10 Darkest Rock Albums Of The 90s

10. Violator - Depeche Mode

Going for a dark album after a while in the spotlight tends to feel like career suicide in some cases. Usually when you reach the point in your career when the dour songs come flooding in, it's usually time to hang up your credentials and realize that you're not hip with the kids these days. So naturally that meant it became one of Depeche Mode's most highly acclaimed albums ever.

Then again, all the signs for Depeche Mode had been leading to an album like Violator, which stands as the strongest collection of songs in their catalog. That doesn't mean that it's necessarily a good time all the way through, with even the singles like Enjoy the Silence and Personal Jesus having a bit of a sinister streak behind them. From a band that already wrote songs like Blasphemous Rumours, this was obviously the next step in the evolution.

Compared to the commercial potential of other synth rock albums, most of these songs are meant to build ambience and put you in a certain mood, especially Waiting for the Night, which feels like the twilight hours where everything is shrouded in darkness. Although most of the synth-driven pop would be out the door in just a few years, this was the best ominous note to go out on.