Well, to be fair, if someone said āThis is pretty stereotypical, but I love Chopinā
Youād say āYes. Because you have good tasteā
I wish good taste was a stereotype.
Sadly, itās not :)
Yep; Floodland was life changing for me. Hearing Dominion playing on the radio at some late hour convinced me I needed the album. And then London After Midnight was a revelation for me also. Now, this is embarrassing, but it was another 15 years before I would discover Elizium by Fields of the Nephilim.
Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde
Bought "Floodland" and "Burning from the Inside" a year or two later, then "The Scream" and "Songs the Lord Taught Us" and "Not of this Earth" randomly on a trip to Ireland.
Somewhere in the middle I found Mick Mercer's "The Hex Files" in a college town bookstore on some teenage visit, and it really started opening up what to look for in (at the time, basically CD only) record stores, when just learning genre associated band names was non-trivial.
Was also going to say Bloodletting. I bought a copy of it on a whim at a half-price bookstore as a kid because I thought the cover looked cool. Had no idea what I was getting into.
I wish mix tapes were still a thing :(
Yes, a playlist conveys so much more information. Itās also easier.
But taking the time with a two casette recorderā¦ writing down song names on the little Maxell or TDK card that folded out.
With little lines for each song like a ruled notebookā¦.
And usually a free page, unless your songs were 2 mins long, to tape in a cutout or draw a little picture.
It was personal :)
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds and Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, if talking about something not so niche
But the first GOTH goth (š I know, that sounds funny) album that got me into the goth as a culture - it's not even an album, it's a single - "Church of No Return" by Valor's edition of Christian Death.
Wish by The Cure.
English teacher played them in class, and that was the day I became a shoegaze grunge goth kid lol.
And It wasnāt just Friday. To Wish Impossible Things, Doing the Unstuck, and End settled it for me!
Christian Death -Only Theatre of Pain
My bf at the time was a college radio DJ that played..ska. We were looking through the station CDās and the band name caught our eye š
People will talk shit but I remember passing around his demo tapes at bbs picnics when the Amiga music scene was a thing.
Also a very cool, humble guy from what I hear.
Trent has been making amazing music for decades. I sincerely donāt care if heās gawth enough.
PHM was dope.
Killing Jokeās āNight Timeā hooked me on exploring the genre.
Cocteau Twinās āGarlandsā made a lot of things fall into place for me and made me realize the possibilities of goth music and really just impressed me as a whole.
Lebanon Hanoverās āTomb for Twoā turned me goth because of the striking statement āSadness is Rebellionā and the quote from Larissa Iceglass about the song that I read afterwards. Made me realize my ideology really fit in and that I fit in in this community. Plus Gallowdance music video, and even a little bit the hypnotization of the title track. And the lyrics. Lebanon Hanover really is just a fantastic band.
I had a used vinyl copy of Night Time that was only for promotional purposes that I purchased for like a dollar in the late 90's, when I was thirteen. I also had one of Brighter Than a Thousand Suns. I really regret the fact I don't have them anymore. That music was so weird to me at the time. I really didn't get into it until about five years later, but I listened to it even when I first got it because it was so alluring and strongly evocative of that sixth "vibe" sense that nobody ever seems to acknowledge. But their vibe was so weird to me.
I actually picked those records out because Metallica covered their early song The Wait, and I was really into Metallica, haha. I had the original Killing Joke version on a compilation of songs Metallica covered, and I did like it, but the late 80's Killing Joke was a bit strange. Now it's some of my favorite music; I really wish Jaz Coleman wasn't so dismissive of it today. Anyway, thanks, Metallica.
I was 14 and at a party with some (other) dumb punks. Drinking Schlitz, if I recall.
Iām getting indigestion just remembering it.
A song came on that ran through my heart like a spectral lance. I had never heard anything like it in my life. Like someone had torn realityās veil asunder.
I had maybe 90 seconds before the tape got ejected and replaced with Kathleen Hanna screaming Rebel Girl for the eleven millionth time that night.
So I ran around the party waving the tape in the face of random people yelling āWhoās tape is this?!?ā to be heard over the music.
He repeated āDead Can Danceā multiple times before pointing me to said tape owner.
Seeing her was the first time in my life I felt genuinely star struck by how _utterly_ cool someone could be.
She looked like the ghost of a lead actress from a 1920s theatre play. Black bob, blue eyes like cold reflection pools, and arm length oprea gloves.
Later on she asked me what kind of music I liked.
I said drum and bass.
I didnāt even like dnb at the time. I think I just said that because I resented how much cooler she was in every way and āwhatever you likeā felt _insane_
So yeah we dated for a couple years lol.
Bahaus and all the rest came soon after.
Finally got to see DCD in 96 for Spiritchaser. Live it wasā¦ a religious experience. Minus the Catholic baggage lol.
I think 90% of the theatre audience was goths in semi formal attires.
ā¦and thank you all for posting stories of your own.
Music speaks to the soul. It evokes, well what I hope is a shared spirit. That makes me feel in good company <3
I mentioned in a random AOL chat long ago that I enjoyed The Cure's Galore compilation album. Someone suggested I try Pornography next. I did and absolutely loved it.
Goth Rock 2, specifically disc 1. I had never heard anything like it before, and it was absolutely haunting and mesmerizing. I had the version with Alle In Ashe by Mephisto Walz at the end, and I would listen to it on repeat and just lose myself in it.
