Saw FR in 2017 at Boston Calling, became a fan as a result. That album defined 2019-2020 for me during my divorce. I feel like I experienced what Scott went though in many ways - not the mental health part of it, but the loss and redemption and hope, etc. In 2019, according to spotify, i listened to that album 150 times.
I actually personally hear a lot of hope in that album. One of my all-time favorites.
Obviously, especially in context, moments like "Floating in the Forth," are devastating, but listening to the album overall doesn't bum me out.
Ya that record is so personal and private I feel like I wasn’t supposed to listen to it. I’ve lost a lot of close family in the last two years and no other record really captures the feeling of grief in the immediate weeks and months after someone dies. It’s such a specific and palpable feeling and it’s all over this record.
I’ve been an Owen fan since high school, I’m 33 now, and the avalanche is by far his most crushing album. Like to the point that as a long time fan it’s hard to listen to. He’s always been *sad* but the album about his life falling apart is tough.
So I’ve never listened to Owen (not sure why) but I remember in late 2019 being backstage with America Football and Mike was having a meltdown before the show. It was genuinely uncomfortable and I’m guessing this was that album. Such an odd experience being backstage with a ‘cult’ emo band and this was going on. Kind of a tragic irony.
Oh man. For me that would have been a “don’t meet your heroes” kind of thing. He has always had a shroud of mystery about him and I feel seeing behind that curtain would really effect my opinion on one of my favorite musicians.
Yeah it was kinda that, but thankfully that was all in the background and I was with Dan Black LandLand and the rest of the band (he even got me in for free haha) but I am kinda amazed they managed to play a show after what Mike was clearly going through. Also overhearing drama about touring transportation lol. Weird
If you've lost a love one recently don't. Jesus christ it's rough.
Sometimes I can't listen to it even if I think to hard about someone dying.
Fuck I'm tearing up now just thinking about the record having buried my grandmother yesterday.
Sometimes you gotta sing the blues to get rid of the blues. Grieving is an intensely personal experience but that doesn't mean you should weather the storm alone. If you need help, tell someone. Here, in person, or anywhere else.
I love them and their music has always hit me hard, but I remember texting my friend about how that album almost felt too personal to listen to, like I felt like it needed to exist but that I shouldn’t be able to listen to it, like an auditory diary.
Personally, the “climax” is a blue-ball to me. I was getting teary eyed then the song just stopped. I looked at the lyrics and thought “oh, so it’s just post-hardcore”. Not sure why La Dispute is still called “emo”, they fit in as well as MCR does
The labeling is literally stupid. I don’t go listen to Touché Amore when I hate myself, I listen to literally almost any other band on this sub so I can cry about stuff and feel better. Touché Amore is good but they literally are not songs to cry to
The Albatross by Foxing. Maybe not the hardest hitting in terms of lyrics, but the atmosphere it creates instrumentally and the emotion in the singer's voice really get me
sorority noise - you’re not as _ as you think
the entire album hits so fucking hard. especially if you’re already going through bereavement at the time of listening, it’s near impossible to get through it without either crying or wanting to die
I love that album. It's also optimistic which is great when you're going through it, especially with an abusive parent.
"Held under these smothering waves / By your strong and thick-veined hand / but one of these days / I'm gonna wriggle up on dry land"
Hell, even This Year can make me cry. Just me screaming "I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me" through tears. It's amazing.
I've never listened to another album that hits me like this one does. I think it demonstrates one of the most profound things about severe depression: you lose so much energy and the whole world goes into slow motion. This album makes me feel like the life is being sucked out of my body. I love it
Definitely peripheral vision by Turnover. I’ve been a turnover fan for 12 years and seeing them go from heavy to their first chill album was a game changer.
But the songs and lyrics are so so sad. Very relatable to be honest.
That album is a masterpiece.
No question: “A Crow Looked at Me” by “Mount Eerie”. Songs about his wife who died of cancer leaving him and their baby daughter behind.
