History DarkerAndEdgier / Music

--> ''This is the CITY LIFE!''
* ''Music/TheProtomen'' do this to ''VideoGame/MegaMan'', turning the video game setting into an urban police state dystopia where Dr. Wily is [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour Big Brother]], and the Blue Bomber himself is an angst-ridden ReplacementGoldfish.

* Music/VanHalen's fourth album, ''Fair Warning''. Most of the band's silly, hard-partying atmosphere (which made them famous) from the previous albums disappears and a heavier, more serious sound is heard. This is mostly attributed to the tensions between lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen and lead singer David Lee Roth at the time. The album features "Mean Street" and a foggy synthesized instrumental "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" that is full of terror, and it would get even darker musically and lyrically with 1995's ''Balance''.

* Music/CountingCrows' debut album, ''August and Everything After'', was a sweetly melodic, very subdued folk album. Their second, ''Recovering the Satellites'', added distortion guitar, angry lyrics, and several swear words. Eventually they found a middle ground which worked quite well.

* Music/BillieHoliday had a tragic life where she was the victim of rape at age 11, teenage prostitution, abusive partners and severe alcohol, morphine and heroin addiction. All it culminated in her world-weary ''Music/LadyInSatin'', where she sings about break-ups, unrequited love and all hardships of relationships in her drug ravaged voice. At the time this was quite unprecedented in the happy, carefree atmosphere of most popular music in the day. She died from liver cirrhosis only a year after recording it.

* Music/LambOfGod had always been known to deliver some already dark, heavy and intense albums, like "Ashes In The Wake" and "Wrath", but then they managed to one-up themselves with 2012's "Resolution", which resulted in both some of their darkest songs ever, (Such as "King Me", "Ghost Walking", "Insurrection" and the bonus track "Bury Me Under The Sun") and some of Randy Blythe's most insane and intense vocals (Most notably "King Me", which featured different styles of singing, such as spoken word, the basic grows and Randy's screams of insanity and rage towards the end.) Basically, they did what Pantera did with ''The Great Southern Trendkill''.

* Music/DefLeppard's 1996 album ''Slang'' showcased a more organic, darker musical style and subject matter, fueled by [[CreatorBreakdown personal turmoil]] in the band members' lives, express themselves more honestly and by their willingness to experiment with new sounds and acknowledge the [[TheNineties 1990's]] AlternativeRock movement. It was their first album since their debut ''On Through the Night'' not to be produced by Creator/RobertJohnMuttLange.

* Creator/VincentPrice's 1977 cover of the light-hearted novelty song "The Monster Mash", which had a more sinister melody and also had the sound of a woman screaming near the end.

* Of all the Seattle [[Main/{{Grunge}} grunge]]-era bands, Music/AliceInChains were this compared to the [[Music/{{Nirvana}} other]] [[Music/PearlJam three]] [[Music/{{Soundgarden}} bands]] from the "Big 4", with a lot of their music arguably qualifying as DoomMetal. But this trope even applies to the band's discography, as they got ''much'' heavier with each release; their predecessors Alice 'n' Chainz were pure GlamRock in the vein of Music/{{Poison}}. The first incarnation of the current Alice in Chains was GlamMetal in the vein of Music/GunsNRoses, and their debut album ''Facelift'' took it even further, with a much heavier sound clearly in HeavyMetal territory, but still very glam. The album that followed, 1992's ''Dirt'', was a far bigger transition, with the music being their first attempts at doom metal and the lyrics focused on war, death, depression, and ''especially'' heroin addiction. Their 1995 self titled album took this trope UpToEleven, being easily one of the darkest, most depressing albums ever released into mainstream. The band's latest material, with Wiliam [=DuVall=] having replaced the late Layne Staley on vocals, has still kept the tradition going.

* British dance rock quintet [=EMF=] hit the mainstream with their 1991 single ''Unbelievable'', and had more hits domestically as part of the Madchester/baggy scene, but when the grunge wave reshaped the alternative rock charts in the early 1990s, [=EMF=] attempted to keep up with a sample-free, darker sophomore album (1993's "Stigma") that went nowhere. Website/YouTube music reviewer WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows invoked this trope in his One Hit Wonderland episode on [=EMF=], noting that on ''Behind the Music'', a darker, more adult album from an "allegedly lightweight act" is "generally the 2/3rds mark of the episode when things start going bad, and [=EMF=] was no exception, because who the hell wanted a darker [=EMF=]?"

** [[BrokenBase Depending on who you ask]], ''Music/AmericanIdiot'' is darker than any of their previous albums in context.