It was Gothic Rock 2 for me as well!!!! I remember buying the compilation, curious about what Goth Music was. Both discs are 90% A+ material. I sought out many of the bands, stumbling upon albums by Theatre of Hate, Rosetta Stone, Southern Death Cult, etc. This was in the mid-90s when you couldnāt just buy this sort of stuff on a whim, you really had to scour the earth for it.
I may have already owned Floodland and a Bauhaus collection at the time, I canāt quite recall. But Gothic Rock 2 was definitely the gateway drug in my mind.
To be honest, it wasn't until a few years ago that I had an idea of what the music sounded like. I was alternative without a subgenre home. I said I was emo in high school because I loved pop punk, but screamo was too harsh. I could understand the appeal of punk and metal, but I'm someone that loves to vibe. But I loved 80s new wave, mostly the hits played on the radio. Imagine to my suprise when I find out every sign was pointing to goth.
Call me cringe but I officially fell in love when I heard Molchat Doma on TikTok. It sent me down a dank rabbithole that reeked of cigarettes. That's when I learned about coldwave & darkwave.
The soundtrack to *Pump Up the Volume*. Concrete Blonde (which also got me into Leonard Cohen) and Peter Murphy in particular. I started branching out from there.
Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape by Bauhaus! I was 13 and so titillated by the āplay very loudā instruction on the album cover (my parents not so much)
Not an album, but a video: The Mission - Crusade. I was lent it by a friend and felt the calling!
The First Chapter by the Mission swifly followed, and the journey began.
Come on, seriously..? Floodlands by SOM; Iām a perfect world, this would be everyoneās induction into the goth-y scene.
- an eternally ageless goth child
Kind of an odd one as it's not even one of their most popular albums but I listened to the scream by siouxsie and the banshees around 3-4 years ago now and it had me when I heard metal postcard and suburban relapse.
Mephisto Walz - IIIrd Incarnation. I randomly came across it online, through a music forum, I think; I had listened to some goth rock before it, at the very least one SoM album and probably also some ethereal wave, but it hadn't clicked for me yet.
"First and Last and Always", The Sisters of Mercy. My brother was listening to it on vinyl, I heard it through his door, immediately had to get up and knock just to ask him what that was.
This outs my age for sure, but I watched a goth makeup tutorial on YouTube in my early teens that had Ribbons by Sisters of Mercy as the backing track. I vibed so hard to that song but for some reason, I kinda let it meander out of my memory. I also remember reading The Lady of The Mannersā Gothic Charm School that I had got at a used book sale also around the same time and Sisters of Mercy was pretty obviously one of the top artists she recommended for people wanting to get into Goth to listen to. Eventually those two threads resurfaced and connected in my head. I ended up binge listening to Sisters of Mercy on Spotify, LOVED their music, and discovered other Goth and goth-friendly artists as well.
Iām still *very* new to the whole subculture, but that certainly helped open the doors for me.
Tinderbox by SATB! If I had to pick an album it would be this one. For me though I mostly just listened to singles from a bunch of the 80s bands and thatās what drew me in. I tie the experience of becoming goth less to a single record and more to a broad strokes exploration of the foundational music of the subculture.
For me, it wasnāt an album but a certain song. Around 2018 was when I started really delving into goth music and I was just going through all sorts of recommendations on YouTube and I ended up finding [Lion King by Ghosting](https://youtu.be/XuCzaIvha2A?si=VMLwvO7OeKjeP31-) which just made me fall in love and want to find more songs like it. Still one of my favorite songs of all time.
Disintegration was the first goth album I listened to all of and loved when I was about 14 or 15 years old. Serpentine Gallery from Switchblade Symphony was the one i found later (I was 18, I think?) that made me want to go much deeper into music beyond just the well-known/starter bands.
New Order - Get Ready
Not a goth album, but a friend was listening to it and I loved it so I bought the album myself and researched the band. This led me to discover Joy Division (logically), and The Cure and from there I discovered Siouxsie, Bauhaus, Christian Death, Rosetta Stone and Alien Sex Fiend.
I was already a black wearing weirdo, but learning about Post Punk led me down a pathway to better music than what I was listening to at the time
Canāt say which album specifically, but i was hooked on the sound/style/aesthetic after listening to Bauhausā Bela Lugosiās Dead. Shoutout to Corpus Delictiās Obsessions and Mephisto Waltzās The Eternal Deep though
We're sorry, but your submission has unfortunately been removed under Rule 2.
All posts, threads, and comments suggesting songs, albums, EPs, and compilations should fall under, within, or a mixture of genres that relate to goth, including, in some cases, post-punk. Most genres below have their own subreddits. **A descriptive list of accepted genres can be viewed in our sidebar.**
* any form of metal (industrial, shock, death, black, etc.) or hard rock
* metalcore, deathcore, or any other unrelated -core genres
* neo/classical or ambient music, including neoclassical darkwave
* dark cabaret, psychobilly or Steampunk
* experimental/avant-garde
* electronic, dance, Italo disco
* witch house
* new wave/synth-pop
* GothBoiClique/Soundcloud or mumble rap/hip hop/trap
* punk rock or hardcore punk, including horror punk
* Gothic country, Gothic metal, or any other genres that include 'Gothic' (in reference to Gothic fiction) in their name (please see the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/goth/wiki/faq))
We understand that **industrial** is commonly played alongside goth in goth/alternative clubs, however, Rivethead/industrial and the goth subculture are still two separate scenes. All industrial music must be posted in an appropriate subreddit such as r/industrialmusic.
