Proto-Punk:
These albums are considered a sort of precursor to punk. Lots of good stuff from this era, here are what I think are the most definitive:
The Velvet Underground- White Light/White Heat (1968)
VU's experimental, noisy mess was an important influence on the start of punk. I consider it to be their worst album, but it's still a masterpiece.
MC5- Kick Out The Jams (1969)
Live, energetic stuff from Detroit's finest.
The Stooges- Fun House (1970)
Iggy Pop and the Stooges know how to rock out.
The Stooges- Raw Power (1973)
The follow-up to Fun House, perhaps the most iconic proto-punk album.
Patti Smith- Horses (1975)
Rock-n-roll with a punk attitude.
The Classics:
Considered to be the first wave of punk rock, these albums are often viewed as the sort of "golden age" that everyone thinks about when they think of punk (you should also probably listen to the Sex Pistols since they're so famous but they didn't make the cut because I think these other bands are superior):
The Clash- The Clash (1977)
Debut by the only band that mattered. Brilliant example of the early stage of punk.
Richard Hell & the Voidoids- Blank Generation (1977)
It's catchy and fun and the guitars are awesome and the lyrics are super silly.
Ramones- Rocket to Russia (1977)
Three chords and stupid lyrics. Any punk collection is incomplete without some Ramones, but honestly there are better punk bands out there. If you like this you'd probably like their self-titled as well. But it's more of the same, really.
The Saints- Eternally Yours (1978)
Australian punk with more variety than your average first-wave punk album.
Stiff Little Fingers- Inflammable Material (1979)
Classic punk from Ireland
Buzzcocks- Singles Going Steady (1979)
Catchy and hilarious punk with more love songs than your average first-wave punk album.
The Clash- London Calling (1979)
London Calling is what I consider to be the best album of all time. So yeah if you listen to only one album on this list, it should be this one.
X- Los Angeles (1980)
Iconic debut from these Californians. Exene and John Doe have their signature vocals while Billy Zoom plays rockabilly-style guitars.
Dead Kennedys- Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables (1980)
Dark and sardonic, FFFRV is a Bay Area punk classic. East Bay Ray is one of the best guitarists of early punk.
Agent Orange- Living In Darkness (1981)
Surf-punk at its finest.
X- Wild Gift (1981)
Like Los Angeles, but more mature and varied.
Misfits- Walk Among Us (1982)
Debut by that band that everyone has a shirt of. A lot of classic punk anthems on this album.
Cock Sparrer- Shock Troops (1983)
Working-class street punk, essential to the "oi" movement.
Early Hardcore:
Punk found a way to become even louder and faster and more aggressive in the early 80s with the hardcore style of punk, based mostly in DC and LA:
Circle Jerks- Group Sex (1980)
15 minutes of group sex. Sounds like a great time!
Adolescents- Adolescents (1981)
Dudes from Agent Orange make a classic punk/hardcore album. Kids of the Black Hole is one of the best long punk songs ever.
Discharge- Why (1981)
Early hardcore band from the UK. The whole "d-beat" thing was started by them. Also very influential on later "crust punk".
Black Flag- Damaged (1981)
Perhaps the most famous of the early hardcore albums. I don't think it's as good as My War, but it's essential nonetheless.
Negative Approach- Negative Approach (1982)
Sweet little 10-minute EP from Midwestern hardcore heroes. They still have a tight live show so don't sleep on it if they stop in your town.
Bad Brains- Bad Brains (1982)
High-energy hardcore with actual talented musicians. HR's vocals may be the fastest and most incomprehensible in all of punk, which is really saying something.
Zero Boys- Vicious Circle (1982)
More hardcore punk from the Midwest, catchy as hell too.
Misfits- Earth A.D. (1983)
Violent follow-up to their debut. What they lose in catchiness, they make up for in aggression.
Black Flag- My War (1984)
Experimental follow-up to Damaged. The song structures are more complex, and the second half of the album is a heavy mess of what almost sounds like sludge metal.
