Yahoo! compiles 25 Essential Punk Albums with a few surprises

Contributed by alex101. Posted by aubin on Thursday, March 22, 2012 at 3:00 PM (EDT)

Though it isn't quite dominating the news, Yahoo! Music has joined the fray of blogs trying to establish the essential punk albums for any self-respecting fan's collection. Most of your staples are included, from Sex Pistols and Ramones to Bad Brains and The Clash but the writer manages to sneak a few unorthodox selections into the list like Bedlam, The Avengers, and Suicide.

Check out the full list here.

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News (90 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

vicsrnj (March 22, 2012)

what better source to decide the best punk albums than the giant billion dollar company, Yahoo!

skolarx (March 22, 2012)

I don't see what that has to do with anything, as with any best of list it's subjective and no one's opinion is any better than anyone else's.

Heathbar (March 22, 2012)

Corporate America is trying to impose its will on me!

Skibz777 (March 22, 2012)

I read that as "Captain America".

Heathbar (March 22, 2012)

Him, too!

nickvicious (March 22, 2012)

To infinity, and beyond!

sirsambo (March 22, 2012)

That's a pretty damn solid list if you ask me. Keeping in mind I hate the goddamn Sex Pistols though.

Hereorthereorwhatever (March 22, 2012)

Your not punk and I'm telling everyone

jymiscool (March 22, 2012)

Save your breath. I never was one.

captainmicrowave (March 22, 2012)

1234, who's punk, what's the score

sketchyjoe (March 22, 2012)

As far as utterly impossible entirely spurious concepts written to grab pageviews go, that is a solid list.

preston (March 22, 2012)

That Suicide record is great.

drewbob (March 22, 2012)

Sex Pistols is #1, and no Bad Religion record makes the list...?

sirsambo (March 22, 2012)

Exactly.

BrodyDanger (March 22, 2012)

My thoughts as well. Overall, it wasn't that bad... considering it's Yahoo!.

AmateurChemist (March 22, 2012)

That Avengers album is amazing

Sho-Nuff (March 22, 2012)

Backed.

skolarx (March 22, 2012)

I disagree with number 1 quite a bit, I don't think it shouldn't be listed but it sure as hell shouldn't be number 1, but overall it's a solid list. For example, including Leave Home instead of the self titled is spot on.
Find it a little odd that it only seems to include late 70s and early 80s albums and yet is missing Bad Religion's first album as well as the Minutemen.

jymiscool (March 22, 2012)

I read the list thinking "What bands are missing?" You named two that should have jumped in my head immediately. Double Nickels and Suffer both should have made the list.

craka-ass-craka (March 23, 2012)

Agreed!
I've always thought Leave Home is their tops. Now the fuckin SP always showing up in these lists...I never got on that train.

c-prime (March 22, 2012)

The omission of Simple Plan's "No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls" is tantamount to capital murder.

BOMB_the_music (March 22, 2012)

something something something...green day....blah blah blah

gugl0003 (March 22, 2012)

If I made these lists I'd do my best to make numbers 25-2 as cred-worthy as possible, then end the list with Avril Lavigne or something, just to piss off people who actually care.

chawkins (March 22, 2012)

It pisses me off when people act like punk hasn't existed since the early 80s. And when people pretend like Never Mind the Bullocks is actually a good album.

lostcausegiveup (March 22, 2012)

you may want to skip misinterpreters' comment above then.

Skibz777 (March 22, 2012)

But has punk really genuinely meant anything since the '80s? It's just become another facet of pop/popular music. You can hear punk music in television commercials these days. As far as I'm concerned, punk rock has been effectively dead since the early '80s.

Skibz: "...And I Ain't Complainin'!"
PunkNews: "Oh, Skibzzz!!!"
*happy musical sting and fade to black*
*end credits, crunched to the side of the screen to make room for local news advertisement*

kylewagoner (March 22, 2012)

Even so, I believe Everything Sucks is better than Milo Goes to College...not that it MEANS more to more people or was as much of an important release of its time, but I believe it's an overall better album.

facetofacereunion08 (March 22, 2012)

agree!

loveshackbaby (March 22, 2012)

Absolutely! Anyone who says otherwise is just saying it to seem more "punk"

Bastard_squad (March 22, 2012)

OR it's our opinion and opinions are subjective. I vastly prefer I Don't Want To Grow Up. It has Ace on it, the best Descendents song ever.

Skibz777 (March 22, 2012)

It'd be better if it had Ace Frehley on it.

gugl0003 (March 22, 2012)

The only thing that would be better with Ace Frehley on it is one of those big wagons they used to pile corpses on before taking them to a mass grave.

