4 Albums Recorded by Only One Person

Music-making is oftentimes a team effort. From groups of songwriters to engineers to producers, most songs have an entire legion behind them. Every so often though, a musician will decide to take matters into their own hands, creating an entire record alone. Find four such albums, below.

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1. Blue – Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell‘s Blue is an intimate affair. The singer-songwriter left little to be uncovered across the 10 tracks. Largely inspired by a single relationship, Mitchell dared to be vulnerable in a way few of her peers had done before–or since. Given how deeply personal the subject matter is, it only stands to reason that Mitchell would foray on this journey alone.

2. Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters

After the dissolution of Nirvana, Dave Grohl was left to pick up the pieces. Still reeling from the death of his bandmate Kurt Cobain, Grohl decided to get back in the studio and start focusing on another album. The result was Foo Fighters, the namesake album of his second band project. Though the Foos would go on to be a larger-scale effort, their debut album was made by Grohl alone (save a guitar line on “X-Static,” but we will still give it to him).

3. McCartney II – Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney is no stranger to hopping into the studio alone. His trio of self-titled albums were all written and performed by the former Beatle. Any one of those albums would be a good fit for this list, but we’ve decided to revisit McCartney II. McCartney truly flexes his unique style on this record. He experiments to great appeal on this album, fully stepping away from the style he honed with his former bandmates.

4. Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen

Nebraska is undoubtedly Bruce Springsteen‘s most departing record. He sheds almost any semblance of his anthemic hit making for something far more poignant. The songs are still in their demo form, given that he intended to go back and record them with the E Street Band. Though we love the famous backing group, these songs would’ve faltered under the weight of their rich musicality. It’s the stripped-down nature of these songs that makes them truly shine.

Photo: Norman Seeff / NAMM Press Release