History DarkerAndEdgier / Music

* The 80's albums from British band ''Madness'' progressively got more serious as time went on. Their first album, "One Step Beyond", featured reggae covers and songs about singing and dancing, any potentially serious subject matters (such as the chorus in "Mommy's Girl" that reveals the song's main character to be a paedophile) sung purely tongue-in-cheek. By their sixth album (the tellingly titled "Mad Not Mad"), they were singing critiques of the modern song industry itself, cynical parodies of Americanism and a surprising number of completely serious songs about child abuse. Their post-90's comeback albums have largely subverted this trend though.

* Arguably, the entire genre of HipHop owes its current existence to this trope. Until the late-80's, the genre was dismissed as a passing fad by most music critics, due to its generally shallow/goofy lyrics and repetitive beats. But then, in 1988, two albums were released that would go on to legitimize hip hop as a relevant form of music: "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" by PublicEnemy and "Straight Outta Compton" by NWA. 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, cultivating in the real life deaths of rappers TupacShakur and TheNotoriousBIG. And then came the sub-genre known as {{Horrorcore}}. GangstaRap turned UpToEleven, with lyrics worthy of DeathMetal.

* The HipHop genre known as {{Horrorcore}}. GangstaRap turned UpToEleven, with lyrics worthy of DeathMetal.

* Believe it or not, Music/{{Pantera}} started out as a mere 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 Music/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, NightmareFuel and {{Angst}}y subject matter (one song even deals with [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]]).

* 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 NightmareFuel.

* The "Outlaw Country" subgenre of CountryMusic that was popular from the 1960s to the early 1980s was darker and edgier than the more clean-cut and family friendly "Nashville sound" mainstream country music. Outlaw country musicians such as DavidAllanCoe, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings had long hair, beards, and dressed in denim jeans and work shirts rather than rhinestone-covered stage outfits that mainstream country artists were fond of. Outlaw country songs frequently dealt with subjects like alcoholism, failed relationships, poverty, and other subjects that many blue-collar Americans could identify with. Outlaw country was sometimes called "Texas country" because many outlaw country musicians came from Texas instead of Tennessee.

* KellyClarkson may have gone in a decidedly harder and more rock-oriented direction on ''Breakaway'', but her follow-up ''My December'' played this trope completely straight. It had a crunchier guitar sound, Clarkson's angriest vocal performance to date and some truly scathing lyrics in certain songs. Enough that many pop radio stations pulled lead single "Never Again" from rotation just a couple weeks after release.

* Believe it or not, {{Pantera}} started out as a mere 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 Music/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, NightmareFuel and {{Angst}}y subject matter (one song even deals with [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]]).

** Their music has always been a bit dark thematically, though, even if they did used to sound like an explosion in a Skittles factory.

* Happened naturally to MichaelJackson in the mid-90s. His 1991 album ''Dangerous'' was, like his previous albums, a mix of standard pop and uplifting songs. His next album, ''[=HIStory=]'' (1995), came out following his 1993 child molestation allegations and ''it shows''. The album is filled with dark songs that exude paranoia and anger, dealing with topics like betrayal, media scrutiny, loneliness, and ''a song about a child dying from neglect''. It also has more swearing than any other Michael Jackson album, including the only instance of the word "fuck." Even the '''sole''' love song on the album, the R. Kelly-penned "You Are Not Alone", is a little bit of a downer because it is about separated lovers. Jackson's 2001 album ''Invincible'' would retain some of the darker influences from this period though it would also be a bit of a return to form, with more upbeat, love/life-affirming songs compared to ''[=HIStory=]''.
* DepecheMode. First album: pure synth-pop, mostly SillyLoveSongs, marketed as a BoyBand for some reason. Fourth album: {{Industrial}}-pop/DarkWave, subject matter including [[ObligatoryBondageSong BDSM]], a girl dying in a car accident and {{Obsession Song}}s. And then two albums after that, the songs started being about drugs.

* Megadeth's return to form from The System Has Failed has been this, with Mustaine revamping his singing style into a snarling spitting style and going for a heavier and less speed oriented form of metal. His lyrics are almost exclusively political now.

* The "Outlaw Country" subgenre of CountryMusic that was popular from the 1960s to the early 1980s was darker and edgier than the more clean-cut and family friendly "Nashville sound" mainstream country music. Outlaw country musicians such as DavidAllanCoe, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings had long hair, beards, and dressed in denim jeans and work shirts rather than rhinestone-covered stage outfits that mainstream country artists were fond of. Outlaw country songs frequently dealt with subjects like alcoholism, failed relationships, poverty, etc.

* The "Outlaw Country" subgenre of CountryMusic that was popular from the 1960s to the early 1980s was darker and edgier than the more clean-cut and family friendly "Nashville sound" mainstream country music. Outlaw country musicians such as DavidAllenCoe, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings had long hair, beards, and dressed in denim jeans and work shirts rather than rhinestone-covered stage outfits that mainstream country artists were fond of. Outlaw country songs frequently dealt with subjects like alcoholism, failed relationships, poverty, etc.

* KellyClarkson may have gone in a decidedly harder and more rock-oriented direction on ''Breakaway'', but her follow-up ''My December'' played this trope completely straight. It had a crunchier guitar sound, Clarkson's angriest vocal performance to date and some truly scathing lyrics in certain songs. Enough that many pop radio stations pulled lead single "Never Again" from rotation just a couple weeks after release.

