I've yet to find an album that emotionally exhausts me and I'm not sure what that says about me. Though some of my favorite albums have been listed in here already.
Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle The National - Trouble Will Find Me The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace Was There Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell
I know that it's got this personal attachment because of it being Bowie's last album, but the album itself is about him facing mortality and it's just too much. I can't listen to it very often yet, even though I think it's my personal favorite of the year. It's so dynamic and interesting, even for his standards, but the context of it is still an open wound for me. I'll also add Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan.
as cities burn - come now sleep birds in row - personal war bright eyes - lifted, fevers and mirrors, letting off the happiness casiotone for the painfully alone - vs children frameworks - small victories RAGC trilogy pedro the lion - control pianos - lack long after sioux falls - rot forever
Sun Kil Moon - Benji Bright Eyes - Lifted Rhye - Woman (this isn't a sad album but it was my ex's and my album) Gregor Samsa - Rest Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill Red House Painters - Songs for a Blue Guitar im sure there are others but i cant think of em rn
The Antlers - Burst Apart (this one actually hits me a lot harder than Hospice) Tegan and Sara - The Con Now, Now - Threads Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It (or Learning) Daughter - Not to Disappear
I remember when I was in high school, my cat that we had had since I was a baby was dying, and I laid beside her and petted her while listening to Lightness from Death Cab. That's one of my last memories of her and it was kind of like losing a family member, so that song means a lot to me.
Dave Hause - Devour Really lyric-heavy record that hit home for me when I was going through a rough time a few years ago. Captures the vibe of going through your 20's and breaking out on your own while being dealt a bill of bad goods from the previous generation.