The five most haunted albums
Creativity is a mystery to man. No one knows where it comes from or how inspiration strikes, seeming to be an almost divine strike from some higher power. It’s spiritual, or how about, supernatural? The line between good and evil is so thin that sometimes, perhaps that strike of influence from some unknown energy can sometimes come from the sinister side as these five albums carry a spooky, haunted aura with them.
Fear is a visceral feeling. The heart pounds, hairs stand to attention, and a shiver slides down the spine. Sometimes, the cause of the fright is known, but other times, there is simply something in the air, like a chilling change in energy or the lingering feeling that something is lingering around. Some people panic and end up paralysed by fear, but in the case of some of these artists, terror turned out to be a productive thing. In a scary environment or with the unsettling input of some unknown spirit, their time in haunted studios led to real creativity.
In other cases, albums are left haunted by the real-world events that surround them. Some manage to predict horrors to come, prophesying deaths that would shortly follow or even leading to murderous outbursts off the back of the music.
No matter what form the haunting takes, part of it seems to find its way into art. Whether the eerie setting it was made in hangs around in the back of the song or is laid out like a horror film unfolding in the lyrics, albums can end up being haunted by the context of their creation. From creepy lyrics to ghosts held in the crackles of the record, these five albums are certainly spooky.
Five of the most haunted albums:
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath – Black Sabbath (1973)
There was a lot going on surrounding the creation of Black Sabbath’s fifth album. After shooting to success and taking up a dizzying role as the top metal acts around, leading the way for heavier rock acts, the band were ripping at the seams. The recklessness and chaotic energy that made them stars also made them a mess—and an unproductive one at that. In an attempt to combat their issues, they first tried decamping to Los Angeles. But soon enough, they were just burning out in Bel Air, spiralling into worsening substance abuse. So after that, they came back to the UK and rented Clearwell Castle, a gothic house in Gloucestershire.
That’s where things started to get weird. Tony Iommi recalled, “We rehearsed in the armoury there, and one night I was walking down the corridor with Ozzy, and we saw this figure in a black cloak … We followed this figure back into the armoury, and there was absolutely no one there. Whoever it was had disappeared into thin air!”
Geezer Butler had the same eerie feeling about the place. He said: “We rehearsed in the dungeons, and it was really creepy.” However, while the haunted castle was terrifying, it seemed to frighten the band back to life. Butler added, “It had some atmosphere, it conjured up things, and stuff started coming out again.”
They stuck it out in the uneasy air of the house until the record was completed, but there is certainly a little slither of the spooky spirit in the recording.
20/20 – The Beach Boys (1969)
The Beach Boys were the clean-cut golden boys of the 1960s when they first broke out. With their sun-soaked surf tunes, their musical world seemed to be an endlessly upbeat one, writing ditties about first loves and days at the beach. But in reality, true darkness was lingering in their lives.
Specifically, it was lingering in the home of Dennis Wilson, who in 1968, allowed Charles Manson and his family to crash at his house. Wilson was initially enamoured, falling into the same daze as the cult members did as he referred to Manson as “the Wizard”. He wanted to help him and apparently promised to introduce Manson to his contacts at record labels to help kickstart his music career. He even got his brothers involved, as Brian Wilson helped produce some of Manson’s tracks at the band’s studio. They were clearly impressed by him as on this 1969 album, they sang one of Manson’s songs. Originally titled ‘Cease To Exist’, they repacked it as ‘Never Learn Not To Love’ and didn’t register the cult leader as a songwriter.
That was released in February 1969. Swiftly after, scorned by his lack of a record contract and the lack of his name on the band’s record, Manson turned on them and began sending Dennis Wilson threats. In August of that year, his cult would murder Sharon Tate and her friends at 10050 Cielo Drive, the former home of The Beach Boys’ producer. Some believe Manson was trying to get to the band and that Tate was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But either way, there is certainly the haunting energy of the chilling crimes held in the album.
OK Computer – Radiohead (1997)
Even without any context, there is something unsettling about Radiohead’s third album. OK Computer feels so ahead of its time that it became strangely prophetic. It was dealing with technology and modern age paranoia, seemingly predicting the state we’d find ourselves in now with the threat of AI looming over art and the entire world being utterly dependant on the internet.
But that uncanny energy came from the atmosphere it was made in. It’s another case of a band setting up shop at an eerie old location, this time in Bath as St Catherine’s Court. For the majority of the year, the place sat unoccupied, and from the experience the band had, it seemed overrun with spirits. “Ghosts would talk to me while I was asleep,” Thom Yorke said of the nights spent there.
With these voices whispering in his ears, he found himself acting erratically, stating, “There was one point when I got up in the morning after a night of hearing voices, and I decided to cut my hair with a penknife.” So, with that context, it’s no wonder that the album is overrun with paranoia, given that the band were being haunted in real-time.
The Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding (1968)
‘Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay’ is one of the world’s favourite easy-listening soul songs, but the story behind it is sinister. First, listen to the lyrics. “I’ve had nothing to live for / Look like nothin’s gonna come my way,” Otis Redding sings on the track, telling the story of a down-and-out man with nothing left to do and nothing left to lose. When listening to the words, it almost feels like the narrator is about to drown himself in the bay.
It was to be the title track of his new album, an album set to make him a star. But three days after recording it, Redding would die in a plane crash that saw the aircraft fall out of the sky and into a lake. Redding’s body, as ominously predicted in his song, had to be retrieved from the water. When this posthumous release came out a year later, so many of the tracks felt chilling. ‘I’m Coming Home’ and ‘Let Me Come on Home’ now sound like Redding speaking to his loved ones beyond the grave. His cover of ‘Nobody Knows You (When You’re Down and Out)’ takes on an sad and ominous tone, and the beloved track, ‘Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay’ feels haunted by what was about to happen.
Blackstar – David Bowie (2016)
There are haunted albums, and then there are haunting albums. While Black Sabbath and Radiohead were tormented by ghosts, on Blackstar, David Bowie is doing the tormenting. Released only two days before his death, it’s as if he knew his ending was iminent so wrote and released his final chapter, declaring what was about to happen.
“Look up here, I’m in heaven,” he sings on the album’s lead single, ‘Lazarus’. Across the tracks, Bowie deals head-on with his coming death, handling it with the same storytelling power that his whole career is built on. But the fact that his passing came so soon after its release makes the album feel so heavy with Bowie’s spirit that it’s spooky.
Some people even wonder whether Bowie died before its release and if his death was kept secret until after the record’s release to not spoil his plan for his public goodbye. But the thought that Bowie held on until just after the album came out makes the music feel even more haunting as if listeners are hearing the artist’s final lifeline, which, once it was out and no longer his to work on, marked his end.
