3 Iconic (And 1 Controversial) Albums That Were Recorded in Secret and Dropped by Surprise

In a world where artists will tease and advertise an album for months and months before eventually releasing it, some musicians and bands decided to simply drop a major album out of the blue. These four famous albums were recorded in secret and dropped quite suddenly to the surprise of fans around the world. Let’s take a look, shall we?

1. ‘Beyoncé’ by Beyoncé

There are a few Beyoncé records that could qualify as “surprise” albums, but we decided to go with Queen Bey’s self-titled venture from 2013. She dropped this album less than two weeks before Christmas that year when it arrived on iTunes exclusively. No promotion, no advertising, no interviews, and no hint nor warning that Bey was even working on an album. 

It’s a hefty piece of work, too. Beyoncé has over an hour-long runtime and boasts a music video for every single track. Some music critics and fans alike referred to that end-of-year release as “Beyoncégeddon”.

2. ‘The Next Day’ by David Bowie

2013 was the year of surprise albums, apparently. By that time, David Bowie hadn’t released an album in a decade. On his 66th birthday, he decided to just casually drop a new single titled “Where Are We Now?” and announced his new album in the same breath. Fans were shocked; many believed that Bowie had quietly retired, and nobody was really expecting a new album from him. 

It’s even more surprising that news that he was recording a new record never so much as leaked. The Next Day was released on iTunes just a couple of months later, and it’s an impressive piece of work.

3. ‘Songs Of Innocence’ by U2

Just because certain albums were recorded in secret and released by surprise, doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily wanted. Enter the debacle of U2’s Songs Of Innocence. The album release was a surprise, but not necessarily a welcomed one. Apple made a deal with the band to make their new album free to all Apple customers, which was in the realm of 500 million. 

However, by “free”, they meant that all 500 million users would wake up to the album in the library, with no easy way to remove it. A lot of listeners felt like the album was being forced on them, and the whole thing stirred quite a bit of controversy back in 2014.

4. ‘Aerial’ by Kate Bush

Kate Bush’s fans had more or less accepted that she was probably never going to make music again by 2005. Luckily, they got a surprise that year. 

The often-reclusive English artist dropped Aerial 12 years after the release of her last album, The Red Shoes. The double album is a lovely and true Bush release with all the strange elements you’d expect from the “Running Up That Hill” hitmaker. The second disc of the album was one continuous song aptly titled “π”.

Photo by Samir Hussein

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