Sputnik Music Forums - View Single Post - Top 75 Pop-Punk Albums

albert_bass · 05-04-2005, 12:38 PM

11. Green Day - American Idiot
Coming back in 2004, Green Day returned with their most mainstream album to date, American Idiot. For some reason it became extremely popular, not just with pop-punk fans, but with fans of pretty much any popular genre of music. The lead single, American Idiot sounds nothing like the rest of the album, as the majority of tracks feature 'bigger' guitars and have a grander feel to them. Boulevard of Broken Dreams was ok at first, but when EVERY music channel started playing it at the same time it quickly wore thing and became boring. The highlights are Jesus of Suburbia, St. Jimmi and Whatsername. That being said, the album is pretty average, and probably the worst out of all the albums released after Dookie. I mean, Dookie was brilliant, Insomniac showed a less imediate style to songwriting, Nimrod was like their most 'punky' effort, and Warning was poppy, but without having lame songs like Boulevard, Macy's Day Parade over BOBD anyday. Not that this album is bad, just extremely average, and it still confuses me as to how this album is more succesful than Insomniac, Nimrod or Warning....

12. Green Day- Nimrod
No longer new to the world of Punk Rock, the Green Day boys had already been the fun new guys (Dookie) and gone on to become more mature with the weight of fame pressing down on them (Insomniac). Now it was time for them to become serious musicians. From the heavy thrash Take Back, to the Famed Acoustic Good Riddance (used for every sad moment in TV history), Nimrod shows the true Diversity of this band, and shows influences from music outside Punk Rock. The album contains much experimentation (On Redundant, Mike Dirnt plays his bass in cello style, and uses Jazz timing in Hitchin’ a Ride), and showed the world that they weren’t Pop-Punk boys anymore, and that they could play.

13. Rise Against - Siren Song of the Counterculture
Rise Against's second full-length studio album, Revolutions Per Minute, was truly a remarkable album and a landmark for the genre of melodic hardcore. Composing a follow up album to such a genre-defining album was no easy task. But according to many fans, Siren Song of the Counterculture was able to match it's predecessor. From the heavy hardcore in "State of the Union" to the acoustic melody in "Swing Life Away", Rise Against once again set the bar for melodic hardcore to come.

14. Brand New - Deja Entendu
Consisting of the wonderfully talented foursome made up of Jesse Lacey, Vinnie Accardi, Brian Lane and Garrett Tierney, Brand New took on the world in 2003 when they released their melodic album Deja Entendu. 11 songs (1 haunting introduction and 10 poetic songs) ranging from the jazz-feel of "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades", the acoustic ballad of "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot" and the chilling tale of a one-night stand that is "Jaws Theme Swimming", this album is packed with some of the best written tunes to grace the pop-punk scene. Of course, lyrics aren't the only thing that set this album off. This record has a very mellow feel to it, some very jazz-influenced riffs and basslines, some faster but still soothing beats. This is one of the best sophomore albums to grace the pop-punk scene as far as I'm concerned, and when compared to the faster and more tongue-in-cheek-driven Your Favourite Weapon, you can certainly see that Brand New are growing up. And they have proved that with this wonderful record.

15. The Undertones - The Undertones
The Undertones self-titled debut album is 100% pure pop-punk. Ignoring the sectarian troubles that surrounded them they instead focused on a subject that was very close to their hearts: girls. A vast majority of the 23 songs on this album (none of which exceed 3 minutes) deal with the bands teenage loves and lusts which are perfectly articulated by
Feargal Sharkey's distinctive lead vocals which fit perfectly over the simple pop-punk music and airy background vocals, The Undertones created a classic album featuring many classic songs such as Here Comes The Summer, Jimmy Jimmy and the eternal Teenage Kicks. This album proved that teenage dreams really are hard to beat.

16. Thrice – The Artist In The Ambulance
The fierce mix of hardcore and pop punk is clearly shown in the 2003 release “The Artist in the Ambulance”. Thrice shows their poppier side in the songs ‘Clots and Black Holes’, ‘The Artist in the Ambulance’, and ‘The Melting Point of Wax’, but returns to their hardcore roots in songs like ‘Cold Cash and Colder Hearts’, ‘Paper Tigers’, and ‘The Abolition of Man’. From the intense guitars to the insane screams, this is truly one of the greatest albums in recent memory.