* Music/{{Erasure}} went in this direction with ''World Be Gone'' (2017), which has a harder, angstier, almost Music/DepecheMode-esque vibe.

* Compare the album ''The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp'' to anything that Music/KingCrimson's done, ever. The first King Crimson lineup ''was'' Giles, Giles and Fripp, plus [[Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer Greg Lake]] and [[Music/{{Foreigner}} Ian McDonald]]. Also, compare the album ''Music/FromGenesisToRevelation'' by Music/{{Genesis}} to the song "The Knife" from the very next album, ''Music/{{Trespass|Genesis Album}}''.

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s discography has been a sine-wave of LighterAndSofter and DarkerAndEdgier. His 1996 debut ''Infinite'' was the former, though [[CreatorBreakdown a series of life events]] caused him to take the darker content [[UpToEleven to the nth degree]] with ''Music/TheSlimShadyLP'' and ''Music/TheMarshallMathersLP''; both were critically acclaimed and commercially successful. His subsequent two albums were somewhat LighterAndSofter; ''Relapse'' is both the most [[DarkerAndEdgier dark]] album he's yet done (seeking to be genuinely frightening in parts) ''and'' is about him rapping absurd comedy rhyme schemes [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent in a silly accent]]; ''Recovery'' is a straight pop-rap album and ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2'' a comedic pop-rap album which captures the playfulness of his early music but not the violence. After this, he largely went into MoodWhiplash within albums, veering between sincere pop-rap with Skylar Gray and violent raps about mass shooters.

* Believe it or not, Music/{{Pantera}} started out as a GlamRock act, with their debut ''Metal Magic'' not quite living up to its title and a vocalist that sounded straight out of Music/{{Foreigner}} or Music/{{Loverboy}}, along with family-friendly lyrics that sounded straight out of a 1950s teenager's locker. Their following records ''Projects in the Jungle'' and ''I Am the Night'', however, were each progressively more HeavyMetal influenced, and their once-squeaky clean singer had gotten noticeably harsher and started showing impressive falsettos, while the lyrics began delving into HotterAndSexier SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll territory, {{Fantasy}} themes, horror and {{Angst}}y subject matter (one song even deals with [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]]).

* Music/{{Suede}}'s sophomore effort ''Dog Man Star'' saw them moving away from {{Britpop}} to a more art-rock, drug-influenced sound. The record got mixed reactions upon release and was fairly commercially unsuccessful, but [[VindicatedByHistory is nowadays regarded as their best album]].

* The whole genre of HipHop owes its current existence to this trope. Until the late 1980s, it was dismissed as a passing fad by most music critics, due to its generally shallow, goofy lyrics and repetitive beats. But in 1988, two albums were released that would go on to legitimize hip hop and make it a relevant form of music: ''Music/StraightOuttaCompton'' by Music/{{NWA}} and ''Music/ItTakesANationOfMillionsToHoldUsBack'' by Music/PublicEnemy. The latter featured biting political commentary, centered around the oppression of black culture in mainstream America, while the former contained some of the most genuinely scathing lyrics ever heard in popular music up to that point (it was, in fact, one of the first albums to earn a "Parental Advisory" sticker). In the wake of those two albums, HipHop took on a much more serious and socially conscious tone, much to the delight of both critics and fans. A few years later, the genre of GangstaRap showed the world just how dark and edgy hip hop could be, culminating in the real life deaths of rappers Music/TupacShakur and Music/TheNotoriousBIG. Then came the sub-genre known as {{Horrorcore}}. GangstaRap turned UpToEleven, with lyrics worthy of DeathMetal. Then there's industrial hip-hop, typified by acts like Music/{{Dalek}}, Music/DeathGrips, and Music/{{Clipping}}, which is simply way more abrasive than anything that had qualified as hip-hop before the 2000s.

* Compare the album ''The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp'' to anything that Music/KingCrimson's done, ever. The first King Crimson lineup ''was'' Giles, Giles and Fripp, plus [[Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer Greg Lake]] and [[Music/{{Foreigner}} Ian McDonald]]. Also, compare the album ''From Genesis to Revelation'' by Music/{{Genesis}} to the song "The Knife" from the very next album, ''Trespass''.