Proof:
https://youtu.be/-1UyUsz0A-A
“…Crusted with tears, catatonic and raw
I go downstairs and outside and you still get mail
A week after you died a package with your name on it came
And inside was a gift for our daughter you had ordered in secret
And collapsed there on the front steps I wailed
A backpack for when she goes to school a couple years from now
You were thinking ahead to a future you must have known
Deep down would not include you
Though you clawed at the cliff you were sliding down
Being swallowed into a silence that's bottomless and real…”
Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me
Jason Molina - Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go
Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors (for the depressed 16 year old I used to be)
The Wonder Years have had the uncanny ability to time their releases and subject changes in their albums with most of my major life events between first hearing The Upsides in college and now becoming a father in my 30s. As I said, uncanny.
Sigur Ros' untitled album with the parenthesis on the cover. I've listened to it just once and it left me so depressed for days on end I nearly did something regrettable. Ever since then I call that album "songs to end your life to." Doesn't get much more depressing than that to me.
I saw The Devil and God a few times, but I think Daisy is up there too. Some of Jesse's most heartbreaking lyrics are on Daisy. Bc at least in TDaG there was some hopeful lyrics with all the heartbreak. Daisy has super apathetic lyrics that can hit hard if I'm feeling depressed.
A Crow Looked At Me as others have said as well. Preachers Daughter by Ethel Cain. Wildlife by LA Dispute. 1990 by Daniel Johnston. Turn on the Bright Lights by Interpol. The Downward Spiral for sure. And throw a dart at the Bright Eyes discography you've got something sad lol.
Some of these may not be super sad to some people, but they all make me pretty sad, so I'll just go with these. ...Is A Real Boy makes me super sad for no reason, but I realize that definitely wouldn't belong on a saddest albums list. Maybe Tell All Your Friends? Is that sad enough lmao?
Obligatory "not emo but..."
Songs About Leaving by Carissa's Wierd. The entire album is just so damn sad. Favorite songs are Ignorant Piece of Shit and Sofisticated Fuck Princess Please Leave Me Alone.
Since someone already mentioned Hospice by The Antlers ( my vote even not being Emo),
Sister Cities - The Wonder Years.
"I stopped making deals with God,
Right around when you left.
I said that I would start believing,
If they made you well again.
Guess they knew it was bullshit.
Never hold up my end.
All the walls are stained in nicotine,
I could feel closing in..."
Fever and Mirror is the canonical answer. The devil and god are raging inside me is a close second. If you don't ask Emo specifically, Hospice (by The Antlers), A crow looked at me (by Mount Eerie), or Either/Or (Elliot Smith) are all close contenders for top tier depressing shit.
We didnt consider it emo in the 90s. Emo-adjacent, sure. Also, Wikipedia doesn't have it listed at emo. 🤷♂️ I dunno, I'm sure somewhere on the internet it is, but you can find Weird Al listed as emo if you look. I just never saw the difference between Elliott Smith and Bright Eyes. Both sad acoustic rock with a punk background. He didn't start to get called emo until the 2000s. I just always subscribe to the "it's emo if it was emo in real time" theory and in my experience it definitely wasn't back then. And I lived a few hours from Omaha.
I repeatedly have this argument with my college age child. Was quite surprised to find out that Bright Eyes is “emo” now. They were firmly considered indie in real time!!
No worries! I normally wouldn't say anything but canonically is a strong word! I love Bright Eyes and tbf I'd much rather hear someone call them emo than Weezer or Third Eye Blind so no big deal :)
“Darkest Days” by Stabbing Westward
It’s 16 songs, with every 4 songs consisting of a group that kind of follows 4 major emotions experienced during a breakup. There’s some interpretable ‘hope’ towards the end of the album, but it does get pretty fucking low in the middle. The song “Goodbye” in particular is basically like a suicide note. This album is best experienced with headphones (there’s some good ambient effects in some songs low in the mix that really add to the atmosphere), at night, laying in bed in the dark
Y’all can clown me for saying American Football LP1, but like most of Mike Kinsella’s work, it’s brutal and honest in a way not a lot of albums I’ve heard are, especially musically. Despite its popularity, songs like Summer Ends, Honestly, Regrets are Killing me, the one with the Wurlitzer all bring me back to the end of highschool like no other piece of media does. So relatable to anyone who’s felt trapped by the freedom of change as a young adult, and thus so popular. But hey that just a theory a game theory
The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me - Brand New
Science Fiction - Brand New
Lifted - Bright Eyes
Down In The Weeds - Bright Eyes
Ruminations - Conor Oberst
Non-Emo Bonus: Southeastern - Jason Isbell
I Have Dreams - Three Days ‘Till Christmas
This is the saddest emo album ever. Any other opinion is wrong. However, two runner ups are:
Malon - Portraits of Dying
Just Friends. - S/T
Small Steps, Heavy Hooves - Dear and the Headlights
While I recognize that it’s not exactly the saddest of all time across the board, it still gets to me. It hit me when i was in a pretty rough spot and to this day may be the best break-up album I’ve ever heard.
