Albums referred to by alternative names

Even if the artist has publicly said what the title is, and it's cataloged with said title, fans sometimes call it by a different name, either because the album title is not present on the jacket or it's become a lovable nickname for a self-titled album (this is the usual culprit). Or fans are just dumb. What are some of those and why did they get that nickname?

Going to avoid the obvious ones and start with...

Alice in Chains - s/t. Many people call this one "Tripod" because of the three-legged dog on the cover.

Garbage- s/t. Some fans called it "G" because there's a solitary G on the cover. I emailed the band and they said it was rubbish, that the title was Garbage.

Metallica - s/t. "The Black Album"

Days of the New - these idiots released 3 consecutive self-titled albums , so fans refer to the albums by their colors (Yellow/Green/Red)

More?

Happy End had two self-titled records. The first one gets called Yudemen because there's a photo of a ramen shop on the cover, and the shop's name is written there in hiragana: yu ~ de ~ me ~ n.

Makes a person wonder whether self-titled records are really such a good idea.

The White Album

Peter Gabriel's first three albums - Car, Scratch, and Melt.

The self-titled debut albums by Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne are sometimes referred to by the writing on the cover: Song to a Seagull and Saturate Before Using.

Is THE LODGER David Bowie's best record?

Do people still refer to Led Zep IV as Zoso?

Red House Painters self titled albums (Rollercoaster) (Bridge)

Was beaten to the Gabriel and Zeppelin examples before I could hit submit

However there's a whole sea of so-nicknamed-but-not-officially-named (Colour) Albums, e.g. Orbital (Blue aside), Weezer, Planxty, Adolescents, and that Liverpool band whose examples could make the French or Dutch flag.

Genesis' s/t known as 'Shapes' or 'The Shapes Album'.

Fables of the Reconstruction - Reconstruction of the Fables

Flipper's Generic goes by three or four different names.

Seen ppl mistakenly call cale’s honi soit “British passport”

Whoops honi soit that is

lol all the examples I came up with were already taken by the time I hit post

I guess you've got TMBG's debut which is often referred to as "The Pink Album" despite the band never calling it that

No-one mentioned the Velvet Underground's Banana album?

Peel slowly and S/T

I have a feeling that SPLHCB - an ugly initialism no one uses - is usually shortened as Sgt. Pepper in text but as Sgt. Pepper's in speech. Idk if this is really an accurate observation but I've noticed it somewhere down the line.

Songs with nicknames: Bo Rhap.

lol really?

This album was originally released as Joni Mitchell because the LP album covers were printed incorrectly, cutting off part of the Song to a Seagull title (spelled out by birds in flight).[citation needed] The cut-off, as well as the publishers at Reprise Records not noticing that the birds spelled out the album name, caused the eponymous album title.[citation needed]

The jury's out on Joni

PiL, Second Edition

... probably doesn't count tbh

STP'S Purple famously doesn't contain the word Purple on it, and there's a hidden track where a crooner sings "The second album, 12 gracious melodies", plus the pic of the cake on the back with those words, so people at the time mistakenly called it 12 Gracious Melodies.

Now people just call it that for fun

xp Does remind me of a generation gap I've noticed re:the third Big Star album, in that the 'Sister Lovers' name seems to have slowly vanished and young fans seem to exclusively call it 'Third'.

Metallica fans call Load "Load of Shit"

The Yardbirds - s/t called "Roger the Engineer"

I thought the STP album says "purple" in Chinese?

I think so

one weird example of this was a guy I know who referred to King Crimson's Discipline as "Red" because it had a red cover, despite the fact that they actually do have an album called "Red"

That guy needs a talking to

This confusion was the source of their song "One More Red Nightmare" (seven years early)

George Harrison's Dark Horse (album or song) as "Dark Hoarse" because of the laryngitis

Duran Duran's second s/t - The Wedding Album

Fleetwood Mac's second s/t - The White Album

David Bowie's second s/t - Space Oddity, as used officially on some reissues

Foghat's second s/t - Rock 'n' Roll

The debut album by Tyrannosaurus Rex, My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows, is often referred to by fans as "MPWFAHSITH...BNTCTWSOTB"

I'm pretty sure I've read the 1977 Crosby, Stills and Nash release called "the boat album" or "the yacht album" recently.