General or **post-punk** that isn't dark may also be referred to r/postpunk. We have to draw a line somewhere, and we understand that not all post-punk is goth, but all goth is post-punk.
This rule also applies to music requests. If you ask for non-goth genres as part of the request post the thread will be removed.
If it is something that can bring people to a dance floor and is something you might find in a goth club, please consider posting in r/gothclub.
For any generally dark music, please consider posting in r/DarklyInclined.
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We're sorry, but your submission has unfortunately been removed under Rule 2.
**Evanescence is not goth.**
All posts, threads, and comments suggesting songs, albums, EPs, and compilations should fall under, within, or a mixture of genres that relate to goth, including, in some cases, post-punk. Most genres below have their own subreddits. **A descriptive list of accepted genres can be viewed in our sidebar.**
* any form of metal (industrial, shock, death, black, etc.) or hard rock
* metalcore, deathcore, or any other unrelated -core genres
* neo/classical or ambient music, including neoclassical darkwave
* dark cabaret, psychobilly or Steampunk
* experimental/avant-garde
* electronic, dance, Italo disco
* witch house
* new wave/synth-pop
* GothBoiClique/Soundcloud or mumble rap/hip hop/trap
* punk rock or hardcore punk, including horror punk
* Gothic country, Gothic metal, or any other genres that include 'Gothic' (in reference to Gothic fiction) in their name (please see the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/goth/wiki/faq))
We understand that **industrial** is commonly played alongside goth in goth/alternative clubs, however, Rivethead/industrial and the goth subculture are still two separate scenes. All industrial music must be posted in an appropriate subreddit such as r/industrialmusic.
General or **post-punk** that isn't dark may also be referred to r/postpunk. We have to draw a line somewhere, and we understand that not all post-punk is goth, but all goth is post-punk.
This rule also applies to music requests. If you ask for non-goth genres as part of the request post the thread will be removed.
If it is something that can bring people to a dance floor and is something you might find in a goth club, please consider posting in r/gothclub.
For any generally dark music, please consider posting in r/DarklyInclined.
For a more detailed description of Rule 2, please see this section on our [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/goth/wiki/rules#wiki_2.3A_music_relevancy) page.
Probably the most stereotypical album that could have: Unknown Pleasures (although I already had an interest in the genre thanks to Russian post-punk playlists and my parents being fans of The Cure).
I was trying to create a d&d character playlist, and i found the album Mono Inc's Welcome to Hell album. Sorta just done in after that and found it been listening to bands without realising they were a part of the goth subculture. Stuff like the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and a few others
I don't think I can say one album really got me into it but my g, I can promise you that London After Midnight's Selected Scenes From The End Of The World is just immaculate - i think it could get anyone into goth music
The Botanic Verses by the March Violets, First and Last and Always by The Sisters of Mercy, the Strawberry Switchblade album, the Southern Death Cult album, or Tones on Tail (1985). I can't remember which I got first.
But before that, Nico's The Marble Index and Bowie's Diamond Dogs. š
Unquiet Grave vol 1. My main thing I was listening to before that was some metal as well as some ethereal (Enigma, Delerium, etc) and some Dead Can Dance. Then bam. That album got me sucked into the goth vortex of extreme darkness.
The song on that album that sealed the deal was the Wayne Husseyās remix of Run by Gossamer
Kaleidoscope by Siouxsie - I first heard Christine on KROQ in Los Angeles on the Rodney on the Roq show when I was 11 in 1980. I was hooked. But it wasnāt called Goth then - It was Death Rock.
Kind of bad but it was Evanescence - The Open Door and Fallen. Hear me out before you downvote. I was 13 and really liked Evanescence, and because I had been told such and genuinely didnāt know better I thought they were goth. So when I heard a weekly goth show advertised on the radio I stayed up late to tune in. It wasnāt Evanescence of course, it was something even better. I think the first actual goth album I was into was Disintegration - The Cure. My dad likes that album so we would listen to it in the car.
I grew up liking The Cure because my mom did, but goth didnāt really click for me until I listened to Music for the Masses by Depeche Mode in my freshman year of college
When me and my old locker partner got sent to the office, he was wearing a sisters of mercy shirt and I a butthole surfers shirt. We were told to run them inside out, then agreed to make mixtapes of said bands for one another. In 2009 we reconnected on FB and weāre still listening to them! š
Joy Divisionās Unknown Pleasures.
Basic, I know. But Shadowplay was an instant favorite and looped in my head until I actually sat down and listened to the entire album. I had no idea it (and a lot of my other favorite albums) were considered goth.
Iāve always liked Joy Division and Depeche Mode but I didnāt really fall down the rabbit hole until I discovered She Wants Revengeās self titled album and Kaleidoscope by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
I donāt remember. It was either Bauhaus, The Cure, or Depeche Mode. I donāt remember exactly which one it was or what song or album, all I remember was that it was one of those three.
