Most albums don't take very long to be released after they've finished production, but there are some albums that had difficult journeys toward their release date, whether it was due to label intervention or the band simply being unsatisfied. Here are six great albums that were subjected to delayed release dates.
1. The Beatles - Let It Be (1970)
Let It Be was the last studio album released by the Beatles, just weeks after the band broke up in 1970, but it wasn't the last album the band recorded together. Most of Let It Be was recorded in early 1969 during famously fraught sessions (referred to as the "Get Back Sessions," documented in the film Let It Be), but the album was temporarily shelved when the band chose to record and release the much more cohesive Abbey Road instead. Only after Let It Be was compiled and arranged by producer Phil Spector was it released in May 1970.
2. The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers (1976)
Most of the eponymous debut album of Boston's the Modern Lovers was originally recorded in 1972 by ex-Velvet Underground member John Cale, though the songs from these sessions were intended to be demos. The band broke up before it could record a proper LP, but in 1976 the band's recordings were remixed and released to great critical acclaim.
3. Neil Young - Tonight's the Night (1975)
Neil Young is no stranger to clashes with his record label, and one of the first examples of these clashes was with his 1975 album Tonight's the Night. Most of the album was recorded in August 1973, but its raw, dark content (inspired by the drug-related death of Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten) caused Young's label Reprise to reject it. Young instead recorded and released his classic On the Beach album, and though another album titled Homegrown was recorded as well, Young decided not to release it, instead convincing his label to finally release Tonight's the Night almost two years after it was recorded.
4. Misfits - Static Age (1997)
After Mercury Records accidentally infringed on Glenn Danzig's trademark on the name "Blank Records," they gave him 30 free hours of studio time, which he used to record the Misfits' first album Static Age in 1978. However, when the band couldn't find a label interested in releasing the album, it was scrapped, resulting in 1982's Walk Among Us to be the Misfit's official debut LP. Long after the Misfits achieved legendary status, Static Age was released in its entirety in 1997.
5. Can - Delay 1968 (1981)
As weird as Can's classic albums like Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi are, the band recorded an album early on in its career that was deemed too weird for release: Delay 1968 (originally titled Prepared to Meet Thy PNOOM). Can's actual debut Monster Movie was a slight attempt to be more accessible, but by 1981, Can's legend was large enough to warrant Delay 1968's release.
6. Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers (1978)
Though released under the Big Star name, Third/Sister Lovers is essentially an Alex Chilton solo album, recorded with Big Star drummer Jody Stephens in 1974. Since Big Star was famously mismanaged by its own label and never achieved the fame it deserved, Third/Sister Lovers' delayed release should come as no surprise. The album was eventually released in 1978, but with a different tracklisting than the band intended.
