TOP 55 PUNK ALBUMS
List is pretty subjective so please don't cry if your favorite band isn't here. Cheers! |
| 55 |  | Discharge
Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing
I have to say it, i'm not a discharge fan. Anything but their debut and this is painfully terrible and even this album has lots of flaws, there are a lot of songs that are pratically identical but as a Metal fan i can't reject how this album is responsible of many extreme metal acts out there, really ahead of it's time for such aggressive approach. |
| 54 |  | AFI
Black Sails in the Sunset
Another band that lost my attention after few albums, this one is pretty dope though. The tracks are pretty different from each other and there is also a nice atmosphere all over. |
| 53 |  | The Offspring
Smash
One of the most notorious bands in punk scene, The Offspring delivered an iconic skate punk that spread the genre even among mainstream audiences with their sarcastic lyrics and melodic approach. |
| 52 |  | The Suicide Machines
Destruction By Definition
An incredibly succesful balance between hardcore and ska, energic aggressive euphoria. |
| 51 |  | D.R.I.
Dealing with It!
Pioneers of crossover thrash, dealing with it is a primitive misanthropic and ridicoulusly fast effort that every thrash fan should listen to. |
| 50 |  | Gorilla Biscuits
Start Today
Kings of NY hardcore |
| 49 |  | MDC
Millions of Dead Cops
Some of the most ballsy political and in your face lyrics ever match with some of the fastest HC of the 80s |
| 48 |  | Zebrahead
MFZB
Pop punk with rap rock verses and melodic choruses? This should be garbage but somehow...it's not. Actually this is one of the most fun albums in the genre, sure nothing too complex but i enjoy every single song from it, runaway above the others. A great guilty pleasure. |
| 47 |  | MC5
Kick Out the Jams
One of the best live albums ever performed. I wonder how the audience felt witnessing such a revolutionary live act. |
| 46 |  | Crass
Penis Envy
Dirty sounding anarcho punk with some of the most original composition and production ever. Eve's weird vocals and politically fueled lyrics about sex, feminism and society makes this my favorite anarcho punk ever. |
| 45 |  | Rupture
Sex, Drugs And Rupture
The most obscure band in the list and maybe the heaviest. If you are a fan of dirty relentless crust punk with over the top lyrics this is the album for you. For everyone else....get away from it. |
| 44 |  | Stiff Little Fingers
Inflammable Material
Labeled as the irish clash SLF gave a giant middle finger to society with political themes sung by burns abrasive vocals. Johnny was is one of the best covers in punk |
| 43 |  | Choking victim
No Gods, No Managers
The angriest ska punk ever. Almost a crust-ska effort but with a more polished production, stza is well known for his controversial lyrics, raspy vocals and basically for being one of the biggest dickheads in music. |
| 42 |  | Dystopia
Human = Garbage (CD)
Musical misanthropy. You'll need a shower after listening to this, this sludgy crust work will make you feel soiled. |
| 41 |  | Face to Face
Don't Turn Away
The first 3 songs are some of the best skate punk tracks ever, not afraid is uplifting and disconnected is one of my most played songs in punk, you just can't avoid to sing along. |
| 40 |  | Counterparts
The Difference Between Hell and Home
A nice blending of hardcore punk and metalcore. Depressive lyrics and awesome melodies. |
| 39 |  | Reel big fish
Turn the Radio Off
I will be bashed for putting this so high but this is one of my most feel good albums ever. Beer is one of my teen years favorites, skatanic's bridge sounds like Dog fashion disco. And that fucking anti-vegan song is total |
| 38 |  | The Specials
Specials
The pioneers of Ska punk. While a message to Rudy is one of the most important songs of the genre, Concrete Jungle is without any doubt their best and most overlooked track ever. |
| 37 |  | Black Flag
Damaged
Henry Rollins. Need to say more? |
| 36 |  | Fugazi
13 Songs
Post-hardcore pioneers combination of their 2 punk Ep's. A perfect balance between chaos and a polished well structured production. An historical bridge between PH and punk rock. |
| 35 |  | Adolescents
Adolescents
I admit it, i discovered this guys with GTA V. Terrific Hardcore with nice solos and some of the catchiest choruses in the HC genre. AMOEEEEEBAAAAAA |
| 34 |  | Nausea
Extinction
My favorite crust album. The dual vocals are awesome. It has a lot of variety, the opening track's intro is basically atmospheric sludge and sacrifice's second act incorporate ska to the dirty sound that surrounds the album. The story of this release is pretty great too, go to read it! |
| 33 |  | Buzzcocks
Singles Going Steady
Shrek is love, Shrek is life |
| 32 |  | Bomb the Music Industry!
