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54 albums · 1969–2021

Punk, from New York and London to hardcore, post-punk, riot grrrl and today

· 2 min read · by 1001 Albums

Patti Smith singing at a microphone with her arms spread wide, a guitarist and a drum kit behind her in yellow stage light
Joey Ramone in a leather jacket, gloves and tinted glasses, singing into the microphone with his fist raised, in a black and white photographKathleen Hanna in a sleeveless top singing at a microphone with a red guitar, on a stage under a roof with trees behind
Patti Smith at the Rosengarten in Mannheim in March 1978. Photo: Klaus Hiltscher, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · Joey Ramone of the Ramones on stage in the 1980s. Photo: Yves Lorson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill on stage in 1991. Photo: jonathancharles, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Punk grew out of the garage rock of the late sixties, the loud and plain records of the Stooges and the MC5 in Michigan. In the mid-seventies it took shape at CBGB in New York, in short, fast songs on a few chords, and in 1976 it reached London.

At CBGB Patti Smith, Television and the Ramones played, and in London the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned made their first albums in 1977. Post-punk followed with Wire, Joy Division and the Slits. In California Black Flag and Dead Kennedys played it harder and faster as hardcore, and in Washington, D.C. Bad Brains and later Fugazi. In the early nineties Bikini Kill and Bratmobile began riot grrrl, and in 1994 Green Day took pop punk into the charts. Later come Refused, IDLES and Amyl and the Sniffers.

The list has 54 records from 1969 to 2021. It leaves out the singles and EPs, where much of punk was first heard, most of ska punk and emo, the punk of continental Europe, Latin America and Japan beyond Refused, and the albums Deezer does not have, among them the Misfits' Walk Among Us. About 36 hours of music, 5 days of a few records each.

By genre

Punk & New Wave 78%Rock 17%Reggae 2%Other 3%
  • Punk & New Wave 78%
  • Rock 17%
  • Reggae 2%
  • Other 3%

The genres named most: punk, punk rock, post-punk, hardcore punk, art punk, rock.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 4 countries: United States 30, United Kingdom 19, Australia 2, Sweden 1. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

The 2010s

The 2020s

More lists

Lists of Genres first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.