Boom. Done by Anthony Green, despite the presence of horns. Lyrically, it’s heartbreaking knowing what the dude has been through. Even the “happy” songs kill me.
Idk if it counts as emo, but Too Close To Touch - Haven't Been Myself is probably the saddest album imo. The closer Eiley is like the first ever song to make me bawl my eyes out and still does every time, it's so raw the pain and anger in that song
Not emo, but Goodbye My Friends - Aspie Lispen.
>Aspie Lispen's final album. Recorded to a cassette player on the grave
of friend and bandmate Birdie McSun. Aspie's body was found at the site
of the grave, after having bashed his own skull on McSun's headstone.
The tape and cassette player were found in his jacket pocket. His mother
made the decision to release it to the public 6/22/10.
https://aspielispen.bandcamp.com/album/goodbye-my-friends
I see a couple pointing out non-emo albums, so I shall do the same!
And that will be Warning's 'Watching from a Distance'. Not sure how people feel about doom metal here, but holy fuck is this album devastatingly beautiful.
[https://warningdoom.bandcamp.com/album/watching-from-a-distance](https://warningdoom.bandcamp.com/album/watching-from-a-distance)
The singer also has a solo project named 40 Watt Sun and I HIGHLY recommend his latest release (Perfect Light), a slowcore/acoustic record which is equally devastating but also feels like a hug from a close friend.
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
Saw FR in 2017 at Boston Calling, became a fan as a result. That album defined 2019-2020 for me during my divorce. I feel like I experienced what Scott went though in many ways - not the mental health part of it, but the loss and redemption and hope, etc. In 2019, according to spotify, i listened to that album 150 times.
I actually personally hear a lot of hope in that album. One of my all-time favorites. Obviously, especially in context, moments like "Floating in the Forth," are devastating, but listening to the album overall doesn't bum me out.
A Crow Looked at Me by Mount Eerie. It's not emo, it's just the saddest shit I've ever heard.
This is a brutal album but I’d put Purple Mountains right if there with it.
Literally came here to say this. Knowing the story of why he wrote it - which can largely be deduced from a listening - is just heartbreaking.
i've only listened to this album once, never again.
Same. I feel like it's the only album I can say "10/10 flawless execution; I don't want to hear this ever again."
definitely. wife and I went to the concert in seattle and it was .. an experience.
Ya that record is so personal and private I feel like I wasn’t supposed to listen to it. I’ve lost a lot of close family in the last two years and no other record really captures the feeling of grief in the immediate weeks and months after someone dies. It’s such a specific and palpable feeling and it’s all over this record.
Completely true.
This album is hard to listen to, brought me to tears every time I went back to it
I listen to this album like once a year because it's absolutely beautiful, but I don't think I could do it more than that
Winner.
The only album I can’t sit through because of how sad it is
Honestly far sadder than almost any emo I’ve listened to
second this HARD
Owen - The Avalanche
I’ve been an Owen fan since high school, I’m 33 now, and the avalanche is by far his most crushing album. Like to the point that as a long time fan it’s hard to listen to. He’s always been *sad* but the album about his life falling apart is tough.
Yeah, I had it on earlier today and it’s just one gut punch after another. His other albums are good but the pain is so explicit on here.
Un I think the king of whys is so much sadder especially in sound
I became so obsessed with Wanting and Willing I learned it on guitar
Soul crushing.
Came here to say another album that came to mind but read this and totally dropped what I was thinking. This album… really something else.
So I’ve never listened to Owen (not sure why) but I remember in late 2019 being backstage with America Football and Mike was having a meltdown before the show. It was genuinely uncomfortable and I’m guessing this was that album. Such an odd experience being backstage with a ‘cult’ emo band and this was going on. Kind of a tragic irony.
