When you see an album by a solo artist like Michael Jackson or Tom Waits, nobody actually expects them to be the only musician performing on the album (unless they're Prince). The same thing goes for some albums by bands. Just because the name of the band is on the front of the album, it doesn't mean the entire band actually performed on the album. Here are six albums recorded without the entire band.
1. Dinosaur Jr. - Without A Sound & Hand It Over (1994/1997)
After kicking out bassist Lou Barlow in 1989 and signing to Sire Records the following year, Dinosaur Jr.'s lineup was in disarray. Drummer Murph was still in the band, but guitarist J Mascis would often record drum tracks himself anyway. When Murph left for good in 1993, Mascis would record the band's next two albums, Without A Sound and Hand It Over, almost entirely on his own, with only bassist Mike Johnson contributing.
2. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)
During production of its debut album Isn't Anything in 1988, all four members of My Bloody Valentine contributed to recording, which gives the album a relatively human, naturalistic foundation beneath all of the strange guitar shrieks. However, the band's legendary follow-up Loveless feels much more rigid and mechanical, largely due to the fact that it was recorded almost entirely by guitarist Kevin Shields. Though the band's other guitarist Bilinda Butcher would contribute vocals to most of the songs, all of the album's guitars, basses and synths were performed by Shields (with the exception of the brief instrumental "Touched" by drummer Colm O'Ciosoig), while the drums tracks where built on loops rather than live drums.
3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (1993)
Inspired by My Bloody Valentine in both sound and production techniques, Billy Corgan took legendarily tyrannical control of his music during the recording of the Smashing Pumpkin's second album Siamese Dream. With the exception of the album's excellent drumming by Jimmy Chamberlin, most of the guitar and bass tracks were performed by Corgan himself (sometimes 40 in a single song), mostly because he was able to record them in fewer takes, having written the songs. All four members would end up recording their own parts on the band's next album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
4. Neutral Milk Hotel - On Avery Island (1996)
Though Neutral Milk Hotel is often thought of as a four-piece band, it started off as the solo project of singer/guitarist Jeff Mangum. For the first Neutral Milk Hotel album On Avery Island, Mangum recorded most instruments, including guitar, drums, and keyboards, on his own, with producer Robert Schneider playing bass, and various friends contributing other instruments such as horns and accordions. The band's classic four-piece lineup of Mangum, Julian Koster, Scott Spillane, and Jeremy Barnes, would make its debut on the band's second album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, in 1998.
5. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker & Lonerism (2010/2012)
Much like Neutral Milk Hotel, Tame Impala started off as the solo project of the band's frontman, Kevin Parker. However, unlike Neutral Milk Hotel, Tame Impala has yet to expand into a full band on record. Both of Tame Impala's albums, Innerspeaker and Lonerism, were recorded almost entirely by Parker, without the help of his bandmates.
6. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1966)
Technically, all six members of the Beach Boys did perform on Pet Sounds, but not in the same capacity as on the band's previous albums. Originally intended as a Brian Wilson solo album, Pet Sounds was recorded "Wall of Sound" style, with a small orchestra of talented session musicians. The rest of the Beach Boys came into the studio only after a large part of the album was completed, contributing their signature group harmonies, but almost no instrumental tracks.
What other bands have recorded albums this way? Let us know in the comments section!
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