Fiona Apple's second album is often referred to as "When the Pawn blah blah blah"

might be just me and one friend from school, but Dub Nob Ass With My Head Man

CaETANo VeLoso - these idiots released 3 consecutive self-titled albums , so fans refer to the albums by their colors (1968/Album Branco/London, London)

we still call it “dub nob”

Clearly artists with multiple self-titled albums lend themselves well to this trend. One unnamed so far is the Grateful Dead’s “Skull & Roses” which I believe was their second s/t.

An album that earned an alternative name even though it was to my knowledge their only s/t is Pearl Jam’s “Avocado”

A man bites dog variant: the famous Bob Dylan bootleg where the fan yells “Judas” was called the Royal Albert Hall concert so ubiquitously that when they put it out officially as part of the Bootleg Series, they kept that title even though the concert in fact took place in Manchester

Do people still refer to Led Zep IV as Zoso?

Folks still refer to Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album as Led Zeppelin IV, so maybe.

The Style Council's The Cost of Loving as "The Orange Album" - rare non-s/t coloured album

ELO's Discovery as "Very Disco" (veryDisco)

Not quite the same thing, but plenty of albums with long/longish titles get routinely referred to by the cognoscenti in shortened form that would make little sense to non-fans, here are some examples from the world of prog:
Dark Side
The Lamb
Welcome Back My Friends
Topographic
Script
He To He

Some I'm very used to: Modern Life, Atomic Bomb, Confessions, Confessions again, Fables, Automatic, Piper

Is Ziggy Stardust the only album where the informal short name isn't the beginning or end of the longer name?

The House of Love's second (similarly self-titled) LP is referred to as the Butterfly album. It was also irritatingly called Fontana when it first came out as the label's name on the cover was almost as prominent as the band's name.

Skull and Roses was also supposed to be named "Skullfxxk" too.

Bad Brains’ Yellow Album (debut)

And I think it has another nickname…?

Yeah, that one is referred to by old folks like me as the "yellow tape," because it was originally cassette-only. And the first CD version was given the ridiculous title Attitude: The ROIR Sessions.

Which reminds me— Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is often called The Purple Tape.

Barenaked Ladies (more commonly known as "The Yellow Tape"), is the Barenaked Ladies' third indie tape release

hence the source of the frequent confusion between Barenaked Ladies and Bad Brains

The House of Love's second (similarly self-titled) LP is referred to as the Butterfly album

...and their album known as "Babe Rainbow" is supposedly also self-titled (again), it just happens to have the words "Babe Rainbow" printed on the front.

Phish's self-titled self-released demo was referred to as The White Tape, a name that the band adopted when they offically re-released it many years later.

Which reminds me— Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is often called The Purple Tape.

― The Quaker Gurvitz Army (President Keyes), Friday, June 5, 2026 8:34 PM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is news to me

1st Flying Saucer Attack record was s/t but sometimes called "Rural Psychedelia" because it said that under their name on the back

xpost https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_Built_4_Cuban_Linx...

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (commonly referred to as the Purple Tape) is the debut studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon

If you bought the cassette, it was purple.

I suppose it’s pronounced the same, but Primal Scream’s Exterminator is almost universally referred to as XTRMNTR.

Which I guess is a category of its own: albums whose type design is so distinctive that people feel compelled to mimic it when typing the title — though the only other example I can think of offhand is the Beach Boys’ Smile, which I often see rendered as SMiLE.

Um, XTRMNTR is called XTRMNTR. Always has been. I’ve never seen anyone or anything refer to is as Exterminator. The track is called that, but the album isn’t.

If you bought the cassette, it was purple.

is it a false memory that the CD had a purple case, or at least an early version?

Purple tray, clear case, mostly red CD.

Um, XTRMNTR is called XTRMNTR. Always has been.

Not always. I bought it the week of release and the credits read “Exterminator (c) 2000.” I do think it’s become the title for all practical purposes since then, but the copyright is under Exterminator.

(Just checked Discogs and it’s listed as Exterminator there FWIW.)

