My Essential Punk Rock Discography

Even though this is my personal list, every record listed here is invaluable for its historic and artistic significance and are listed in no particular order. Every band here, though all comfortably fitting in the Fast/Loud category, has a strong identity and sound, and no two of these bands are alike, whether in concept, sound or image. 

I consider every band on this list to be trailblazers and pioneers, and all of these records to be essential documents of a time and place. So if you want to know what my personal experience of Punk was like, buy these records, research these bands and ponder what the difference is between them and the modern acts that call themselves Punk Rock. 

Doctor Strange is Always Changing Size

I'm probably a bit older than a lot of you out there. And I'm very grateful for that. I also had a lifeline to the culture of the 50s and 60s through my aunts and uncles, and spent much too much time alone when I was a kid. 

And having a touch of puer aeternus, I've been able to experience five decades of youth culture, even if it was often second hand.

The Witches' (Black) Sabbath

 

Back when I was a kid the only you got to see your favorite rock bands was on late weekend nights -- usually Saturdays -- with shows like Don Kirschner's Rock Concert or Midnight Special. 

There were a few scattered shows here and there that showed music videos, and if you absolutely had to, there was Dick Clark's loathsome American Bandstand. 

Read Us the Book of the Names of the Dead.

If the Aquarian spirit of the late Sixties essentially kept its sunny disposition in California New Age mysticism, its East Coast counterpart found a distinctly darker expression, with the OTO (or more accurately, competing OTO sects) rising to pole position among the welter of witch cults that popped up like mushrooms after a rainstorm.

Killer Clowns from Other Space

 

I've been trying to wrap my head around the events of the past two weeks, on account it seems like somebody might have opened a Gate or broken a Seal somewhere. I'm still waiting for some fresh shoes to drop so please bear with me while the apocalyptic cake bakes. But then again, you don't probably need to tell you just how weird everything seems to have gotten out there, as if the Watchers may have come back from vacation and wanted to hit the ground running.

Well, we know how this all started, but the Secret Sunnification of the entire world isn't truly complete without a certain quartet of apocalyptic horsemen. And right on cue, they done rode into town...

Heavy Metal B.C.

Metallic Mysteries and Headbanging Hellenes

It’s not a shocking new revelation to compare rock ‘n’ roll to ancient pagan rituals. Writers have been throwing the term “Dionysian” around since Elvis first showed that a white man could sing the blues.