The Greatest Music Never Sold: Secrets of Legendary Lost Albums by David Bowie, Seal, Beastie Boys, Chicago, Mick Jagger and More!

by Dan LeRoy

The Greatest Music Never Sold is a never-before-attempted look at the legendary lost recordings of the pop music world. It reveals the secrets of 20 albums – works by superstars and supergroups such as Mick Jagger, Seal, Chicago, David Bowie, Prince, Sheryl Crow, and the Beastie Boys – that have never been officially released. New interviews with artists, band members, producers, engineers, and label executives shine a light into the darkened studio vaults, revealing the ego battles, politics, and career confusion that have buried work by these pop music greats. Certain to appeal to record collectors, bootleggers, and ardent music fans everywhere, The Greatest Music Never Sold is a rare look into one of pop music's hidden corners.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2007

Reviews

[Chris Estey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't completely thrilled with the bands whose records Leroy writes about (do I really care that much about a great "lost" Chicago album? How exciting would actually hearing it really be?), and actually wish there'd been more genres covered than mainstream rock or rap or soul. The Beastie Boys chapter is completely perfect, regardless, and Leroy is a writer who just sucks me in, a total professional who is as sleek as he is sincere, wise as he is passionate. This is probably the most unfairly overlooked book of 2007 and could have used several hundred more pages of stories. Please do a volume two as promised, Dan!.

[Mike Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and well researched! I really enjoyed this book, especially the chapter about some of my favorite artists like Seal and Bowie and Jagger.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author had an interesting concept, there just wasn't enough of it. Too many of the albums and bands discussed are just straight lame. I could really care less what album Mick Jagger never got around to releaseing, he's one of the worst mega-star solo artists of all-time (the sales speak for themselves). I did enjoy some of the other chapters: Beastie Boys, Bowie, Juliana Hatfield. And the final chapter of shorter enteries was well paced. The book would also have been greatly helped by some photos of the subject matter, and an accompanying CD would have been fantastic. I would consider reading a another book by Dan LeRoy, though.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fascinating look at some of rock's best-known "lost" albums. From Bowie to Juliana Hatfield to Jagger, it's all in here. Leroy's prose won't win any awards, but the stories are interesting enough on their own. Worth picking up for any music fan.

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, I think this book is better in theory than read. There are a lot of good stories in it but I think the topic is better served as a website than a book.
The Adam Ant story made me happy, though.

[Michael O'Malley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent stories about albums by famous artists you never heard of and why they were never published. Some good insight to the music industry.