Greatest Punk Albums

[GreenArrow]

Inspired by the Greatest Punk Band poll thread, here are the 10 Greatest Punk Albums. What’re yours?

These are in no particular order.

1. Stooges—The Stooges. It doesn’t get any punker than this. This is simply, heavy, minimalist, brutal music, and extremely cathartic. I could just have easily picked Fun House, which is anything, is even more brutal and cathartic. Teen angst, boredom, sex, violence, sex, boredom and more sex. Both albums are much better than the appallingly overrated Raw Power.

2. Ramones—Ramones. The perfect punk album. Short, sharp bursts of pure adrenaline, catchy as hell, and as funny as Bugs Bunny.

3. Sex Pistols—Never Mind the Bollocks. Every bit as political as the Clash, but without the hope, and infinitely more powerful.

4. The Clash—The Clash (UK version). I grew up with the US version of this album, but the UK one is rawer, more streetwise, phlegmier. This first Clash album is the only one that’s truly punk, as their talents and ambitions exceeded the genre.

5. Heartbreakers—LAMF. Steve Jones of the Pistols stole all his licks from Johnny Thunders, who stole his from Keith Richards who stole his from Chuck Berry. The essence of Rock and Roll.

6. X-Ray Spex—Germ Free Adolescents. Somehow this one escaped me in my youth, but it rocks insanely and never takes itself seriously. Classic DYI punk that’ll make ya feel good.

7. X—Wild Gift. Weird off key harmony singing by Exene and John Doe, rip roaring rockabilly riffage from Billy Zoom, this really catches the tone of a particular time and place, LA, in the nascence of the Reagan years. Can’t listen to it without feeling 17.

8. Misfits—Static Age. Not released until a few years ago, but recorded in 1978, this is the great lost punk record. Glenn Danzig is the greatest punk vocalist ever? Whatever the case, these guys had the uncanny knack of taking the most lyrically unsavory subject matter and melding to a “melody” that will stick in your head for days. Good old Ramones style three chord bashers with monster and b-movie themes. Grade A American pop culture kitsch.

9. New York Dolls—New York Dolls. Pre punk really, but extremely influential. It’s all about attitude.

10. Dead Kennedys—Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. Funny. Cynical. Scathing. Sarcastic. Nasal. Dated, yet prescient, since the themes and topics Jello Biafra explored have not changed, even when the characters in the play have left the stage. About as subtle as a billy club up side the head. Never Mind the Fleetwood Mac, here’s the Dead Kennedys.

Honorable Mention:

VU—VU and Nico. Could easily be on the list, but they’re in a class of their own.
Black Flag, Pre-Henry Rollins era.
Circle Jerks—Group Sex.
Saints—I’m Stranded. Criminally underrated/unknown. Best Australian punk, ever.
Wire--Pink Flag
Buzzcocks--Singles Going Steady
Back From the Crypt, Vol. 1, 2 and 8—Various Artists—Punks before there was punk. The "Nuggets" and "Pebbles" series are also good, but a bit slicker than the "Crypts."

[vi5]

1. Black Flag....Damaged.....

Granted, the latter Rollins era stuff tends towards dreck, and the earlier stuff is great. But Damaged is the pinnacle of punk rock rage.

Other favorites include:
X Ray Spex - Germ Free Adolescents
Misfits - Walk Among Us
The Clash - S/T First Album
Angry Samoans - Back From Samoa
Suicidal Tendencies - First Album
Minor Threat - Out Of Step

[Loonman]

2. The Germs - Forming

Most influential 7", ever.

[XNASA]

3. Never Mind the Bollocks, of course.

And the first Clash album as well.

I suppose my view of Punk is narrower than yours. I love the Stooges but don't think that they were a punk band. Even Iggy admits as much.

And I don't think that any LA bands qualify, either. Something about palms trees and leather jackets......they just don't go together.

But any list would need to include "Inflammable Material" by Stiff Little Fingers and any of these three: RATTUS NORVEGICUS, NO MORE HEROES, BLACK & WHITE by the Stranglers.