* Metal band Music/{{Ill Nino}}'s fifth album ''Dead New World'' featured a much more aggressive sound than their previous works, with more frequent and angry harsh vocals (with the exception of a couple songs), louder production, heavier riffs, darker subject matter, and less Latin influence. And this is from the same band who put out an album 7 years earlier that was basically a slightly harder version of early LinkinPark.

** ''Power Metal'' marked a change in the band's overall focus, with a new vocalist named Phil Anselmo adding an element of grit and aggression to the band's lyrics and image. The main crossover point was ''Cowboys From Hell'', where the band dumped the '80s glam fashion for a more adequate "street thug" look, and adopted a contemporary ThrashMetal sound combining the vocals and guitar sound of fellow Texans Music/{{Exorder}}.

* The musical history of PinkFloyd seems to have been one long slide from the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHRE5dyDKTA spacey, exploratory psychedelia]] of Syd Barrett, down into Roger Waters' descent into dark, cynical Wangst with TheDarkSideOfTheMoon and TheWall. Waters' post-Pink Floyd solo work continues the trend.

*** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that most of the songs on ''Can't Be Tamed'' are about ''empowerment'', or about Miley missing her boyfriend on the road. [[ContractualPurity But the media's focus]] on the mild ThreeMinutesOfWrithing and (relatively) saltier language ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous she uses "hell"]] [[PrecisionFStrike in a song]]) and revealing clothing in her music videos has overshadowed the enpowerment themes.

* CrystalCastles' second album is more abrasive and darker compared to their more accessible debut.

** ''Power Metal'' marked a change in the band's overall focus, with a new vocalist named Phil Anselmo adding an element of grit and aggression to the band's lyrics and image. The main crossover point was ''Cowboys From Hell'', where the band dumped the '80s glam fashion for a more adequate "street thug" look, and adopted a contemporary ThrashMetal sound combining the vocals and guitar sound of fellow Texans Music/{{Exhorder}}.
** 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 [[AnalCunt Seth Putnam from Anal Cunt]] himself sounding like both are ready to go "[[ContunityNod fucking hostile]]"

* TypeONegative make a RunningGag of doing this to hippie anthems: Seals & Croft's "Summer Breeze", NeilYoung's "Cinnamon Girl", several [[TheBeatles Beatles]] songs...

* Much, though not all, of JohnLennon's songwriting took this direction in the late sixties due to a combination of drug use (especially heroin), the influence of Yoko Ono, and a growing disillusionment with his role as a [[TheBeatles Beatle]]. This culminated in his 1970 solo album ''Plastic Ono Band'' in which, under the influence of [[AndIMustScream primal scream therapy]], he expressed his childhood traumas and adult pain starkly and directly in a way that he couldn't do with the Beatles. While Lennon continued to write hard-edged songs afterward, most of his subsequent work was more pleasant and hopeful in tone.
* TheBeatles as a group went DarkerAndEdgier gradually, from For Sale up to the White Album, but seemed to be going in the opposite direction at the time of the breakup.

* Prog-power metal band {{Kamelot}} took this tack with their 2010 release, "Poetry for the Poisoned." The band has been tactfully reticent about details but there are hints, readable between the lines, that this is the reason for their former vocalist Roy Khan's departure.

* {{Gorillaz}} pulls a not-so subtle variation in their story canon, which started out as a zany and [[DarkComedy darkly humorous]] setup but got noticeably darker in the second and third phases. Party animal [[{{Jerkass}} Murdoc]] shifted sharply into a [[CompleteMonster violent psychopath]] with the Plastic Beach arc, (though this may be justified as an already twisted man being driven to desperate measures by greed.) In accordance, his [[VitriolicBestBuds relationship]] with 2D has changed in portrayal from [[AmusingInjuries comedic bullying]] to [[BreakTheCutie pretty abusive]], though it could always have come off this way [[FridgeHorror if you thought about it.]]

* TheBeatles as a group went DarkerAndEdgier gradually, from Rubber Soul up to the White Album, but seemed to be going in the opposite direction at the time of the breakup.

* Believe it or not, {{Pantera}} started out as a mere 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, NightmareFuel and {{Angst}}y subject matter (one song even deals with [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]]).

* Music/{{Skillet}}'s ''Alien Youth'' and ''Collide'' albums marked a shift from their initial AlternativeRock[=/=]{{Electronica}} sound to a more HeavyMetal-oriented one.

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

** Basically, they did what Pantera managed to do with "The Great Southen Trendkill".

* 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.)

* {{Epica}} zigzagged this trope a bit with 2 consecutive albums. Their 2009 release "Design Your Universe" was, musically speaking, the darkest, heaviest, and most intense of their works as of 2012, but had arguably the most optimistic and uplifting lyrical message. Their 2012 release "Requiem for the Indifferent," by contrast, lightened up the compositions and went in a more prog-metal direction but took on a condemning, accusatory lyrical tone that decried the injustices of modern society and the inaction of those who could make a difference.

* Believe it or not, {{Pantera}} started out as a mere 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, NightmareFuel and {{Angst}}y subject matter (one song even deals with [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]]).\\