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- vvargoal, on 04/14/2008, -3/+111BRITNEY SPEARS - Blackout (2007)
PRINCE - The Black Album (1987)
U2 - How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)
FIONA APPLE - Extraordinary Machine (2005)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Tracks (1998)
BOB DYLAN AND THE BAND - The Basement Tapes (1967)
JAY-Z - Vol. 3...Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)
THE BEATLES - Get Back (1969)
WILCO - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2001)
EMINEM - Encore (2004)
THE BEACH BOYS - Smile (1967)
WEEZER - Songs from the Black Hole (1995)
POWERMAN 5000 - Anyone for Doomsday? (2001)
There, i clicked though all those damn pages so noone else has to. When will these ***** sites learn... - MikeonTV, on 04/14/2008, -2/+70Whenever I have to click to a new page to view every item on the list I immediately quit. I'm sure this is a good list and a quality submission but Entertainment Weekly, Time and Forbes all make this same mistake. Just to name a few.
- doctechnical, on 04/14/2008, -1/+48*****: one album per page.
- sw1ft, on 04/14/2008, -2/+48BRITNEY SPEARS
Blackout (2007)
Despite her hair-razing meltdown, trips to rehab, and abysmal VMAs performance, nothing seemed to quell interest in Britney Spears' ominously titled fifth CD. Leaks prompted her label to bump up the CD's release from Nov. 13 to Oct. 30, and landed blogger Perez Hilton in court for illegally posting unauthorized tracks early. —Margeaux Watson
PRINCE
The Black Album (1987)
Just weeks before it was due in stores, Prince abruptly shelved The Black Album, the anticipated follow-up to 1987's Sign O' the Times, and dropped Lovesexy in its place. All of the original pressings of The Black Album were to be destroyed, but bootlegged versions floated around on the underground for years before its official limited-edition release in 1994. —Margeaux Watson
U2
How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)
After reminding everyone just how good they were with 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind, U2 were reminded of just how easily stuff can leak in the Internet age when ...Atomic Bomb showed up on file-sharing sites before the album's 2004 release date, prompting Interscope to make songs immediately available to radio. This wasn't the Dubliners' first experience with leakage: demos from their Achtung Baby recording sessions were turned into bootlegs after the band left them in a hotel room. —Whitney Pastorek
FIONA APPLE
Extraordinary Machine (2005)
When diehard Fiona Apple fans thought that her third album, Extraordinary Machine, was being wrongfully held up by Sony execs, they launched the website freefiona.com, demanding its release and leaking early versions of the album online. Little did the Apple-heads know, however, that Fiona herself was not happy with the album and had abandoned it. Her fans' support motivated her to go back in the studio and rework Machine for an October 2005 release — a mere six years after she had started work on it. —Lesley Savage
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Tracks (1998)
In 1998, Bruce Springsteen released this official four-disc box set of outtakes (including early versions of ''Stolen Car'' and ''Born in the U.S.A.''), some of which had been available for years as high-quality bootlegs. The Jersey boy, known for keeping new albums under lock and key to thwart leakers, had already taken one British bootlegger to court before relenting and making the Tracks material available legally. —Whitney Pastorek
BOB DYLAN AND THE BAND
The Basement Tapes (1967)
Bob Dylan spent most of 1967 holed up in Woodstock, NY, recovering from a life-threatening motorcycle accident. To fill the idle days, he wrote and jammed constantly with the shaggy, mostly-Canadian crew he'd been using as his backing players on tour — soon to be world famous as Americana-rock pioneers the Band. Illicit acetate recordings started dribbling out within a few months, and the legend grew from there. In 1975, Dylan's label put out an official 2-disc set culled from these sessions, but it could hardly compare to the huge volume of music that had already begun leaking: Awe-inspiring tunes and random tomfoolery from artists at the peak of their powers. —Simon Vozick-Levinson
JAY-Z
Vol. 3...Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)
In 2001, Jay-Z was sentenced to three years' probation for stabbing a record executive following rampant bootlegging of his fourth CD (the one with ''Big Pimpin'''). The shocking attack took place in December 1999 at the album release party for ex-A Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip's solo debut CD, Amplified, at an NYC nightclub. —Margeaux Watson
THE BEATLES
Get Back (1969)
