4 Classic Rock Albums That Were Never Released (But Should Be)

Think you’ve heard every album by your favorite classic rock band? You might have missed some of their more secretive, underground, and unreleased albums from years past. These four classic rock musicians and bands never released a few completed albums, but we sure wish they would. Let’s take a look!

1. ‘Electric Nebraska’ by Bruce Springsteen

Any Bruce Springsteen fan worth their salt has listened to the intimate and well-written Nebraska. The album started out humbly as a collection of amateurish-sounding recorded demos Springsteen recorded on his own with a four-track. Electric Nebraska was the name given to the collection of recordings from the early 1980s. There were plans to release them, but the album plan was shelved in 1982.

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2. ‘Adult/Child’ by The Beach Boys

Initially produced by Brian Wilson in the late 1970s, Adult/Child was planned for release after The Beach Boys’ album Love You. The album would have featured orchestra backing by Dick Reynolds as well as some old songs that were left out of previous albums like Sunflower and Surf’s Up. 

Unfortunately, some of the band members thought the resulting demo was too weird, so they released M.I.U. Album instead. Today, the unreleased album is considered a great example of outsider music.

3. ‘A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight In The Pants’ by Bee Gees

Bee Gees planned to release two completed albums in succession: Life In A Tin Can in 1973, and A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight In The Pants shortly after. However, the latter was never released. “Wouldn’t I Be Someone” was released as a lead single from the album, but it did poorly. They shelved the whole thing, though a few other singles eventually were released.

4. ‘Sweet Insanity’ by Brian Wilson

Another unreleased classic rock album that was never released by Brian Wilson, Sweet Insanity is quite a fascinating piece of work. Wilson recorded it with his psychologist and planned to release it as a follow-up to his debut 1988 solo album. It was even going to feature Tom Petty and Bob Dylan.

Unfortunately, multiple versions of the album were rejected by Wilson’s label. A few songs from the scrapped record made it to Gettin’ In Over My Head, but the album itself has never been officially released.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives

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