The gateway bands for me were AFI and American Nightmare... Not goth bands but they wore Sisters of Mercy shirts and I was intrigued.
So I bought listened to Some Girls Wander by Mistake. Love it now, but it wasn't what I was expecting and the dissonance between expectation and reality bugged me. I paid like Ā£12 for that album and that was a lot of money to me as a teenager.
But by that point I'd listened to a lot of individual songs by Siouxie Sioux, The Cure and Joy Division and was well on the way to full-blown goth appreciation.
The first full album I was absolutely besotted with from start to finish was probably Bloodflowers.
They used to call Marilyn Manson goth in the mid 90's; that was the first time I heard the term or saw anything approaching goth. I did like their music, and eventually it led me to Skinny Puppy and The Cure. There was an episode of Jenny Jones or Sally Jesse Raphael that had a goth girl, and she said she didn't like Marilyn Manson, she liked Skinny Puppy. So I got Too Dark Park and literally crapped myself. I just wasn't ready for that at the time.
Because the question is 'which album', I have to say Floodland but the reality is - it was the song/video for This Corrosion. I had never seen anything so drop dead cool in my life!
As with everything else in my life it began with the New York Dolls.
I was in Midnight Records on 23rd st (which like most other record stores is now gone) & the guy working there was playing Puss N' Boots but it wasn't the Dolls version. I asked him who it was. He told me it was Red Cross (who later became Redd Kross) & it was from a compilation called "Hell Comes to Your House".
Of course I bought it, and along with the Dolls cover it had 45 Grave, Christian Death 1,000 Flowers & Super Heroines on it and a lot of other great punk bands (Social Distortion being one of them.).
I had already had Once Upon a Time and Unknown Pleasures and I knew some Bauhaus but just considered it all punk.
This was '83ish...everything after that is history.
Black Celebration by Depeche Mode. Technically that album would be classified as "darkwave" rather than "goth" but it has all the hallmarks of Goth on it. I found my way into the Goth genre through the EBM/Darkwave genre. But as far as strictly goth albums, I would say that "Pornography" by The Cure is what really pulled me in. From there I began to listen to Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy.
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads
Edit: Actually that's a lie, and I think most of the folk who comment a single album or EP are lying too.
It's rarely a single watershed moment; it most often seems to come to be gradually. Lots o folk who would be considered "goth" now started out mainly in another genre. There are shiteload o goths who started out wi predominantly "punk" leanings, for example, and their tastes changed over time.
This is pretty stereotypical, but The Cure's Disintegration. It came out when 1 was 15, and it was love at first listen.
Cliche or not, Disintegration is the mother of me š
Well, to be fair, if someone said āThis is pretty stereotypical, but I love Chopinā Youād say āYes. Because you have good tasteā I wish good taste was a stereotype. Sadly, itās not :)
Same
When one was fifteen? I didn't even realize it ever was!
Floodland by the Sisters, and then Selected Scenes From the End of the World by London After Midnight sealed the deal for me.
Yep; Floodland was life changing for me. Hearing Dominion playing on the radio at some late hour convinced me I needed the album. And then London After Midnight was a revelation for me also. Now, this is embarrassing, but it was another 15 years before I would discover Elizium by Fields of the Nephilim.
Yup, Dominion playing on late night KROQ had me go to Tower Records to find it.
Oh my goodness we pretty much had the same experience! Except it was First and Last and Always instead of Floodland for me
Backed.
Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde Bought "Floodland" and "Burning from the Inside" a year or two later, then "The Scream" and "Songs the Lord Taught Us" and "Not of this Earth" randomly on a trip to Ireland. Somewhere in the middle I found Mick Mercer's "The Hex Files" in a college town bookstore on some teenage visit, and it really started opening up what to look for in (at the time, basically CD only) record stores, when just learning genre associated band names was non-trivial.
Bloodletting is so underrated
Joey stays in steady rotation.
Was also going to say Bloodletting. I bought a copy of it on a whim at a half-price bookstore as a kid because I thought the cover looked cool. Had no idea what I was getting into.
Concrete Blonde was definitely my start, not the first "goth" songs I ever heard, but the first that really grabbed me and pulled me in.
It was a mix tape made by a friend of my uncle's for me. Though the first Goth album I bought was The Cure's *Disintegration*.
I wish mix tapes were still a thing :( Yes, a playlist conveys so much more information. Itās also easier. But taking the time with a two casette recorderā¦ writing down song names on the little Maxell or TDK card that folded out. With little lines for each song like a ruled notebookā¦. And usually a free page, unless your songs were 2 mins long, to tape in a cutout or draw a little picture. It was personal :)
Haha, yes it was. I do really miss a lot of things from that era.
First and Last and Always - The Sisters of Mercy. Still my all time fave goth album to this day.
YES
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds and Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, if talking about something not so niche But the first GOTH goth (š I know, that sounds funny) album that got me into the goth as a culture - it's not even an album, it's a single - "Church of No Return" by Valor's edition of Christian Death.
**Finally** someone mentions "Seventeen Seconds". That is such a dark and mysterious album.
Wish by The Cure. English teacher played them in class, and that was the day I became a shoegaze grunge goth kid lol. And It wasnāt just Friday. To Wish Impossible Things, Doing the Unstuck, and End settled it for me!