Before the Fab Four could Let It Be, they had to Get Back — the acetates, that is, of the original stripped-down tracks that later formed their final album. Fragments of the Get Back sessions later appeared on the band's Anthology collection and Let It Be (Naked), but the full body of work was never released in its entirety. —Margeaux Watson
WILCO
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2001)
In 2001, the Chicago band was embroiled in some seriously epic drama with Reprise Records, whose execs didn't hear a hit on their newly recorded album. Yet when Wilco and the label parted ways and the record leaked to file-sharing services that fall, it was hailed as the decade's first rock masterpiece. In the ultimate screw-you to the tone-deaf suits at their old label, Wilco ended up streaming the whole thing for free on their own website — and then putting it out in 2002 on Nonesuch, which, like Reprise, was owned by Warner Bros. Music-biz ironies don't come much sweeter. —Simon Vozick-Levinson
EMINEM
Encore (2004)
Back in 2004, Eminem was at the top of his game — which clearly proved mighty tempting to online pirates, who leaked portions of the album a week before its official release date. Undaunted, Em's record label, Interscope, rushed Encore to stores on the following Friday (most official releases come out on Tuesdays), and within only three days, it sold a whopping 700,000-plus to top the next week's charts — a fat payday for Slim Shady. —Leah Greenblatt
THE BEACH BOYS
Smile (1967)
Beach Boys songwriting overlord Brian Wilson intended Smile to be a ''teenage symphony to God.'' Expectations were certainly high when Wilson began work in 1966 on the band's follow-up to their classic Pet Sounds collection. Alas, the troubled Wilson would not actually complete the album until 2004. By that time material from the original sessions had long been available, both officially and on bootlegs, including a little ditty called ''Good Vibrations.'' —Clark Collis
WEEZER
Songs from the Black Hole (1995)
Frontman Rivers Cuomo originally intended for the band's second CD to be a pop-rock space opera, but that idea was scrapped in favor of what became 1996's Pinkerton, which features a couple of tracks from the early Black Hole sessions. Demos from the unreleased album also appear on myriad compilations, including 2007's Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo. —Margeaux Watson
POWERMAN 5000
Anyone for Doomsday? (2001)
The Boston heavy metal band shelved its third CD two weeks before its release date. But by then, advance copies had already been distributed and the album soon leaked. These days, a partial version of the disc is available at online retailers such as iTunes, but the full CD remains unreleased. And Rob Zombie's little brother's band remains widely unknown. —Margeaux Watson - marc123, on 04/14/2008, -0/+39big deal we all suffer premature leakage from time to time.
- Nitrodist88, on 04/14/2008, -2/+22I'm pretty sure that there were more than 13 famous albums that were leaked. Want to guess how many? (Hint: it's 99.5% of them)
- Tyr7BE, on 04/14/2008, -0/+16The challenge would be finding 13 albums that WEREN'T leaked. At least in this day and age. I can't remember the last album I was anticipating that made me wait until the release date. Usually by the time the release date hits, I've listened to my fill and the album has gone out of my active rotation. Hell, even review sites are late to the game with their pre-release versions.
- thelastcivilian, on 04/14/2008, -2/+17Why the RIAA is failing: The album is done, but you can't buy it. Listen to the songs on the radio until you're sick of them first.
- chanop, on 04/14/2008, -1/+13Yup, godda be quality with Britney at #1, she must die for the harvest
- rstarr, on 04/14/2008, -2/+11Thanks for taking one for the team man.
- FACEmugger, on 04/14/2008, -2/+10Kid A?
- Shakermaker, on 04/14/2008, -1/+9Don't Believe the Truth?
/Jay-Z looks like he has Down's Syndrome - danc4498, on 04/14/2008, -1/+8Neither of which are on a level as highly celebrated as Powerman 5000.
- airj1012, on 04/14/2008, -4/+10This is an AWFUL list. First of all, only 13 famous albums? Then they actually consider Fiona Apple and Wilco famous?
- Ragzouken, on 04/14/2008, -1/+7Looks like they just don't support firefox on linux
- A11YND, on 04/14/2008, -1/+6No mention of Kid A? The Album that proved leaking an album online can increase record sales!?
/buried. - buddamus, on 04/14/2008, -0/+5Old style vinyl bootleg, took along time to do using your eyes and a pin
- trogdor282, on 04/14/2008, -1/+6EW.com Recommends Upgrading Your Browser
We're sorry, but it looks like the web browser you're using does not meet the necessary requirements for viewing EW.com.
I guess EW is too advanced for Firefox 3, I have to upgrade to ie6. FAIL. - MidwestDrummer, on 04/14/2008, -4/+9No Lillywhite Sessions (Dave Matthews Band) that was leaked via P2P files sharing programs, then rerecorded by the band and released as Busted Stuff?
- petebot, on 04/14/2008, -2/+6buried for DMB reference.