* {{Progressive metal}} band Music/DreamTheater subtly evolved in this direction; in terms of lyrics, the band started to explore slightly darker themes over time, and the occasional curse word started popping up, but this change has been mostly for the better, as their softer songs don't really portray the technical brilliance of the instrumentalists: vocals such as "The smile of dawn/Arrived early May/She carried a gift from her home/The night shed a tear/To tell her of fear and of sorrow and pain, she'll never outgrow" (from 1992's ''Music/ImagesAndWords'') stand in stark contrast to guitar riffs and drumming that wouldn't be out of place in a Music/{{Metallica}} song. The vocals also got darker over time, due to James' vocal injury and an increasing presence of Mike Portnoy's backing vocals. As well, their music has gotten heavier over time, with an increased use of 7-string guitars. ''Awake'', their third album, was easily their heaviest for some time, standing out especially well in contrast to ''Images and Words''. Then came ''Train of Thought'', their seventh album, which was extremely heavy and included about 80% of the swear words used in the band's career.
* Music/NeilYoung: The "Ditch Trilogy" – ''Time Fades Away'' (1973), ''On the Beach'' (1974), and ''Tonight's the Night'' (1975) – is his first example of this. They are the product of Young struggling to deal with the pressures of fame as well as the recent deaths of two close friends, Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry. Whitten was so addicted to heroin it rendered him unable to play and resulted in Neil firing him; on November 18, 1972, Neil gave Whitten $50 and a plane ticket to Los Angeles in an attempt to help him get back on track. ''On the same day'', a combination of Valium and alcohol resulted in his death. Just 6½ months later on June 4, 1973, Berry fatally overdosed on heroin and cocaine. ''Time Fades Away'' was recorded live from February 11 – April 1, 1973 (except "Love in Mind", which was recorded on January 30, 1971), and is generally a hard rock album; but it feels unpolished and abrasive even by Young's standards, and deals implicitly with themes of loneliness and loss. ''Tonight's the Night'', which was recorded from August–September 1973, but not released until 1975, bears every indication that it was written and performed by someone in the process of grieving - Young even sounds like he's on the verge of breaking down in some of the album's tracks. Reprise Records was initially hesitant to release ''Tonight's the Night'' because of its harsher tone, and is still widely considered the darkest record in Neil's catalogue. Although ''On the Beach'' was released almost 11 months before ''Tonight's the Night'', it was recorded about half a year after it (February 5 – April 7, 1974).[[note]] Just for the sake of further clarity, the release dates of ''Time Fades Away'', ''On the Beach'', and ''Tonight's the Night'' are October 15, 1973, July 16, 1974, and June 20, 1975, respectively.[[/note]] While not quite as acerbic as either of the other two albums in the Ditch Trilogy, ''On the Beach'' is still an all-around despondent collection of songs. Neil's 1979 album ''Music/RustNeverSleeps'' counts as well, as he responded to the death of Music/ElvisPresley, the rise of PunkRock, and his own [[CreatorBreakdown fears of becoming culturally irrelevant]] by turning his soft-ish folk rock into nihilist hard rock with heavy, distorted guitars, in a post-modern stage show with giant amps, roadies dressed like Jawas, and decaying film footage from Woodstock. It worked; the album received widespread popular and critical acclaim, and has been cited as one of the earliest examples of what became {{grunge}} music.

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s discography has been a sine-wave of LighterAndSofter and DarkerAndEdgier. His 1996 debut ''Infinite'' was the former, though [[CreatorBreakdown a series of life events]] caused him to take the darker content [[UpToEleven to the nth degree]] with ''Music/TheSlimShadyLP'' and ''Music/TheMarshallMathersLP''; both were critically acclaimed and commercially successful. His subsequent two albums were somewhat LighterAndSofter, though the cycle has begun again with the recently-released ''Relapse'', which serves in and out of this trope. Each album always has a parodying track somewhere in it.

** Then they managed to go from Darker and Edgier after three albums, to even more, MUCH MORE, with the release of their eighth album ''The Great Southern Trendkill'', which dealt with the afforded-mentioned subject matter relating to suicide, drugs, the end of the world by a massive flood, the media and many more topics along with Anselmo AND Seth Putnam from Music/AnalCunt himself sounding like both are ready to go "[[ContinuityNod fucking hostile]]"

* Rappers who were actual criminals fit this trope to the core. They will scare you straight outta crime. Not just those who are flashy and claim to be criminals, but real criminals who still killed while they made music -- Music/SchoollyD and Music/EazyE are the best examples. Because of their past, the subject matter of their works are very dark and serious compared to most other rappers. As if "bro"-hating wasn't already a part of the black culture (as it is white culture, though with white racists out of bigotry).

