Waiting is the hardest part.
Tom Petty famously sang those words in 1981, but during his career the Florida-born musician rarely left his fans waiting very long for new material. The same can’t be said for some of rock’s other stars, many of whom went more than 10 years between albums.
For some acts, long delays were the result of band break ups. The Eagles, Pink Floyd, New York Dolls and the Cars are just some of the acts who disbanded only to reform a record new material more than a decade later. Others, such as Van Halen, endured long hiatuses before returning with a new record.
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Some artists – like Joe Walsh, Gene Simmons, Keith Richards and David Gilmour – left fans patiently waiting for solo material while they instead used their creative juices on their famous bands. Meanwhile, David Bowie and Billy Idol both spent years away from the spotlight in pseudo-retirement, only to return with gusto more than 10 years after their previous release.
There were lawsuits that tied up Journey for some time, resulting in a long break between LPs. Conversely, the Zombies only made a return because of different legal ramifications.
Then there’s the long and tortuous history of Chinese Democracy, the long-gestating Guns N’ Roses album that cost a small fortune to make.
These examples and more are highlighted in our gallery below of 35 Albums That Took Over a Decade to Come Out. While some proved to be worth the wait, many others fell short of expectations.