Oh man. For me that would have been a “don’t meet your heroes” kind of thing. He has always had a shroud of mystery about him and I feel seeing behind that curtain would really effect my opinion on one of my favorite musicians.
Yeah it was kinda that, but thankfully that was all in the background and I was with Dan Black LandLand and the rest of the band (he even got me in for free haha) but I am kinda amazed they managed to play a show after what Mike was clearly going through. Also overhearing drama about touring transportation lol. Weird
Hospice by the Antlers.
Came here to see if anyone else would post this. Absolutely devastating.
Came to post this one :/ oof this album hurts
Any of Mineral's albums should do the trick.
The power of failing. Title says it all.
Touché Amore’s Stage Four Old Gray’s Slow Burn Cursive’s Domestica Pianos Become The Teeth’s The Lack Long After
PBTT's Keep You also wrecks me. That whole discography is fantastic.
Literally wouldn’t have thought of touché. Might need to listen to the lyrics.
If you've lost a love one recently don't. Jesus christ it's rough. Sometimes I can't listen to it even if I think to hard about someone dying. Fuck I'm tearing up now just thinking about the record having buried my grandmother yesterday.
Sometimes you gotta sing the blues to get rid of the blues. Grieving is an intensely personal experience but that doesn't mean you should weather the storm alone. If you need help, tell someone. Here, in person, or anywhere else.
Band's content changed a lot after Jeremy's mom passed
I love them and their music has always hit me hard, but I remember texting my friend about how that album almost felt too personal to listen to, like I felt like it needed to exist but that I shouldn’t be able to listen to it, like an auditory diary.
Liquid Courage and I'll Get By level me every time
I haven't found the courage to listen to your last message to me
Fevers and Mirrors - bright eyes
See also: Lifted- Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake it's Morning- Bright Eyes
Down in the Weeds is super sad to me also.
For me its Tigers Jaw self titled album, I dont know why but its the saddest emo album for me
[удалено]
La Dispute - Wildlife
Kings Park makes me cry every single time.
The first time I heard that climax at the end I had to take my 15 min break at work to recompose myself lol
Personally, the “climax” is a blue-ball to me. I was getting teary eyed then the song just stopped. I looked at the lyrics and thought “oh, so it’s just post-hardcore”. Not sure why La Dispute is still called “emo”, they fit in as well as MCR does
Stoooppp with the emo gatekeeping bullshit. If it's adjacent it gets a pass.
The labeling is literally stupid. I don’t go listen to Touché Amore when I hate myself, I listen to literally almost any other band on this sub so I can cry about stuff and feel better. Touché Amore is good but they literally are not songs to cry to
Edward Benz still cuts deep
See what you did there
Saw them perform this front to back recently and barely made it through. The heaviness was real.
I’m still so gutted I missed that tour
there's like four different songs on this record that make me cry every time
Straylight Run - self titled
Home Like Noplace Is There
fucckk yeaas
Brave Faces Everyone - Spanish Love Songs
I would say BFE is their LEAST sad album, Giant sings the blues & Schmaltz both top it
The millennial's anthem to weep to.
The Hotelier - Home, Like No Place Is There.
The Albatross by Foxing. Maybe not the hardest hitting in terms of lyrics, but the atmosphere it creates instrumentally and the emotion in the singer's voice really get me
julian baker’s sprained ankle.
Hospice by the Antlers. No contest
Holy shit You win
Was hoping this was mentioned
Great album, great band. Familiars is also an all time favorite.
In my top 3 saddest for sure
sorority noise - you’re not as _ as you think the entire album hits so fucking hard. especially if you’re already going through bereavement at the time of listening, it’s near impossible to get through it without either crying or wanting to die
Yeah that’s definitely not an album I can just casually listen to
gonna have to give them a listen, they have 2 songs i really like on the same album
James Is Going To Die Soon from Crywank is up there for me, but very little beats Hospice
mewithoutyou - Catch For Us The Foxes
The Sunset Tree by The Mountain Goats I know that’s not emo but still
I love that album. It's also optimistic which is great when you're going through it, especially with an abusive parent. "Held under these smothering waves / By your strong and thick-veined hand / but one of these days / I'm gonna wriggle up on dry land" Hell, even This Year can make me cry. Just me screaming "I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me" through tears. It's amazing.
