10 Darkest Hard Rock Albums Ever Made

Back in the '60s, not many people could take that much of a shock in the music world. Hell, these were the same people that got all up and arms when Elvis Presley dared to have a slight bit of gyration when he actually appeared on television. Though rock and roll heroes have existed for years, Alice Cooper championed the rock and roll villain on Welcome to My Nightmare.

Granted, it's not like this record is on par with Sabbath in terms of heaviness or anything, with its preference of garage rock and a taste for the theatrical. What it doesn't have in grit it makes up for in the lyrical content, which paints Cooper as one of the most feral animals in the rock and roll sphere. Aside from the opening title track, this is rock and roll from the perspective of a horror fan, even having legendary actor Vincent Price show up for a bit of spoken word.

You can tell that Cooper is really selling this thing too, going so far as to tackle domestic abuse on the ballad Only Women Bleed and the delightful act of playing with a corpse on Cold Ethyl. While things have gotten a lot less shocking nowadays, acts like KISS and Marilyn Manson still live in the house that old Uncle Alice built.