Best Punk Albums of the 80's (85-89) - Nomination Time!
by Michele Christopher

Update The nominations are now closed. The vote is on. That post. Up there. No not that one, that one is about food. That one way up at the top. Not in this post. That one up there.

Well, we have another winner. We have two contenders for the punk rock record already. The 70's are done. 80-85 ended last night. Today is 85-89. We realized we made a little mistake last night after all of this was said and done. We will not put up our own list because we felt that let you guys look at our and use that instead of nominating your own. So one this one we will just be doing our four and let you guys fill the rest of the blanks in.

The two first winners are below.

But forget them for now. Just remember that you will see them again at the end.

If any of you don't know what we have been doing here, and I use "we" in the sense of all of you have been reading this site and contributing, is taking the reading contributions for nominations of the best punk album of the decade. 70's thru the 2000's. We had to split up the 80's into two categories because we just got bombed on names. We might have to do that in the 90's also, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. In the end we will have five albums. Six at the most, depending ont the 90's thing. Then we will take those albums and let guys go at it. Rank the albums. Top five, or maybe six, albums of all time. This is what album was the best to you. And in the end, we really don't wanna hear anything about. We didn't make the choices. You did.

Don't you wish Rolling Stone worked this way?

Anyways, welcome to the late 80's. A time of confusion, anger, branches of punk rock bleeding into everything. Were they punk? Were they hardcore? Is ska punk? Well some of thier songs are hardcore, some punk and some ska.......so I don't fucking know. These were the years bands like GWAR, SNFU, and Operation Ivy came out. Gilman was blowing up and you had to drive 8 hours to get to any show in LA. Hardcore was forming in New York when a small band called Gorilla Biscuits released an EP. Things were changing fast. This was a time to hold on and just listen.

Go ahead and nominate anything that you consider punk rock. And most of all, have fun. This is the nomination stage, not the voting stage. Ready? Here we go! Nominate!

As usual, we get our say first. So these are our favorites. As usual, they we will lose terribly, but meh, that's what happens. Have fun guys.

Remember this is 85-89.

Here we go!

NoMeansnNo- Wrong

wrong-r.jpgAnyone who plays a bass here knows this album. Put the guitarist in back and let’s see how fast we can go. No, not that kind of fast. See how fast you can move your fingers. Figure out how many riffs you could jam into one song while still telling us of your hatred of your life, your friends, and that last sandwich you just ate. I never really got why they just were so dark. They moved fast, maybe cause they could. If you have ever been in a situation where you have two brothers growing up in a house with nothing else but two instruments to play to relieve their boredom, you might get why this is so technical. I'm not saying I did it, but I've seen two brothers together challenging each other to go farther in a back room. To keep pushing. I won't say this is their pinnacle, but I have my own reasons for that. Sure, they are Canadian, but I can forgive them on that.

NoMeansNo Oh No, Bruno! -T

SNFU - Better Then A Stick In The Eye

f98149h2qe1.jpgJeez. Canadian again. Seems like the rest of the world was starting to feel the blood of hardcore. It's sticky. It moves fast. Hold on and grab a napkin cause this is when it goes out. Stand or fall. SNFU was always a playful band and this was the end. The pinnacle of everything they did. Hardcore touring. Covered in sweat and toys by the end of the night. Songs not making sense. A big Chinese guy with a huge mohawk telling me how his back hurts when he has sex. Fuck the sofa. He needs a futon. A pure album that, really guys, asks you about everything you thought about before. That mall eats people. Why go in? These Holloywood stars all o.d. Why worship them? Mailmen are always gonna step on your dog’s shit. Why not pick it up? I'm depressed. Why don't I do something about it? Don't ask me about the G.I Joe sex song cause I really have no idea about that one. Just wait till the 90's when Mexico comes in.

SNFU Happy Switch -T

Dead Milkmen - Big Lizard in My Backyard

c474280fqb2.jpgI promised someone I’d do this album, so here goes.
Like most people, the first song I heard off this album was Bitchin’ Camaro. I dug that song so much I figured I’d give the rest of the album a try and see if these guys were anything more than a novelty act. Still not sure about that one, but hey, I discovered there’s really nothing wrong with novelty acts. Not if they make you laugh and nod your head to the music at the same time. When you sing about taking retards to the zoo without being too self aware about it, that’s pretty cool. And the lyrics here aren’t all irreverent and haphazard, like in Camaro or Swordfish. They get some pretty good lines off and manage to make some sense in tunes like Spit Sink and V.F.W. A pretty well rounded album for a “novelty act.”

Dead Milkmen Takin' Retards to the Zoo -M

Husker Du - New Day Rising

f34114ma6lq.jpgMost Husker Du fans will point to Zen Arcade or Flip Your Wig as their favorite. In my eyes, New Day Rising was their absolute pinnacle. This album is pure brilliance from beginning to end. The songwriting, the music, the way its all put together in such a tight, perfectly crafted package is beyond anything else they ever did. While the music may seem to be more melodic, more pop-influenced in comparison to Zen Arcade before it, what they give you here is about 40 minutes of catharsis. It’s a whole bunch of emotions and memories and fury and power packed into one perfect package. If you listen to this album right and feel what you are supposed to feel, the first three songs alone should wear you out emotionally and physically. And that’s before you even get to Celebrated Summer of 59 Times the Pain. If I had to make a personal top ten albums of all time list, New Day Rising would be right there.