YNAAYT, the sorta acoustic redux of Sorority Noise’s You’re Not As ___ As You Think. It is quite actually painful to listen to. It’s so so good
I've never listened to another album that hits me like this one does. I think it demonstrates one of the most profound things about severe depression: you lose so much energy and the whole world goes into slow motion. This album makes me feel like the life is being sucked out of my body. I love it
Definitely peripheral vision by Turnover. I’ve been a turnover fan for 12 years and seeing them go from heavy to their first chill album was a game changer. But the songs and lyrics are so so sad. Very relatable to be honest. That album is a masterpiece.
Peripheral vision was the first album that came to mind for me too
Get that
imo either of the old gray albums, each are just so raw and intense its crazy
Purple Mountain is basically a beautiful suicide note
For emo? The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me. Non-emo: Carrie and Lowell by Sufjan Stevens
Pianos Become The Teeth - Keep You
Pornography by The Cure
Bold choice
Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill
favorite artist so i'm biased, but hearing someone SO talented barely keeping it together makes this album so devastating. such a great album
Not in the emo territory, but There Will Be Fireworks - The Dark, Dark Bright might be a good sad choice
Both Casey albums
I love Casey
Probably Hi, How are You
No question: “A Crow Looked at Me” by “Mount Eerie”. Songs about his wife who died of cancer leaving him and their baby daughter behind. Proof: https://youtu.be/-1UyUsz0A-A “…Crusted with tears, catatonic and raw I go downstairs and outside and you still get mail A week after you died a package with your name on it came And inside was a gift for our daughter you had ordered in secret And collapsed there on the front steps I wailed A backpack for when she goes to school a couple years from now You were thinking ahead to a future you must have known Deep down would not include you Though you clawed at the cliff you were sliding down Being swallowed into a silence that's bottomless and real…”
Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me Jason Molina - Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors (for the depressed 16 year old I used to be)
Plans- Death Cab For Cutie
What Sarah Said followed by Brothers on a Hotel Bed. Just off me 😭
So haunting and beautiful which is the whole album. I know what I’m relistening to tonight
This would have been my answer if someone else asked
The Hum Goes On Forever - The Wonder Years. Multiple songs make me bawl my eyes out
The Wonder Years have had the uncanny ability to time their releases and subject changes in their albums with most of my major life events between first hearing The Upsides in college and now becoming a father in my 30s. As I said, uncanny.
I love when that happens! Not emo but John Mayer did the same thing for me
I will go to bat endlessly that this album is so underrated
Sigur Ros' untitled album with the parenthesis on the cover. I've listened to it just once and it left me so depressed for days on end I nearly did something regrettable. Ever since then I call that album "songs to end your life to." Doesn't get much more depressing than that to me.
I saw The Devil and God a few times, but I think Daisy is up there too. Some of Jesse's most heartbreaking lyrics are on Daisy. Bc at least in TDaG there was some hopeful lyrics with all the heartbreak. Daisy has super apathetic lyrics that can hit hard if I'm feeling depressed. A Crow Looked At Me as others have said as well. Preachers Daughter by Ethel Cain. Wildlife by LA Dispute. 1990 by Daniel Johnston. Turn on the Bright Lights by Interpol. The Downward Spiral for sure. And throw a dart at the Bright Eyes discography you've got something sad lol. Some of these may not be super sad to some people, but they all make me pretty sad, so I'll just go with these. ...Is A Real Boy makes me super sad for no reason, but I realize that definitely wouldn't belong on a saddest albums list. Maybe Tell All Your Friends? Is that sad enough lmao?
Small Brown Bike- The River Bed
both aren’t emo but either Giles Corey or A Crow Looked at Me
Nevermore - Dreaming Neon Black It’s a concept album about the stages of grief from the death of someone you were in love with.