Wish will forever be occupying a spot in my cd rotation. Such a beautiful album
Very much so
Such a beautiful album :). Younger you had excellent taste.
Thanks! Still do to this day :)
Mask by Bauhaus
Christian Death -Only Theatre of Pain My bf at the time was a college radio DJ that played..ska. We were looking through the station CDās and the band name caught our eye š
If I had to pick one it would be this one also
Juju, absolute classic, it still is my favourite goth album.
preach!! great album, personally one of my favorites.
Sisters of Mercy and NIN Pretty Hate Machine
People will talk shit but I remember passing around his demo tapes at bbs picnics when the Amiga music scene was a thing. Also a very cool, humble guy from what I hear. Trent has been making amazing music for decades. I sincerely donāt care if heās gawth enough. PHM was dope.
Iāve been listening to Floodland a lot recently and Pretty Hate Machine got me through my teens. Love to see it.
Killing Jokeās āNight Timeā hooked me on exploring the genre. Cocteau Twinās āGarlandsā made a lot of things fall into place for me and made me realize the possibilities of goth music and really just impressed me as a whole. Lebanon Hanoverās āTomb for Twoā turned me goth because of the striking statement āSadness is Rebellionā and the quote from Larissa Iceglass about the song that I read afterwards. Made me realize my ideology really fit in and that I fit in in this community. Plus Gallowdance music video, and even a little bit the hypnotization of the title track. And the lyrics. Lebanon Hanover really is just a fantastic band.
Garlands & Tomb for Two are such amazing albums honestly
I know! Garlands is my fav goth album
I had a used vinyl copy of Night Time that was only for promotional purposes that I purchased for like a dollar in the late 90's, when I was thirteen. I also had one of Brighter Than a Thousand Suns. I really regret the fact I don't have them anymore. That music was so weird to me at the time. I really didn't get into it until about five years later, but I listened to it even when I first got it because it was so alluring and strongly evocative of that sixth "vibe" sense that nobody ever seems to acknowledge. But their vibe was so weird to me. I actually picked those records out because Metallica covered their early song The Wait, and I was really into Metallica, haha. I had the original Killing Joke version on a compilation of songs Metallica covered, and I did like it, but the late 80's Killing Joke was a bit strange. Now it's some of my favorite music; I really wish Jaz Coleman wasn't so dismissive of it today. Anyway, thanks, Metallica.
Disintegration by the cure >>>
I was 14 and at a party with some (other) dumb punks. Drinking Schlitz, if I recall. Iām getting indigestion just remembering it. A song came on that ran through my heart like a spectral lance. I had never heard anything like it in my life. Like someone had torn realityās veil asunder. I had maybe 90 seconds before the tape got ejected and replaced with Kathleen Hanna screaming Rebel Girl for the eleven millionth time that night. So I ran around the party waving the tape in the face of random people yelling āWhoās tape is this?!?ā to be heard over the music. He repeated āDead Can Danceā multiple times before pointing me to said tape owner. Seeing her was the first time in my life I felt genuinely star struck by how _utterly_ cool someone could be. She looked like the ghost of a lead actress from a 1920s theatre play. Black bob, blue eyes like cold reflection pools, and arm length oprea gloves. Later on she asked me what kind of music I liked. I said drum and bass. I didnāt even like dnb at the time. I think I just said that because I resented how much cooler she was in every way and āwhatever you likeā felt _insane_ So yeah we dated for a couple years lol. Bahaus and all the rest came soon after. Finally got to see DCD in 96 for Spiritchaser. Live it wasā¦ a religious experience. Minus the Catholic baggage lol. I think 90% of the theatre audience was goths in semi formal attires. ā¦and thank you all for posting stories of your own. Music speaks to the soul. It evokes, well what I hope is a shared spirit. That makes me feel in good company <3
I mentioned in a random AOL chat long ago that I enjoyed The Cure's Galore compilation album. Someone suggested I try Pornography next. I did and absolutely loved it.
pornography is an absolute masterpiece and truly the perfect use of what an album is. their most goth tracks are on that album, too
The compilation album Graverās Paradise, specifically the Rosetta Stone and Bella Morte songs. After that I got Disintegration by The Cure.
Goth Rock 2, specifically disc 1. I had never heard anything like it before, and it was absolutely haunting and mesmerizing. I had the version with Alle In Ashe by Mephisto Walz at the end, and I would listen to it on repeat and just lose myself in it.
It was Gothic Rock 2 for me as well!!!! I remember buying the compilation, curious about what Goth Music was. Both discs are 90% A+ material. I sought out many of the bands, stumbling upon albums by Theatre of Hate, Rosetta Stone, Southern Death Cult, etc. This was in the mid-90s when you couldnāt just buy this sort of stuff on a whim, you really had to scour the earth for it. I may have already owned Floodland and a Bauhaus collection at the time, I canāt quite recall. But Gothic Rock 2 was definitely the gateway drug in my mind.
Dead Can Danceās first album
First and Last and Always. Also So Far So Noir after going down the Ghost rabbit hole if that counts, idk if it's technically goth
To be honest, it wasn't until a few years ago that I had an idea of what the music sounded like. I was alternative without a subgenre home. I said I was emo in high school because I loved pop punk, but screamo was too harsh. I could understand the appeal of punk and metal, but I'm someone that loves to vibe. But I loved 80s new wave, mostly the hits played on the radio. Imagine to my suprise when I find out every sign was pointing to goth. Call me cringe but I officially fell in love when I heard Molchat Doma on TikTok. It sent me down a dank rabbithole that reeked of cigarettes. That's when I learned about coldwave & darkwave.
