“Unreleased” can describe an album that never came out in the form first planned—not necessarily music that is still unavailable. The Beatles’ Get Back became Let It Be, and Neil Young’s once-shelved Homegrown and Chrome Dreams eventually received official releases. Rolling Stone Australia’s selection of 15 projects is best read as a set of stories about unfinished plans, abandoned sequences and later archival discoveries, rather than a list of 15 albums you cannot hear.
What happened to the Beatles’ Get Back album?
The Beatles began work on the 1969 project under the working title Get Back, with an idea of rehearsing new material and returning to live performance. The plan changed as the sessions moved into the studio. The band’s official Anthology account says the proposed stage return was shelved partway through; cameras then recorded the group working on songs for its next album. The resulting album and film eventually appeared as Let It Be, after Abbey Road.
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The original Get Back concept did not vanish entirely. The Beatles’ official release page says producer Glyn Johns compiled a 14-track stereo LP mix in May 1969. That mix was later included in the Let It Be Special Edition Super Deluxe collection, alongside 27 previously unreleased session recordings and a four-track EP. The collection is an archival presentation of the abandoned album mix, not the original 1969 release the band had planned.
Keyboard player Billy Preston, who joined the Beatles at Apple Studio, recalled in 2002: “They didn’t tell me they were going to put my name on it! The guys were really kind to me.” The recollection appears on the Beatles’ official release page.
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- Iconic Album: Rumours stands as one of the best-selling albums in music history, certified nineteen times platinum and widely regarded as the definitive album of the 1970s that transcends genre and generations
- Classic Tracks: Features timeless rock staples including Dreams, Don't Stop, Go Your Own Way, You Make Loving Fun, The Chain, and Gold Dust Woman, creating a collection that reads like a greatest hits package
- Legendary Performances: Showcases the magical collaboration of Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, and the entire band delivering impeccable songwriting and passionate playing on every track
- Vinyl LP Format: This pressing captures the monumental 1977 album by the British-American rock band in authentic vinyl format, preserving the original sound quality and listening experience
- Musical Excellence: A vital rock album that succeeds through its exceptional composition and emotional depth, making it an essential addition to any music collection regardless of your preferred genre
Which albums on the list later came out?
Neil Young: Homegrown and Chrome Dreams
Neither album should be described as still unreleased. Neil Young Archives lists Homegrown as released on June 19, 2020, on Reprise (catalog 93624898689), with a 12-song track listing. The archive lists Chrome Dreams as released on August 11, 2023, on Reprise (catalog 093624869375), also with 12 songs. These are once-shelved projects that later reached listeners through official releases. See the Neil Young Archives.
The Beatles: the Glyn Johns Get Back mix
The planned 1969 album was not issued under its original title at the time, but the Glyn Johns mix later became officially available as part of the Let It Be Super Deluxe collection. Its reappearance lets listeners encounter a version of the project distinct from the album released as Let It Be.
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What does “unreleased album” mean in these stories?
The phrase covers projects at different stages. Some were recorded and sequenced but rejected or delayed; others were ideas or sessions that never settled into a finished album. A title may also remain part of music history even when its songs or a later version eventually appear officially. The key distinction is between a project’s original intended form and what can be heard now.
- Planned album, changed outcome: Get Back began as a proposed return-to-performance project and ended up as Let It Be.
- Shelved, then officially released: Young’s Homegrown and Chrome Dreams now have release dates and track listings in his archive.
- Historical account, current status not established here: Rolling Stone Australia reports that Marvin Gaye worked on Love Man in 1979 and resisted releasing it. That account does not establish whether the project is currently available in an official archival form.
Bootlegs, rumors and recollections can illuminate a project’s history, but they are not the same evidence as an official release listing. For each album, it helps to ask how much was recorded, who explained the decision to shelve it, whether songs were reused later and whether an official version exists.
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- Considered one of the greatest debut albums in rock history, Van Halen took the music world by storm in 1978 with an 11-song manifesto that features some of rock radio s most played songs of all time and scorching concert staples like "Runnin With The Devil," "Ain t Talkin Bout Love," "Jamie s Cryin ," the band s signature cover of The Kinks "You Really Got Me, " and Eddie Van Halen s finger-tapping tour de force, "Eruption."Mastering engineer Chris Bellman, who remastered the original albums at Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios, was enlisted for this new version. In order to produce the original sound the band intended, Bellman cut straight
The 15 projects in Rolling Stone Australia’s selection
The following titles are the magazine’s editorial selection, not a definitive catalog or independent confirmation that each project remains unavailable today:
- The Beatles, Get Back
- Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, 1969 session project
- Jeff Beck, The Motown Album
- Jimi Hendrix, Black Gold
- Wicked Lester
- The Who, Rock Is Dead – Long Live Rock
- CSNY, Human Highway
- Pink Floyd, Household Objects
- David Bowie, The Gouster
- Paul McCartney, Cold Cuts
- Neil Young, Homegrown
- The Beach Boys, Adult/Child
- Marvin Gaye, Love Man
- The Clash, Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg
- Bruce Springsteen, Electric Nebraska
For most of these titles, the list is a starting point rather than enough to settle the project’s completion, shelving reason or present availability. The clearest verified examples here show why the label needs care: a shelved album may be transformed into another release, or may eventually surface in an official archival edition.
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Marvin Gaye’s Love Man: what is established?
Rolling Stone Australia describes Love Man as a 1979 project Gaye did not want Motown to release, quoting him: “No matter how much money Motown would give me to release Love Man, I couldn’t do it.” That supports the historical account of his reluctance; it does not, on its own, verify the project’s current archival status. The article’s list should therefore not be taken as proof that Love Man remains unavailable today.
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