10 Darkest Rock Music Albums Of The 80s

By the time that the '80s really opened up, it felt like most of the first wave of punk failed to live up to its potential. Although the Sex Pistols had been long dead at this point, the Clash were moving further and further away from punk and acts like Blondie had already started to jump on the pop rock bandwagon. Things were still thriving in the underground though, and Glenn Danzig served up something that was absolutely pitch black.

Being one of the biggest examples of horror punk, this is the kind of band that something like KISS could only hint at, with songs that were about monsters and killers galore. You may have had Gene Simmons walking around like he was the Demon, but Danzig sounded like he was actually about to get into some trouble on Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight?

What's even crazier is how accessible these songs are. Though the lyrics are definitely darker than most of the punks before them, the music hasn't changed, which makes for songs about murder that you'll want to keep listening to again and again. And this wasn't a fluke either, with people like AFI and Alkaline Trio adopting that spooky flavor of punk and running with it. Punk certainly wasn't dead by any stretch at this point. It just had a little more bite it its delivery this time around.