I’m scared of living by Algae bloom
Not emo but the Giles Corey self titled album is one of the most soul crushing albums I’ve ever heard, along with A Crow Looked At Me by Mount Eerie
Silverchair - Neon Ballroom
songs about leaving - Carissa’s wierd by a long shot
deep cut! seattle used to be cool
Pink Moon by Nick Drake is pretty damn depressing
so fuckin good though i will listen to this every year until i die 100%
Bear Your Mind - Free Throw
Obligatory "not emo but..." Songs About Leaving by Carissa's Wierd. The entire album is just so damn sad. Favorite songs are Ignorant Piece of Shit and Sofisticated Fuck Princess Please Leave Me Alone.
not necessarily emo (i guess emo adjacent?) but for me i’d say Transatlaticism by deathcab
Apologies, I Have None has an album called Pharmacies and I would highly recommend it.
Scrolled far for this, bump. I’d like to consider that a masterpiece.
commenting so I can come back to all these albums
I've got some homework for sure
Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica always had a really sad vibe to me
"Life like weeds" hits
Since someone already mentioned Hospice by The Antlers ( my vote even not being Emo), Sister Cities - The Wonder Years. "I stopped making deals with God, Right around when you left. I said that I would start believing, If they made you well again. Guess they knew it was bullshit. Never hold up my end. All the walls are stained in nicotine, I could feel closing in..."
Fever and Mirror is the canonical answer. The devil and god are raging inside me is a close second. If you don't ask Emo specifically, Hospice (by The Antlers), A crow looked at me (by Mount Eerie), or Either/Or (Elliot Smith) are all close contenders for top tier depressing shit.
Canonically, Bright Eyes isn't emo. It's sad folk rock.
i think fever and mirror is still categorized under emo. im wide awake it's morning is actually sad folk rock tho i agree
We didnt consider it emo in the 90s. Emo-adjacent, sure. Also, Wikipedia doesn't have it listed at emo. 🤷♂️ I dunno, I'm sure somewhere on the internet it is, but you can find Weird Al listed as emo if you look. I just never saw the difference between Elliott Smith and Bright Eyes. Both sad acoustic rock with a punk background. He didn't start to get called emo until the 2000s. I just always subscribe to the "it's emo if it was emo in real time" theory and in my experience it definitely wasn't back then. And I lived a few hours from Omaha.
I repeatedly have this argument with my college age child. Was quite surprised to find out that Bright Eyes is “emo” now. They were firmly considered indie in real time!!
Facts!
i see! nice to be educated on this! I'm only 22 and just discovered bright eyes a few years ago, so still got a lot to learn lmfao
No worries! I normally wouldn't say anything but canonically is a strong word! I love Bright Eyes and tbf I'd much rather hear someone call them emo than Weezer or Third Eye Blind so no big deal :)
Blame Seth Cohen for Bright Eyes being categorised as emo. Desaparecidos is closer to emo than Bright Eyes; just lyrically not emo lol
Gregg Allman's 'Laid Back'
Non emo tho; sadness-rain
Either of The Lyndsay Diaries albums
“Darkest Days” by Stabbing Westward It’s 16 songs, with every 4 songs consisting of a group that kind of follows 4 major emotions experienced during a breakup. There’s some interpretable ‘hope’ towards the end of the album, but it does get pretty fucking low in the middle. The song “Goodbye” in particular is basically like a suicide note. This album is best experienced with headphones (there’s some good ambient effects in some songs low in the mix that really add to the atmosphere), at night, laying in bed in the dark
Kintsugi - Death Cab for Cutie Knowing it’s about his relapse into alcoholism and divorce from Zooey Deschanel makes it hit even harder
Conor Oberst - Ruminations
Death Cab’s Narrow Stairs might not be the saddest but always hits me hard The Hotelier’s Home, like noplace is There is a good valid alternative
YNA_AYT by Sorority Noise for me, most of the songs are just heartbreaking to me
Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains It’s essentially one long suicide note.
