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley, who passed away at age 30 after having completed just one studio album, 1994's Grace. At the time of his death in 1997, Buckley was in the process of recording his second album, which was to be titled My Sweetheart the Drunk. A year after his death, a two-disc collection titled Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk was released, featuring the songs that Buckley had completed for the album, as well as demos of songs that were to be recorded in the studio.

3. Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill (2004)

The creation of Elliott Smith's From a Basement on the Hill album was a very long and difficult journey. The original sessions with producer Jon Brion were completely scrapped after Brion confronted Smith about his excessive drug use, and in 2003, Smith committed suicide, leaving the album in an unfinished state. Producer Rob Schnapf and Smith's girlfriend Joanna Bolme compiled and released the album's 15 finished recordings, though Smith had originally to release it as a double album.

4. Death - ...For The Whole World To See (2009)

One of the great unsung heroes of punk rock was Detroit power trio Death, consisting of brothers Bobby, Dannis, and David Hackney. In 1975, the Hackney brothers began recording an album titled ...For The Whole World To See, funded by Columbia Records president Clive Davis, but after the band refused to change its name to something more commercially friendly, Davis stopped funding the sessions, with only half of a finished album. In 2009, the seven songs recorded at these sessions were released by Drag City, more than thirty years after Death had split.

5. The Beach Boys - The Smile Sessions (2011)

The most famous unreleased album of all time is the Beach Boys' Smile, which was recorded in 1966 and 1967 following the band's classic Pet Sounds LP. Due to the album's highly complex nature and composer Brian Wilson's fragile mental state, however, the sessions were never completed, though some of its songs, such as the classic "Good Vibrations," would be officially released as singles or placed on subsequent albums. In 2011, the album's legendary sessions were compiled and released as The Smile Sessions, and it's just as magical as everyone expected it to be.