NFT: Favorite Punk Rock Records

London Calling is such an incredible album.
Like 20 great songs... what a mix of rock/punk/reggae/horns and lowlife hooligans. Could be my all time favorite.

1. Descendents - Milo goes to college
2. Clash - London Calling
3. Pup - Morbid Stuff
4. Rancid - And out come the wolves (if you can count Rancid as punk, they became more ska than punk)
5. Pennywise - Pennywise

hard to know what is considered punk anymore but I could add more from all those bands and more. like the Replacements - punk at first then more rock/alternative.

Ramones - Rocket to Russia
Joan Jet -is she punk? Then I Love Rock and Roll

Also I've seen some ratings call Devo and other new wave groups punk. So it gets confusing, at least to me.

Proto Punk:
Velvet Underground and Nico - Banana
The Stooges - The Stooges 1969
New York Dolls - New York Dolls

Punk:
Minutemen - Double Nickels
Misfits - Walk Among Us
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Flipper - Generic
Descendents - Milo Goes to College
Husker Du - Zen Arcade
Black Flag - Damaged
Ramones - Ramones
Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks
Nirvana - Nevermind

Post Punk:
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Talking Heads - Fear of Music

Rancid -Think 'Lets Go' is better than Wolves as a punk rock album but love both
Ramones -Rocket or just Ramones
NOFX- White Trash, but like Punk in Drublic better
Bad Religion - Suffer
Avail- Dixie
Minor Threat- Out of Step
Gorilla Biscuits - Start Today
Bad Brains - I against I? (I only had the compilation album.)
Black Flag-Damaged
Rise Against – Siren Song Of The Counter Culture (I'm playing the shit out of this one right now.)

Not punk but influenced
The Get Up Kids - Something to Write Home About
My Chemical Romance- The Black Parade

But I would add

The Modern Lovers. First album “The Modern Lovers”

is the Bad Brains tape. That changed everything.
Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician
Flipper - Album
Black Flag - Damaged (or the Chuck Biscuits demos if you count them)
Discharge - Hear Nothing. Started d-beat.

Pennywise-Full Circle
Jawbreaker-24 Hour Revenge Therapy
Unwritten Law-Blue Room
Green Day-Kerplunk
Fugazi-In on the Killtaker

I'm very happy with these posts. *grin*

In comment 16402980 JohnG in Albany said:

Quote:

I'm very happy with these posts. *grin*

Oh, I'll throw in The Damned, The Black Album.

Damaged - Black Flag
Sound & Fury - Youth Brigade

I could name a lot more but these would be my go to everytime.

has ever seen,
The Clash London Calling #2
Never Mind the Bollocks The Sex Pistols#3
Nirvana Nevermind#4
Fill in with all Clash and Ramones albums they are the kings of Punk.

had a couple of fun albums.

… if that counts. Also what others have said:

Milo Goes to College
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Clash’s first album and London Calling
Bullocks, also Who Killed Bambi

Adding:
Suicidal Tendencies first album
GBH - I has a compilation when I was a teen, so I’d say whichever one had Give Me Fire.
Black Flag - Kira’s Got the 10 1/2. Great live album!

Never mind the bullocks

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjfw9X62rmEAxU0v4kEHW0VDx8Q78AJegQIGRAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DyzFFtBsl5ps&usg=AOvVaw1A1iIdxqD_NQIRhjzq2EnH&opi=89978449

Best song
Bodies - ( New Window )

Some of my favorites not mentioned yet,

Bouncing Souls - How I Spent my Summer Vacation
Social Distortion - Mommy’s Little Monster
Bad Religion - Stranger than Fiction
The Loved Ones - Keep your Heart
Lifetime - Jersey’s Best Dancers
Hot Water Music - Caution

My love of punk rock is an unorthodox journey. I'm a unrelenting devotee of The Smiths. I grew in Southern California in the 80s and 90s, so of course many of my friends listened to skate and and pop punk, and I liked but didn't love some of those bands. But I really started listening to the New York Dolls and the other proto bands because of Morrissey.

I have a deep appreciation of all the different paths punk has taken. From the Dead Boys, to Bad Brains, Patti Smith, Television, the Misfits, Minor Threat, Jawbreaker, and even early Motley Crue. If you want to hear a really raw glam punk album, Too Fast for Love is a fantastic album.

