10 Darkest Rock Albums Of The 70s

If someone listened to Pink Moon for the first time, you would never have guessed that it would be on a list like this. This is the kind of laid back breezy folk rock that defined the '70s, belonging a lot closer to the likes of Joni Mitchell and Cat Stevens than anything having to do with disturbing stuff. And you'd be right, but have you listened to this album lately?

While the music itself is as bright and vibrant as ever, Nick Drake was not in a good place when it was being made, and you can really hear it in the lyrics. If the music were half as dark as the lyrics on here, it would probably be among the scariest records of all time, as Drake gets more and more cynical by the minute and ties it together with some of the loveliest guitar melodies of the time.

Listening to this album almost gives you a false sense of security, as if you're being lured into something that's going to be sweet and chipper and than knocked over the head with a dose of reality. And while it would be easy to just call this a character in the songs, Nick was deadly serious about most of the lyrics on here, checking himself into a mental institution shortly after the sessions wrapped and than passing away a few months afterward by suicide. There's a lot of beauty to be found on this record, but you might want to steer clear of the lyrics every now and again. If you're not careful, they may just leave you with a scar.