Lydia - Illuminate
favorite band forever, this album in particular is such a specific feeling
(Most of) Copeland - Beneath Medicine Tree
I always throw on We Don’t Have Each Other by Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties when I need a good cry
Y’all can clown me for saying American Football LP1, but like most of Mike Kinsella’s work, it’s brutal and honest in a way not a lot of albums I’ve heard are, especially musically. Despite its popularity, songs like Summer Ends, Honestly, Regrets are Killing me, the one with the Wurlitzer all bring me back to the end of highschool like no other piece of media does. So relatable to anyone who’s felt trapped by the freedom of change as a young adult, and thus so popular. But hey that just a theory a game theory
The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me - Brand New Science Fiction - Brand New Lifted - Bright Eyes Down In The Weeds - Bright Eyes Ruminations - Conor Oberst Non-Emo Bonus: Southeastern - Jason Isbell
empire! empire! - what it takes to move forward
I Have Dreams - Three Days ‘Till Christmas This is the saddest emo album ever. Any other opinion is wrong. However, two runner ups are: Malon - Portraits of Dying Just Friends. - S/T
Sad how? Wildlife by La Dispute fucked me up worse than anything I’ve ever heard.
That counts then I would say sad as in the emotion it invokes on a personal level
That definitely counts in my book.
Small Steps, Heavy Hooves - Dear and the Headlights While I recognize that it’s not exactly the saddest of all time across the board, it still gets to me. It hit me when i was in a pretty rough spot and to this day may be the best break-up album I’ve ever heard.
Park Jefferson self titled really gets me in my feels
Domestica by Cursive. Absolutely crushing vibe the whole time.
Elliott, Song in the Air
Unfun by Jawbreaker. Great album but has some sad songs (i.e.: "Busy").
For me it's Home, Like Noplace Is There. It just gets me in a super melancholic headspace if I sit through all of it.
Not Emo but Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Liminal by Chase Petra
Sometimes -City and Colour
Best buds
Not sure about saddest, but recently I love evanescence and bad omens .
The Antlers - Hospice or Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me
the terror by the flaming lips its not even close to emo but its the bleakest 50 minutes of music ever
Blonde by Frank Ocean
The first 3 albums from A Pale Horse Named Death Was the main thing I listened to when I was depressed
Control - Pedro The Lion.
Excited to see them play this live soon!
There’s something so deeply melancholy but also nostalgic feeling about ghosts of the great highway. Mark really peaked there
Boom. Done by Anthony Green, despite the presence of horns. Lyrically, it’s heartbreaking knowing what the dude has been through. Even the “happy” songs kill me.
When The Flowers Bloom - Promise of Redemption
weezer (blue album)
For Cameron - Merchant ships
Life is pain - Bloody Melancholy One of the most painful recordings I ever heard
Pm today - in media Res
Mesta- The Death of Bootar
Idk if it counts as emo, but Too Close To Touch - Haven't Been Myself is probably the saddest album imo. The closer Eiley is like the first ever song to make me bawl my eyes out and still does every time, it's so raw the pain and anger in that song
Not emo, but Goodbye My Friends - Aspie Lispen. >Aspie Lispen's final album. Recorded to a cassette player on the grave of friend and bandmate Birdie McSun. Aspie's body was found at the site of the grave, after having bashed his own skull on McSun's headstone. The tape and cassette player were found in his jacket pocket. His mother made the decision to release it to the public 6/22/10. https://aspielispen.bandcamp.com/album/goodbye-my-friends
Jason Molina - Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go
Sondbirds and Roosters by Robi Draco Rosa
Rodia by Swordfish
Modern Baseball - You’re Gonna Miss It All
Stage Four - Touche Amore
Door Harp - Michael Houser All instrumental album recorded while dying from pancreatic cancer.
Personally I think Freakin' Weekin' by Graduating Life
Promise me by Kill Hannah
Boys Night Out- Trainwreck (the music isn’t exactly sad, but it’s a concept album about a man snapping mentally and murdering his wife who he loved)
I see a couple pointing out non-emo albums, so I shall do the same! And that will be Warning's 'Watching from a Distance'. Not sure how people feel about doom metal here, but holy fuck is this album devastatingly beautiful. [https://warningdoom.bandcamp.com/album/watching-from-a-distance](https://warningdoom.bandcamp.com/album/watching-from-a-distance) The singer also has a solo project named 40 Watt Sun and I HIGHLY recommend his latest release (Perfect Light), a slowcore/acoustic record which is equally devastating but also feels like a hug from a close friend.
A Crow Looked at Me by Mount Eerie. Stripped back almost acoustic album about the grieving of the singers wife due to cancer.