Expert Opinions: Rolling Stone Top 40 Punk Albums of All-Time List
A few days ago Rolling Stone magazine put out its list of the Top 40 Punk Albums of All-Time. Given my own love of punk (since approximately 1983) I decided to reach out to several of my other "punk friends" for their expert opinions.
You can see the RS list by clicking HERE
Also, in most instances, you can click on the band name and find out more information about the band.
I didn't want to turn this into an excoriation of Rolling Stone's list (which I find to be surprisingly not terrible given that it is a mainstream publication) I asked everyone to provide a list of 5 albums that they would have included (instead of debate about the list itself).
Justin "Thunder" Lager
Discharge, Why?
Justin writes for one of the most important remaining punk rock institutions Maximum RocknRoll and for this blog. His list would have included:
G.I.S.M. - Detestation
Discharge - Why?
Avengers - Avengers
Cosmic Psychos - Go The Hack
Amebix - Arise!
Famous Breathers
Social Distortion, Mommy's Little Monster
This is The David Breather's list (aka Marshall Mathers) - he is one-half of the experimental noise duo "Famous Breathers" and has a very strong punk background.
The Cramps - Bad Music For Bad People
Circle Jerks - Golden Shower of Hits
Social Distortion - Mommy's Little Monster
The Exploited - Let's Start A War
Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies
Heather Hardcore
The Stooges, The Stooges
Heather is another one of those scene legends, she has been at the shows and knows all the players. She is currently a really badass DJ in Cali. Her complaints included that the Minor Threat compilation was of E.P's and not of albums (and the author of the Rolling Stone article said it was "all about the album").
The Stooges - The Stooges
Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground and Nico (Andy Warhol)
Plasmatics - New Hope For The Wretched
Motorhead - Motorhead
Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Materials
Argus Czarownik
Motor City 5, Kick Out The Jams
I am pretty sure if there was a contest for the most hard-core person on planet earth Argus would win (certainly the most hard-core person I know). Argus is the real deal and has seen more shows and worked more shows than the rest of combined I suspect (which is saying something).
His two comments off the top were that recognizing complete works of Minor Threat did a disservice to the DIY movement (agree). And that it was crazy that there was no Big Black (he was also not thrilled at the inclusion of Blink-182).
The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers
Big Black - Earth Atomizer Let's Go
The Cramps - Bad Music For Bad People
MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
Dead Boys - Younger, Louder, and Snottier
Harsh Noise Music
The Stranglers Rattus Norvegicus
This guy knows his music, been following him for a long time on twitter, he goes by HNM and he is encyclopedic.
Crucifucks - Crucifucks
Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Disasters
Nomeansno - Wrong
The Stranglers - Rattus Norvegicus
ATV - Image Has Cracked
He is also a big fan of Alice Donut (Mule and Bucketfulls of Sickness)
Sean Caldwell
Fugazi, Repeater (plus 3 songs)
Sean owns and writes the excellent blog Letters From A Tapehead of which I am a big fan. He also writes for the site Stereokiller.
The Pop Group - Y
Fugazi - Repeater
The Cramps - Songs The Lord Taught Us
Saccharine Trust - Surviving You, Always
Public Image Ltd. (PIL) - Metal Box
Joshua Hoe (Me)
The Damned, Damned Damned Damned
Yup, I dunno, there are a ton of "changes" I would make to the list (mostly I would have picked different albums for several of the bands) but I would also have included:
The Damned - Damned, Damned, Damned
Richard Hell and the Voidoids - Blank Generation
Dead Boys - Young, Loud, and Snotty
The Cramps - Bad Music for Bad People
Avengers - Avengers
My "true" top 5 would have been represented by albums on the list, but these are albums that I would consider including in my Top 40 list. I would also have to find a place for Big Black (not sure which album). I would 100% include Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and/or The Screamers if either had made a real album. Because of their influence on Punk Rock in the UK I probably would have included The Saints as well. Bad Brains was included in RS list but are really important to me.
I also would have included different albums for many of the included artists. In particular, would have chosen Call The Doctor as Sleater Kinney's best Punk album (I love Jenet Weiss as SK's drummer but CTD is a better PUNK album). I would have put several Sonic Youth albums before EVOL as well. I know all lists have limits but I might have found a place for London Calling too.
I put out requests to many other people, so it is also very possible that there will be a part two.
What albums would you have included in your Top 40 list that were not included in the Rolling Stone list? What albums do you love from these lists? Let me know what you think, leave a comment!