Your Best/fave example of an emotionally draining album!

[nashreed]

My wife asked me to play today, out of nowhere, Paula Cole's "This Fire"- which is one of my all-time favorite albums just because of what an emotional roller-coaster it is. Listening to it is kind of like living with a woman for a month - the highs and lows. Some of her singing on it so powerful and emotional. Not like fake "Emo" bands. I love albums where they have real anger and some screaming and raw vocals- not just cookie-cutter "Cookie Monster" screaming on every song just for the sake of it. Just cathartic. You really feel these songs are geniune, real snatches of the artists life. It's so the antithisis of the crap coming out today from the Miley Gaga's.

Of course, the perfect example of this type of album and the templet is John Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band" album. 'Nuff said.

Another not typical example is Harry Nilsson's "Pussy Cats". Not meant to be autobiographical, yet is so REAL, you HEAR it in his voice and the blood on the microphone. He didn't write most of the songs, but they sound like he's LIVED those emotions.
A lot of people site someone like Tom Waits as having a similar quality, but I don't hear it. He's always playing a character and it's sometimes "cartooney". Some people might say Joni Mitchell's "Blue", but that album seems very veiled and not really raw. The lyrics are real, but her vocal is often cold and aloof. The album really needs to be touching that nerve, where you feel drained at the end.

What are some of your examples/faves???


James