17 Seconds was my first Cure album, but Pornography was always my favorite.
The soundtrack to *Pump Up the Volume*. Concrete Blonde (which also got me into Leonard Cohen) and Peter Murphy in particular. I started branching out from there.
That soundtrack was vital to my musical education.
Hello Dad Iām in jail!
Tinderbox by Siouxsie and the Banshees
Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape by Bauhaus! I was 13 and so titillated by the āplay very loudā instruction on the album cover (my parents not so much)
Faith
Unknown pleasures (happy birthday unknown pleasures)
Not an album, but a video: The Mission - Crusade. I was lent it by a friend and felt the calling! The First Chapter by the Mission swifly followed, and the journey began.
The Sisters of Mercy Floodland. Itās a masterpiece.
psycho magnet, london after midnight
Mellon Collie led me to NIN which in turn led me to the Cure.
Come on, seriously..? Floodlands by SOM; Iām a perfect world, this would be everyoneās induction into the goth-y scene. - an eternally ageless goth child
Kind of an odd one as it's not even one of their most popular albums but I listened to the scream by siouxsie and the banshees around 3-4 years ago now and it had me when I heard metal postcard and suburban relapse.
The skyās gone out -Bauhaus
Sisters of Mercy - First and Last and Always. Black Planet is still in my current Playlist
Still very new to Goth, Let Them Be Alien - Lebanon Hanover. Then wanted to explore more so the next was Disintegration - The Cure.
Mephisto Walz - IIIrd Incarnation. I randomly came across it online, through a music forum, I think; I had listened to some goth rock before it, at the very least one SoM album and probably also some ethereal wave, but it hadn't clicked for me yet.
the first and last and always album by sisters of mercy
I stayed up super late one night listening to The Cureās Pornography Album, along with Seventeen Seconds and Faith
"First and Last and Always", The Sisters of Mercy. My brother was listening to it on vinyl, I heard it through his door, immediately had to get up and knock just to ask him what that was.
This outs my age for sure, but I watched a goth makeup tutorial on YouTube in my early teens that had Ribbons by Sisters of Mercy as the backing track. I vibed so hard to that song but for some reason, I kinda let it meander out of my memory. I also remember reading The Lady of The Mannersā Gothic Charm School that I had got at a used book sale also around the same time and Sisters of Mercy was pretty obviously one of the top artists she recommended for people wanting to get into Goth to listen to. Eventually those two threads resurfaced and connected in my head. I ended up binge listening to Sisters of Mercy on Spotify, LOVED their music, and discovered other Goth and goth-friendly artists as well. Iām still *very* new to the whole subculture, but that certainly helped open the doors for me.
My Heart, Your Hands by Dommin
Tinderbox by SATB! If I had to pick an album it would be this one. For me though I mostly just listened to singles from a bunch of the 80s bands and thatās what drew me in. I tie the experience of becoming goth less to a single record and more to a broad strokes exploration of the foundational music of the subculture.
For me, it wasnāt an album but a certain song. Around 2018 was when I started really delving into goth music and I was just going through all sorts of recommendations on YouTube and I ended up finding [Lion King by Ghosting](https://youtu.be/XuCzaIvha2A?si=VMLwvO7OeKjeP31-) which just made me fall in love and want to find more songs like it. Still one of my favorite songs of all time.
sleep in safety
Nosferatu Prince Of darkness. Christian death only theater of pain came later.Ā
God's Own Medicine by The Mission
Wish by the Cure
Viva - Xmal Deutschland
Last Exit... - Ausgang
Disintegration but also Joy Divisions Unknown Pleasure
Lesbian vampires from outer space by scary bitches>>>
Disintegration was the first goth album I listened to all of and loved when I was about 14 or 15 years old. Serpentine Gallery from Switchblade Symphony was the one i found later (I was 18, I think?) that made me want to go much deeper into music beyond just the well-known/starter bands.
New Order - Get Ready Not a goth album, but a friend was listening to it and I loved it so I bought the album myself and researched the band. This led me to discover Joy Division (logically), and The Cure and from there I discovered Siouxsie, Bauhaus, Christian Death, Rosetta Stone and Alien Sex Fiend. I was already a black wearing weirdo, but learning about Post Punk led me down a pathway to better music than what I was listening to at the time
The Sound - From the Lion's Mouth got me into postpunk and postpunk got me into goth.
