Out of virtually nowhere, 19-year-old Fiona Apple established herself a visionary singer and songwriter with her 1996 debut album \"Tidal\", featuring master drummers Matt Chamberlain and Danny Frankel.

With gems like Shadowboxer, Criminal, and Sleep to Dream, the vocalist/pianist reaped critical and commercial success almost overnight.

\"Extraordinary Machine\" is an album that Apple finished early 2003, but which was quickly shelved by Sony. According to many angry fans Sony made the decision because they didn\'t \"hear a single\" amongst the eleven tracks Apple turned in. Deeming it too non-commercial compared to the hip-hop and light pop the music industry\'s thriving off of lately, the executives shelved it.

Soon after one fan succeeded in whipping the tracks into high-quality MP3s, more fans are splaying them all over the web. Though fans are asking for the possibility to obtain the album in a legal way, the major label has refused to release the album so far. Probably because \"Extraordinary Machine\" has not changed and as Sony judged it not good enough to release two years ago, why should it be good enough to release now?

Rolling Stone, MTV and other media have picked up on the odd story, noting how fans are calling radio and television stations like mad for requests. Even some protest web sites like freefiona.com have popped up in order to put some pressure on Sony.

The label responded by stating that all parties have agreed that the record isn\'t ready for release. Sony also claimed that the album was never officially delivered, and that they \"join music lovers everywhere in eagerly anticipating her next release.\"

Meanwhile, Fiona Apple is not saying much either, although she reportedly agreed with the record company that there\'s no obvious single for radio and let it drop at that.