10 Best Albums of Punk

Introduction
What is the best punk album of all time? This post is all about the music. All will have their own opinions – and they are invited to share.
The ten albums below have made the list. Agree, disagree, smash a guitar, etc. – and enjoy.

Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
After the death of Ian Curtis, the remaining members went on to become New Order. The songs call from a distance and were enveloped in dread. One can enjoy the last words of an extremely talented musician listening to this debut.



Black Flag – Damaged
Intense and loud, Rollins and the boys supplied us with fifteen songs of brilliance. With an underlying sense of humor, Black Flag inserted a serious and deranged message into the brains of those that would listen – and there were a lot of us.



Monks – Black Monk Time
This 1966 album by a group of GIs stationed in Germany during Vietnam is historical. The music was fresh, blunt, and angry. Maybe the world wasn’t ready for the truth at the time, but the message would soon be carried on by many others in the 70s.


The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat
Full of guitar greatness and detachment from the world, White Light/White Heat was (and is) well respected by creators and appreciators of punk music. Lou Reed and company remained cool amongst a complete tirade of menace.



Radio Birdman – Radios Appear
By 1976, New York and London weren’t the only ports of punk. Radio Birdman, coming out of Australia, twanged sounds out of their instruments meant to cause discomfort and thought. Radios Appear has a timeless and distant quality to its sound causing its presence on this list and many others.


The Stooges – Funhouse
The boys from Detroit turned things up a notch on this album of madness, exigency, and disturbance. Funhouse delivers the feel of a focused maestro in front of a malicious and chaotic orchestra, but somehow the show is completed.



Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers
Maybe this pick is biased because members of The Cars and Talking Heads came out of this coalition, but The Modern Lovers is a novel and distinctive album that you can’t place a finger on. Recorded in 1973, it did not really fit in at the time, and pleasantly does not fit in anywhere.


The Clash – London Calling
Strummer, Jones, and the rest of the dreary old band from London not only delivered punk, but they did it well. They had thought provoking lyrics delving into political and social unrest and played their instruments like trained musicians.


Ramones – Ramones
Even their name sounded punk enough to consume their debut title. Many claim the boys from New York not only set the tone for American punk, but for all of punk. The songs of the debut are trendsetting, innovative, and forever.



Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks
Some say that the sound of the Sex Pistols becomes better with age, as if the world wasn’t prepared for them at the time, and it has taken us decades to catch up. The band has it all: the mystery, the legacy, and the indelible and priceless sound.


What do you think?......
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