10 of the Weirdest Albums Out There

FUCK introductions. You read the title, I just wanted to share some weird music I found. Before that I wanna get a few things across. First of all, none of the following albums are gonna be in order. You can't really compare any of these because of how unique each of them are. Second of all, I wanna avoid repeating any artists, this will include side projects too. Otherwise this list would be full with Frank Zappa albums, Mike Patton projects, and a healthy dose of John Zorn (which I didn't include here). Lastly, some stuff I'm just not gonna include at all not even as an honourable mention. Yes I know about Stalaggh, no it's gonna show up on this list, the only reason why they're considered weird isn't because of any experimental or avant-garde approach. They just recorded psych ward patients in a scream room overlaid with harsh noise (some of which include serial killers, rapists, and rape victims). It's just a project that is seen as weird or scary because the people involved are probably (and I say probably because I don't even know if it's confirmed) mentally ill. Anyways enough of that.

Duck Stab! / Buster & Glen - The Residents 

The Residents are a band that I really wish I could get into but can't despite the number of chances I give them. Sure there's a few songs from them that I enjoyed like Infant Tango and Seasoned Greetings, but that's about it. This album stuck with me though, not because I really liked it, actually I find it annoying, but because it's the single weirdest thing I've heard so far. I know it's too early to already bring up what I find to be the weirdest album of all time but I really couldn't help myself. I'm not a professional writer. The vocals are high pitched and have some extremely dissonant harmonies. The production sounds like it's been deep fried in beef tallow and the music is super repetitive. Not a single bit of the album has some sort of consonant sound (except Rosebud, but it ain't much). Some parts are just unbelievably harsh, I know this comparison has been made a million times before but whatever that sound is in Bach is Dead can only be described as nails on a chalkboard. Even then, after all that, I honestly don't hate this album at all. Everything I described beforehand ends up creating a sort of eerie atmosphere, not to mention I don't think you can really find anything like this album outside of The Residents themselves. Just compare this to other albums that came out in 1978, it's genuinely impressive what they managed to create. I won't lie, I sorta prefer the live version of some of these songs too but whatever I don't know how to end this.
Standout songs: Constantinople, Hello Skinny

Disco Volante - Mr. Bungle

Originally I was gonna pick a different Mike Patton related album, especially since it is much weirder than this one, but I ended up choosing Disco Volante in the end because it's the best album of all time. I cannot recommend this one enough, although I'll hold off from any extensive detail just cos I plan on reviewing every studio album by Mr. Bungle sometime in the future. All I gotta say is that every song here is completely different from one another and are an incredible blend of genres. You have techno, death metal, jazz, harsh noise, baroque pop, and whatever the hell Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz is supposed to be. It's fucking amazing. 

Standout songs: Chemical Marriage, Carry Stress in the Jaw, Desert Search for Techno Allah, Violenza Domestica, After School Special, Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz, Platypus, Merry Go Bye Bye

This Heat - This Heat

I feel like this band is mainly known for Deceit which imo is a better album (and I'd even go as far as to say it's the best post-punk album of all time too), but in terms of weirdness their self titled takes the spot as their strangest one. There's a lot of tape and drone songs here but it's not exclusive to those two things. You have some great stuff outside of that like with Horizontal Hold which sounds like it came from an alien planet, actually I would go as far as to say this album as a whole comes from a different planet. Not Waving is my favourite example of that, the vocals are super haunting and the song in general is insanely atmospheric. It gives me the same kind of vibe as that one scene from Alien where the characters are exploring the ship. Overall there's just a really melancholic vibe surrounding the whole thing. I recommend listening to This Heat's discography as a whole especially since their other lps are much better than this one but even then their self titled still holds up. 

