apt - Problems installing MySQL Server

I am having an issue installing mysql and/or mariadb.

I'm getting the following:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  libdbd-mysql-perl libmysqlclient18 mysql-client-5.5 mysql-common
  mysql-server-5.5
Suggested packages:
  tinyca
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libdbd-mysql-perl libmysqlclient18 mysql-client-5.5 mysql-common
  mysql-server mysql-server-5.5
0 upgraded, 6 newly installed, 0 to remove and 7 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/4,164 kB of archives.
After this operation, 67.2 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Preconfiguring packages ...
Selecting previously unselected package mysql-common.
(Reading database ... 104782 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../mysql-common_5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2_all.deb ...
Unpacking mysql-common (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libmysqlclient18:amd64.
Preparing to unpack .../libmysqlclient18_5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libmysqlclient18:amd64 (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libdbd-mysql-perl.
Preparing to unpack .../libdbd-mysql-perl_4.025-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libdbd-mysql-perl (4.025-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package mysql-client-5.5.
Preparing to unpack .../mysql-client-5.5_5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking mysql-client-5.5 (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.6.7.1-1ubuntu1) ...
Setting up mysql-common (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package mysql-server-5.5.
(Reading database ... 104875 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../mysql-server-5.5_5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking mysql-server-5.5 (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package mysql-server.
Preparing to unpack .../mysql-server_5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2_all.deb ...
Unpacking mysql-server (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-16) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.6.7.1-1ubuntu1) ...
Setting up libmysqlclient18:amd64 (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
Setting up libdbd-mysql-perl (4.025-1) ...
Setting up mysql-client-5.5 (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
Setting up mysql-server-5.5 (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
start: Job failed to start
invoke-rc.d: initscript mysql, action "start" failed.
dpkg: error processing package mysql-server-5.5 (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mysql-server:
 mysql-server depends on mysql-server-5.5; however:
  Package mysql-server-5.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing package mysql-server (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.19-0ubuntu6.6) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-16) ...
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Exactly the same problem/error message with mariadb-server too.

stuff I've tried:

sudo dpkg --configure mysql-server-5.5

Setting up mysql-server-5.5 (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
start: Job failed to start
invoke-rc.d: initscript mysql, action "start" failed.
dpkg: error processing package mysql-server-5.5 (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 mysql-server-5.5

sudo apt-get -f install

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 7 not upgraded.
2 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up mysql-server-5.5 (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
start: Job failed to start
invoke-rc.d: initscript mysql, action "start" failed.
dpkg: error processing package mysql-server-5.5 (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mysql-server:
 mysql-server depends on mysql-server-5.5; however:
  Package mysql-server-5.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing package mysql-server (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 mysql-server-5.5
 mysql-server
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

echo "exit 0" >> /etc/init.d/mysql
dpkg --configure -a

Setting up mysql-server-5.5 (5.5.46-0ubuntu0.14.04.2) ...
start: Job failed to start
invoke-rc.d: initscript mysql, action "start" failed.
dpkg: error processing package mysql-server-5.5 (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mysql-server:
 mysql-server depends on mysql-server-5.5; however:
  Package mysql-server-5.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing package mysql-server (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 mysql-server-5.5
 mysql-server

What could be causing this and how could I resolve it?

I did do some googling and checked previous askubuntu posts, but nothing I've tried seems to work.

Thanks.