[Clovis Sangrail]

4. my top 10

Oi Polloi - No compromise in Defense of our earth
VA - This is the ALF
Minor Threat - Out of step
Chumbawamba - Pictures of starving children sell records
CRASS - Feeding of the 5000
Subhumans - From the cradle to the grave
Rudimentary Peni - Death Church
The Dicks - The Dicks (only a 45, but REALLY good)
VA - This is not LA
Conflict - The ungovernable force

[DBoon]

5. Repo Man Soundtrack

and "What Makes a Man Start Fires?" by the Minutemen.

I'd also give some recognition to early Patti Smith, Horses and Radio Ethiopia were very formative, even though there is now some debate about whether they were truly "punk".

[idontwantaname]

6. i think from there on out its all just a matter of taste and style.

yeah.

you know all these bands are way old and have all been recognized as being "greatest" in punks early years...

so off the subject a bit... has anyone read any good literature about the topic "punk"?

theres a book out by legs mcneil called please kill me which is a good read.
PM me for any others youd recommend.

[vi5]

9. There is a book called "Our Band Could Be Your Life"....

It has one chapter each on about a dozen or more bands including Black Flag, the Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Minor Threat, Mudhoney, Beat Happening, The Butthole Surfers, Mission oF Burma, Dinosaur Jr. and a few more.

The book is not necessarily about Punk but it details the histories of each of the bands and how their music and their defiance and their ways of doing business all bucked the system or trends in one way or another. It's a great read if you are into any or all of those bands.

[GreenArrow]

28. "England's Dreaming"

by Jon Savage, (I think,) chronicles the UK punk scene, mostly focusing on the Pistols, but with lots of info on other bands both in UK and US. I've read the "Please Kill Me" book also, and it is a good one. There's another one written in that same style that deals with the LA punks; I can't remember the name, but I think it's written by Mark Spits/Spitz.

[AWD]

7. Rancid - "...And Out Come The Wolves"

It's gotta be on that list!

[BBradley]

13. Yes, best punk rock album of the 90's

[Kolesar]

25. I loved that disc!

Powerful and stylish, with that ska beat.

8. punk attitude

these are outside the "strict" definition of punk, I suppose

MC5 - kick out the jams
Sonics - Here are the Sonics
Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
Gang of Four - Entertainment
X - first album
Clash - Sandinista
- Black Market Clash

[roughsatori]

12. I agree with your list, but did not approve of Sandinista at the time

when it came out I considered it a sell-out. I remember my mo-hawked, pierced everywhere friend Micheal showing up with an advance copy of the album (he use to design those button down white shirts with words and images for the Clash so had connections). I told him that the Clash had sold out and Punk was dead. He almost punched me in the face, I threw a bottle of bear at him and he left. Only in the last few years would I admit that was a great CD. (And to this day I love arguing about music, style and its appropriation by capitalism.)

15. I know

a lot of people had that response.
I actually liked it quite a bit at the time for some reason. Probably had to do with that I was listening to a lot of Lee Perry about the same time so didn't sense dub as a sell out.

[AmandaRuth]

10. the rock and roll high school soundtrack

mr luvamerica took me on our first date the the drive in to see this movie and to the mall the next day to get the soundtrack. Although not a punk album, it was enough to show a a couple of sheltered teens living in very rurual america that there was more going on in music than corney am radio, introducing both of us to the Ramones and punk in general.

[roughsatori]

11. Your list made my day, thanks

Every album you list was much more then a soundtrack to my youth. I do love "The Velvet Underground" the most as a whole. And "Germ Free Adolescents" one of the greatest in any genre. The other day someone was posting negatively about the "Sex Pistols." I had to think they must not have been born (or aware) when those first singles helped change the world for a few months. I was living in the Chelsea when Sid killed Nancy and my Punk were already saying Punk died a couple of years ago." That was its beauty, It was ephemeral and that moment ended. Let us have new moments of chaos and beauty, but without out mimicking the glory of the past...

When Patti Smith quoted Breton on her album cover: "Let beauty be convulsive or not at all" she was doing what I am now advocating.

Don't forget the X-Ray Specs singles: "Oh Bondage, Up Yours," and the always accurate "I'm a Cliché (and I don't care)," as well as the first Siouxie and the Banshees album: "The Scream" the original imported version without "Hong-Kong Garden" which did not fit the album. Thanks for the post.

[GreenArrow]

27. Thank you

Yeah, all this stuff was more than a soundtrack to my youth too. And amazingly, the best of it still makes me feel young today (going on 40.) A lot of my punk records got away over the years, but upon the acension of Dubya, I found myself seeking a lot of my old favorites out and picking up some new stuff too--X Ray Spex were one of my most pleasant surprises. My wife was going around for weeking singing "Oh Bondage, Up Yours"!

