10 Best Experimental Rock Albums Of All Time

When talking about rock music, there's normally a certain class that can you put certain artists in. You've got your AC/DCs for the straight up rock and roll, the Ramones cover the bases for punk rock, and Maroon 5 is pop that just disguises itself as rock. Ever now and again though, there are those albums that seem to defy rock genre altogether.

Compared to any of your standard rock albums, these are a bit much to take in, whether it be from a songwriting point of view or overall sonic perspective. Outside of being a departure for the artist, these are the albums that really tested audiences to see just what you could do while keeping under the concept of rock and roll. And what's crazier is how many people managed to get onboard with them.

While some of these records took their sweet time achieving legendary status, most of them are now heralded for just how outlandish they were and even managing to create completely new genres from the ground up. Hell, there are probably countless bands who wouldn't exist were it not for these albums getting made. Then again, the rough spots of these records are what make them classics. Rock and roll has always been about taking risks, and these are some of the boldest risks ever made.

By the time we reached the '90s, most of the rock crowd had developed a pretty high tolerance for weird stuff. Since this was the era that had brought us stuff like Primus and the zanier side of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, we'd pretty much hit the ceiling on something strange getting on the charts, right? Turns out that Trent Reznor heard that and raised you one better will a slow slide into Hell on The Downward Spiral.

Throughout this entire album, there's pretty much nothing that could be called a 'ready for radio' single. Over half of the record feels like dark ambience, and the parts that do have singing have a lot of off putting moments that you wouldn't necessarily hear on a Rolling Stones record or anything. It takes a lot to make something this off the wall, let alone something that was able to relate with so many people across the world.

Even though the tale of Mr. Self Destruct is absolutely heartbreaking from start to finish, there's a little bit of humanity that you see poking through the cracks, almost as if Trent is trying to find a way to purge himself of his demons by making these songs. The scars might last you a lifetime, but that doesn't mean the hurt has to stay with you the rest of your days.