Scrambles
One of the most unique albums in modern punk. An unusual combination of indie, electronic, ska, hardcore punk and even 8-bit music. |
| 31 |  | Bad Astronaut
Houston: We Have a Drinking Problem
Lagwagon's Joey Cape side band is pretty different from common punk, it's mainly slow, with some indie influences and totally melancholic and depressive. Best album title ever |
| 30 |  | Streetlight Manifesto
Everything Goes Numb
I love the contraposition of happy sounding and even danceable music with emotional struggling and depressibe lyrics. An anthemic 21th century ska work |
| 29 |  | A Wilhelm Scream
Career Suicide
The most technical punk album ever. Horses is a masterpiece. Every member shines but the honourable mention goes to B.J. Robinson, one of the best bass performances in the genre. If they worked a little bit more on the choruses this probably would be top 20. The horse is outstanding |
| 28 |  | Stormtroopers of Death
Speak English or Die
Crossover/hardcore with some of the most hilarious politically incorrect lyrics ever. Ian and friends are geniuses. Charlie's best performance ever. |
| 27 |  | Agent Orange
Living in Darkness
A short yet effective effort that match aggressive and softer moments with surf rock that "inspired" offspring's come out and play. The opener and everything turns grey are terrific |
| 26 |  | Patti Smith
Horses
The laureate punk poetess herself refused this label but her influence on both music and attitude for punk is a fact. This album is unconventional, poetic and unique. |
| 25 |  | Wire
Pink Flag
Pre-post-punk? This guys created a genre without even knowing. While post punk is not my genre i really enjoy this work, tracks like mannequin and the title track inspired a whole genre. Others lik Mr. Suit and ex lion tamer are pure punk energy. |
| 24 |  | The Toy Dolls
Absurd-Ditties
Olga is the best guitarist in punk. His solos are fantastic. Every single song is worth listening and the whole album is so catchy that will stuck in your head for days. A weird original amd sadly overlooked work. |
| 23 |  | Rise Against
The Sufferer and the Witness
One of the most accessible albums for both melodic hardcore fans and random listeners. A great sound that balances melodic guitar harmonies with fast aggressive song structures. Awesome vocals too. |
| 22 |  | The Replacements
Let It Be
This guys were way ahead of their time for both open minded lyrics and creative music. Punk with lots of genres contaminations such as alternative rock, piano driven tracks, swing like tempos and garage rock. |
| 21 |  | Strung Out
Twisted By Design
Awesome guitar harmonies surrounds this melodic hardcore work with some pop punk influences and even some "almost metal" bits. Fast, energic, melodic and incredibly catchy. |
| 20 |  | Minor Threat
Complete Discography
Ian's best work. The essence of hardcore delivered by a short lived but still legendary band |
| 19 |  | Operation Ivy
Energy
One of the most influential albums in ska punk. Melodic, raw and passionate. Important lyrics about social injustice and anti-politics. You can call this a proto-rancid. |
| 18 |  | Bad Brains
Bad Brains
The story of the band itself it's awesome. This guys managed to be kicked out of D.C. with their politically charged lyrics and ridicoulusly fast music for the 80s. Stuff so ahead of it's time. Not a huge fan of their reggae material. |
| 17 |  | Rx Bandits
The Resignation
Experimental progressive punk with ska and jazz elements? Is it really a thing? Dunno but the experiment worked perfectly! |
| 16 |  | Therapy?
