Born this way is really not a dark album at all.

[Tropico 4,145]

Black Jesus dark?  Nah. 

The album isn't really dark at all tbh. Only Bloody Mary and HML.

Everything else is pretty uplifting. 

[darkchylde 14,857]

Electric Chapel, Heavy Metal Lover, Bloody Mary and Scheiße are the darkest songs on the album. However, I see every song on the album very related to the Deluxe cover: black and white shades and very small amounts of color.

For example, Marry The Night to me is filled with shades of dark and very little touches of electric blue. Yoü and I is, again, black and white with shades of green, ocean blue and pale orange.

I guess I'm just very pretentious.

[Pure Adrenaline 1,518]

tell that to the childeren who were hunted by Gaga's horns in their nightmares all way through 2011  

[liz89 373]

dark or not..I don't care, it's still my favorite Gaga album   

I think her darkest album is TFM. 

[MANiCURE1295 8,673]

There's just something about a lot of the songs on the album that makes them feel gritty and industrial, like I don't even know how to describe them  When I listen to them I imagine smoke and gunmetal  

The Fame Monster is dark too in my opinion, but that's a different type for me. That album makes me think of winter and coldness and mystery  

​The imagery you described....

[adorno 484]

BTW feels pretty dark for me as well, the music is very heavy and gritty, the visuals were pretty dark aswell. Not every part of the era, but certaainly a fair amount during that time period could be considered as dark.

[Yanko 9,860]

it's a heavy album and i love it

it never gets old

[Cody Draco 2,531]

For me it's a dark album if we put BTW,TEOG,Y&I,HAIR aside , it's dark for a pop album I mean common the judas fashion, the face bones, the HML/GH mini video, the song bloody mary, the album covers, the vibe is somewhat dark for a pop album. TFM for me is not as dark as born this way, the TFM has dark imagery but the sound isn't to be honest that's why every member of the GP was able to enjoy it where as even though BTW was successful so many GP members dismissed it for being too dark for them.

​You forgot to mention that we would have to put Bad Kids aside for it to be a pure dark album.

I agree with the rest of your post though.

[venusian 4,686]

only tfm was dark only the tour and album cover was dark

[squeala 875]

tbh we need to stop calling things "dark"

[Paco 3,040]

If Born this Way isnt dark, what is dark for you? Prism ?

[Cody Draco 2,531]

tbh we need to stop calling things "dark"

tbh we need to stop equating "dark" eras with better music

[Head Empty 22,541]

Americano is definitely dark though. It has a joyful melody, but in essence it's one big satire. She's screaming for the state that society is in now, and how social injustice affects herself and the people she loves. Heck, the song even ends with "Don't you try to catch me, I'm living on the edge of the law", followed by a gunshot (which to me could be either a reference to persecution by law, OR to commiting suicide as a result of social exclusion). I also believe she intentionally produced the vocals in such a way that they're almost unsettling to listen to, because that's how she feels about the American political system. 

As I said, it's all satire. She took a very serious and heavy subject, and took a piss at it by putting it into a cheery mariachi/cabaret tune (in true Gaga fashion). The same thing goes for songs like So Happy I Could Die, Mary Jane Holland, Applause, and some might even argue Just Dance.

Of course it's all a matter of interpretation, but this is how I see it.

[Versace 7,410]

tbh we need to stop calling things "dark"

​Fine we'll start calling things "Derk" instead

[Koreku 2,387]

The 5 songs you mentioned are dark, yes .

As for other songs- ScheiBe, Americano, Highway Unicorn, Bad Kids-- there's definitely an edge to them and a sense of mischief and loudness that make them dark, if that makes sense.