Husker Du- Zen Arcade (1984)
Epic 75-minute hardcore concept album by the Minnesota trio.
Minor Threat- Complete Discography (1990)
Compilation of everything by the early 80s DC hardcore band, known for their drug-free lifestyle and intense live shows. Inadvertently started the "straight edge" movement, in which members pledge to remain substance-free.
Misfits- Static Age (1997)
Early Misfits recordings that later resurfaced. Contains many of their classic songs, and is more in the vein of Walk Among Us than Earth A.D.
Post-Punk:
I wasn't going to include post-punk, but I decided to include some early post-punk, especially ones that lean more on punk aesthetics and attitudes. It's like punk but more artsy and stuff. I included not just post-punk, but other punk from that era that tends to be more experimental:
Wire- Pink Flag (1977)
Fun art-punk with simple chords.
Television- Marquee Moon (1977)
The best guitar work on anything ever.
Wire- Chairs Missing (1978)
More complex and experimental than their debut.
Devo- Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978)
Yes, this is the band that did "Whip It". They also put out a kick-ass punk album for a debut.
Gang of Four- Entertainment! (1979)
The catchiest album of all time.
Wipers- Youth of America (1981)
Dark, artsy post-punk from Portland. If you like the punk, check out their debut, Is this Real?. If you want more experimental, try the follow-up to this, Over the Edge.
Minutemen- What Makes A Man Start Fires? (1983)
San Pedro's Minutemen flex their funky hardcore muscles for 26 minutes.
Minutemen- Double Nickels on the Dime (1984)
Their magnum opus, and their answer to Zen Arcade. 43 tracks in 75 minutes, with a lot of experimentation.
Meat Puppets- II (1984)
Country-tinged "cowpunk" from the spastic trio on SST records.
The Replacements- Let it Be (1984)
Not even really post-punk but I couldn't include these other bands and leave off The Replacements. Heartfelt 80s Springsteeny indie rock, and one of my favorite albums of all time.
Husker Du- New Day Rising (1985)
Less bloated and more indie-rock than Zen Arcade, my favorite Husker Du album.
Post-Hardcore:
Same story with post-hardcore. It's like hardcore but more emotional and all that jazz (no jazz influence though really). These have punk energy and I think are essential to any collection:
Rites of Spring- Rites of Spring (1985)
DC "emotive hardcore" band, influential on both post-hardcore and emo.
Big Black- Songs About Fucking (1987)
Abrasive noise-rock from the infamous producer Steve Albini.
Fugazi- 13 Songs (1989)
Compilation of the first two EPs by the post-hardcore trailblazers. Features Ian MacKaye from Minor Threat and Guy Picciotto from Rites of Spring.
NoMeansNo- Wrong (1989)
Technical, progressive punk (oxymoron?) with a bunch of weird timing changes and mathy guitar stuff.
At the Drive-In- Relationship of Command (2000)
The El Paso's band's masterpiece. Busting at the seams with energy and emotion.
Pop-Punk:
Sometimes, punk takes a more gentle approach and takes on a poppier sound. Lyrics often speak of breakups rather than anarchist movements.
Descendents- Milo Goes to College (1982)
Born out of the California hardcore scene, the Descendents are the original pop-punk band, standing out from the other bands with their less political lyrics and nerdy attitudes.
Green Day- Dookie (1994)
Don't write off Green Day. They had some sweet tunes back in the day.
Blink-182- Enema of the State (1999)
Perhaps the poppiest on the list, Blink-182 brings out the immature 12-year-old inside all of us.
The Lillingtons- Death By Television (1999)
Super fun and catchy, with stupid lyrics. All you really need from a pop-punk album. If you like this, check out Teenage Bottlerocket, a band featuring members from Lillingtons.
The Ergs!- Dorkrockcorkrod (2004)
Featuring Mikey Erg, who is probably the most prolific figure in all of punk. Mikey Erg is what I consider to be the ideal punk. He plays in dozens of bands, he loves what he does, and he's a scrawny short dude that can't be accused of doing the whole 'tough guy' thing that seems so prominent in the genre.
