Top 40 Punk Albums of All Time -or- Rolling Stone's Wildly Inaccurate Revisionist History
- Fred
- 4 minutes ago
- 6 min read
When we first started the blog 10 years ago, one of the first articles we wrote was:
What inspired our prose? One of the worst music lists of all time
Why are either relevant a decade later? Rolling Stone further expanded upon their own stupidity by releasing a highly revisionist punk list. At least a quarter of their new list isn't even punk. First punk band according to Rolling Stone? Velvet Underground. Most successful? Nirvana. Second best punk album? The X-Ray Spex. If I don't read Rolling Stone, how did I come across the new list? At a Nomeansno fan page, where a fan said "I understand if Rolling Stone doesn't like Nomeansno, but to have zero punk albums from Canada in the Top 100 is really egregious.
Because this is my blog, I am going to reprint my Top 40 Punk Albums, then review Rolling Stone's new list. If you don't like Punk Music, I suggest you stop reading now.
Beacon of Speech's Top 40 Punk Albums
40. Damaged by Black Flag (1981)
39. Dookie by Green Day (1994)
38. The Record by Fear (1982)
37. Enema of the State by Blink 182 (1994)
36. Quantum Fucking by Fatal Flying Guilloteens (2007)
35. The Body, the Blood, the Machine by The Thermals (2006)
34. The Last Temptation of Reid by Lard (1990)
33. Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell by Social Distortion (1992)
32. Pink Flag by Wire (1977)
31. Speak English or Die by Stormtroopers of Death (1985)
30. Midwestern Songs of the Americas by the Dillinger Four (1998)
29. Greatest Hits Volume 1 by Wesley Willis (1995)
28. Locust Abortion Technician by the Butthole Surfers (1987)
27. All Killer, No Filler by Sum 41 (2001)
26. A Passage in Time by Authority Zero (2002)
25. Young Loud and Snotty by the Dead Boys (1977)
24. The Dwarves Are Young and Good Looking by the Dwarves (1997)
23. Hats off to the Insane by Therapy? (1993)
22. The Fury of the Aquabats! by the Aquabats (1997)
21. Searching for a Former Clarity / Transgender Dysphoria Blues by Against Me! (2005) & (2014)
20. Big Lizard in My Backyard by the Dead Milkmen (1985)
19. Suicidal Tendencies by Suicidal Tendencies (1983)
18. Mclusky Do Dallas by Mclusky (2002)
17. Stranger Than Fiction by Bad Religion (1994)
16. Milo Goes to College by The Descendants (1982)
15. Appeal to Reason by Rise Against (2008)
14. Kill From the Heart by the Dicks (1983)
13. Zen Arcade by Husker Du (1984)
12. Unfun by Jawbreaker (1990)
11. Singles Going Steady by the Buzzcocks (1979)
10. Exmilitary by Death Grips (2011)
9. 13 Songs Fugazi (1989)
8. Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance (2006)
7. Smash by the Offspring (1992)
6. Wrong by Nomeansno (1989)
5. Untidy Suicides of Your Degenerate Children by Alice Donut (1992)
4. Plastic Surgery Disasters by the Dead Kennedys (1982)
3. Anarchy is the UK by the Sex Pistols (1977)
2. London Calling by the Clash (1979)
1. The Ramones by the Ramones (1976)
I said it a decade ago, and I'll say it again, spots 1, 2, and 3 are all conventional wisdom. You can debate which album should be at the top spots, but it is the Ramones, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols. That is where punk was born.
In retrospect, it's a damn good list. Today, I would take out Blink 182 at # 37 and put in the Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come (1998), but other than that, I would only tweak a few spots here and there.
Which moves us to the Rolling Stone list....
Rolling Stone's Top 40 Punk Albums (2026)
40. Is This Real? by the Wipers (1980) - My kid agrees.
39. Glow On by Turnstile (2021) - Not sure about this one.
38. Blank Generation by Richard Hell (1977) - Way, way too high.
37. All Mod Cons by the Jam (1978) - I can think of a 100 better better punk albums.
36. Pottymouth by Bratmobile (1993) - Uh, no.
35. Misfits by the Misfits (1986) - Also way too high.
34. Wanna Buy a Bridge by Multiple Artists (1980) - A sampler from Rough Trade Records? Absolutely not. Fueled by Ramen put out better samplers.