17. AFI - Sing the Sorrow
AFI's 2003 release was a drastic change in sound from their previous releases. Poppier, darker, and fewer hardcore influences led to many AFI fans accusing the band of selling out. Radio-friendly singles such as "The Leaving Song Pt.II" and "Silver and Cold" left many fans feeling betrayed by the band. However, this release also thrust the band into the mainstream and appealed to many new fans due to its poppier sounds. Regardless of whether or not the band sold out, or simply changed sounds, the great quality of this album is noticeable from the album opener Miseria Cantare. Building up energy gradually, this track kicks the album into gear and winds down with ...But Home
is Nowhere and the hidden track, This Time Imperfect, blending together so well. Dancing Through Sunday has one of the best guitar solos to be found on a mainstream album in awhile. Loved by many, and hated by many, this album does prove the band's flexibility and leaves them many options to take on their follow-up release.

18. Bad Religion - Process of Belief
Coming late in the band's prestigious career, Bad Religion's Process of Belief was a record that changed a lot of minds about the band. The album does not shy away from their fast paced catchy punk of the past. Nor does it shy away from taking a step in the new direction of melodic sounds characteristic of their later work. From the hard hitting "Supersonic" to the mellow "Sorrow", The Process of Belief is truly a diverse record. The vocal melodies, the catchy guitar hooks, and the genious lyrics are all here. This can be seen as another successful Bad Religion release. But that is an understatement. The band showed with this record that their roots were still there even when experimenting with new sounds.

19. My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

20. The Adicts - Songs of Praise
The band that made pop-punk acceptable to street-punks and kickstarted clockwork-punk with their distinctive image recorded and mixed their classic debut album in just 24 hours. One of the catchiest albums ever made, their irreverent lyrics and sing-a-long tunes gained them many fans. With love songs about psycho uber-christian Mary Whitehouse (an early version of Tipper Gore for all you American's) and the brilliant Viva La Revolution, The Adicts remain one of the defining bands of the period.

