The surprising original titles of 10 classic albums
The author Larry Winget once said that “the title’s more important than the book.” His books, as follows, are bloody awful. Nevertheless, the title is indeed an introductory handshake, and a weak one, slimy one or an otherwise unappealing one is a perturbing beast that may stop people from turning the cover over, so the speak.
What lies inside is obviously the most important asset; as Elvis Costello once said, “Morrissey writes wonderful song titles, but sadly he often forgets to write the song.” However, if you’re a fan of Morrissey, then you can counter Costello’s abrasion and claim that his knack for crafting concise poetry fit for a sellable title is a bold mark of his mastery. You can’t see ‘Sweet and Tender Hooligan’ and not feel the lure of a need to listen.
This is amplified further when it comes to album titles. After all, pop music transcends the tracks themselves and these headlines are going to be the ones that reside on postered walls, daubed as tattoos on the arms of devotees, and touted as masterpieces in dispatches in faraway eras. In fact, it’s hard to think of a classic album that doesn’t have a great title.
Aside from the ever-unimaginative LP christening Leonard Cohen and his drab-named masterpieces like Ten New Songs, it’s hard to think of a classic record without an apt motto. It begs the question; what comes first the classic or the caption? Well, below, we have probed that question and delved into an alternate reality where the name remained the same as it was once intended. These are the original working titles of ten masterful outings.
The surprising original titles of 10 classic albums:
The Smiths – The Queen is Dead (Originally: Margaret on the Guillotine)
Whichever way you hash it, it would seem that Morrissey and the gang were determined to come up with a cutting name for their third studio outing. Both, it would seem, capture the angst of a nation subsumed by a lack of liberation and Morrissey’s wry eye to the extreme end of the alternative.
Margaret on the Guillotine was the title used throughout the recording until a last-minute song came out of Mike Joyce and Stephen Street experimenting with a sampler and ‘The Queen is Dead’ was born. The rest is ancient history.
The Beatles – Revolver (Originally: Abracadabra)
We can be thankful for the mystic figures of fate weaving musical lore into place that one of the albums that changed the course of music wasn’t called Abracadabra. The Beatles had a hell of a lot of titles in the offing for Revolver, but Abracadabra somehow always held the top spot.
Thankfully, a magic moment meant that it was changed to the new title Revolver at the last minute and the ‘Fab Four’ managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat. Since then, Paul McCartney has titled a record Kisses on the Bottom so maybe you can’t dodge the bad title forever.
Pixies – Doolittle (Originally: Whore)
Doolittle is an album that has aged like fine wine; however, you get the feeling that the original title, Whore, would’ve aged like a tuna sandwich. You can see where they were coming from given the punchy nature of what they were offering up, but it’s hard to imagine the following: What’s your favourite album? Oh, probably Whore.
Black Francis once explained the change, stating: “I thought people were going to think I was some kind of anti-Catholic or that I’d been raised Catholic and trying to get into this Catholic naughty-boy stuff. … A monkey with a halo, calling it Whore, that would bring all kinds of shit that wouldn’t be true. So I said I’d change the title.”
Talking Heads – Remain in Light (Originally: Melody Attack)
Melody Attack may well have been a fitting title, given the constant bopping nature of the classic-crammed album. And that gains even more traction considering that the original working title was inspired by a Japanese game show, illuminating the wildly eclectic influences the band drew from.
However, the major downside is that Melody Attack simply sounds like the sort of title a 13-year-old might come up in the back of a schoolbook. It explains the sound, but it’s a kitsch kid’s TV show name. This goes to show that the shoe that fits is not always fashionable.
Nirvana – Nevermind (Originally: Sheep)
Kurt Cobain was an artist eternally concerned with his own output. When their grunge growl grew into a bellow, he was worried that some fans were merely jumping aboard the bandwagon. These were the mere crowd followers who he often sang about on Nevermind. So, you could argue that Sheep almost makes sense as a title, but it certainly doesn’t go down as well on a t-shirt.
Furthermore, there is a beauty to Nevermind, which exhibits the arc of his thought process. As Dave Grohl would later state: “Now you’re a top 40 band, and you’ve sold millions of records, how do you deal with that? A lot of people feel this sense of guilt or shame It’s like, ‘Oh no, I’m too popular’ or ‘Oh no, we’ve sold too many records’. There is this weird guilt and shame in that, and I think it’s really dangerous. When you were young, on your bedroom floor, there was no guilt then.” Thusly, you can almost see Nevermind as a sign of the band shrugging that shame aside.
Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks (Originally: God Save the Sex Pistols)
This profound record would’ve worked either way. The intent was simple: make a profound statement with a snarl and never compromise. The offence that the inclusion of “bollocks” caused was testimony to this intent, and you can’t help but think that God Save the Sex Pistols would’ve matched it.
However, when Steve Jones overheard two fans saying, “Never mind the bollocks” he reported it back to the band, and suddenly, the whole sleeve of this iconic record was changed. Moreover, two humble fans who claimed to have come up with it never believed in their local pub ever again.
David Bowie – Station to Station (Originally: The Return of the Thin White Duke)
The Thin White Duke is a fearsome beast, some fascist-loving freak who snarls about town and damn near ended up possessing Bowie himself like a character actor gone mad on his own creation (N.B. that’s a movie I’d love to see).
Perhaps this is why Bowie dropped the long-serving working title to Station to Station: the fictional implication of ‘The Return’ no longer seemed fitting, The Duke had transcended the comic book pages of its creation and now was travelling around Berlin, hoping one stop would serve up some sacred sobriety. By this point, Bowie was hoping to shed the skin of The Duke, not have him return.
Bob Dylan – Bring It All Back Home (Originally: Subterranean Homesick Blues)
Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks is surely one of the most aptly applied titles of all time. His depiction of a relationship that has succumbed to a train wreck is crammed with songs that bare the hue of claret. Whichever way you want to spin it, there is, in essence, blood on the tracks.
However, when it comes to his first electric outing, it would seem that his first title was more fitting. These songs are tales of the underground world of the beat scene runaways, and Subterranean Homesick Blues suits them perfectly. Moreover, it would’ve made more sense of the title track and its importance amid Dylan’s changing style—the times were changing too, stupid. Alas, Bring It All Back Home ain’t bad either.
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (Originally: Yesterday’s Gone)
Despite what the lyrics of ‘Don’t Stop’ proclaim, yesterday most certainly wasn’t gone for Fleetwood Mac and its tortured members. Yesterday was something that was eternally dragged back into the studio and rehashed in harsh one-sided tales.
The cesspit was a soap opera and one that leaked onto public pages daily. Thus, it’s hard to think of a more apt title for a chaotic album… other than maybe The Disputed Truth. Blessedly, it’s a title that spawned the classic gag: Mind you, Fleetwood Mac made some of their best music when they were in turmoil. Rumours? Nah, it was all true.
Arctic Monkeys – Suck it and See (Originally: Thriller)
Naming your album after the biggest selling record of all time is certainly a statement. And it’s one that Arctic Monkeys eventually chickened out of. They wrestled with many suggestions when wondering what on earth could match a plain cream album title, and true to form, they went with an old British phrase that translates terribly overseas: all it means is ‘give it a go’.
However, there is a second theory touted behind the name choice. Apparently, there is a little-known sweet shop in the bowls of London called Humbug, and the store’s tagline is Suck it and See, so the title may actually be a nod to Turner’s favourite confectionary outlet.
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