Skibz777 (March 22, 2012)

Ace. Fucking. Rules. His status as a God among Gods is as plain to see as your obvious trolling and blatant falsehoods. I saw him open for Cooper a few years back and he fuckin' ripped it, man...out of this world! You just can't argue with The Spaceman, unless you have some debilitating mental illness or something. >:(

loveshackbaby (March 22, 2012)

Good point, but I personally can't see why someone would prefer Milo Goes To College over Everything Sucks.
Everything Sucks is one of the best rock albums of all time in my opinion, while MGTC (While admittedly, its a decent album) is just your standard 80's hardcore, with a few tweaks to the formula here and there.

swampdevil (March 22, 2012)

I like the production more on Everything Sux.....the guitar has a much better mix / harder edge. Two fantastic records though.

Bastard_squad (March 22, 2012)

I do prefer Milo Goes to College over Everything Sucks.
Which did you hear first?

jymiscool (March 22, 2012)

I got into punk in '93 or so, and that means the Epitaph/Fat/Lookout bands are my bread and butter. Not to mention the hundreds of other bands that have come since, but very, very few of those bands have put out all-time great albums. Suffer, Punk in Drublic, Energy, ...And Out Come the Wolves, My Brain Hurts and others I can't think of at the moment are fantastic albums and would definitely be on my list, but I can understand someone not thinking they are top 25 material. It's all opinion.

Frankly, I think the list is decent enough, even if I don't agree with it. There's nothing on there that's glaringly awful or undeserving.

nickvicious (March 22, 2012)

I always pay Sandra Bullock no mind!

robalobadob (March 22, 2012)

Why? She's delightful!

captainmicrowave (March 22, 2012)

True, though outside of a few albums (energy, ...and out come the wolves, 24 hour revenge therapy, to name a few) I think most albums after the 80's can't be considered "essential" yet, since they haven't had the chance to have a big influence yet.

RedScare (March 22, 2012)

Pretty solid, tasteful list. Needs Dickies and SLF though.

lushj (March 22, 2012)

Bedlam? Really?

Good for them, but yeah... odd choice. The rest of the choices make sense.

swampdevil (March 22, 2012)

Agreed , and I know a couple of those guys. Almost like the reviewer threw one obscure one in to pump his punk knowledge .

misinterpreter (March 22, 2012)

The exclusion of The Shape Of Punk To Come and post-80's punk in general is a cruel joke.

misterspike (March 22, 2012)

No Minutemen?

wentz_equals_death (March 22, 2012)

i can't believe they left out cheap girls and the sidekicks

crotchrot (March 22, 2012)

haha

Levendus (March 22, 2012)

Any 'best album list' from any mainstream music / news outlet is always the same. Sex Pistols, The Gash, Green day and so on, never a mention of NOFX / Rancid or any 90 punk rock band.

Sex Pistols fucking suck by the way ... has anyone tried to actually listen to that shit ?!

Elvar (March 22, 2012)

I like the Sex pistols. They were not really an amazing band if you ask me but they were good.

joeg (March 22, 2012)

never heard of the sex pistols. are they as good as nofx?

NeverBeAMachine (March 23, 2012)

This!!! And add Bad Religion (as so many others have pointed out).

If I made a list, I'd be mighty tempted to put any of these on there: "So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes", "Punk in Drublic", "...And Out Come the Wolves", "Let's Go!", "Generator", "Suffer", "No Control".

And don't you go making fun of my Clash! "London Calling" is one of the greatest albums of all time, punk rock or otherwise.

MrKite (March 22, 2012)

out of my two thousand cds and vinyl I have one of those albums they listed. guess im not punk

nickvicious (March 22, 2012)

I'm getting the broom out. Shoo! Shoo!

dX927 (March 22, 2012)

I have 2. they are ranked #1 and #2

marvthezombie (March 22, 2012)

No Minutemen? No Husker Du? No fucking FUGAZI?? *sigh*

I can understand Sex Pistols being one of the most influential punk groups of all time, but solely in image--they fucking sucked as a musical outfit. Granted, Bodies is a great song, but MAN were they terrible, and assembled by Malcolm McClaren as per image. Otherwise, glad they listed Angry Samoans and Richard Hell.

jymiscool (March 22, 2012)

Why are there days that I forget that Fugazi exists? Luckily, someone like you reminds me.

NeverBeAMachine (March 23, 2012)

Haha, a punk rock group being influential because of their image? You're cute.

loki13 (March 22, 2012)

Where's Poochie?

greg0rb (March 23, 2012)

He went back to his home planet.

mediocore (March 22, 2012)

More like punknews.org, amirite?

facetofacereunion08 (March 22, 2012)

Never mind the bullocks is so overrated

jymiscool (March 22, 2012)

I agree, but I understand the love that some people have for it. It's not a bad album, but it's definitely not the greatest. I think it has 3 or 4 fantastic songs and then a bunch of filler. Of course, I've always preferred The Ramones. And The Clash.

sketchyjoe (March 22, 2012)

Never mind the bullocks, here's the ox pastures.

heavypettingdrew (March 22, 2012)

The album might not have stood the test of time as well as some other classics, but it is one of the foundations of the entire genre. With the Sex Pistols, it is more about the attitude than the music- they were one of the originators of punk style. Whether or not the songs on the album are mind-blowing or not (I think most of them are pretty good and Steve Jones is a great punk guitarist), you can't deny the influence of the band. If you're not influenced by the Sex Pistols in some way, you're not very punk.

