10 Famous Rock Albums That Were Almost Called Something Else
Had things gone differently, music fans would be talking about these albums in very different ways.
"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
This is a quote from William Shakespeare's classic play Romeo & Juliet, spoken by the latter in reference to her and her lover being from warring family lines.
But let's face it, everybody knows that Big Bill was really writing about some of the biggest rock albums of all time and the names they were almost given! It's blatantly obvious!
Coming up with an album name might seem simple, but it's actually a proper pain in the backside. Something so minute can have a huge effect on a record's success, as if it's got a bad or unattractive name, then people will not be listening.
These bands found that out the hard way, as their original ideas for album titles were all thrown out for one reason or other. In some cases, this led to a less interesting name being used, but, most of the time, this was actually a blessing in disguise.
In the words of Shakespeare once again, all's well that ends well for these legendary recordings.
10. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (Almost Called “War Pigs”)
Though their self-titled debut is regarded now as one of the most important heavy metal albums ever made, Black Sabbath's most famous album is arguably the follow-up to that record, Paranoid.
Released just seven months after the debut, Paranoid capitalised on the group's momentum and established metal as a genre to be reckoned with. The album of course takes its title from the song of the same name, which has gone on to become one of the band's calling cards, but it was almost named after another track.
Sabbath were told that they needed a three-minute piece of filler to complete the album, so they cobbled together a simple tune to plug the gap. This would turn out to be Paranoid, which the record company correctly assumed would be a massive hit.
As a result, the album took on that name, but it was originally intended to be called War Pigs, after the song that would open the record up. Funnily enough, War Pigs itself also went through a name change, as it was initially going to be called Warpulgis, after the Satanic festival of worship.
All this chaos less than a year after their debut release - sounds exhausting.