What is the most depressing album you've ever heard?

[rab2591]

….Or, what's an album that has some very sad songs on it? I've been far too happy lately and need a downer.

- Pet Sounds has got to be the most depressing album I've heard - but sometimes it can be the most uplifting album (crazy how this album can flip both ways).

- Sail Away by Randy Newman is pretty sad. 'Old Man'…That song will put you in tears.

I've never heard any Radiohead, but I hear they have depressing albums - anyone recommend one?

Don't Look Back In Anger by Oasis is jarringly sad - but I've never listened to any of their albums.

Any and all genres welcome.

[Niko]

The Wall by Floyd is pretty bleak.

Closer by Joy Division is something I can't even listen to, it's just depressing.

69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields is also a real bummer. 69 songs about feeling inadequate.

My vote goes to 69 Love Songs 

[Sheriff John Stone]

Lou Reed - Berlin

[Ovi]

Lou Reed - Berlin

I second that. An absolute masterpiece of an album. As a side note, I just saw the 2008 concert film and was moved to tears several times, even though I wasn't expecting much. Great stuff.

[G.C]

Peter Gabriel, Up.

[pixletwin]

Tool - Undertow. Threw it away it was so bleak and sticky.

[alf wiedersehen]

Not all of it is depressing, but Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers.

[ontor pertawst]

The Marble Index is a good one to slip into a warm bath and die to. Ah, Nico!

[JohnMill]

Off the top of my head it's a tie between John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band, Dave Matthews Band / Lillywhite & Bruce Springsteen / The Ghost Of Tom Joad.

Love all three records but I would never even try to put any of those on with another person in the room.  Not guilty pleasures by a long shot but the kind of records, that most people aren't going to dig.

[Niko]

The Marble Index is a good one to slip into a warm bath and die to. Ah, Nico!

I saw a reissue of that album at a shop last summer. So cool to see obscure gems like that re released on vinyl

[Mendota Heights]

Alabama by Judd.

[bluesno1fann]

As great as it is...
"Pacific Ocean Blue" by Dennis Wilson

[Dead Parrot]

The Holy Bible by Manic Street Preachers is a pretty bleak album. Hardly surprising when the main lyricist on the album Richey Edwards,  (probably) commited suicide within a year of the albums release.

[Gabo]

Sly Stone's There's A Riot Goin' On is depressing both in terms of content and production. Just listen to "Time."

[Peter Reum]

Any album by Tammy Wynette

[Dead Parrot]

The Wall by Floyd is pretty bleak.

For many reasons The Final Cut is bleaker though.

[Niko]

Yeah, atleast The Wall ends on a somewhat positive note

But The Wall is depressing on a more personal level - total mental isolation

[Mike's Beard]

Pornography - The Cure
Heaven Up Here - Echo & The Bunnymen
Closer - Joy Division
Movement - New Order

[phirnis]

Down Colorful Hill by the Red House Painters

Huge favorite of mine, however, love pretty much all of Mark Kozelek's work.

[smile-holland]

Eels - Electro-Shock Blues

[Vega-Table Man]

On the Beach by Neil Young would be on my list, along with the Lou Reed and Big Star albums already mentioned.

[pixletwin]

Eels - Electro-Shock Blues

It's sad, yes. But I find it a pretty uplifting album on the whole.

[smile-holland]

Eels - Electro-Shock Blues

It's sad, yes. But I find it a pretty uplifting album on the whole.

Oh, there's definitely positive moments on the album (for example Last Stop: This Town, P.S. You Rock My World), but for me on the whole it leaves me with a sad feeling. The first 3 tracks to start with... phew... It's probably the story behind the album that strengthens that feeling (for me).
Not saying I don't like the album (on the contrary). I definitely recommend it.

[Mike's Beard]

Eels - Electro-Shock Blues

It's sad, yes. But I find it a pretty uplifting album on the whole.

Oh, there's definitely positive moments on the album (for example Last Stop: This Town, P.S. You Rock My World), but for me on the whole it leaves me with a sad feeling. The first 3 tracks to start with... phew... It's probably the story behind the album that strengthens that feeling (for me).
Not saying I don't like the album (on the contrary). I definitely recommend it.

Was this the one where most of E's family died just prior to making it?

[Loaf]

Eels - Electro-Shock Blues

It's sad, yes. But I find it a pretty uplifting album on the whole.

Oh, there's definitely positive moments on the album (for example Last Stop: This Town, P.S. You Rock My World), but for me on the whole it leaves me with a sad feeling. The first 3 tracks to start with... phew... It's probably the story behind the album that strengthens that feeling (for me).
Not saying I don't like the album (on the contrary). I definitely recommend it.

Was this the one where most of E's family died just prior to making it?

Mum died of cancer, sister committed suicide. Check out E's autobiography "Things the Grandchildren Should Know", it's a great read.

Albums that put me on a downer:
Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks and Street Legal. Emotional devastation ensues.