05-04-2005, 12:38 PM	#2
albert_bass Registered User Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 5,792	11. Green Day - American Idiot Coming back in 2004, Green Day returned with their most mainstream album to date, American Idiot. For some reason it became extremely popular, not just with pop-punk fans, but with fans of pretty much any popular genre of music. The lead single, American Idiot sounds nothing like the rest of the album, as the majority of tracks feature 'bigger' guitars and have a grander feel to them. Boulevard of Broken Dreams was ok at first, but when EVERY music channel started playing it at the same time it quickly wore thing and became boring. The highlights are Jesus of Suburbia, St. Jimmi and Whatsername. That being said, the album is pretty average, and probably the worst out of all the albums released after Dookie. I mean, Dookie was brilliant, Insomniac showed a less imediate style to songwriting, Nimrod was like their most 'punky' effort, and Warning was poppy, but without having lame songs like Boulevard, Macy's Day Parade over BOBD anyday. Not that this album is bad, just extremely average, and it still confuses me as to how this album is more succesful than Insomniac, Nimrod or Warning.... 12. Green Day- Nimrod No longer new to the world of Punk Rock, the Green Day boys had already been the fun new guys (Dookie) and gone on to become more mature with the weight of fame pressing down on them (Insomniac). Now it was time for them to become serious musicians. From the heavy thrash Take Back, to the Famed Acoustic Good Riddance (used for every sad moment in TV history), Nimrod shows the true Diversity of this band, and shows influences from music outside Punk Rock. The album contains much experimentation (On Redundant, Mike Dirnt plays his bass in cello style, and uses Jazz timing in Hitchin’ a Ride), and showed the world that they weren’t Pop-Punk boys anymore, and that they could play. 13. Rise Against - Siren Song of the Counterculture Rise Against's second full-length studio album, Revolutions Per Minute, was truly a remarkable album and a landmark for the genre of melodic hardcore. Composing a follow up album to such a genre-defining album was no easy task. But according to many fans, Siren Song of the Counterculture was able to match it's predecessor. From the heavy hardcore in "State of the Union" to the acoustic melody in "Swing Life Away", Rise Against once again set the bar for melodic hardcore to come. 14. Brand New - Deja Entendu Consisting of the wonderfully talented foursome made up of Jesse Lacey, Vinnie Accardi, Brian Lane and Garrett Tierney, Brand New took on the world in 2003 when they released their melodic album Deja Entendu. 11 songs (1 haunting introduction and 10 poetic songs) ranging from the jazz-feel of "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades", the acoustic ballad of "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot" and the chilling tale of a one-night stand that is "Jaws Theme Swimming", this album is packed with some of the best written tunes to grace the pop-punk scene. Of course, lyrics aren't the only thing that set this album off. This record has a very mellow feel to it, some very jazz-influenced riffs and basslines, some faster but still soothing beats. This is one of the best sophomore albums to grace the pop-punk scene as far as I'm concerned, and when compared to the faster and more tongue-in-cheek-driven Your Favourite Weapon, you can certainly see that Brand New are growing up. And they have proved that with this wonderful record. 15. The Undertones - The Undertones The Undertones self-titled debut album is 100% pure pop-punk. Ignoring the sectarian troubles that surrounded them they instead focused on a subject that was very close to their hearts: girls. A vast majority of the 23 songs on this album (none of which exceed 3 minutes) deal with the bands teenage loves and lusts which are perfectly articulated by Feargal Sharkey's distinctive lead vocals which fit perfectly over the simple pop-punk music and airy background vocals, The Undertones created a classic album featuring many classic songs such as Here Comes The Summer, Jimmy Jimmy and the eternal Teenage Kicks. This album proved that teenage dreams really are hard to beat. 16. Thrice – The Artist In The Ambulance The fierce mix of hardcore and pop punk is clearly shown in the 2003 release “The Artist in the Ambulance”. Thrice shows their poppier side in the songs ‘Clots and Black Holes’, ‘The Artist in the Ambulance’, and ‘The Melting Point of Wax’, but returns to their hardcore roots in songs like ‘Cold Cash and Colder Hearts’, ‘Paper Tigers’, and ‘The Abolition of Man’. From the intense guitars to the insane screams, this is truly one of the greatest albums in recent memory. 17. AFI - Sing the Sorrow AFI's 2003 release was a drastic change in sound from their previous releases. Poppier, darker, and fewer hardcore influences led to many AFI fans accusing the band of selling out. Radio-friendly singles such as "The Leaving Song Pt.II" and "Silver and Cold" left many fans feeling betrayed by the band. However, this release also thrust the band into the mainstream and appealed to many new fans due to its poppier sounds. Regardless of whether or not the band sold out, or simply changed sounds, the great quality of this album is noticeable from the album opener Miseria Cantare. Building up energy gradually, this track kicks the album into gear and winds down with ...But Home is Nowhere and the hidden track, This Time Imperfect, blending together so well. Dancing Through Sunday has one of the best guitar solos to be found on a mainstream album in awhile. Loved by many, and hated by many, this album does prove the band's flexibility and leaves them many options to take on their follow-up release. 18. Bad Religion - Process of Belief Coming late in the band's prestigious career, Bad Religion's Process of Belief was a record that changed a lot of minds about the band. The album does not shy away from their fast paced catchy punk of the past. Nor does it shy away from taking a step in the new direction of melodic sounds characteristic of their later work. From the hard hitting "Supersonic" to the mellow "Sorrow", The Process of Belief is truly a diverse record. The vocal melodies, the catchy guitar hooks, and the genious lyrics are all here. This can be seen as another successful Bad Religion release. But that is an understatement. The band showed with this record that their roots were still there even when experimenting with new sounds. 19. My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love 20. The Adicts - Songs of Praise The band that made pop-punk acceptable to street-punks and kickstarted clockwork-punk with their distinctive image recorded and mixed their classic debut album in just 24 hours. One of the catchiest albums ever made, their irreverent lyrics and sing-a-long tunes gained them many fans. With love songs about psycho uber-christian Mary Whitehouse (an early version of Tipper Gore for all you American's) and the brilliant Viva La Revolution, The Adicts remain one of the defining bands of the period. Last edited by albert_bass; 05-04-2005 at 12:55 PM.