| Pages:
1
2 |
BDx13
|
|
"25 Essential Punk Albums" - how many have you owned?
http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/list-of-the-day/25-essential-pu...
With so much punk rock around, it's time to compile a list of 25 albums that should be in any sincere punk rocker's collection. One album per band, in
order to spread the wealth around and to throw in a few "influences", though I passed over early touchstones like The Stooges' Fun House and Raw
Power, the MC5's Kick Out The Jams and the Shaggs' Philosophy of the World to make more room for albums that happened during the late 1970s-early
1980s when the music was in its "golden age."
There are still plenty of bands missing and more albums to collect, for sure. Some punk bands weren't good for more than a single or two, or never
released a definitive album during their brief -- or not too brief -- careers. Most great punk rock was done by single, however, the truly great bands
did manage at least one album.
What do you say we clear the mosh pit and put in some chairs for those of us whose backs can no longer handle the slam dancing of old?
Turn down the hearing aids, it's going to get loud!
25) The Angry Samoans -- Back From Samoa: With such tracks as "My Old Man's A Fatso," "They Saved Hitler's C**k" and the 23 seconds
of "You Stupid Jerk," the Angry Samoans hit their stride. Only "Ballad of Jerry Curlan" breaks the three minute mark. It's like they can't wait for
the songs to be over.
24) The Dictators -- Go Girl Crazy!: Led by the charming Handsome Dick Manitoba and Andy Shernoff, the Dictators were among the first
groups to create the modern mix of junk culture love and enthusiasm over chops. Their rough and tumble cover of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe"
never sounded more lovely. But "Master Race Rock" sounds like they're tripping over one another for the TV remote.
23) The Germs -- GI: The lone real Germs album, GI is often considered the first hardcore punk album for its superspeed, aggression
and general disdain for anything too musical. You'd think the California sun would mellow out potential punks, but I guess some people hate sunshine.
Oh, dear, someone got too hot!
22) The Damned -- Machine Gun Etiquette: As punks better learned their instruments, they began reaching out to other styles of music
that made their punk attack ever more interesting. While punk rock has little to no reason for existing today in its manicured form, back in the late
1970s it needed all the modifications it could handle. Standing on the dole line is boring. The Damned got the idea to make it sound like fun.
Remember when poor people weren't the enemy?
21) Avengers -- Avengers: Penelope Houston gave the band a steely edge, a striking visual counterpoint and a sense of purpose that
helped the band resonate beyond the playground where all the punks hung out. That they nailed it early and often just shows that pent-up aggression
has its purpose.
20) Circle Jerks -- Group Sex: Black Flag took on the darkness, while their singer Keith Morris took off for lighter pastures with
the hilarious Circle Jerks. Group Sex is fourteen songs in fifteen minutes. The ADD generation starts here.
19) Descendents -- Milo Goes To College: Don't blame the Descendents for the endless California punks who love their hooks more than
their aggression. Milo Aukerman and crew played with the rough edges intact. Though admittedly, they were at their best when they slowed it to 55mph.
Everyone gets better mileage that way. Youth music that sounds young.
18) Black Flag -- Damaged: Though Henry Rollins is synonymous with Black Flag, much of the group's legacy is rooted in a time before
he joined the ranks. Rollins' angst would slow the band down, but the stuff written before he showed his face careens out of control like pure
hardcore. Maybe "Damaged I" is more emotionally "true," but "Rise Above," "TV Party" and "Six Pack" are better songs. Only a churl doesn't love a TV
Party.
17) Suicide -- Suicide: Suicide may not sound like a punk band, but no one confronted audiences like this dynamic duo. In many ways,
they were more punk, since they didn't give listeners any easy fixes. Modern times make this music sound pretty prescient. But at the time, it sounded
like it was from outer space. Do yourself a favor and turn up the volume and drive to "Frankie Teardrop." If you make it home alive, you WIN!
16) Dead Kennedys -- Plastic Surgery Disasters: Some might pick Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables or In God We Trust, Inc. But I'm
partial to this ambitious collection that manages to work the entire field, from thrashers to grinders to rockabilly. Due to the band's provocative
nature, East Bay Ray may be the world's most underrated guitarist. Remove the shock value and there are some killer riffs waiting to do real damage.