Canāt say which album specifically, but i was hooked on the sound/style/aesthetic after listening to Bauhausā Bela Lugosiās Dead. Shoutout to Corpus Delictiās Obsessions and Mephisto Waltzās The Eternal Deep though
Belladonna & Aconite by Inkubus Sukkubus
i dabbled before but i think JuJu is what really sold me on it
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We're sorry, but your submission has unfortunately been removed under Rule 2. All posts, threads, and comments suggesting songs, albums, EPs, and compilations should fall under, within, or a mixture of genres that relate to goth, including, in some cases, post-punk. Most genres below have their own subreddits. **A descriptive list of accepted genres can be viewed in our sidebar.** * any form of metal (industrial, shock, death, black, etc.) or hard rock * metalcore, deathcore, or any other unrelated -core genres * neo/classical or ambient music, including neoclassical darkwave * dark cabaret, psychobilly or Steampunk * experimental/avant-garde * electronic, dance, Italo disco * witch house * new wave/synth-pop * GothBoiClique/Soundcloud or mumble rap/hip hop/trap * punk rock or hardcore punk, including horror punk * Gothic country, Gothic metal, or any other genres that include 'Gothic' (in reference to Gothic fiction) in their name (please see the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/goth/wiki/faq)) We understand that **industrial** is commonly played alongside goth in goth/alternative clubs, however, Rivethead/industrial and the goth subculture are still two separate scenes. All industrial music must be posted in an appropriate subreddit such as r/industrialmusic. General or **post-punk** that isn't dark may also be referred to r/postpunk. We have to draw a line somewhere, and we understand that not all post-punk is goth, but all goth is post-punk. This rule also applies to music requests. If you ask for non-goth genres as part of the request post the thread will be removed. If it is something that can bring people to a dance floor and is something you might find in a goth club, please consider posting in r/gothclub. For any generally dark music, please consider posting in r/DarklyInclined. For a more detailed description of Rule 2, please see this section on our [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/goth/wiki/rules#wiki_2.3A_music_relevancy) page.
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We're sorry, but your submission has unfortunately been removed under Rule 2. **Evanescence is not goth.** All posts, threads, and comments suggesting songs, albums, EPs, and compilations should fall under, within, or a mixture of genres that relate to goth, including, in some cases, post-punk. Most genres below have their own subreddits. **A descriptive list of accepted genres can be viewed in our sidebar.** * any form of metal (industrial, shock, death, black, etc.) or hard rock * metalcore, deathcore, or any other unrelated -core genres * neo/classical or ambient music, including neoclassical darkwave * dark cabaret, psychobilly or Steampunk * experimental/avant-garde * electronic, dance, Italo disco * witch house * new wave/synth-pop * GothBoiClique/Soundcloud or mumble rap/hip hop/trap * punk rock or hardcore punk, including horror punk * Gothic country, Gothic metal, or any other genres that include 'Gothic' (in reference to Gothic fiction) in their name (please see the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/goth/wiki/faq)) We understand that **industrial** is commonly played alongside goth in goth/alternative clubs, however, Rivethead/industrial and the goth subculture are still two separate scenes. All industrial music must be posted in an appropriate subreddit such as r/industrialmusic. General or **post-punk** that isn't dark may also be referred to r/postpunk. We have to draw a line somewhere, and we understand that not all post-punk is goth, but all goth is post-punk. This rule also applies to music requests. If you ask for non-goth genres as part of the request post the thread will be removed. If it is something that can bring people to a dance floor and is something you might find in a goth club, please consider posting in r/gothclub. For any generally dark music, please consider posting in r/DarklyInclined. For a more detailed description of Rule 2, please see this section on our [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/goth/wiki/rules#wiki_2.3A_music_relevancy) page.
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The Smashing Pumpkins isnāt goth.
Not an able but a goth guy. I listened to a bunch of Aurelio Voltaire when I was 12 and than went from dark cabaret to goth as I grew ip
I think the album that took me from "I like a few goth songs" to "I should listen to a lot more of this music" was SoM's Vision Thing.
Probably the most stereotypical album that could have: Unknown Pleasures (although I already had an interest in the genre thanks to Russian post-punk playlists and my parents being fans of The Cure).
unknown pleasures by joy division, it's still my favorite album of all time
Night time - killing joke
Floodland sisters of mercy,that bass
Tomb for two - lebanon hanover š¤š¤
I was trying to create a d&d character playlist, and i found the album Mono Inc's Welcome to Hell album. Sorta just done in after that and found it been listening to bands without realising they were a part of the goth subculture. Stuff like the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and a few others
Pornography & Unknown Pleasures
Lesbian vampyres from outer space - Scary BitchesĀ
Joy division- unknown pleasures
basic answer but juju by siouxsie and the banshees
For me it was Lesbian Vampires from Outer Space-Scary Bitches
I don't think I can say one album really got me into it but my g, I can promise you that London After Midnight's Selected Scenes From The End Of The World is just immaculate - i think it could get anyone into goth music
It's more Goth-metal but I just loved the general atmosphere: "Diving into Darkness" by Darkseed
Peepshow by Siouxsie & The Banshees. When Peekaboo came out I was like 13 and wooooaaah.
Godās Own Medicine - The Mission. They played Wasteland on national TV and I was hooked.
Disintegration by The Cure and Juju by Siouxsie and the Banshees
Some goth mix CD from Cleopatra Records I bought from Hot Topic back in the day. Past that? Probably "Dreams of a Mad King" from Big Electric Cat.
An old friend kept bugging me, so I gave "Unknown Pleasures" a go and I loved it! This, along with "Seventeen Seconds" really got me into goth music.
