10 of the most expensive albums ever made

One of the most expensive albums never released, the group’s hit Good Vibrations is said to have cost around $75,000 ($550,000 in today’s money) to record alone, but due to Brian Wilson’s drug intake the album sessions weren’t released on a record in the 60s and 70s. They were finally released as The Smile Sessions in 2011.

The iconic record, known as The Black Album, was released in 1991 and cost an estimate $1 million to make after a lot of recording and re-recording. The album was remixed three times before release.

Fleetwood Mac forked out a large amount of their reported $1.4 million album fund on “custom-fitting” Studio D at Los Angeles’ Village Recorder to make their 1979 record. Tusk sold just four million copies - a huge 19 million fewer than previous album Rumours.

The hard rock group hired Roy Thomas Baker, who has worked with the likes of Queen and Alice Cooper, for their 2005 follow up to successful 2003 debut album Permission To Land. He cut down 37 songs to 10 and some of the tunes were said to feature 120 to 160 guitar parts each.

Kanye is reported to have splashed out more than $3 million of Def Jam’s expenses making the album. He recorded most of the record in Hawaii and flew over his favourite producers and artists to work on the project, including the likes of Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj.

The 2002 follow up to their 1999 hit Issues, Untouchables cost Korn arond $4 million over two years. The record only cost $700,000 but they spent a further £3.3 million on the crew and rented houses to record in various US cities.

Guitarist Phil Collen once revealed the 1987 record needed to sell five million copies to break even and it duly obliged - selling more than 25 million. There were several issues during recording, including drummer Ricky Allen losing his arm and singer Joe Elliott getting mumps.

The 1999 record was by country artist Garth Brooks who formed an Australian alter-ego by the name of Chris Gaines to go all rock ‘n’ roll. But the album flopped and was estimated to have cost around $5 million.

The record took a massive 14 years to make as Guns N’ Roses attempted to create the perfect album, which finally dropped in November 2008. More than $13 million was said to have been splashed out on production with the studio rental priced at $50,000 a month and thousands was spent on guitars which were never used.

The King of Pop’s final album, released in 2001, was said to have cost around $30 million to make and five years to record the 50 or so songs before the track-listing was cut to 16. Sony are also said to have spent a huge $25 million promoting the record.