15) Bad Brains -- Bad Brains: The idea that punk bands could not play their instruments is correct for many bands. Not this one.
Washington, DC's hardcore punk and reggae band Bad Brains assault with precision. Just listen to those guitar solos! They kept branching out, though,
since playing at 140mph gets unexciting once you've perfected it twenty times over. Guys? You want to jam out some Boz Scaggs? Guys??
14) The Clash -- London Calling: I think I'm supposed to take the Green Album, but I just can't. Maybe the original Black Market
Clash ten-inch record, but definitely London Calling, which broadens the punk palette until it's so many shades of grey that it can be played over and
over without your arms getting tired.
13) Gang of Four -- Entertainment!: It's said this album is heavily political, but I don't listen too closely to lyrics, so I
couldn't tell you exactly what "Guns Before Butter" is about, but I have my suspicions. Said to be "post-punk," Entertainment! is all about Andy
Gill's guitar and a rhythm section that's designed for whiplash. That I know for sure.
12) Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers -- L.A.M.F.: Such a glorious mess in its first edition that it's been remixed several times
since to better point up its attributes. The New York Dolls split the difference between glam and punk, but Thunders directed his new band to go in
for the kill. If this music sounded dangerous, it's because it was dangerous. Would you let your daughter marry a Heartbreaker? I don't think so.
Unless you hate your daughter.
11) X-Ray Spex -- Germ Free Adolescents: You think Mars Needs Women? Punk rock needed all it could get. I don't blame the ladies for
walking off the set of the hardcore years. Mosh pits aren't the place for any sane person. But when punk first exploded and was about self-expression
in a variety of forms, well, it made sense for everyone to get involved. Poly Styrene had a voice that could curdle milk and remove the rust from your
car.
10) Bedlam -- Bedlam: New Jersey had more popular hardcore punk bands, but never one that sounded more like a cement mixer running
over your creepy uncle. Love songs to NJ include "Dioxin" and "New Jersey: Chemical Dump State," while the, ahem, tribute to "MTV" and covers of
"Burnin' Love" and the Flintstones theme (twice!) made them popular with kids of all ages. Best song title: "Hated You Then and I Hate You Now." Best
line: "I don't want to take her out to eat / I just want to spend my money on me." Don't we all!
9) Richard Hell and the Voidoids -- Blank Generation: Not punk? Ha! Just shows how limited the term has become. When it began, these
guys were the walking, talking definition of the attitude. Don't blame them that no one else could play like Ivan Julian and Robert Quine. It's still
called music no matter how many razor blades you own.
8) Minor Threat -- Out of Step: Taking "Complete Discography" seems like a cheat, even if it all does fit on one CD. "Salad Days" is
the perfect culmination of this Washington, DC hardcore band's narrative. And in a righteous world I would be allowed to add the single to stretch out
this EP, but sticking to the rules somewhat, I say at eight or nine songs, this thing kicks harder than most full-length rock albums and even lasts
longer than at least two dozen punk albums I can think of. Ian MacKaye was ok, but his disciples were often thick and ordinary. Not his fault.
7) Wire -- Pink Flag: Defiant minimalism that still tangles up the entire history of rock 'n' roll on the way to the pub. Or is that
the art college? Either way, there isn't much punk that makes you work it like a Rubik's Cube, but damned if I can't get only one side to match at a
time.
6) Misfits -- Walk Among Us: Recently re-listened to this one and dang if it didn't come racing out of the speakers like I owed it
money. The unison chants mean anybody can sing along and the ratty sound erroneously convinced aspiring punks that anyone could play it. But that
isn't so, as thirty years of schoolin' haven't put nobody on no day shift.
5) Buzzcocks -- Singles Going Steady: Glen Matlock might've been thrown out of the Sex Pistols for knowing how to play a Beatles
tune, but the Buzzcocks would've kept him. What are songs but hooks to hang your hopes and dreams on? Writing songs people remember ain't no capital
crime.
