Contractual Obligation Albums

[scooter]

Was listening to The Sicilian Defence, an album from Alan Parsons Project that was cranked out quickly between Eve and The Turn of a Friendly Card, basically to get out of their contract, since the record company wasn't enamored with the advance tracks of the later album. As you might expect, there is basically nothing to it; Parsons and Eric Woolfson just noodled a bit on synth and piano for like 12 tracks and handed it in. As expected, it was rejected and they went their merry way.

It made me think of others of the genre - one of the most famous being Van Morrison's "revenge" songs to fulfill his Bang Records contract, which like Defence didn't get released until many years later. They were even worse: Morrison didn't even bother tuning his guitar for them.

Best of the genre is Here, My Dear from Marvin Gaye. He had to record it to pay his wife's alimony, so he turned it into a giant "fuck you" towards her, and being Marvin Gaye, he was basically incapable of making a bad song or album, so it worked.

Surprisingly, Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed was not one of these albums.

[WolfofWords]