10 Best Punk Records Of All Time

The 10 best punk rock albums of all time are angry, fast, aggressive, violent and brutal. They take no prisoners, attacking social and political norms with bats, bricks, knives, and brass knuckles. Break out your combat boots, have a few pints, shave your head, get some tattoos, make yourself Molotov cocktails.

1. “London Calling” The Clash brought an intelligence, musicality, passion, and eclecticism to punk rock that has never been matched. On “London Calling,” one of the 10 best punk albums of all time, The Clash’s many disparate personalities, interests, and talent cohere into the ultimate statement of musical freedom and social defiance.
2. “Never Mind the Bollocks” No album more fully embodies the spirit of early UK punk that the Sex Pistols’ debut. “Never Mind the Bollocks” is filled with sarcastic humor, foul lyrics, monolithic riffs, blitzkrieg tempos, and one enormous middle finger to the British establishment. It is one of the 10 best punk albums of all time.
3. “Raw Power” The Stooges were playing punk before punk existed. The Detroit boys were a bunch of dirty, drugged out hooligans who had more interest in making themselves and their audience bleed than they were in writing singles. “Raw Power” opens with “Search and Destroy,” one of punk’s great anthems.
4. “…And Out Come the Wolves” Rancid ushered in a new epoch in punk. The band’s seminal 1995 record “…And Out Come the Wolves” is clearly influenced by forerunners like The Clash, though carves its own niche on account of extremely strong songwriting, unparalleled passion, and Matt Freeman’s absurd bass playing. It is undoubtedly one of the 10 best punk records of all time.
5. “Rocket to Russia” The Ramones are called the first and ultimate punk band time and again by purists. Argue that point all you want, but there’s no disputing the fact that “Rocket to Russia” is one of punk’s all time great records. The fast, bratty, catchy songs hugely influenced The Clash and set the template for countless groups to come.
6. “Mommy’s Little Monster” Bad Region certainly take the crown for the most influential punk band to emerge from Southern California in the early 80’s, but they never cut a record as good as Social Distortion’s debut. “Mommy’s Little Monster” is filled with melodic, aggressive anthems with the attitude of punk and the songwriting chops of Chuck Berry.
7. “The Shape of Punk to Come” Refused were one of the most punk bands ever for refusing to sound like a punk band. They took punk’s initial promise, which was revolution, and applied theory to practice, crafting a mind blowing record filled with jazz breaks, metal riffs, electronic passages, left field time signatures, and a two-minute cello solo.
8. “Bad Brains” Bad Brain’s eponymous debut record is fast, angry, melodic, and defiant. Often cited as the lynchpin between the punk rock of the late 70’s and the hardcore scene of the early 80’s, the record took punk to the next level in terms of tempo, energy, and general insanity. Combine that with some excellent song writing and you’ve got on of the 10 best punk albums of all time. 
9. "Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing" Discharge’s “Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing” combined the heaviness and darkness of hardcore with the energy and power of punk rock. In the process, it created a new genre that has since be labeled D-beat and influenced bands from Rancid to death metal pioneers Entombed.
10. “Grey Britain” Punk nearly died a pitiful death at the beginning of the 21st Century. Young bands abandoned the genre in favor of metalcore and emo, genres with little social or political awareness. Enter Gallows. “Grey Britain” is a concept album tackling social, political, and economic decay. The music combines classic punk, old school metal, and hardcore.