Even the president of his record label only caught wind of The Next Day a month before its release. For an icon of his status to pull off such a feat was unheard of. Not only did it shatter the speculation that he’d retired from music, but Bowie managed to spend two years recording an album and not a whisper got out. On his 66th birthday, David Bowie caught the world by surprise when he dropped a new single, “Where Are We Now?,” and announced a new album, his first in 10 years.

Key track: “Pyramids” David Bowie: The Next Day (2013) Channel ORANGE turned out to be a watershed moment for hip-hop and R&B, further blurring boundaries between the two and introducing a queer narrative that’s rarely seen in either. This was inspired by Kanye West and Jay Z, who fooled their critics with decoy dates for 2011’s Watch The Throne. To prevent this, Frank Ocean decided to release Channel ORANGE a week before its intended date. Leaks can truly sabotage an artist’s carefully planned roll-out schedule.

Two months following the release, the band dropped a second In Rainbows disc featuring eight new tracks.Ĭlick to load video Frank Ocean: Channel ORANGE (2012) In Rainbows not only set a precedent for album releases but marked a new era for the band following their departure from EMI. When it came to their follow-up to 2003’s Hail To The Thief, the band announced a new album on their website along with a pre-order link where fans could pay what they wanted for it. Radiohead not only disrupted the traditional album rollout, they completely changed the way artists distributed their music. Best Concept Albums: 25 Classics That Will Blow Your Mind.The Female Pop Prodigies Taking The World By Storm.From Radiohead’s democratic pay-what-you-like model to Beyoncé’s groundbreaking Lemonade, there are some of the surprise albums that shook up the music world.

From the overnight drop to calculated partnerships, artists are no longer reliant on the traditional method of an album roll-out life cycle. Even before the advent of streaming, musicians rewrote the promotional playbook and delighted their fans with surprise albums.

Frank ocean albums friday