"Stranger" is a scrapped body of work that Melanie originally wanted to be her second album. This was scrapped due to her label forcing her to go with the cry-baby theme of her debut album which made Melanie extremely upset. The album was fully complete including bonus tracks and album artwork and was dropped at the last moment. It was recorded right after the sessions of Crybaby and during the Crybaby Tour. The tracklist leaked in early 2017 and so did "Sepia" and "Stop Me" but they were shortly deleted by UMG.
Tracklist
Standard Version
- "Lover Boy"
- "Blitzed"
- "Watching You"
- "Sepia"
- "Outta Time"
- "Demise"
- "Straight Into the Fire"
- "Stop Me"
- "Never Mind"
- "Antibiotic"
- "Schizo"
Deluxe Version
DISC 2
- "Nothing Lasts Forever"
- "If I Was God"
- "Tattoo"
- "Vintage"
Cut Songs
- "Addicted to a Memory"
- "Blue Knees" (Leaked)
- "Coma"
- "Cure"
- "Dead Girl Walking"
- "Diamond Days"
- "Golden Days" (Rough demo of "Diamond Days")
- "Die For"
- "Dope"
- "Esta Noche"
- "Hatefuck" (Intended to be a lead single but Melanie dropped it from the final track list due to her younger fanbase)
- "I Think I'm Crazy" (2016 mix, wanted to include it as a diss to Vinny)
- "Karma"
- "Le Chat Noir"
- "Love is a Suicide"
- "Million Men" (2016 mix, was scrapped the same reason as Hatefuck)
- "Miss a Thing" (Never recorded)
- "Narcotic"
- "Rabbit Hole"
- "Riot in My Heart" (Re-worked into Straight Into the Fire)
- "Silent Heartbeat"
- "Soda" (Intended to be a bonus track)
- "Stop Right There" (Concept instrumental leaked)
- "Stranger" (Intended to be a single)
- "Violet Roses"
- "Waterfall"
Singles
- As previously stated, the lead single was intended to be Hatefuck, but dropped it due to her younger fanbase.
- The lead single was planned to be Schizo to lure fans of the Crybaby aesthetic and era back, after the plans with Hatefuck fell through, it's the most Crybaby-esque song on Stranger.
- A music video was allegedly filmed during mid-2016
- It was intended to have Blue Knees as a b-side, but was ultimately cancelled.
- The second single was planned to be Lover Boy to show that she is having a newer sound on Stranger.
- An early storyboard of the music video leaked in November 2017
- It was intended to have Love is a Suicide as a b-side.
- The third single was planned to be Stop Me to represent a new, darker side of Melanie's music. Allegedly was produced to have the feel of someone like Natalia Kills or Allie X.
- A music video script is in circulation for trading.
- It was intended to have no b-side
- The fourth single was intened to be Demise, reasoning is unknown.
- Allegedly planned to have Stop Right There as a b-side.
- The final single was planned to be Addicted to a Memory
Theme
The theme of the album is very obvious, feeling like a stranger. Melanie would've most likely explained it as "feeling like you're invisible and overall a huge mess", especially as some of the songs don't fit the theme as well as others do. She wanted the album to have a dark-pop sound a la Natalia Kills or Lady Gaga circa 2011.