In comment 16402962 Chris in San Diego said:

Quote:

London Calling is such an incredible album. Like 20 great songs... what a mix of rock/punk/reggae/horns and lowlife hooligans. Could be my all time favorite.

London Calling is a fucking musical opus.

I remember the first time I heard Lost in the Supermarket and knowing I didn't know why, but my view on music was indelibly changed.

A few I’d add…

Fear - The Record
Circle Jerks - Group Sex
Minor Threat - Complete Discography
X - Los Angeles
Offspring - Americans
Guttermouth - Friendly People
Screeching Weasel - Boogedaboogedaboogeda
Agent Orange - Living in Darkness
Dwarves - Blood Guts and Pussy

A few I’d add…

Fear - The Record
Circle Jerks - Group Sex
Minor Threat - Complete Discography
X - Los Angeles
Offspring - Americans
Guttermouth - Friendly People
Screeching Weasel - Boogedaboogedaboogeda
Agent Orange - Living in Darkness
Dwarves - Blood Guts and Pussy

I was waiting for you to jump in Greg.

Los Angeles is near the tops of my list.

punk as strictly a musical style, it was almost a movement, but still had a style if that's possible.

The Clash wove rock, reggae, blues, even some jazz and pop into their sound - maybe more genres if there are any, but they were a punk rock band.

Bands like the replacements, I feel like began as punk but sort of evolved and I wouldn't say by the end they were a punk band anymore. And nothing wrong with that.

Great call on Too Fast for Love. I must have played On with the Show a million times growing up. And then when I was grown up, you hear all the emo punk bands covering (sometimes called second wave punk) it - the Ataris, the Getup Kids, and more. kind of cool. and I like their versions too and you can kind of see how punk evolves to rock and the many offshoots (for some bands - like Motley Crue). The Ataris version is more punk, Getup kids more rock. same song.

not sure there is an authority on this topic, or if it even matters, people like what they like and call it what they want, but it's kind of how I view it.

Adding

The Replacements - Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash
Husker Du - Zen Arcade
Pixies - Doolittle
Stiff Little Fingers - Nobody's Heroes
MC5 - Kick out the Jams

In comment 16402974 ciggy said:

Quote:

But I would add The Modern Lovers. First album “The Modern Lovers”

I absolutely love that this was mentioned. Boston's finest. I could listen to Roadrunner for hours on end.

I tend to view punk rock through the lense of an anti-establiment outlet. I think that's at the core of punk rock. Not to imply it's not at the core of other genres, but when the theme of a punk rock song strays too far outside of that lense, I'm personally less interested.

To me, and this is a personal journey, not a music forensics exercise, there are 3 major strains that bring punk together.

British punk that's crystalized and perfected by the Clash
American glam punk that for my money was perfected by the New York Dolls
Hardcore which owes a great debt to Minor Threat

And again, I'm not saying those bands invented those strains, but they are the bands I identify with the most.

I remember as a kid, I bought their tape just because they had a cool ass skull t-shirt before even hearing a single song. When I heard Elvis singing punk songs, I was hooked.

Any of the Stooges, or Iggy's first 4 or 5 albums are contenders.

Public Image Limited first album or two.

Never Mind the Bollocks - Sex Pistols

The Clash debut album.

Strangely, after going bonkers for the aforementioned albums by Iggy and the Clash (including Give em enough rope), and early Elvis Costello, I found their music degenerated into dregsville. Others rave about London Calling onwards, and later Elvis, so I'm not saying it was terrible, but to me it was all uninteresting mush.

Sponge - Rotting Pinata

The song "Plowed" - love that shit.

Cowboys International - Original Sin

JohnG might remember the local bands The Morons and The Misfits (Albany area band, not the more well known one)

I am not a huge fan of Sandinista! -- but Combat Rock is a great good record on my view. Everything after is arguably not the Clash.

I never really got into Elvis Costello. I respect him and enjoy it, but just not my jam.

In comment 16402998 10thAve said:

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Some of my favorites not mentioned yet, Bouncing Souls - How I Spent my Summer Vacation Social Distortion - Mommy’s Little Monster Bad Religion - Stranger than Fiction The Loved Ones - Keep your Heart Lifetime - Jersey’s Best Dancers Hot Water Music - Caution

You just named some awesome albums that wouldn't necessary be in everyone's top ten. Summer vacation, Stranger than Fiction, and Jersey's Best Dancers are all in the top of my collection.

up London Calling? It has to be up there in the pantheon of greatest albums ever created. It's on many people's mt Rushmore of albums and it was probably the peak for the Clash.