Standout songs: Horizontal Hold, Not Waving, 24 Track Loop

Suicide - Suicide

I think anyone who has read any similar lists knew these guys were gonna show up and it's for a good reason. Outside of their unusual sound, I've put them here because they've been insanely influential for electronic music, although at the same time Suicide sounds nothing like what's expected of modern electronic music. It's SPOOKY!!!!!!! Not really, but it does feel kinda uncomfortable at times with Alan Vega whispering in my ear about someone killing their wife and kids. That song being Frankie Teardrop, which is easily the album's best song objectively speaking. All of the songs are sorta structured similarly where Alan Vega is talking about something, a shitty little midi hithat that keeps playing over and over (although there is a bass drum and a snare that are hardly audible), and of course some weird synth playing. All of those aspects come together to create a pretty creepy atmosphere that Frankie Teardrop takes full advantage of. Sure maybe it's a little over the top with the whole "we are all frankies we are all lyin' in hell" but I'm not gonna ignore the sense of dread I've had when listening to the song. I've spent most of this section just talking about Frankie Teardrop but honestly just listen to it and you'll see why, it captures this album really well. 

Standout songs: Ghost Rider, Rocket U.S.A, Frankie Teardrop

An Electric Storm - White Noise

If you listen to this, just know it came out in 1969. I'm not saying that as a warning by the way I'm saying that because it sounds insanely ahead of its time. It's super psychedelic but has some really nice vocal melodies. In a way it sort of reminds me of King Crimson only much weirder, involving sound collages, a crazy amount of synths, and at times some orchestral bits and pieces. I hate to make this section shorter than all of the other ones but I can't really add much substance if I have no fucking idea how to even begin to describe this record. It's just oddly ethereal. You really have to listen to it yourself to really know what it's like.

Standout songs: Love Without Sound, My Game Of Loving, Here Come the Fleas

Lumpy Gravy - Frank Zappa

Anyone who knows me knows I fucking love Frank Zappa. Sure he might've said or done weird stuff but the dude was an insanely talented musician and led to some other really strange albums like An Evening With Wild Man Fischer and of course, the most infamous avant-garde album, Trout Mask Replica, which I'm not including in this list lmao. This was Zappa's first classical and solo record, and it's also his best (classical) one if you ask me. He was a big fan of Stravinsky and you can definitely tell with this album, especially in the second half. A lot of the melodies in the record are used in later Frank Zappa songs like with Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance and Oh No. They still manage to sound unique thanks to the arrangement and some of the other parts are great too. The one thing that holds this back for me are the skits in between, like yeah they're super memorable and I still quote them at times, but if only there was a version that didn't include the skits. Lucky for stoners and pretentious reviewers like me there is. The capitol release or how I like to call it, Lumpy Gravy Primordial, was the original version of Lumpy Gravy that doesn't include all the annoying interludes. Imo it's way better than the one everyone is familiar with but it ended up being changed for some weird legal issues iirc, I don't really remember what it was but Frank Zappa was forced to make edits to it. 

Ascension - John Coltrane

You know what's the exact opposite of smooth jazz? It's this fucking album specifically. WHOLE BUNCH OF BULLSHIT GOING ON!!! I actually like this one, not like a crazy bunch but I enjoy it. I have a fun little habit of trying to pick up on each instrument in a song, it's a lot of fun to do in general and makes me enjoy some songs even more. Great for inspiration too. Anyways Ascension is the kind of album that forces you to do that if you want to enjoy it, because otherwise at a first glance it's just genuine noise pollution, it's completely manic even for free jazz. All of these albums here do require multiple listens if you want to appreciate them more but this album in particular probably requires the most out of all of them. The love this record gets is equal to the same amount of hate it gets, I can totally see why someone wouldn't like it cos the first time I listened to it I ended up getting a headache. That being said the drumming here fucking rules lmao idc how messy everything sounds. And the solos are great too can't forget about that. It's a good record what do you want me to say.