House Boat- The Delaware Octopus (2009)
Modern pop-punk supergroup featuring, you guessed it, Mikey Erg at drums. Probably my favorite pop-punk album of the last decade or so.
Spraynard- Funtitled (2011)
Philadelphia area pop-punk with super positive lyrics and just generally fun vibes. Perhaps the best pick-me-up album that there is.
Punk Rock: Next Gen:
After the early 80s hardcore surge, punk sort of died down for a while. Then a big revival came in the early 90s, kick-started almost single-handedly by Bad Religion:
Bad Religion- Suffer (1988)
Bad Religion revived punk from the grave with their breakout, Suffer.
Operation Ivy- Energy (1989)
Bay Area ska-punk. Short-lived and super influential.
Bad Religion- No Control (1989)
Follow-up to Suffer, that I personally prefer. If you like these, also be sure to check out Generator and Against the Grain.
Social Distortion- Social Distortion (1990)
Punk with some classic rock vibes.
Propagandhi- How to Clean Everything (1993)
Fun 90s skate punk from Winnipeg. Eventually the band became a melodic hardcore/thrash band and their bassist left and became an indie rock stalwart in the Weakerthans.
NOFX- Punk In Drublic (1994)
Perhaps the most iconic of all the 90s punk.
Jawbreaker- 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (1994)
Brooding and downbeat punk that was a big influence on early emo.
Rancid- ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995)
Punk with some ska sprinkled in, featuring two members from Operation Ivy. Their bassist is insanely talented.
NOFX- The Decline (1999)
NOFX's masterpiece, an 18-minute punk song that does not at any point slow down or become dull.
More Hardcore:
Various other essential music on the heavier side of punk:
Siege- Drop Dead (1984)
Intense hardcore that sounds like thrashcore/powerviolence way before those genres existed.
Amebix- Arise! (1985)
The essential "crust punk" album. The best description I've heard of crust is that while thrash is metal played at punk tempos, crust is punk played at metal tempos.
D.R.I.- Dealing With It! (1985)
Thrashy hardcore from Houston's Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, before they went full-on thrash metal.
Gorilla Biscuits- Start Today (1989)
Positive-minded straight edge hardcore.
Rudimentary Peni- Cacophony (1989)
Weird, experimental anarcho-punk.
Lifetime- Jersey's Best Dancers (1997)
Poppy, melodic hardcore. Influential on a lot of early 2000s bands.
Refused- The Shape of Punk to Come (1998)
Super influential album on hardcore and metalcore. Bloated and pretentious, but brilliant. Although arrogant, the album title has a degree of truth to it.
Kid Dynamite- Shorter, Faster, Louder (2000)
Band with members of Lifetime, but a bit less poppy.
Infest- No Man's Slave (2002)
Album released post-breakup by late 80s powerviolence pioneers. Powerviolence is essentially hardcore but played even faster, with time signature changes and drums that sound like a machine gun.
Tragedy- Vengeance (2003)
Epic hardcore/crust punk.
Ska-punk:
It's like Jamaica banged Los Angeles and then this weird punk with horns and upstrokes appeared:
The Specials-Specials (1979)
Second-wave ska from the UK with a punk attitude.
Catch 22- Keasbey Nights (1998)
Tomas Kalnoky's band before he formed Streetlight Manifesto.
Choking Victim- No Gods, No Managers (1999)
"Crack Rock Steady" pioneers, combining punk and ska with trashy lyrics and a little bit of death metal.
Streetlight Manifesto- Everything Goes Numb (2003)
Just listen to it. It's one of the best albums in the guide.
No-Cash- Run Your Pockets (2003)
Not much ska, but a monster of a crack rock steady album.
The Arrogant Sons of Bitches- Three Cheers for Disappointment (2006)
Jeff Rosenstock's band before he formed Bomb the Music Industry!. A "fuck everything" kind of album.
Folk-punk:
Punk with acoustic guitars and DIY ethos and lots of anarchy:
The Pogues- Rum, Sodomy & The Lash (1985)
Irish Celtic-punk. Influenced later bands like Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly.