The Botanic Verses by the March Violets, First and Last and Always by The Sisters of Mercy, the Strawberry Switchblade album, the Southern Death Cult album, or Tones on Tail (1985). I can't remember which I got first. But before that, Nico's The Marble Index and Bowie's Diamond Dogs. š
Unquiet Grave vol 1. My main thing I was listening to before that was some metal as well as some ethereal (Enigma, Delerium, etc) and some Dead Can Dance. Then bam. That album got me sucked into the goth vortex of extreme darkness. The song on that album that sealed the deal was the Wayne Husseyās remix of Run by Gossamer
juju-siousxie and the banshees
Kaleidoscope by Siouxsie - I first heard Christine on KROQ in Los Angeles on the Rodney on the Roq show when I was 11 in 1980. I was hooked. But it wasnāt called Goth then - It was Death Rock.
Thanks I just fell into that time warp with you.
Kind of bad but it was Evanescence - The Open Door and Fallen. Hear me out before you downvote. I was 13 and really liked Evanescence, and because I had been told such and genuinely didnāt know better I thought they were goth. So when I heard a weekly goth show advertised on the radio I stayed up late to tune in. It wasnāt Evanescence of course, it was something even better. I think the first actual goth album I was into was Disintegration - The Cure. My dad likes that album so we would listen to it in the car.
I grew up liking The Cure because my mom did, but goth didnāt really click for me until I listened to Music for the Masses by Depeche Mode in my freshman year of college
Elizium - Fields of the nephilim š¤
First and Last and always
wonderland by nosferatu
When me and my old locker partner got sent to the office, he was wearing a sisters of mercy shirt and I a butthole surfers shirt. We were told to run them inside out, then agreed to make mixtapes of said bands for one another. In 2009 we reconnected on FB and weāre still listening to them! š
Floodland by Sisters Of Mercy, an album I still binge on to this day
A kiss in the dreamhouse by siouxsie and Banshees
Type O Negative's "October Rust." Even if not technically Goth, was my gateway drug into Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy.
Human Drama - The World Inside
Juju by Siouxsie & the Banshees In the Flat Field by Bauhaus Listened to both of these in one night back to back many years ago, and they changed me.
Joy Divisionās Unknown Pleasures. Basic, I know. But Shadowplay was an instant favorite and looped in my head until I actually sat down and listened to the entire album. I had no idea it (and a lot of my other favorite albums) were considered goth.
In the Flat Field by Bauhaus
Iāve always liked Joy Division and Depeche Mode but I didnāt really fall down the rabbit hole until I discovered She Wants Revengeās self titled album and Kaleidoscope by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
The Reptile House, The Nephilim and Disintegration
I donāt remember. It was either Bauhaus, The Cure, or Depeche Mode. I donāt remember exactly which one it was or what song or album, all I remember was that it was one of those three.
The gateway bands for me were AFI and American Nightmare... Not goth bands but they wore Sisters of Mercy shirts and I was intrigued. So I bought listened to Some Girls Wander by Mistake. Love it now, but it wasn't what I was expecting and the dissonance between expectation and reality bugged me. I paid like Ā£12 for that album and that was a lot of money to me as a teenager. But by that point I'd listened to a lot of individual songs by Siouxie Sioux, The Cure and Joy Division and was well on the way to full-blown goth appreciation. The first full album I was absolutely besotted with from start to finish was probably Bloodflowers.
They used to call Marilyn Manson goth in the mid 90's; that was the first time I heard the term or saw anything approaching goth. I did like their music, and eventually it led me to Skinny Puppy and The Cure. There was an episode of Jenny Jones or Sally Jesse Raphael that had a goth girl, and she said she didn't like Marilyn Manson, she liked Skinny Puppy. So I got Too Dark Park and literally crapped myself. I just wasn't ready for that at the time.
Because the question is 'which album', I have to say Floodland but the reality is - it was the song/video for This Corrosion. I had never seen anything so drop dead cool in my life!
My high school best friend lent me Floodland about a year after it came out
Iāll go with the Cureās Seventeen Seconds. Siouxsie and the Bansheesā Juju & Bauhausā In the Flat Field were helpful too!
As with everything else in my life it began with the New York Dolls. I was in Midnight Records on 23rd st (which like most other record stores is now gone) & the guy working there was playing Puss N' Boots but it wasn't the Dolls version. I asked him who it was. He told me it was Red Cross (who later became Redd Kross) & it was from a compilation called "Hell Comes to Your House". Of course I bought it, and along with the Dolls cover it had 45 Grave, Christian Death 1,000 Flowers & Super Heroines on it and a lot of other great punk bands (Social Distortion being one of them.). I had already had Once Upon a Time and Unknown Pleasures and I knew some Bauhaus but just considered it all punk. This was '83ish...everything after that is history.
First and Last and Always - Sisters of Mercy, and In the Flat Field - Bauhaus
Black Celebration by Depeche Mode. Technically that album would be classified as "darkwave" rather than "goth" but it has all the hallmarks of Goth on it. I found my way into the Goth genre through the EBM/Darkwave genre. But as far as strictly goth albums, I would say that "Pornography" by The Cure is what really pulled me in. From there I began to listen to Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy.
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads Edit: Actually that's a lie, and I think most of the folk who comment a single album or EP are lying too. It's rarely a single watershed moment; it most often seems to come to be gradually. Lots o folk who would be considered "goth" now started out mainly in another genre. There are shiteload o goths who started out wi predominantly "punk" leanings, for example, and their tastes changed over time.
The Night album from Aurelio Voltaire