Troublegum
A punk/alternative metal hybrid with noise elements and industrial production. Creepy and yet funny lyrics full of self loathing and black humour. |
| 15 |  | The Damned
Machine Gun Etiquette
This guys delivered a lot of awesome music through the years, it was pretty hard to choose one album, i picked this one for it's diversity, originality and consistence. |
| 14 |  | Television
Marquee Moon
Another band that influenced and maybe created a genre way before the time. Verlaine's virtuosism delivers an uplifting atmosphere to this existential unique masterwork. Art rock has never been more appropriate as a genre description |
| 13 |  | Catch 22
Keasbey Nights
The highlight of bittersweet ska punk. Musically is superior to everything the genre has ever delivered and the lyrics are surprisingly powerful. Even if you are not a fan of ska you must give it a try. It will surprise you. |
| 12 |  | The Stooges
Raw Power
While fun house has a better sound and a more complex structure i felt like this one is the quintessential Proto-punk for it's rawness. One of the biggest influence for the punk genre. Sexual, Raw, controversial. Iggy's charisma inspired a lot of frontmen's attitude. |
| 11 |  | Cock Sparrer
Shock Troops
The pinnacle of the Oi! Movement. A military themed album with some of the catchiest songs ever written. I don't get how is this so overlooked. |
| 10 |  | Minutemen
Double Nickels on the Dime
Aside the incredible performance, the overall consistence, the originality and the iconic songs what made me fall in love with this album is the diversity that features the different sides of the albums. Any of them takes a different direction from the previous. Brilliant |
| 9 |  | Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies
Crossover pioneers along with DRI, ST. Managed to create a more aggressive sound blending Hardcore's raw sound with thrash's aggressive approach. The albums starts with the famous maniacal laughter and then bring us in the suicidal world of Mike Muir that features dead moms, paranoia, awesom bass riffs, suicide, anti-politic, depression, relentless music, humour and pepsi. |
| 8 |  | Ramones
Rocket to Russia
The godfathers of punk. The Ramones showed to the world that music can be simple, straightforward and yet terribly effective. Basically when you talk about punk you divide pre-Ramones years by post-Ramones years. |
| 7 |  | NoMeansNo
Wrong
One of the most experimental and ahead of its time bands ever. Seriously, this came out in the 80s. Sounds like a 2010 album. Wright's bass is unnatural. The dark atmosphere fills a technical post-hardcore/punk album like no other. This is just unimitable. |
| 6 |  | Rancid
...And Out Come the Wolves
Maybe one of my first punk albums. I like everything about it, from the bass performance to the diversity of the tracks. Some are more straight forward punk style, others plain ska punk. The dual vocals and gang screams works perfectly with the guitar melodies. |
| 5 |  | Refused
The Shape of Punk to Come
This basically influenced half of the alternative metal bands of the 2000s. The title is both a prophecy and a famous quotation taken by Coleman's shape of jazz to come. The production is perfect, mixing electronic sounds with one of the best guitar tones ever. And i don't even need to mention the new noise. |
| 4 |  | The Clash
London Calling
I don't have many things to say about this. This album changed music. The musical semplicity combined to the important lyrics defined a generation |
| 3 |  | Bad Religion
No Control
You can tell Graffin is one of the smartest guys in punk just reading his lyrics. The melodic approach to hardcore influenced god knows how many bands. Apocalyptical, political and meaningful, this album is one of the best things happened to punk. |
| 2 |  | Dead Kennedys
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
The best punk album ever. Jello's ambiguous vocals fits perfectly the dark, weird music. The themes are pretty controversial for the years it came out, brilliantly written and perfectly delivered. Every song is pure gold, from the notorious holiday in Cambodia to the evil overlooked chemical warfare. This album is probably responsible for thrash metal creation. |
| 1 |  | Misfits
Static Age
While FFFRV is the best album of the genre, i had to pick this one as first place because this album led me to punk. This was supposed to be the misfits debut but came out like 20 years later. Glenn's baritone vocals are fantastic. The over the top lyrics combined to the grim production manage to create a nostalgic feeling like you're watching an old B movie from your teen years. It's hard for me to explain why but everythime i hear this album i feel overwhelmed by a weird, ridiculous but still awesome sensation |
|
