It’s one thing to pen and record a “haunted” album, but recording said album in a place that many believe is haunted is another. Let’s take a walk through rock music history and explore four famous rock albums that were recorded in haunted places!
1. ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ by Meat Loaf
This 1977 glam rock staple from Meat Loaf was recorded at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York. While working on the album, the hard rock musician had a few spooky run-ins. He noticed that a ghostly woman in white had walked past his window while recording, but he just assumed it was a “groupie” hanging out with his producer.
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It wasn’t until cupboards started slamming and the covers were ripped from his bed that he realized he was dealing with a haunting. He continued to claim that he could see ghosts long after Bat Out Of Hell was released.
2. ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ by Black Sabbath
This famous 1973 rock album was recorded at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire, England. Black Sabbath were never strangers to the creepy and bizarre, so it kind of makes sense why they would intentionally record an album in the dungeon of a famously haunted castle.
Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi claimed that they saw a person in a black cloak walk by them while staying at the castle, only for the figure to immediately disappear. Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple also recorded there, too.
3. ‘The Downward Spiral’ by Nine Inch Nails
This example of famous albums that were recorded at haunted locations is quite heartbreaking. Nine Inch Nails recorded their 1994 album The Downward Spiral at Le Pig in Beverley Hills, California. For the uninformed: That location is where the Charles Manson cult murdered several people.
Trent Reznor said he didn’t notice any ghosts during his time there but did have a run-in with Sharon Tate’s sister. She accused him of exploiting her sister’s death by recording and living there, and that opened his eyes to how raw the wounds of those horrible events still were among the people left behind.
4. ‘The Bedlam In Goliath’ by The Mars Volta
This 2008 Mars Volta album was recorded at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood, California. This haunted run-in was the band’s own doing. They started to notice odd and destructive things happening after playing around with a Ouija board.
The studio flooded, music files magically disappeared, the band’s drummer left, their engineer had a breakdown, and Cedric Bixler-Zavala had to basically relearn how to walk again following surgery. Guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López ended up snapping the board in half and buried it.
Photo by Gus Stewart/Redferns
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