Husker Du New Day Rising -M

Ok, start nominating. And I just want to remind you to check your years. Anything not 85-89 will be thrown out.

Update The nominations are now closed. The vote is on. That post. Up there. No not that one, that one is about food. That one way up at the top. Now go vote! In that post. Not this one.

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Comments

Bad Religion: Suffer (1988)
Dead Kennedys: Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death (1987)
The Misfits: Legacy of Brutality (1985)

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you are just on this stuff cullen, aintcha.

This post has been up three minutes and you are already here.

this whole post is all about you guys. So post away. we use all of them.

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Dude. I work for the government. What the hell else am I going to do?

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Heheh. I think it is written in my work contract, as a govt employee, that I must spend at least six of my work hours slacking off on the internet.

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yeah, i guess you are right.

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Would early Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, and Dead Can Dance be considered punk? I don't think so. Since my musical favorites of this era would be considered something other than punk, I'll sit back and watch. However, if The Pogues are considered punk, one of the best albums of 1985 was Rum, Sodomy and the Lash (1985)

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7 seconds rock together walk together
gorilla biscuits start today
minor threat discography
government issue s/t
bad brains i against i
cro-mags age of quarrel

(fucking missed ssdecontrol kids will have their day and fucking negative approach)
whatever... i'm sure i've got more

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Are collections even technically albums? Cause Give Me Convienence is all singles and assorted other stuff that didn't make albums. That's been bugging me since First Four Years.

13 Songs - Fugazi (89!)
Energy - Operation Ivy (still 89)

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damn cullen i didn't know you were a bad religion kind of guy... damn.

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i vote collections are albums -- uh 13 songs??

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There are so many good records from this time and it is definetely a period of time where it's hard to define a lot of records as being 'punk' or not.

Anyway, here's my nomination:

Bullet LaVolta - self titled EP (1988)
D.R.I. - 4 of a Kind (1988)

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Yea, collections are albums.

Discography, 13 songs....anything like that is ok with us.

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dag nasty - can i say
RKL - keep laughing
buttholes - psychic powerless
sick of it all - blood sweat and no tears
agnostic front - cause for alarm

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Pixies - Surfer Rosa (88)
Replacements - TIM (85)
Sonic Youth - Evol (86)
Misfits - Anthology (86)
fIREHOSE- ragin' fULL on (86)
Husker Du - Flip Your Wig (85)
Meat Puppets - Up On The Sun (85)
Nivana - Bleach (89) - yeah, this one is kind of debatable

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Complete Discography - Minor Threat
Embrace- Embrace

AWW BLOODY SHIT I MISSED SHOCK TROOPS BY COCK SPARRER LAST TIME AROUND.

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remember this was a time when no one really knew what punk was.

it was everywhere. you couldn't see a show without some weird ass band coming on.

i glad someone got rkl

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damn cullen i didn't know you were a bad religion kind of guy... damn.

I definitely don't agree with them ideologically, but they put out some damn good music. I like that whole choral punk thing.

You know Stranger Than Fiction and The Gray Race will be on the list in the '90s.

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I think one of the most "punk" albums of time period was Straight Outta Compton by NWA (1989). I despise rap music, but this release floored me for its power, anger, and energy.

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... which is why i part ways with punk somewhere in the 90's ;)...

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jesus str8 outta compton was 1989? hell ya. that's as hard core as it comes...

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Surfer Rosa and Bleach were two albums that I came very close to nomiating but I figured they did not count as 'punk'. See? This is tough!

Those are two awesome albums. I wore the needle out playing 'School' off of Bleach. Good to see those 2 in there.

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Have you heard Nina Gordon's cover of Straight Outta Compton? You can listen here:

http://www.ninagordon.com/sightsandsounds.html

It's awesome.

And, other than BR, I agree with you about the '90s kali. But at that time, I was far more into metal. And ... >shame

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Uh, that should say: -shame- grunge.

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dude i fell for grunge too, no worries... i hate admitting it, but it's true.

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mrbandw - debaser and school are two of my favorite play-on-repeat-for-hours songs...

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hm

no one likes bone machine by the pixies

i thought that was their best song

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Swiz - S/T
Token Entry - Jaybird
SOD - Speak English or Die (Punk?)
Murphys Law - S/T
Gang Green - Another Wasted Night

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We've already considered SOD punk in previous posts, so that's fine.

Good call on Murphy's Law.

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Bad Brains, I Against I

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If N.W.A. counts, I'm adding PE's It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

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Frankenchrist - Dead Kennedys

Contains the amazing This Could Be Anywhere and a scary poster of penises having sex with butts.

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oh ye of little faith (michele) i already nominated i against i..

and screw chuck d.

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" and screw Chuck D" - No shit.

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Chuck D IS an idiot, but the production on PE albums was amazing.

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ok well i have nothing to add here :P

2nding the bullet lavolta, the gang green, the firehose, the RKL,. Too hot here. I'll just nod and smile. Cos my brains melted. It all looks delicious to me.

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yeh heh was just thinking of an RKL show i saw in Mesa AZ in about.. oooohhh...i think '93 or '94. I accidently drank paint. well hey the paint was in the same kind of cup as my beer.

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a couple I didn't see so far...
prong - primitive origins
DRI - crossover

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