* The whole genre of HipHop owes its current existence to this trope. Until the late 1980s, it was dismissed as a passing fad by most music critics, due to its generally shallow, goofy lyrics and repetitive beats. But in 1988, two albums were released that would go on to legitimize hip hop and make it a relevant form of music: ''Music/StraightOuttaCompton'' by Music/{{NWA}} and ''Music/ItTakesANationOfMillionsToHoldUsBack'' by Music/PublicEnemy. The former featured biting political commentary, centered around the oppression of black culture in mainstream America. While the latter contained some of the most genuinely scathing lyrics ever heard in popular music up to that point (it was, in fact, one of the first albums to earn a "Parental Advisory" sticker). In the wake of those two albums, HipHop took on a much more serious and socially conscious tone, much to the delight of both critics and fans. A few years later, the genre of GangstaRap showed the world just how dark and edgy hip hop could be, culminating in the real life deaths of rappers Music/TupacShakur and Music/TheNotoriousBIG. Then came the sub-genre known as {{Horrorcore}}. GangstaRap turned UpToEleven, with lyrics worthy of DeathMetal. Then there's industrial hip-hop, typified by acts like Music/{{Dalek}}, Music/DeathGrips, and Music/{{Clipping}}, which is simply way more abrasive than anything that had qualified as hip-hop before the 2000s.

* ''Third'' by Music/BigStar was recorded at a time when Alex Chilton was tired of getting fucked around by various record companies. It ''shows''. It carries on the messy sonic sprawl of ''Radio City'', but with bleaker lyrics.

* Music/{{Suede}}'s sophomore effort ''Dog Man Star'' saw them moving away from {{Britpop}} to a more art-rock, drug-influenced sound. The record got mixed reactions upon release and was fairly commercially unsuccessful, but is nowadays regarded as their best album.

* Compare the album ''The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp'' to anything that Music/KingCrimson's done, ever. The first King Crimson lineup ''was'' Giles, Giles and Fripp, plus Greg Lake and [[Music/{{Foreigner}} Ian McDonald]]. Also, compare the album ''From Genesis to Revelation'' by Music/{{Genesis}} to the song "The Knife" from the very next album, ''Trespass''.

* Music/{{Megadeth}}'s return to metal from ''The System Has Failed'' onwards has been this, with Mustaine revamping his singing style into a snarling, spitting style, and going for heavier, less speed-oriented metal. His lyrics are almost exclusively political now. ''[=Th1rt3en=]'' took them back in a more radio-friendly direction, which was further expanded on with ''Super Collider''.
* Music/{{Anthrax}} on ''Persistence of Time''. They continued with ''Sound of White Noise'', then gradually declined with the remaining three John Bush albums. Their newest album, ''Worship Music'', is an almost complete return to the campiness of the band's eighties albums.

* Music/VanHalen's fourth album, ''Fair Warning''. Most of the band's silly, hard-partying atmosphere (which made them famous) from the previous albums disappears and a heavier, more serious sound is heard. This is mostly attributed to the tensions between lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen and lead singer David Lee Roth at the time. The album features "Mean Street" and a foggy synthesized instrumental "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" that is full of terror, and it would get even darker with 1995's ''Balance'', musically and lyrically.

* Jazz musicians will occasionally take songs from seemingly light repertoire and turn the intensity up. Music/SonnyRollins took the corniest of show tunes (such as "There's No Business Like Show Business") and turned them into positively hip (for the time) jazz tunes. Music/JohnColtrane famously turned the light-hearted, optimistic "Music/MyFavoriteThings" into what one critic described as a "hypnotic eastern devish dance", one that lasted an impressive [[EpicRocking 13:42]]. Coltrane is a truly great example himself. Starting with light-hearted, simplistic albums like ''Music/BlueTrain'' before becoming gradually more complex with ''Music/GiantSteps'' and ''Music/MyFavoriteThings'', then culminating with ''Music/ALoveSupreme'', ''Ascension'', and ''Meditations''. And it's not just Coltrane, jazz musicians do this ''constantly''. Most of the standard repertoire that is required knowledge for jazz musicians is songs lifted from Broadway musicals of the '20s, '30s, and '40s. For example, of the six songs on Music/MilesDavis's 1956 ''Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet'', four are from musical theater or film ("If I Were a Bell", "You're My Everything", "I Could Write a Book", "It Could Happen to You").