The original LP release was entitled The Henry Cow Legend, with the name appearing only on the spine of the album cover. The 1991 CD edition was retitled Legend, and the 1998 original mix remastered CD edition was retitled Leg End.

Clearly artists with multiple self-titled albums lend themselves well to this trend

Tindersticks I and II as well.

Then there's Kraftwerk's Electric Café, which got retitled on reissue under its original working title of Techno Pop but most people still refer to it by its original title.

The original LP release was entitled The Henry Cow Legend, with the name appearing only on the spine of the album cover. The 1991 CD edition was retitled Legend, and the 1998 original mix remastered CD edition was retitled Leg End.

...and the North American LP was simply called Henry Cow. I'm looking at my copy and there's neither a "leg" nor an "end" to be found anywhere on the packaging.

Is THE LODGER David Bowie's best record?

nice

I see XTRMNTR as the real name but it's made to seem like a pure stylistic quirk because it says 'Exterminator' on the disc and the band are listed only as 'PRML SCRM'.

Bowie - Outside (most common), 1.Outside (less common but not obscure), 1.Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle (first time I've ever typed that)

I remember for a minute in 1986 we discussed whether the new Prince and the R album was called "EVOLUTION / PARADE".

Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley, which is sometimes referred to simply as "Sky Valley"

The first ELO album was originally mistitled "No Answer" in America after an attempted record company phone call to England to find out the album title went unanswered.

'The Beach Boys Love You' (official name) v 'Love You' is a lot more contentious than, say, 'The Beach Boys Today!' v 'Today!', I suspect largely because the 'Love You' on the sleeve is smaller and a different colour. A similar thing happens with 'Public Image: First Issue' v 'First Issue'.

Dark Side of the Moon as just 'Dark Side' has been mentioned but it's also probably the album whose definite article is dropped most often, like by me just then.

Gal Costa's 1971 live album is sometimes listed as "Fa-Tal" and other times as "Gal A Todor Vapor" or just "A Todor Vapor" or even "-Fa-Tal- Gal A Todo Vapor."

"Randy Newman is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman, released in 1968 by Reprise Records. The album is sometimes referred to as Randy Newman Creates Something New Under the Sun, written on the reverse of the album sleeve."

"Something Else by the Kinks, often referred to simply as Something Else"
"Soap Opera, or The Kinks Present a Soap Opera"
"Schoolboys in Disgrace, or The Kinks Present Schoolboys in Disgrace"

https://toomuchberard.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/img_1962.png

Some people call the self-titled first Sparks album Halfnelson, since it was first released when the band was still called Halfnelson, also as a self-titled album. It was re-released later the same year under the Sparks name.

Chicago Transit Authority > Chicago I
Chicago > Chicago II

truncated long album names could probably fill this thread, but I immediately thought of Sufjan's "Michigan" and "Illinois" (but maybe that's just my lazy ass).

Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley, which is sometimes referred to simply as "Sky Valley"

And "Sky Valley Soundtrack" as labeled on the anti-theft strip on the old CD.

Genesis' s/t known as 'Shapes' or 'The Shapes Album'

― you can see me from westbury white horse, Friday, June 5, 2026 11:31 AM

Doesn't Genesis's debut have 3 different names, depending on the longitude of that Place to Call Your Own?

I've literally never once heard call the s/t album 'shapes' out loud, it's something I've only ever seen on the internet. I don't remember anyone calling it that in the 80's.

The album “Icehouse” by Flowers is also referred to as “Flowers.”

(The band changed their name to Icehouse for subsequent releases.)

Some good ones in here:
Names under which self-titled abums are known

I once heard someone refer to Zep IV as "Runes and Tunes"... a much better unofficial title!
― steve, Thursday, November 20, 2003

Dark Side of the Moon as just 'Dark Side' has been mentioned but it's also probably the album whose definite article is dropped most often, like by me just then.

― you can see me from westbury white horse, Wednesday, June 10, 2026 1:56 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I always get tripped up by this because I bought this version back in the day, I mean if you can't trust a CD spine what is even real anymore.

https://www.discogs.com/release/2359233-Pink-Floyd-Dark-Side-Of-The-Moon

Yet another s/t "The White Album", Eddie Palmieri

Early pressings of the US version of Traffic's debut album, Mr. Fantasy, were for some reason retitled Heaven Is in Your Mind and had different artwork and track listing. The official title quickly reverted to Mr. Fantasy but the cover and track listing weren't changed to the UK configuration until 1980. There are still several different mixes and bonus tracks on reissues of this one.

