What are the darkest albums of all time?

Can be any genre - in lyrics, music, recording process, can be any reason.

 

These are my big 5

Dark Side of the Moon - in both content and graphic design.

Berlin is probably the most unrelentingly miserable

Big Star's 3rd/ Sister Lovers

Leonard Cohen's Songs of Love and Hate

Dory Previn - On My Way to Where

It would take a very brave person to play these back to back!

For severe masochists that do, I recommend following up with anything by Jandek

 

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures and Closer
The Cure - Faith and Pornography
Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
Alice In Chains - Dirt
Nirvana - In Utero

 

It doesn't matter if we all die...

 

The one in my avatar - Sleep No More by The Comsat Angels.

 

Swans - Cop
Swans - Holy Money
Swans - Greed

 

Martha Wainwright - Come Home To Mama

Her mum died, her baby was born two months premature while she was on tour abroad and her husband cheated on her. And then, she made this album.

 

this maybe

 

Pink Moon - Nick Drake
The Cure - most of them
Bowie - Heroes
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Nick Cave - Murder Ballads
...

 

Palace Brothers, "There Is No-one What Will Take Care Of You" always seems grim to me.

 

There's still a kind of optimism in it though, especially towards the end with Eclipse. I'd say that The Final Cut is far darker – it ends with a nuclear apocalypse, after all...

 

Massive Attack's Mezzanine and Ministry's Filthpig are two favorite "dark" albums.

 

None more black!

EG.

 

I'll go the lyric route. Probably not the darkest ever but I listened to the album last night so it's fresh on my mind...

Lifting the mask from a local clown
Feeling down like him

-Nick Drake

 

Neil Young - On the Beach

 

From Elvis Presley Boulevard always seems really depressing to me. There's only For The Heart that's upbeat and about love in a positive way. The rest are about lost love.

 

Portishead's 3rd album is exceptionally dark and foreboding.

 

The Mara Volta - De-loused In The Comatorium

Dark story, amazing music.

 

Starts off with an interrupted suicide attempt,
explores depression and the five stages of grief,
finishes with the end of the world (nuclear holocaust).

 

Skip Spence - Oar

 

Good pick !
How much more dark could it be ? The answer is none. None more dark.