From Spanish to Japanese, and everything in between
The second album of the Canadian star cost a lot of money to make. Shania Twain's record had a total cost of $1 million.
Public Enemy released 'He Got Game' in 1998 as the soundtrack to Spike Lee's movie of the same name. The album cost $1 million to make.
Metallica's homonymous record, best known as the 'Black Album,' catapulted the band to the mainstream. It was definitely worth the $1 million spent on its production.
Ricky Martin's first album in English was a hit. Released in 1999, it features singles such as 'Livin' la Vida Loca.' The album was pretty expensive to make, at $1 million.
The ex-Beach Boy released his debut solo album in 1988. The record cost $1 million to make.
The English group's 'The Seeds of Love' was written between 1986 and 1989. The album is among one of the most expensive ever made, at the cost of $1 million.
Aussie rockers AC/DC make an entry on this list with their 1981 album 'For Those About to Rock (We Salute You).' The price tag was $1 million.
Kanye West's sixth studio album is his first to feature on this list. 'Yeezus' cost $1.5 million to make.
This collab dubbed The Throne was composed by rappers Kanye West and Jay-Z. Their album was seriously expensive to produce. The final bill came in at $1.5 million.
The band's seventh studio album is their most expensive to date. 'Rock in a Hard Place' cost $1.5 million to produce.
'Tusk' was released in 1979. Fleetwood Mac's twelfth studio album was pretty pricey, at $1.4 million.
Disco queen Donna Summer spent a fortune on her 1982 homonymous album. The total production costs amounted to $1 million.
'The Long Run' is yet another album to have hit the $1 million mark. Others include 'One by One' by Foo Fighters and 'One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back' by The Darkness.
Released in 1990, 'Charmed Life' cost $1.5 million to make. The record included singles such as 'Cradle of Love' and 'L.A. Woman.'
'Late Registration' is Kanye West's next entry on this list. This one cost $2 million to produce.
Believe it or not, the American reality TV star Heidi Montag spent a fortune producing her debut album, released in 2010. The price tag? A whopping $2 million.
'Bad' is the first MJ album on this list. The iconic 1987 record was Michael Jackson's last collaboration with Quincey Jones. 'Bad' cost $2 million to make.
It's Kanye West again, this time with his 2010 album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.' This is the rapper's most expensive album to date, at a total approximate cost of $3 million.
The iconic hip-hop group released 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' in 2015. The record cost a total of $3 million to produce.
The production of Korn's 2002 album had a 15-person crew on the payroll. For two years, not only recording expenses were accounted for, but also living expenses (including house rentals) for everyone. 'Untouchables' cost a total of $4 million.
Mariah Carey's 12th studio album had an estimated cost of over $5 million.
English rockers Def Leppard released their hugely successful album 'Hysteria' in 1987. The album was subject to numerous delays (this was when drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in an accident) and cost an estimated $4.5–5 million to make.
The ex-Spice Girl released her first and only solo album in 2001. The album cost a reported £5 million (over $6 million) to make and only sold 50,000 copies.
The Spanish heartthrob's album 'Non Stop' cost a whopping $3 million to produce.
Michael Jackson appears again on the list. This time with his 1995 greatest-hits double album 'HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.' The price tag was $10 million.
'Dangerous' was a huge hit in 1991, but no expenses were spared in making the album. MJ's record had an approximate production cost of $8–10 million.
MJ's final studio album was, so far, the most expensive ever released. Produced between 1997 and 2001, it cost approximately $30-40 million.
Sources: (Radio X) (Ultimate Classic Rock)
See also: These are the most expensive concert tickets ever sold
'Chinese Democracy' took over a decade to produce and "no expense was spared," according to Geffen Records. Expenses included $50,000 a month for the studio and thousands in wages. A total of $13 million was spent.
Producing an album doesn't come cheap, but some records really stretched the budget to uncharted territory. But how much money are we actually talking about here? In this gallery we bring you a list of albums that cost at least US$1 million to make.
Some artists have more than one entry on this list. Curious to find out who spent the most on an album production? Click on.
The fourth album of the American band Deftones ranks as one of the most expensive ever made. Released in 2003, it had a cost of $2.5 million.
Probably the most polarizing record released by Garth Brooks, 'The Life of Chris Gaines' is also his most expensive ever. It cost $5 million to produce.
The most expensive albums ever made, ranked
Some artists have more than one album on the list
MUSIC Records
Producing an album doesn't come cheap, but some records really stretched the budget to uncharted territory. How much money are we actually talking about here?
In this gallery, we bring you a list of albums that cost at least US$1 million to make. Some artists have more than one entry on this list. Curious to find out who spent the most on album production? Click on.
All values are in US dollars.