Is there a Deluxe Edition CD of that Traffic album that combines the UK and US versions?

Please Please Me/The Early Beatles/Por Favor, Yo
plus bonus points for being 50% of
The Beatles vs. The Four Seasons

^ also - Introducing... The Beatles

xp - yes.

Oh yeah, knew I was leaving something out

Obvious ones not mentioned:

The Beatles 1962-1966 = The Red Album
The Beatles 1967-1970 = The Blue Album

The Band = The Brown Album.

I did mention the Red and Blue Albums

Sorry! I combed the thread and missed it

Tbf I was a bit vague about it (Beatles whose examples make up the Dutch and French flags, which is how the old fatboxes used to appear on my shelf after I temporarily moved things around and didn't move them back again for years)

Adjacent to all of this, Pink Floyd's debut was officially called Pink Floyd in its original US release (and also had a different track listing). But I've never known any Floyd fan to call it anything but "Piper..."

I think the lesson here is that nobody likes self-titled albums.

I have a Yardbirds reissue and it literally says 'Roger the Engineer' on the spine, so...

Blues Breakers by John Mayall with Eric Clapton, popularly known as The Beano Album

New Order's Substance as Substance 1987

Jane’s Addiction s/t debut = XXX Live

^ good call!

The Telescopes' self-titled album on Creation is occasionally referred to as "High'r 'n' High'r" from the hand written chords/lyrics on the cover

Surprisingly can't see them mentioned but Orbital's first two albums, both self-titled, are known as The Green Album and The Brown Album

The Cyrillic alphabet has the potential to cause this phenomenon.

Paul McCartney – Choba B CCCP, often mispronounced, or known as Back in the USSR or The Russian Album.

Billy Joel – Концерт, often referred to as Kohuept.

Sunny Day Real Estate - LP2, aka "The Pink Album"

The third album by Nirvana (the 60s one) is called, alternatively, "To Markos III", "Dedicated to Markos III" or "Black Flower".

Sigur Ros - Agætis Byrjun, aka "The Fetus Album"?

What do people call that Sigur Ros album that just has a pair of parentheses as the title?

Love Symbol / Love Symbol Album / Symbol / Symbol Album

and xp I've heard it called the Bracket Album

Image Publique SA - "Paris Au Printemps"

someone (I don't remember who, sorry) on this board called Sigur Rós' () album "Two sausages kissing"...
― willem (willem), Wednesday, November 19, 2003

idgi, isn't that the actual name? xp

I think Mark G's point is that people refer to it as Paris in the Spring, not by its actual name.

"two sausages" - pretty sure i heard this one from the eluvium guy

re: name of sigur ros album

Dark Side of the Moon is a good one - I absolutely adored that album as a teen in the mid-90s and had no idea the "The" was even there. Similarly to Gavin, my friends and I were likely led astray by the 90s CD spine.

Belle & Sebastian - Fishyclap and Twattybus

according to one old ilm post.

The Smell of McAlmont and Butler
Safeway's Here We Come

an aside but I’ve always been tickled by the brits adding a possessive to store names that don’t have them: Tesco’s, etc.

Some Americans do that too! Kroger's, Meijer's, Nordstrom's, Woolworth's.

Tiffany's!

Macy's!

well Macy’s brands itself with the possessive

In the Midwest where I'm from people had a way of pluralizing every major brand/place, including car companies (Ford's, Chrysler's, etc.)

Trader's Joe

I suppose if you lived in a city with multiple Trader Joe's, as I do, it's probably proper to refer to them collectively as the Traders Joe.

TJ's is the correct form

There are lots of albums with real names that I refer to as "crap"

Hail to the Thief has the official alternate name/subtitle The Gloaming, although used by no one.

"People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm"

aka.. um...

"The first Tribe album"

.. Yeah, That's it...

"KRS already had an album called Blueprint."

Actually, Nas, the title is Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop.

I think in general Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory is referred to as "The Makaveli album" or just "Makaveli."