Against Me!- Reinventing Axl Rose (2002)
Very influential on the current folk-punk scene. Heartfelt lyrics and anarchist sentiments.
Andrew Jackson Jihad- People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World (2007)
Super folky and plenty of honesty and vulnerability. Sean Bonnette is the fuck-up that you can't help but feel empathy for. If this tickles your fancy, listen to Can't Maintain and Knife Man.
Wingnut Dishwashers Union- Burn the Earth! Leave it Behind! (2009)
Anarcho-folk-punk from Pat the Bunny, also of Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains. More energetic and upbeat than the defeatist nihilism of Johnny Hobo.
Orgcore:
So punknews.org has become a force in the punk scene in the last decade. Albums that they are obsessed with are often referred to as "orgcore".
Jawbreaker- Dear You (1995)
Jawbreaker's major label debut and last album, and a bit more subdued than their previous efforts. The album certainly has its standouts but is a pretty important punk album for the 90s.
Dillinger Four- Midwestern Songs of the Americas (1998)
Infectious tunes from the influential Minneapolis collective. Perhaps the most consistent band of all time, you can't go wrong with any of their albums.
Propagandhi- Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes (2000)
Propagandhi's first full-on melodic hardcore album. Politically charged and aggressive. If you like the metal leanings, try Supporting Caste and Potemkin City Limits.
The Bouncing Souls- How I Spent My Summer Vacation (2001)
Catchy, anthemic punk.
Hot Water Music- Caution (2002)
Highly influential Gainesville punk.
The Lawrence Arms- The Greatest Story Ever Told (2003)
Classic album from the Chicago poppy punk trio. If you like it, check out Oh! Calcutta! and Apathy and Exhaustion.
Latterman- ...No Matter Where We Go! (2005)
Probably the most important punk album of the last decade. Latterman pretty much decided which direction punk would go in.
A Wilhelm Scream- Career Suicide (2007)
Melodic hardcore in the vein of Propagandhi and Strung Out. Some of the most technical guitar work you'll hear in all of punk.
Iron Chic- Not Like This (2010)
Feel-good posi-punk from post-Latterman group.
The Menzingers- On the Impossible Past (2012)
Heartfelt, Americana-tinged punk from Philadelphia. One of my personal favorites. If you like it, check out Chamberlain Waits and Rented World.
Against Me!- Transgender Dysphoria Blues (2014)
Against Me!'s singer, Laura Jane Grace, comes out as transgender and releases a modern punk masterpiece. She's another icon in punk that I think does it the right way. She doesn't care what other people think, and keeps doing her thing writing music even if punks think she "sold out" by joining a major label.
Modern Classics:
Other modern punk albums that I consider to be essentials:
The Thermals- The Body, The Blood, The Machine (2006)
Sugary, punky power-pop with a socio-political agenda.
Bomb the Music Industry!- Scrambles (2009)
With all their music free online, BtMI! embodied the DIY attitude like no other. Their music was all over the place, with synthesizers and ska riffs and a bells and a bunch of other stuff. This is what I consider to be their best album, but check out all their stuff.
Titus Andronicus- The Monitor (2010)
Epic work of art by a Springsteen-meets-Replacements sort of punk band. Frontman Patrick Stickles is self-loathing and nihilistic and it's the perfect soundtrack to a boring teenage life in suburbia.
The State Lottery- When the Night Comes (2010)
More Americana-punk, with some horns here and there. Anthemic and heartfelt.
Joyce Manor- Joyce Manor (2011)
18 minutes of brilliant pop-punk.
Toys That Kill- Fambly 42 (2012)
Super catchy stuff from the punk veterans, Toys that Kill.
Night Birds- Born to Die In Suburbia (2013)
Surf punk supergroup from NJ/NY, Night Birds may be the best new band in all of punk. Check out The Other Side of Darkness, Killer Waves, and Midnight Movies while you're at it.
Alright, there's your guide, so get listening!
Alright, there's your guide, so get listening!