- wukillabee, on 04/14/2008, -0/+4this is stupid.. EVERY ***** album leaks onto 'teh scene'
- jameshighmore, on 04/14/2008, -0/+4You, sir, need to check your definition of "infamous".
- merbot, on 04/14/2008, -0/+4Didn't know albums could get leaked before the internet came out especially in the '60s.
- nekochan, on 04/14/2008, -2/+6or, just make it a pointless list.
- nekochan, on 04/14/2008, -0/+4every album worth listening to by anybody, and then some, have been leaked.
- edwartica, on 04/14/2008, -0/+4But sales are slumping, and no one will say why. Could it be you put out one too many lousy records?
- Dead Kennedys (from MTV Get off the air!) - BTConan, on 04/14/2008, -0/+3Is that one of the side effects of Teamocil?
- brown2hm, on 04/14/2008, -0/+3Wilco may not be "famous", but the yankee hotel foxtrot certainly is for the way it was released. The short story:
1. Wilco signs to major record label.
2. Record label has them record album.
3. Record label doesn't like album refused to release it.
4. Wilco wants to release the album on their own.
5. Record label refuses, lawsuit ensues.
6. Wilco says "F U" and puts the thing on the internet for free.
7. Album finally gets released 2 years later with several album of the year awards.
OK, maybe 7 different steps was more than the short story. Regardless, they became famous for sticking it to the man, and standing by their own music. (I can't believe that was almost 10 years ago, holy crap I'm getting old.) - johnnyblazepw, on 04/14/2008, -0/+36- ??????
7- Profit! - fribhey, on 04/14/2008, -1/+4i was expecting to see Kid A as the last one but instead saw Powerman 5000.... is list a joke?
- astrotrain, on 04/14/2008, -0/+3Its the truth, the RIAA whines about piracy and why Spear Britney is not selling her "An Evening with Britney and Telly Savalas" album. When the truth is its awful music, nobody wants in any way, shape or form. This is the music, when it comes on the radio you turn the station to find something better.
- badassninja, on 04/14/2008, -0/+3The Page pretty much told me to go ***** myself for having the wrong browser. But I have firefox and it's not even firefox 3.0. I think it's that i'm running Ubuntu. Really, why have these kinds of retarded checks? Who cares if their page doesn't load perfectly if I have the wrong browser. Oh well there lost.
- SupaDawg, on 04/14/2008, -1/+4worked fine in beta 4.
- trentasaurus, on 04/14/2008, -0/+3I don't know about Fiona Apple, but I think YHF could be considered a famous album simply due to the history behind involving the record companies. And it's greatness.
- Lubinski, on 04/14/2008, -3/+6Clicked through about 3 and said fux it, burried.
- supremebeing18, on 04/14/2008, -1/+4And 5.
- Loxias, on 04/14/2008, -0/+3No Opera support either.
- smacksaw, on 04/14/2008, -4/+7Prince's Black Album? Take that, Metallica!
- inactive, on 04/14/2008, -1/+3Stop your moaning, you big hippy.
- jeremiah, on 04/14/2008, -0/+2It would have been a LOT more interesting if they also tracked how the sales for these albums ended up for both physical product and electronic mediums
- astrotrain, on 04/14/2008, -0/+2Next up on the RIAA's new TV Show "Where are all the sales?".... Prince sings Metallica.....
- astrotrain, on 04/14/2008, -0/+2Spoken from the mouth of a wise LOL Cat.
- Darph.Bobo, on 04/14/2008, -0/+2"Is it really that bad to have to click?"
Yes it is. It's unnecessary and annoying. - meamog, on 04/14/2008, -1/+3Perhaps... but "unreleased" and "leaked" are pretty damn different. I don't think that one should have been on this list to be honest.
- loconet, on 04/14/2008, -0/+2The hilarious thing is that they tell you that you need to "upgrade". Ridiculous, I sent a quick message to their tech support e-mail.
- edwartica, on 04/14/2008, -0/+2I wish I could!
- scooterbaga, on 04/14/2008, -0/+2The 'unreleased' version of Fiona's extraordinary machine isn't without it's charm. It's a finished album, and quite a bit different from the retail version.
PM5K's anyone for doomsday is a freakin' great ablum, at least as far as PM5K's music goes....
Both albums worth checking out if you're a fan. - alibanana, on 04/14/2008, -0/+2Raconteurs wasn't rush released because it was leaked. They just wanted to shake things up and get it out there.
- BeforeSputnik, on 04/14/2008, -1/+3I thought the Lillywhite Sessions were better. Definitely should have been on the list, as it was an egregious enough theft to prompt a redo of the album.
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