4) Dead Boys -- Young, Loud and Snotty: "Sonic Reducer" would be the National Anthem for the country I would want to rule. Or at
least be a semi-conscious citizen of. "Caught With the Meat In Your Mouth" is fun, but "I Need Lunch" is to the point. Don't forget there's even a
Younger, Louder and Snottier version for those of you who are never satisfied.
3) X -- Los Angeles: The Chuck Berry riffs are perfect while the harmonies are not. Deliberately so. Future records would feature
production, while this one sounds like it's ripping right from the soundstage. Who knew you could slamdance to the Doors? Like Randy says, I love L.A.
2) The Ramones -- Leave Home: Picking one Ramones album is the real Sophie's Choice. The first self-titled one is the blueprint and
Rocket To Russia is the full-on actualization. That leaves Leave Home, which Carbona-full or no should never be discounted. I'll be your Pinhead, if
you'll be mine.
1) The Sex Pistols -- Never Mind the Bollocks: Credit producer Chris Thomas for having the foresight to ignore the punk credo of
loud, fast and sloppy and to insist on creating a wall of guitar sound that no mortal could penetrate, except for Johnny Rotten, who snarls beyond
what the hype claimed for his then-skinny butt. Sure, the singles are the apocalypse, but if "Bodies," "No Feelings," "Seventeen" and "EMI" are the
deep album cuts, let me drown.
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
|
|
|
sentrand
Posting Freak
Posts: 1046
Registered: 1-4-2010
Location: WxSxH, cincinnati
Member Is Offline
Mood: hate riot 513,sheer terror, yuppicide, joe coffee
|
|
Ten
I'm a jerk. All night,I'm seeing Sentrand and thinking "Where do I know that guy from?".
|
|
|
BKT
Posting Freak
Posts: 2476
Registered: 7-6-2004
Location: Canada
Member Is Offline
|
|
3
|
|
|
Six66Mike
Posting Freak
Posts: 3090
Registered: 11-20-2003
Location: Queensland Australia
Member Is Offline
Mood: Dead Hearts
|
|
3 as well. Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Sex Pistols.
How Sex Pistols landed in #1 I'll never know.
A lot of people ask me what kind of music I like. I love "soul music". My "soul music" isn’t a style, genre or niche. It’s music that is genuine. It’s
a painful lyric, a dirty bassline, it’s a harrowing vocal, it’s feedback, it’s an anthem, it’s a love song, it’s anarchy. I’ve got my personal
favourites but in the end it doesn’t matter who or where it comes from... so long as it’s good and it's real.
- Paul Morris, music director at 97.7 HTZ-FM
|
|
|
panzerkreuzer
Posting Freak
Posts: 2496
Registered: 9-26-2006
Member Is Offline
Mood: gang green
|
|
9, but most on this list aren´t essential.
let´s make our own lists.
|
|
|
Colin
Posting Freak
Posts: 1128
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Austin, TX
Member Is Offline
|
|
17.......but I need all 25. Great list
record collectors are pretentious assholes
|
|
|
DAK
Posting Freak
Posts: 3507
Registered: 5-13-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
14
|
|
|
JawnDiablo
Posting Freak
Posts: 12139
Registered: 4-21-2005
Location: 1902666
Member Is Offline
|
|
11
|
|
|
Discipline
* DRUNKEN MONKEY *
Posts: 11900
Registered: 9-8-2004
Location: Over here
Member Is Offline
Mood: The Alley Dukes
|
|
17
‘Do you know what a love letter is? It’s a bullet from a fucking gun. Straight through your heart.’
|
|
|
morgan
Posting Freak
Posts: 1815
Registered: 7-21-2006
Location: Seguin, TX
Member Is Offline
Mood: neighbors fighting
|
|
5
Support the arts, shoot a rapper.
|
|
|
MattyA
Senior Member
Posts: 944
Registered: 7-3-2009
Location: Whitman,MA
Member Is Offline
|
|
4
|
|
|
SS76
Posting Freak
Posts: 1586
Registered: 5-6-2008
Location: CT
Member Is Offline
Mood: RAMALLAH
|
|
0
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority it is
time to pause and reflect. I own some Black Flag, Clash, and DK; just not those albums.