With it came commercial success and I was too young then so this wasn't some real time observation, but from all the documentaries and video clips I have seen it was this success that basically led to their downfall. Personally I think Joe Strummer struggled with the commercial success the band had because it made him what he railed against and he probably found himself compromising his values at times. I think many punk artists face this. Look at Christian's post - punk at its core is "anti-establishment" and look at this list and how many of these bands mentioned on here have become "establishment" - just look at Green Day recently. I won't get into details, but those who once railed against the mainstream, now embrace the mainstream. This thread can get sideways kind of quickly, but I think some of this is human nature as you age, marry, have kids, change priorities. Hard to keep your punk roots while growing and evolving. the 70-year old punk rocker is a rarity IMO. lol.

I did love Combat Rock though. Straight to Hell is one of my favorite Clash songs.

get into a pissing match about what is or isn't punk. Maybe you consider it emo, maybe pop punk, whatever you want to call it these are the albums that I would put on my personal list:

Saves the Day - Through Being Cool
Brand New - Deja Entendu/Your Favorite Weapon
Alkaline Trio - Maybe I'll Catch Fire
Taking Back Sunday - Tell all your Friends

The 70-year-old punk rocker is a funny concept.

Any Bay Area guys will know and appreciate a bar in the city called Lucky 13 that shut down a few years ago. I spent 1000s of hours there shooting the shit with several generations of punk fans.

There's something both horrifying and inspiring about guys who could be my dad wearing Dickey's with sagging tattoos.

is for me the most disappointing album I ever bought. Not knocking it. It just was so bleh, to me.

Another favorite is the Cramps Songs the Lord taught us

If we want to have an offshoot discussion on psychobilly, I could go on for hours.

I'm shocked and ashamed I did not mention the Cramps.

London Calling from the local library when I was 13-14. How punk rock is that?! :-)

count as psychobilly?

category, I submit

Brian Eno - Here comes the warm Jets

A couple of albums that I loved:
Pretenders self titled first album. The original band before a couple of unfortunate deaths. Also Psychedelic Furs self titled first album. Both of these would probably considered more rough alternative but definitely not the poppy sound most associate with these bands.

Big Clash fan here, probably saw them live 15 times back in the day. My dog is named Clash!

Kudos to whoever mentioned X, a very underrated California punk band.

I actually like The Replacements more but I'm not a huge fan of the hardcore phase. Let It Be and Tim are incredible records, and while punk inspired, I can't put them on a punk list.

I saw them on consecutive nights open for The Who. And I had high school friends who "hung out" with them in the recording studio when they were making Combat Rock. I like their first punk records but don't play them much anymore. I do love London Calling and Sandinista, but is it really punk? Next to the Dead Kennedys and Black Flag it sounds soft. But I think The Clash are great.

Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist
The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
Husker Du - Candy Apple Grey
The Repo Man soundtrack was a great punk starter kit

In comment 16403198 christian said:

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The 70-year-old punk rocker is a funny concept.

Billy Zoom from X is 76 years old. No matter how many times I think about it, that still seems impossible.

The Clash’s first album is probably the definition of punk to me. They started to evolve on London Calling . Cut the Crap Probably my least favorite album

Bands like Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Fear, etc. I always considered hardcore (more of an offshoot of the original punk movement.)

the Clash and the definition of punk. Some of their songs are reggae, some are rock, some blues, some combine genres, etc.

stylistically their music infuses many different genres, but the messaging stayed consistent from (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais to Straight to Hell.

In comment 16403266 section302 said:

Quote:

The Clash’s first album is probably the definition of punk to me. They started to evolve on London Calling . Cut the Crap Probably my least favorite album Bands like Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Fear, etc. I always considered hardcore (more of an offshoot of the original punk movement.)

Sure.. but hardcore is punk. I regret not seeing Black Flag and DKs in the 80s. early Clash are a defining punk band, but I wouldn't say the definition of punk. They are up there with the Ramones, the Pistols a few others. Punk starts in New York, flourishes in London, then hits like a jackhammer in LA. It's all punk. I know Brits like to say they invented punk. They didn't. They copied punk and it had its first mainstream expression in the UK.

Ramones Rocket to Russia, I used to love seeing them at the Ritz and Bowery Ballroom
Clash London Calling
Social Distortion..They are all great
The Heartbreakers LAMF.
Television Marquee Moon