Don’t look in the mirror: 10 albums that sound like a bad acid trip
Albert Hofmann is considered the father of LSD as he was the first person to synthesise, ingest and learn the different psychedelic effects that the drug could have. He documented his first-ever bad trip, painting a picture of a hellish landscape. “My surroundings had now transformed themselves in more terrifying ways,” he said, “Everything in the room spun around, and the familiar objects and pieces of furniture assumed grotesque, threatening forms… A demon had invaded me, had taken possession of my body, mind, and soul.”
Music and drugs aren’t entirely exclusive from one another; a lot of people have described feeling as though they are high when listening to some songs, as the dynamic properties contained within sound can replicate the feeling of being on drugs. Of course, if music can replicate the properties of drugs, that means that both good and bad trips exist within noise.
Several albums out there sound like you are going on a bad trip, whether that’s because of the music’s experimental nature, the chaotic way it’s presented or something else. It feels as though your psyche is in a nosedive with nothing but concrete and landmines to break the fall.
So, what are the top albums that sound like a bad acid trip? We recommend getting comfy, breathing steadily and staying away from the mirror when you put these records on. The world around you is about to change as you know it; you’ll experience the true power of sound as artists, old and new, chisel away at parts of your brain you weren’t even sure existed.
10 albums that sound like a bad acid trip:
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Trout Mask Replica
Many punk bands hold Captain Beefheart and Trout Mask Replica in high regard as an album that showed how deconstructed sound can still make something accessible that possesses skill. It’s a chaotic blend of sea shanties, free jazz and some of the most unconventional styles of music that you have ever heard.
Many people who take on this album can’t get through it, as too much exposure to a sound that takes the rules of music and crumples them up is enough to make anyone start questioning what sounding “right” is anymore. There is no point in trying to make sense of this album; its selling point is that it doesn’t make sense; it is something that fell to earth in a green ball of fire and contains the secrets of the universe somewhere in a ball of sound that can’t be unravelled.
David Bowie – Blackstar
David Bowie’s Blackstar has taken on much more meaning since it was first released, and now, people recognise it as a swansong from a man who knew that he was dying and used music to come to terms with it. His emotions were undoubtedly complex then, resulting in a complex sound of experimental jazz and disjointed lyrics.
Pair that with the strange imagery that Bowie used for the music videos where he is blindfolded in space as a dead astronaut’s body is worshipped by aliens, and you have a terrible acid trip. This is probably the closest we mere mortals will ever come to understanding death. Someone with a profound and creative mind was faced with it, stared it down, and this album is the result.
Anarchist Republic of Bzzz – United Diktatürs of Europe
This is probably the only entry on this list where the album cover alone is enough to invoke feelings of a bad acid trip as people eat popcorn while watching a torture scene with the European flag dotted around them in a grainy filter. It is disjointed and chaotic, a perfect representation of the songs that blend numerous genres to create something that sounds like a trial by ordeal.
The album can sometimes be frustrating to listen to, as the rhythm is enough to tease you and get your head moving before veering off into something unexpected and unsettling. Memories of a chorus and rhythm are hazy as they are enveloped by distortion and noise in this exploration of chaos.
Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition
Before he released Atrocity Exhibition in 2016, Danny Brown had a reputation for being a slightly off-kilter rapper, so people were no doubt expecting something experimental with this album, but he delivered much more than that. Straight from the off with his track ‘Downward Spiral’, Brown raps over a descending beat and talks about worrying about getting girls pregnant, not being about to get hard during threesomes and doing drugs.
As the album progresses, the listener takes steeper steps into a collapsing mind as the rapper talks more about mental health, substance abuse and violence. The beats accompanying the lyricism only add to the bad trip nature of the record as they are loud, chaotic and messy. This isn’t just a bad trip; it’s an atrocious one.
Ornette Coleman – The Shape Of Jazz To Come
When you look at music now, this album is probably one of the most important ever to come out. The free jazz movement was an essential part of musical history as it showed artists that they didn’t have to stick to rules when they performed; they were bound only by the confines of their minds, and it turns out Ornette Coleman’s mind is pretty boundless.
This attitude towards music was essential for developing genres like punk and hip-hop, and our general willingness to merge different styles and sounds wouldn’t exist without this album, as Coleman can dismantle rhythm and create some of the most chaotic jazz of the time. It was met with mixed reviews, but without this bad trip of an album, music wouldn’t look the same today.
Ghédalia Tazartés – Diasporas
This album is a vibrant triumph. It is filled with unbelievable vocal performances but with an eerie backdrop and experimental recording techniques that make whoever is listening feel incredibly uneasy throughout. It takes real skill to invoke feelings of genuine anxiety throughout an album, but this record achieves it.
Halfway through the first song, the music cuts out just to have one singer steadily moaning. They do this close to the mic, and the result is that it sounds as though they are genuinely behind you, breathing down your neck as you listen. It’s a true mastery of the bad trip and something you shouldn’t listen to alone.
Temps – PARTY GATOR PURGATORY
When comedian James Acaster announced he was branching out into music, few people would have predicted the album that came out as he worked with over 39 different musicians to put together an experimental, messy and trippy LP. It divided audiences when it came out, but this album is the equivalent of a musical stress ball as masters in their field flex unwaveringly in a blended bout of beautiful chaos.
The point of this album is to sound like a bad trip, as genre is completely thrown out of the window in pursuit of musicians pushing one another and doing what they do best. Acaster keeps a loose grip over the album’s overall tone and narrative, and the end result could accompany the most beautiful of bad dreams.
The Prodigy – Music for the Jilted Generation
The Prodigy have always been responsible for making music that could reflect a bad acid trip, as its intensity and unpredictability can make it hard to settle into. However, their 1994 album Music for the Jilted Generationis the most extensive trip of the lot as songs operatic in length and hellish in their structure dominate what can only be described as a masterpiece.
This is an album you could both rave to and ponder the meaning of life over. It never seems to be able to make heads or tails with itself but in the most beautiful way as sweet-sounding melody and uncompromising drums lace every second.
Ghoula – Hlib el Ghoula
Ghoula’s favourite hobby was going to different markets and purchasing the rarest African vinyl he could find. Once his collection had grown extensively, he decided to repurpose them to make his own album. Hlib el Ghoula was born, an exciting LP that uses samples from old songs with new recordings laced over them to create something truly unique.
It sounds like a bad acid trip because when you listen, the concept of time steadily melts away right in front of you. You are transported back hundreds of years, then dragged kicking and screaming to the modern day with the scratch of a turntable, then thrown back in time, and so on. The record has a party at its centre, as every track is upbeat and fun but still incredibly chaotic.
Soul Glo – Diaspora Problems
In 2022, Soul Glo released their fourth studio album, Diaspora Problems, which both critics and fans widely received with glee. Despite it being a great album, it thoroughly deserves a place on this list.
This is a punk album at its very heart, but thanks to the attitude taken by the band to use unpredictable rhythm and musical structures, there are moments where it can sound awfully like a bad trip. The screaming vocals only add to the experience as this album takes a grotesque shape like the furniture Albert Hofmann described.