"That was its beauty, It was ephemeral and that moment ended. Let us have new moments of chaos and beauty, but without out mimicking the glory of the past..."

That hits the nail right on the head.

[Whitacre D_WI]

14. This is what I don't like about separating everything into genres...

I've seen mention of the Stooges, the MC5, the Sonics -- all among my favorites. But how do you really classify something as "punk" anymore? In his liner notes to "Nuggets," Lenny Kaye made the first mention I've seen of "punk rock." Thing is, he was talking about the psyche-garage bands of the mid-'60s. Alan Vega (or Martin Rev, but I think it's Vega) is on record as saying Suicide was the first punk band.

So what is punk? Is it simply the rock & roll made between '75 and '79? If so, I would call up Wire's "Pink Flag," "Damned Damned Damned," The first Ramones album, "The Image Has Cracked" by Alternative TV, the Pagans' record, "Marquee Moon," etc.

Is it music of any era which captures the same sonic energy of the aforementioned platters? Well, then, gotta throw in the MC5, Stooges, Sonics, X, the Germs... and while we're at it, let's not forget the Monks. And Little Richard for that matter. What about the whole '90s San Francisco scene (and I'm not talking about the "pop-punk" of Green Day, the Mr. T Experience, et. al. -- I mean the Mummies, Supercharger, the Fingers)?

Or is it simply the attitude? If you want the "punk rock attitude," I submit that you look no further than the Killer himself, Jerry Lee Lewis.

Well, anyway, I said in my subject line that I hate this game; but I'm gonna play anyway. I probably like "Fun House" or the third VU album better than any of these, but I'm sticking with the late '70s. Screw it:

1) Wire - Pink Flag
2) Suicide - Suicide
3) Alternative TV - The Image Has Cracked
4) Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance
5) Ramones - Leave Home
6) The Fall - Live at the Witch Trials
7) Damned - Damned Damned Damned
8) Dead Boys - Young, Loud, & Snotty
9) Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
10) Ramones - The Ramones

16. I agree completely

... that's why I said "punk attitude"
I would even put the 13th Floor Elevators on my list & they certainly aren't "punk" in the usual sense.

[Rashind]

22. The Dead Boys are so hot!

Dead Kennedys are also essential to my musical well-being.

[progressiverealist]

17. only disagreement is Sex Pistols

never liked 'em- the "Monkees of Punk" and all that.

Maybe I might move the Clash up a bit and add some Husker Du

[Screaming Lord Byron]

18. I'll second Husker Du

Not sure if i'd call 'em punk, though.

[XNASA]

21. Monkees of Punk? How d'ya figure?

The Pistols played and wrote the majority of their own material.

Sure, they were the brainchild of McLaren, but no more than the Beatles were the brainchild of Epstein.

To compare the two is kinda silly.

[ProfessorGAC]

29. Nah, I Go With Monkees On This One

I think i started this earlier in the thread, so i'll cop the blame.

There have been stories for many years that the music wasn't really written by anyone in the band, and after seeing their live performances i buy the stories. Also, it has been known for 20 years that McLaren cowrote the lyrics with Johnny.

The reason i go with that sentiment, most of all, is that McLaren put the band together knowing full well that none of them knew how to play their instruments. He picked people for certain "roles" more like the Monkees than like the Beatles. Remember, those guys were together before Brian Epstein met them. He didn't put them together, he just guided the career. He was NEVER involved in the formation of the band, nor the music. (That was George Martin's job.)

So, i'll admit i started that whole thing, but i stand by my convictions. We can disagree on something for a change, huh? Doesn't happen very often.
The Professor

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Give 'Em Enough Rope

I would add that Clash album to your list. Some of their later stuff ceases to be "punk". I like that stuff a lot, but starting with London Calling, they weren't really punk anymore. But, "rope" is still a punk album and i think it's better than anything the Pistols did.
The Professor

[Fixated]

20. .....

NOFX - The Decline

[Oberst Klink]

23. Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician

A masterpiece.

[Character Assassin]

24. Fear: The Album

None harder, none better.

[rucky]

26. Peace Through Vandalism

Vandals