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

[Dudd]

Alabama by Judd.

you son of

[Rocky Raccoon]

"From the Basement On a Hill" by Elliott Smith, what a terribly lost soul but so incredibly talented, some of my favorite songs of his are on this posthumous album but these are definitely his bleakest and most depressing songs lyrically and that's saying a lot when it comes to Smith.  Today is actually the tenth anniversary of his death, poor guy.  Certainly one of the best songwriters of his generation. 

[dynomike]

"From the Basement On a Hill" by Elliott Smith, what a terribly lost soul but so incredibly talented, some of my favorite songs of his are on this posthumous album but these are definitely his bleakest and most depressing songs lyrically and that's saying a lot when it comes to Smith.  Today is actually the tenth anniversary of his death, poor guy.  Certainly one of the best songwriters of his generation. 

this one came to my mind immediately as well..  good suggestions so far, i'll add a few

Sea Change by Beck
Horses by Patti Smith (b side)
Bookends by Simon&Garfunkel (a side)

[Orange Crate Art]

Pink Floyd The Wall depresses me. Maybe because it makes me think of the miserable movie that went along with it.

[Mike's Beard]

Just heard Tilt by Scott Walker for the first time and feel it definitely deserves a mention on this thread. What was going through that man's mind when he made that?

[Niko]

Pink Floyd The Wall depresses me. Maybe because it makes me think of the miserable movie that went along with it.

yo dawg, I quite liked the movie! The animation was amazing and it some really incredible parts. The bit where he organizes everything he owned on the floor, or the nazi scene during WFTW.

[bluesno1fann]

Pink Floyd The Wall depresses me. Maybe because it makes me think of the miserable movie that went along with it.

yo dawg, I quite liked the movie! The animation was amazing and it some really incredible parts. The bit where he organizes everything he owned on the floor, or the nazi scene during WFTW.

Agreed! The Wall film is one of my favourites, it got me into Pink Floyd!

[Moon Dawg]

   Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger" sounds full of hope, albeit tinged with melancholy. Not depressing to me.

   Nick Drake's PINK MOON is beautifully sad.

   RICH KID BLUES by Marianne Faithfull  (Marketed under several titles)

    Elvis' FROM ELVIS PRESLEY BOULEVARD MEMPHIS, TN  and Springsteen's NEBRASKA both sound like they were recorded by artists suffering from clinical depression.
  

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Nico: The End

[Pim]

Just heard Tilt by Scott Walker for the first time and feel it definitely deserves a mention on this thread. What was going through that man's mind when he made that?

Tilt is upbeat and catchy compared to the follow-up, 2006's The Drift. The album following that 2012's Bish Bosch is a bit of a mixture of the two in my opinion. Awesome music, but definitely something you don't want to listen to when you're feeling down already (or are alone in the dark ).

[donald]

Depends on if you are talking about cathartic sadness or depression such as the Wall or depressing in the sense  of something inducing  depression.   For example, the blues can be delightful  and help you channel and process blue feelings.  some music is so self indulgently full of self pity and unfulfilled narcissism that it could induce depression or severe and unresolvable ennui.

[kwan_dk]

UK singer/songwriter & brooding troubadour Richard Hawley has issued a bunch of great albums if world weary balladeering is your thing. ;-)

His 6th album, Truelove's Gutter, is his darkest hour and consequently the one most in line with this topic. When I feel down I've found that the album makes for great listening. If I'm up, it's a bit too intense and gloomy for me, - but the songs are achingly beautiful and I highly recommend the album. (as well as all his other albums)

Here is, in my humble opinion, the best song off Truelove's Gutter - it was also issued as a single:

Richar Hawley - For Your Lover Give Some Time (2009)
http://vimeo.com/7172479

[Mike's Beard]

Just heard Tilt by Scott Walker for the first time and feel it definitely deserves a mention on this thread. What was going through that man's mind when he made that?

Tilt is upbeat and catchy compared to the follow-up, 2006's The Drift. The album following that 2012's Bish Bosch is a bit of a mixture of the two in my opinion. Awesome music, but definitely something you don't want to listen to when you're feeling down already (or are alone in the dark ).

Yeah heard The Drift for the first time today. Throbbing Gristle mixed with the discordant strings of Mrs Leary's Cow backing The Phantom of the Opera's morbid wailing - what's not to love?

[PhilCohen]

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is an obvious choice(with which I agree), but I would also cite "The Who By Numbers" and "Electric Light Orchestra's "Balance of Power" (especially the song "Getting to the Point")

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is an obvious choice(with which I agree), but I would also cite "The Who By Numbers" and "Electric Light Orchestra's "Balance of Power" (especially the song "Getting to the Point")

Who By Numbers freatures THE finest set of lyrics for any rock album ever. Nice to see someone acknowledge it

[Menace Wilson]

Any list of "downer" music must include Swans.  Then again, they sorta bypass depressing and go straight to suicidal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSRjYYUE-_c

[oddsbodkins]

Scott Walker albums are solid nominations but Sinatra's Watertown kills. me. every. time.

[The Dumb Angel]

Lou Reed's Berlin.

It's a superb album, but damn... it's pretty harsh.

[the captain]

I'd say Berlin, as well. The 2013 of Montreal album Lousy With Sylvianbriar is a contender for depressing album of the year. For example, from "Colossus,":

Your mother hung herself in the national theater when
she was four months pregnant with your sister who would have
been thirteen years old today.
Does that make you feel any less alone in the world?

Your dad, I'm sure, he tried his best, he
thought you'd be better off living with your grandmother. He didn't
realize that she'd already given up.
Baby your family, they are just losers.

[alf wiedersehen]

As depressing as those lyrics may be, I've never heard a more soul crushing song than Big Star's "Holocaust."

[the captain]

Third/Sister Lovers would definitely make the list of depressing albums, that's for sure.

[Blue2013]

Nothing is more depressing than The Gingerbread Man by The Residents.

[Myk Luhv]

You know how everyone heralds Blue by Joni Mitchell as some sort of incredibly touching, down-in-the-dumps breakup album? That may be true but at various times when I've been listening to it while depressed (natcherly!), I've been put off by how a lot of the songs are just her going, "I sure am depressed about being single again. Time to go to France and hang out in cafes and clubs!" and I get kind of annoyed, haha. It must be so nice for her to have been able to escape like that while the rest of us just stay at home listening to her sing about it.

(I still think it's a great album, I Just kind that aspect of it sort of amusing. I wish I too could just pack up and go to Europe when I'm feeling blue, you know?)

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Duke, by Genesis is actually extremely depressing....... Especially for any guy who's gone through a divorce. The male side of such a story is rarely told.

[G.C]

Duke, by Genesis is actually extremely depressing....... Especially for any guy who's gone through a divorce. The male side of such a story is rarely told.

Guide Vocal always makes me cry.