Most Bizarre Places Musicians Have Recorded Their Albums

Odd Places Musicians Have Recorded Their Albums

When it comes to recording their albums, musicians throughout the years haven’t been satisfied with simply rocking up to a studio and laying down a selection of classic tracks for posterity. The bands and solo artists below have all taken things to the extreme when it comes to finding off-the-wall locations to record their songs – and one person on this list is a repeat offender.

So, from oil rigs to space stations, let’s run down the list of the strangest places on (and beyond) Earth where albums have been recorded.

Radiohead – OK Computer

This album put Radiohead on the map when it was released in 1997, hitting the top spot on the UK’s album charts and getting a rare 5/5 review from the NME. But it wasn’t just the music that was extraordinary: OK Computer was recorded in a 15th Tudor mansion near Bath, UK – the building, a former monastery, is Grade I listed and, to make things even more interesting, was owned at the time by the actress and ex-Bond girl Jane Seymour.

Henry VIII was alleged to have kept his illegitimate daughter on the site, and it’s rumored to be haunted by several ghosts. Thom Yorke, the lead singer of the band, has recalled feeling the presence of phantoms during the recording of the album, saying, ‘ghosts would talk to me while I was asleep.’

New Order, The Cure, and Robbie Williams have also recorded tracks at this location.

Katie Melua- Concert Under the Sea

The clue is in the title with this one! In 2006, Katie Melua and her band got themselves an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for that year by recording an album beneath the waves at the bottom of a massive drilling platform.  The band was watched as they played by an audience of twenty oil rig employees. 

If you’re planning to make a video in an out-there location such as those that feature on this list, have a look here for music for videos that will take your content to the next level, whether you’re set to be filming under the sea, like Katie, or in a snakepit, as our next band did…

The Libertines – Anthems for Doomed Youth

After an extended break of eleven years, the album Anthems for Doomed Youth was the triumphant return of The Libertines to the limelight. Inspired by the writings of Rudyard Kipling and Wilfred Own, the album was both critically acclaimed and loved by the fans: it reached number three on the UK album charts upon its release in 2015.

The tracks for the record were recorded in Thailand, in a studio in a tropical locale: the band chose the studio specifically for its seclusion, which they hoped would give them the opportunity to fully focus on creating their album. Turned out, though, that the building they were using was built on top of a highly dangerous snake pit.

Not to be deterred, the band persevered and finished recording the album on-site without incident. Speaking about the experience later, The Libertines’ Carl Barat recalls being told that there was no anti-venom on hand – meaning that if anyone got bitten while recording, they would, quite simply, die.

Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

This fifth album from rock legends Black Sabbath was the first to garner some positive reviews from the critics; and also featured some of the band’s heaviest and darkest riffs to date.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was recorded in Clearwell Castle, a Grade II listed gothic mansion in the Forest of Dean, UK, with the rehearsals taking place in the castle dungeons. The band has spoken about the otherworldly nature of the site: Tony Iommi remembers seeing a cloaked figure appear ahead, then disappear into a room; when he followed it, he discovered the room to be empty.

Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison

In 1968, Johnny Cash teamed up with producer Bob Johnston to make what would become one of the most famous live recordings of all time. Folsom Prison in California was the USA’s very first maximum-security prison, and Cash has since recalled how, stepping into a cell, all you’re left with are your basic animal instincts. ‘Life outside behind you becomes immediately unreal,’ he said.

A year later, Cash recorded At San Quentin, at the state prison of the same name, in the second of what he had hoped would be a collection of live recordings from penitentiaries throughout the USA. This album has now achieved triple platinum status and was nominated for several Grammy awards.

Chris Hadfield – Space Sessions: Songs from a Tin Can

And the only place we can end the list is with a musician that recorded his album in a location that was quite literally out of this world! The Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded a selection of tracks during his time at the helm of the International Space Station in 2013. Released two years later, Space Sessions remains the only album ever recorded (to date!) outside of Earth’s atmosphere.

The record features a collection of Chris’ own songs as well as a cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity – of course.