Countchocula (March 22, 2012)

This is spot on. It's somehow become so cool and 'punk' to NOT like the Sex Pistols now, it's really fucking tiresome to hear people slagging them off. They were a massive influence

captainmicrowave (March 22, 2012)

I feel the same way, it's cool to still like the ramones and the clash, but not the sex pistols? Sure, by now they're kind of a cliche, but they were incredibly ground breaking at the time, and I think Johnny Rotten has proven with PiL that he really does have musical chops.

nickvicious (March 22, 2012)

Needs A Collection of Pop Classics and Against the Grain. Who gives a fook about the Voidoids. Oh, and no Damned? WTH?

Heathbar (March 22, 2012)

Machine Gun Etiquette is #22.

greg0rb (March 23, 2012)

I give a fuck about the Voidoids. Television was even better though and Marquee Moon should have been on this list.

joeg (March 22, 2012)

glaring omissions: The Adolescents and Husker Du

loki13 (March 22, 2012)

Don't forget Glaring Omission! Those guys shread!!!

Ravnos (March 22, 2012)

What the hell does "shread" mean? Is that what you call it when you're reading on the toilet?

angryderek (March 22, 2012)

biggest poser list of all time, AND virtually the EXACT same list that every major site/mag releases when they put out their best "punk" albums of all time. Dude has a Jamiriquai hat on, NEVER trust a guy in a Kangol

KRPABIHC (March 23, 2012)

Perfect way of putting it, I love how only the old school records are when Punk really existed to idiots like these guys..

NeverBeAMachine (March 23, 2012)

Go figure he picks the biggest poser band of all time as #1. No way the guy actually listens to punk rock. Sex Pistols? Really? They were an early version of New Kids on the Block!

xvshanevx (March 22, 2012)

Stated this in the Yahoo thread:

I am sorry Rob O'Connor, but you lose all punk credentials by stating something like this: "...but I don't listen too closely to lyrics" (Gang of Four-Entertainment).

Seriously, choosing best of punk bands and not even paying attention to their message; he seriously need to to do some punk-soul searching.

punkphil (March 22, 2012)

the omission of Johnny Lee and the Shredders, Shock Zone, and Ceiling Brigade is pathetic.

hey_ska (March 22, 2012)

This list should just have the Ramones first 4 albums and Group Sex, done and done. Oh and a Spits album too, lets say their third one.

captainmicrowave (March 22, 2012)

This list was decent, waaaaay better than I expected considering it's from yahoo. Still, London Calling should be in the top 4, if not number 1, and Leave Home? I mean sure, it's a great album, but I think the self titled album deserves to be in its place.

coryv217 (March 22, 2012)

"Everyone gets better mileage that way."

Hahaha, good one!

88fl_rules (March 22, 2012)

Zen arcade or New day rising should be on the list

jayp1 (March 23, 2012)

That top 25 was as bad as they come. How can you do a list of the top 25 and leave out these albums...

SLF - Inflammable Material
The Exploited - Punks Not Dead
UK Subs - Another Kind of Blues
999 - 999
Husker Du - New Day Rising or Zen Arcade..actually, how about ANYTHING from Husker Du
Sham 69 - The Adventures of Hersham Boys

I was impressed to see Plastic Surgery Disaster in the list. That is an under appreciated album in my opinion.

Lots of post 80's bands they could have included like Rancid or NOFX.

markbuzz (March 23, 2012)

I just got the sense that at times they wanted to include a band and went fishing the back-catalogue to find and album that meant it to them. While a couple of interesting but notable inclusions made it on there, most gripes about relevence and importance really are relative to from where someone came or began listening to music. Only crticism is... Bedlam. Really? Not... Agnostic Front 'Victim in Pain'. Seriously?

the_other_scott (March 23, 2012)

tough to narrow it down to just 25, and even tougher to narrow it down to what's "punk" and what's not (IE The Replacements)

i do think that list is missing Damaged, Suffer etc.

i think it would be interesting to do a list of like "top 25 punk albums" that came out since 1992 - and out come the wolves, shape of punk to come, in casino/out, reinventing axl rose, 59 sound, etc. lots of "game changing" punk albums since then

UNFUNprone12xu (March 23, 2012)

Ramones should be #1.

Skibz777 (March 23, 2012)

...why? O_o

UNFUNprone12xu (March 23, 2012)

My opinion and I'm not too big into sex pistols.