Stories of songs you may never hear
Be glad music writer Dan LeRoy?s The Greatest Music Never Sold didn?t befall the same fate as the unreleased albums it covers. Through meticulous research and revealing interviews, LeRoy plays a fascinating game of ?what if?? with a collection of lost albums he describes as offering ?the best combination of genuinely excellent music and intriguing backstories.?
For good reason, LeRoy chooses to forgo deep discussion of better-known unreleased albums like Brian Wilson?s Smile. Instead, he illuminates the secrets behind abandoned (and sometimes imaginary) albums by artists including the Beastie Boys, Beck, Mick Jagger and Seal. Some albums dissected, like David Bowie?s Toy, simply became an interesting footnote to a legendary career, while the failed release of God?s Foot led to suicidal depression for Juliana Hatfield.
Until these albums are set free, at least now we can imagine a what-if world in which the Jungle Brothers revolutionized hip-hop with Crazy Wisdom Masters, and Stone of Sisyphus made Chicago relevant once again? in 1993.