* Music/{{Beyonce}}

* The whole genre of HipHop owes its current existence to this. Until the late 1980s, it was dismissed as a passing fad by most music critics, due to its generally shallow, goofy lyrics and repetitive beats. But in 1988, two albums were released that would go on to legitimize hip hop and make it a relevant form of music: ''Music/StraightOuttaCompton'' by Music/{{NWA}} and ''Music/ItTakesANationOfMillionsToHoldUsBack'' by Music/PublicEnemy. The former featured biting political commentary, centered around the oppression of black culture in mainstream America. While the latter contained some of the most genuinely scathing lyrics ever heard in popular music up to that point (it was, in fact, one of the first albums to earn a "Parental Advisory" sticker). In the wake of those two albums, HipHop took on a much more serious and socially conscious tone, much to the delight of both critics and fans. A few years later, the genre of GangstaRap showed the world just how dark and edgy hip hop could be, culminating in the real life deaths of rappers Music/TupacShakur and Music/TheNotoriousBIG. Then came the sub-genre known as {{Horrorcore}}. GangstaRap turned UpToEleven, with lyrics worthy of DeathMetal. Then there's industrial hip-hop, typified by acts like Music/{{Dalek}}, Music/DeathGrips, and Music/{{Clipping}}, which is simply way more abrasive than anything that had qualified as hip-hop before the 2000s.

* Music/CountingCrows' first album, ''August and Everything After'', was a sweetly melodic, very subdued folk album. Their second, ''Recovering the Satellites'', added distortion guitar, angry lyrics, and several swear words. Eventually they found a middle ground which worked quite well.

* Any cover by Music/MarilynManson. Impressive when it's an already dark[=/=]creepy song. He satirized this trope itself in "This Is the New Shit".

* The whole genre of HipHop owes its current existence to this. Until the late 1980s, it was dismissed as a passing fad by most music critics, due to its generally shallow, goofy lyrics and repetitive beats. But in 1988, two albums were released that would go on to legitimize hip hop and make it a relevant form of music: ''Music/StraightOuttaCompton'' by Music/{{NWA}} and ''Music/ItTakesANationOfMillionsToHoldUsBack'' by Music/PublicEnemy. The former featured biting political commentary, centered around the oppression of black culture in mainstream America. While the latter contained some of the most genuinely scathing lyrics ever heard in popular music up to that point (it was, in fact, one of the first albums to earn a "Parental Advisory" sticker). In the wake of those two albums, HipHop took on a much more serious and socially conscious tone, much to the delight of both critics and fans. A few years later, the genre of GangstaRap showed the world just how dark and edgy hip hop could be, culminating in the real life deaths of rappers Music/TupacShakur and Music/TheNotoriousBIG. Then came the sub-genre known as {{Horrorcore}}. GangstaRap turned UpToEleven, with lyrics worthy of DeathMetal. Then there's industrial hip-hop, typified by acts like Music/{{Dalek}}, Music/DeathGrips, and Music/{{Clipping}}, which is simply way more abrasive than anything that had qualified as hip-hop before the 2000s.
* For Music/ATribeCalledQuest, the change was very gradual, starting from ''Music/TheLowEndTheory'''s more laid-back tone, more earthy soundscape, and slightly more realistic lyrics to the more confrontational and serious tones of ''Midnight Maurader''. ''Beats, Rhymes, and Life'' finally topped this off with plenty of swearing, dark beats, and realistic situations. It also watered-down its playful, surreal sound. Music/DeLaSoul also went through this, except its transition was ''much'' more sudden.

** Her 2013 SelfTitledAlbum is this and HotterAndSexier. In the case for the latter, it connects to the feminist theme of the album, focusing on the sexual liberation of women, and contains lines like "Can you lick my Skittles?" and "He Monica Lewinsky'd all over my gown". In the case for the former, aside from containing more profanity, it also concerns darker themes previously unexplored in her work, such as bulimia, post-natal depression, the fears and insecurities of marriage and motherhood.

** Her 2013 SelfTitledAlbum is this and HotterAndSexier. In the case of the latter, it connects to the feminist theme of the album, focusing on the sexual liberation of women, and contains lines like "Can you lick my Skittles?" and "He Monica Lewinsky'd all over my gown". In the case for the former, aside from containing more profanity, it also concerns darker themes previously unexplored in her work, such as bulimia, post-natal depression, the fears and insecurities of marriage and motherhood.

* ''Music/Lemonade2016'' is Music/{{Beyonce}}'s darkest work yet. The album is entirely based around AdultFear: what to do when your partner cheats on you, how to move on and the lasting effects it can have in a marriage. The songs go further and show this is a problem to have also happened to her mother and grandmother. The album has also been praised for its exploration of black feminism and womanhood.

* Music/BlueOysterCult was called a satanic band for good reasons. The topics featured in their songs include suicide pacts, demonic possession, the dead rising, people dying in the desert, and being the last person on earth.