33. White Light/White Heat by the Velvet Underground (1968) - NOT PUNK. Rolling Stone is trying to re-write the rules of punk with an album from a DECADE prior.
32. Atomizer by Big Black (1986) - My kid agrees with this assessment also.
31. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division (1979) - Great album, NOT PUNK.
30. Repeater by Fugazi (1990) - First album we're even close to agreeing with.
29. Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash by the Replacements (1981) - I respect the Replacement's Punk Pedigree, but they were outside of my wheelhouse.
28. GI by the Germs (1979) - Of course Rolling Stone picked the Most Overrated Punk Band of the 70's.
27. Terminal Tower by Pere Ubu (1985) - As a Clevelander, I agree that Pere Ubu was a historically important punk band.
26. Rocket to Russia by Ramones (1977) - Re-read the paragraph about the Ramones again.
25. The Raincoats by the Raincoats (1979) - Again, this list is too heavy on average albums from the late 70's.
24. Vs. by Mission of Burma (1982) - Barely outside my Top 40.
23. Milo Goes to College by the Descendants (1982) - Our first match.
22. Complete Discography by Minor Threat (1989) - At least Minor Threat is a real punk band.
21. Marquee Moon by Television (1977) - Always torn on Television, great album, not sure how punk it is.
20. Dookie by Green Day (1994) - You cannot ignore Green Day's punk origin story.
19. Reject All American by Bikini Kill (1996) - Just not for me.
18. Singles Going Steady by the Buzzcocks (1979) - Almost same exact rating as BOS.
17. Bad Brains self titled (1982) - Influence on punk cannot be denied
16. Entertainment! by the Gang of Four (1980) - Rolling Stone included nearly every single "punk album" from 1977 to 1980.
15. New York Dolls self titled (1973) - NOT PUNK
14. Los Angeles by X (1980) - Good album
13. Zen Arcade by Husker Du (1984) - Great album
12. Horses by Patti Smith (1975) - NOT PUNK
11. Damaged by Black Flag (1981) - We love Henry Rollins. We do not love Greg Ginn.
10. London Calling by the Clash (1980) - Our # 2.
9. Nevermind by Nirvana (1991) - NOT PUNK. Best punk album of 1991? Alice Donut's Revenge Fantasies of the Impotent.
8. Fun House by the Stooges (1970) - NOT PUNK.
7. Never Mind the Bollocks by the Sex Pistols (1977) - THE punk album.
6. Pink Flag by Wire (1977) - Yes, absolutely.
5. Dig Me Out by Sleater-Kinney (1997) - More revisionism from Rolling Stone.
4. The Clash self titled (1977) - No argument here.
3. Double Nickels on the Dime by the Minutemen (1984) - Because of D. Boon's death, I think a new generation is discovering what the previous generation may have missed.
2. Germfree Adolescents by the X-Ray Spex (1978) - Wow, a very random choice. Rolling Stone trying to be punk edgelords here.
1. Ramones self titled (1976) - I concur.
What is my primary argument with Rolling Stone's List? Nearly every song is from a five year period between 1977 and 1982. They missed the pop punk revival of the 90's and 00's almost entirely, except for Nevermind, which isn't even a punk album.
Rolling Stone's list posits that punk is dead and buried.
Listen, I know I don't have the perfect list, but at least I included albums from this century.
You want to read a great list that's 100% punk? In Spite Magazine has a Top 100 List which is probably one of the best around, much of the music I would include if I expanded my list out to a hundred:
Another list better than Rolling Stone's new list?
Kerrang made a Top 50 list TWENTY YEARS AGO with more "newer" bands than Rolling Stone included..... this week.
Another list better than Rolling Stone?
Which begs the question, why re-do your decade-old list to begin with?
Because Rolling Stone pays money to feed the ChatBots. Again, the counter-culture has become the corporate-culture.
C'mon Grandpa Fred, you probably can't even name a punk song from the last 5 Years? In 2022, we wrote that we kind of like the vibe of Cancer Christ's Do You Wanna Go to Heaven?
Cancer Christ is....
Problematic.
They are currently on, uh, "indefinite hiatus."