Henry Rollins's 20 Favorite Punk Albums Should Be Your 20 Favorite Punk Albums

Henry Rollins writes a , and yesterday, in conjunction with the website's list of the , the former Black Flag shouter shared his favorite albums, too. He writes:



This list is in no particular order. Lists like these often get confusing because they beg the question, what is Punk? Could Wire, also be considered Post Punk? Where do you put bands like PIL, Joy Division, Television, Patti Smith, Suicide, and Killing Joke? What about Gang of Four, 999 and the Banshees?




For me, as a lean definition, I go by the classic UK 1977 graduating class, Pistols, Clash, etc., and go from there. Beyond that, there were a lot of great Punk Rock bands who never made full albums. The Machines, The Killjoys, Some Chicken, and countless others. So many great bands and great records in this genre and the surrounding/resulting genres. Best bet is just to get the music playing for as long as possible. ()



To answer your questions, Henry: punk is Avril Lavigne; Wire is post-punk, yes; I'd put bands like Public Image Limited, Joy Division, Television, Patti Smith, Suicide, and Killing Joke below Green Day and Blink-182; the same with Gang of Four, 999, and the Banshees, because MTV taught me how to be A PUNK ROCK DUDE. Oh wait, I forgot, this is actually a good list of punk albums. Never mind about that Avril stuff. F*CK YEAH THE GERMS.



The Clash - The Clash

Generation X - Generation X

The Adverts - Crossing the Red Sea

X-Ray Spex - Germ Free Adolescents

Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks

The Ramones - The Ramones

Eater - The Album

The Damned - Damned Damned Damned

The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour

The Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen

The Saints - (I'm) Stranded

UK Subs - Another Kind of Blues

Wire - Pink Flag

The Lurkers - Fulham Fallout

Alternate TV - The Image Has Cracked

The Ruts - The Crack

The Germs - GI

X - Los Angeles

The Minutemen - The Punchline

Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material



That is an excellent list -- mixed evenly between obvious choices (The Clash, Never Mind the Bollocks, The Ramones, etc.) and pseudo-obscurities (The Crack, Fulham Fallout, The Album). I'm a little disappointed in the lack of H sker Dand Fugazi, but I'm not going to voice my concern to Rollins. I like my skull right where it is, thank you.



(via Getty Image) ()
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