Silence is golden but violence is platinum. |
|
|
BDx13
|
|
6 for me.
clash, bad brains, minor threat, misfits, black flag, pistols
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
|
|
|
clevohardcore
* Kick\'n ass on the wild side *
Posts: 12937
Registered: 9-19-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sick Of It All, Youth Of Today
|
|
I got 9
pistols, bad brains, minor threat, descendents, circle jerks, dead kennedy's, misfits, clash, black flag.
Each aspect of the soul has it's own part to play, but the ideal is harmonious agreement with reason and control.
|
|
|
XHonusWagnerX
Moderator
Posts: 12509
Registered: 7-14-2005
Location: pawtucket
Member Is Offline
Mood: hadDCore
|
|
Ten for me too...
The Germs
Circle Jerks
Descendents
Black Flag
Dead Kennedys
Bad brains
Minor Threat
Misfits
Ramones
Sex Pistols
I have MP3's of a couple of others, but I dont know if that counts since I didnt care enough to buy them.
| Quote: | Originally posted by REV.PAULIE
HONUS-as much as i can't stand a great deal of what you really like (for my own reasons that i would never hold,nor impose,against you),YOU FUCKING
RULE!
YOU,HONUS,IS WHAT MAKES THE "EDGE" COOL.
YOUR FRIEND,
PAULIE |
check out my post contributions at www.VinylNoize.com
|
|
|
gavin
Posting Freak
Posts: 3973
Registered: 1-15-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
23
you come at the king....you best not miss
|
|
|
XHonusWagnerX
Moderator
Posts: 12509
Registered: 7-14-2005
Location: pawtucket
Member Is Offline
Mood: hadDCore
|
|
I delcare Gavin... King of the essential punks!
| Quote: | Originally posted by REV.PAULIE
HONUS-as much as i can't stand a great deal of what you really like (for my own reasons that i would never hold,nor impose,against you),YOU FUCKING
RULE!
YOU,HONUS,IS WHAT MAKES THE "EDGE" COOL.
YOUR FRIEND,
PAULIE |
check out my post contributions at www.VinylNoize.com
|
|
|
gavin
Posting Freak
Posts: 3973
Registered: 1-15-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
I'm kinda surprised everyone's numbers are so low on this
you come at the king....you best not miss
|
|
|
joey
Member
Posts: 425
Registered: 12-10-2008
Member Is Offline
|
|
17
|
|
|
Discipline
* DRUNKEN MONKEY *
Posts: 11900
Registered: 9-8-2004
Location: Over here
Member Is Offline
Mood: The Alley Dukes
|
|
‘Do you know what a love letter is? It’s a bullet from a fucking gun. Straight through your heart.’
|
|
|
Mark Lind
Posting Freak
Posts: 1900
Registered: 9-18-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
Dead Boys, Misfits, Sex Pistols and The Clash
|
|
|
REV.PAULIE
Senior Member
Posts: 816
Registered: 8-24-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
BEDLAM???????
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?????
Will learn to Tap Dance,eventually...Will have you broads Hula,definitely...Trust me,you'll see.
|
|
|
Discipline
* DRUNKEN MONKEY *
Posts: 11900
Registered: 9-8-2004
Location: Over here
Member Is Offline
Mood: The Alley Dukes
|
|
I've never even heard of them before.
‘Do you know what a love letter is? It’s a bullet from a fucking gun. Straight through your heart.’
|
|
|
CR83
Moderator
Posts: 5221
Registered: 1-23-2004
Location: STL!
Member Is Offline
Mood: Harm's Way
|
|
8 for me.
clash, bad brains, minor threat, misfits, black flag, pistols, buzzcocks and Ramones
|
|
|
Colin
Posting Freak
Posts: 1128
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Austin, TX
Member Is Offline
|
|
record collectors are pretentious assholes
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2 |
![[*]](images/thorp/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
