Best Punk Album in The World...Ever

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Early touchstones like Singles Going Steady and Milo Goes To College set the tone, whereas Dookie and Smash ramped up the momentum for a new generation. In the 21st Century, the Capital City punk rockers have raised their flag not only on the imagination of the mainstream, but on the corpse of the Sex Pistols, over whom - scandalously, as it goes - they are held in higher regard. Occasionally untethered and reliably relentless, the band also boast a poetic ear that is the envy of lesser talents. Capably nurtured by our American cousins, in 1994 it even cracked the US mainstream for the first time with the multi-platinum success of both Green Day and The Offspring. It also happens to be only the third native release of its kind to have attained platinum status in its country of origin.

best pop-punk albums of all time - Alternative Press Magazine Fan poll: 5 best pop-punk albums of all time - Alternative Press

When The Stranglers supported The Who at Wembley Stadium in the summer of 1979, their music was sufficiently provocative that it caused fights between their fans and supporters of the headline act. The band’s singer, Tim Armstrong, was a recovering alcoholic who had previously lived at a Salvation Army hostel.In a world run by bullish… sex pests, [the band’s] aggressive compassion is a potent antidote,’ wrote one reviewer. It helped inspire both Green Day and The Offspring, and without it the commercial explosion of the genre in 1994 would never have happened.

punk albums every music fan should own - The Telegraph 50 punk albums every music fan should own - The Telegraph

Not only is it the last true blockbuster of the rock age - with sales that will surely never be matched - it is also the highest-selling punk rock album of all-time. Relentless in their intensity, it may have taken the band a decade to achieve full velocity in the shape of Feel The Darkness, but when they did the result was a high-water mark of grimy excellence. Not without humour, The Record’s true redeeming quality is the strength of Ving’s soulful and resonant voice, especially as he delivers the line “survival is superiority” on the dementedly hawkish Foreign Policy.

Catchy and compact, the record is today a Southern Californian punk rock landmark; along with Dexter Holland from The Offspring and Bad Religion’s Greg Graffin, Ackerman is the third punk singer from the state to hold a PhD. The band gave virtually no press interviews and even spurned invitations to appear on Late Night With David Letterman and Saturday Night Live. I’ll sing at fascists ‘til my head comes off, I am Dennis Skinner’s Molotov, I’m lefty, I’m soft, I’m minimum wage job,” they sing on the not delicately titled I’m Scum to a beat that sounds like encroaching jackboots. With the release of their second album, Joy As An Act Of Resistance, Bristol quintet Idles cemented their justified reputation as the finest domestic punk group of recent years.

The Best Punk Album in the WorldEver, Part 2 - AllMusic The Best Punk Album in the WorldEver, Part 2 - AllMusic

The subsequent criminal trial ended in a hung jury, while the request for a retrial was struck down by the Californian Supreme Court. Like The Clash themselves, The Slits were less interested in pogoing with the boys and more concerned with exploring the musical possibilities of dub reggae, a pursuit that makes Cut a more satisfying and more significant release than many from the time. The most obscure album on this list, on a just and fair planet Randy The Band would be celebrated as one of the world’s finest high-octane punk rock’n’roll records, rather than the final release from a barely-remembered Swedish group with a rubbish name. It seems fitting that Declan Patrick MacManus would say this, because shortly after The Damned had recorded their debut album, Damned Damned Damned, its producer, Nick ‘Basher’ Lowe, recycled the master tape for use by Costello himself.Worth it alone for "Kiss Me Deadly," the best power ballad ever written, before there was such a thing.

The Best Punk Album In The WorldEver! by Various Artists The Best Punk Album In The WorldEver! by Various Artists

Formed by former Black Flag singer Keith Morris, the Circle Jerks added splashes of chaos and colour to LA’s already vibrant punk scene.Unlike the major-label affiliated Green Day, with whom The Offspring broke through the glass ceiling that separated punk rock from the mainstream, the success of Smash happened without much encouragement from the musicians that made it.