Pure Guava - Ween

So quick little story, one time I was invited to a work party and they had free alcohol. TL;DR, I ended up eating barely anything, had a disgusting combination of rum, ale, and white wine, and acting like an idiot overall before throwing up on my staircase back home. After a terrible night of feeling like my bed was floating and flying all over the place, I woke up with an awful hangover. Anyways that day (the one where I was hungover) I decided to listen to this album for the first time, whether that's a good idea or not is up to you, personally I had a great time with it. Outside of maybe one or two songs I thought the slacker kind of style of music was really relaxing and under the summer sun it made my hangover slightly more tolerable. Honestly the best way I can describe it is as a psychedelic album crossed with slacker/stoner rock with some of Ween's humor and experimentation. The only other Ween albums I've listened to was The Mollusk which I think is good, and God Ween Satan which I think sucks, but I actually prefer Pure Guava over those two. I'd like to check out more of their stuff sometime. Maybe it'll be soon maybe not, they might have weirder albums but I really like this one specifically and I thought it'd be a good entry for this list. Definitely check it out if you ever end up hungover with donair sauce stained on your pants. Probably skip Mourning Glory if that's the case is all I gotta say. 

Standout songs: Push Th' Little Daisies, Pumpin' 4 The Man, Sarah, Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)

Thirty-Second Annual Report - Throbbing Gristle

Throbbing Gristle has always been a pretty unusual band, I honestly could've put any of their 3 big albums here and it'd be a good fit. I ended up choosing this one because of its especially harsh industrial sound and dark atmosphere. It just sounds like something bad is about to happen in just a few seconds but never does, it's like a soundtrack for a horror movie but without any release of suspense. That being said, as much as I enjoy this one, it does get really boring. I'm not a huge fan of atmospheric music, let alone industrial, sure it may not be the same throughout the entire thing but you listen to the first 10 minutes and you basically get the gist of it. That being said it deserves a spot here and I could definitely see this giving someone on shrooms a panic attack, especially that one part with the dude talking about how he strangled a 10 year old. Not sure if that was taken from a real interview but I'm not really that surprised at all when it comes to this band.

Standout song: Maggot Death

My Teenage Dream Ended - Farrah Abraham

There's two types of popular opinions when it comes to this album, one is that despite how fucking terrible it sounds, it's secretly an artistic masterpiece that satirizes American pop music and is a deeply personal look into Farrah Abraham's life. The other is that this was a shitty cash grab made by a former reality tv star trying to squeeze the last bit of attention before disappearing. Apparently this was really influential for hyperpop?? I only know like 3 Femtanyl songs so don't quote me on that. Personally I think it's a bit of both, but it just sounds absolutely fucking terrible. The mixing sounds like genuine ass and you can barely hear the vocals at times. Speaking of vocals they are unbelievably offbeat and the autotune is horrendous. I already don't like autotune, even when it's in albums I do enjoy, but good lord in the context of this album it's damn near unbearable. The instrumentals are okay at best but that's all I can say about them, I don't like dubstep or edm so it's obviously not meant for me. The lyrics are 50/50, sometimes they're good, other times they sound like some Taylor Swift shit. That said, I can't really shit on the lyrics because they are extremely personal and all I can say is that she had a rough life. Yeah, the record sounds terrible but there's a level of appreciation I have for it. None of the songs are enjoyable, some are just slightly less annoying but still bad, but I'm not gonna deny its (possible?) influence. I know jackshit about hyperpop I give up I just wanted to say at least something nice about this record but it really just sounds fucking terrible. 

Standout song: After Prom, Unplanned Parenthood

Honorable Mentions

Altered States of America (ANbRx II: Delta 9 remix) - Agoraphobic Nosebleed

Reason: Remixes of previous songs limited to a re-issued double disc set. 

Suspended Animation - Fantômas 

Reason: Undeniably a weirder album than Disco Volante. Also fantastic. However I wanna follow my own rules even though I love Fantômas. 

Jazz From Hell - Frank Zappa

Reason: No repeated artists, also just a worse album in comparison to Lumpy Gravy.

Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

Reason: I love this record to death, I didn't include it in the main list because it's already on so many other people's lists for their top weirdest albums. I wanted to give other albums some deserved attention instead. Also I just don't think it's as weird as some of the other stuff here. Don't think I dislike this album though, it's one of my favorites of all time.





Anyways that's the end of my blog. Feel free to comment some recommendations, I'm pretty much always looking for new weird experimental or avant garde artists to check out. I can't write conclusions for shit. bye bye.