10 Legendary Rock Bands That Got Darker Over Time
5. Pink Floyd
When we're talking about darkness in music, that doesn't always have to be from a sonic standpoint. There are always going to be bands that come from the heavier side of the spectrum, only to have the same by the numbers lyrics that you've heard a thousand times. And around the same time that the '70s were giving us chipper music, Roger Waters was making us get existential across every Pink Floyd album.
Ever since the loss of Syd Barrett, there was always a strange darkness following the band around, with the shadow of Syd's legacy looming large over every song they made. Around the time of Dark Side of the Moon though, Roger stopped caring about hiding the superficial side of the music industry and was prepared to take on the business side of things on albums like Wish You Were Here and Animals. Across both records, you can hear him getting more and more salty, refusing to let his music become a caricature of itself or the product of the pop machine.
The biggest shot had to have been making The Wall, where the band members frequently fought with each other as Roger told the story of Pink blocking himself off from society until he realizes the cost of being completely alone. Being a perfect rock star sometimes involves descending into madness, but Pink Floyd got to the other side by giving that dark side of life a face.