If you had to decide upon three albums of this genre as your favorites, which ones would you consider? I'm going to be fairly open-ended with this, seeing that all of my choices are not very strictly 'punk'. However, all of them have either had a huge impact on punk music, or have some distinct qualities of that genre. You can have a broad palette when answering this, but keep your choices within reason. Anyway, here are mine: 1) The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) The impact that this album has had on punk and alternative rock music is incalculable. It's very hard for me to believe that this was recorded in 1967, with harsh, sometimes dissonant music and taboo lyrical subjects never before heard in rock music. To myself and many other people, this album remains startling today, and I encourage you to hear it if you haven't already done so. 2) Marquee Moon - Television (1977) Unlike some of the groups that Television performed beside at CBGB in New York City in the late seventies, like the Ramones and Blondie, this group's music was very much rooted in other musical styles and methods other than the ones commonly used in punk music. This album is driven primarily by unconventional, brilliant dual melody parts on guitar, played by Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine which create atmospheres that are rarely heard in music. Lloyd and Verlaine were also amazing soloists and Marquee Moon shows incredible musicianship from both. 3) The Stooges - The Stooges (1969) Like their contemporaries the Velvet Underground, the Stooges released a seminal debut album in the late sixties that has proven to be hugely important in the the creation and evolution of punk rock. But, what separated the Stooges' music from the Velvets' was raw aggression and even more simplistic musicianship (which the Velvets also mastered). Yet, this album stands head and shoulders above much of the punk music that would explode out of New York and England in the late seventies for its diverse stylings, unique approach and its fantastic production, courtesy of John Cale - who happened to be a member of the one and only Velvet Underground!
1. The Velvet Underground - White Light / White Heat 1967 2. The Stooges - The Stooges 1969 3. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures 1979
1. birthday party - hee haw 2. southern death cult - southern death cult 3. siouxsie and the banshees - the scream
i think its the artier end of punk that has a more lasting impact than the basic rock n roll of bands like the sex pistols.
Yes, absolutely. I totally agree with you on that argument. Groups like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones don't do much for me on a musical level. I realize that they were revolutionary in their own ways, but compared to some of the more diverse "punk" groups, like the Talking Heads and Television, they seem incredibly overrated (the Ramones more than the Sex Pistols, though. I fail to see why the Ramones have been praised so much, although they were good at what they did). I also get frustrated when people think that the only good era of punk rock was in the late seventies, because there have been bands before the punk explosion who had a huge impact on it, and there have been bands after the late seventies who have continued to push the genre forward. Like I said, the Velvet Underground and the Stooges really were some of the first punk groups to gain any public awareness, as little as that exposure was, and they had an enormous influence on New York City groups who burst on to the scene about ten years after the Velvets and the Stooges started out. And then there are groups like the Smiths, Sonic Youth, and R.E.M. who did amazing things with punk music, often times turning it into something completely different. R.E.M. isn't very good anymore, but when they first started out, they were an incredible band, fusing new-wave rhythms with folk guitar melodies and mumbled vocals. Sonic Youth was sort of a hybrid between the Stooges and the Velvet Underground, combining the former's raw energy and the latter's sonic dissonance. And although the Smiths don't sound very much like a punk band, they were very influenced by punk rock and the genre is still reflected through their overall sound. The artsy side of punk has often times spawned some of my favorite groups and music of all-time.
