I’d like to think Henry Rollins knows more than most people, and not just about things related to music. But as the former figurehead of Black Flag, State of Alert, and Rollins Band, he especially knows his punk music, and thus his list of his 20 favorite punk albums might as well be etched in stone and placed in court houses all around America.



Rollins published the list as part of his weekly column with West Coast Sound. He prefaced his selections by first attempting to define punk music, because a lot of the music you consider punk music is not punk music.

“This list is in no particular order. Lists like these often get confusing because they beg the question, what is Punk? Could Wire, also be considered Post Punk? Where do you put bands like PIL, Joy Division, Television, Patti Smith, Suicide, and Killing Joke? What about Gang of Four, 999 and the Banshees?

“For me, as a lean definition, I go by the classic UK 1977 graduating class, Pistols, Clash, etc., and go from there. Beyond that, there were a lot of great Punk Rock bands who never made full albums. The Machines, The Killjoys, Some Chicken, and countless others. So many great bands and great records in this genre and the surrounding/resulting genres. Best bet is just to get the music playing for as long as possible.”

Of course, being the humble spirit that he is, Rollins also omitted any of his own albums, including Black Flag’s Damaged, but whatevers.com. This is still a rock solid list, though I could probably do with a few more Clash albums.

The Clash – The Clash

Generation X – Generation X

The Adverts – Crossing the Red Sea

X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescents

Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks

The Ramones – The Ramones

Eater – The Album

The Damned – Damned Damned Damned

The Fall – Hex Enduction Hour

The Buzzcocks – Another Music In A Different Kitchen

The Saints – (I’m) Stranded

UK Subs – Another Kind of Blues

Wire – Pink Flag

The Lurkers – Fulham Fallout

Alternate TV – The Image Has Cracked

The Ruts – The Crack

The Germs – GI

X – Los Angeles

The Minutemen – The Punchline

Stiff Little Fingers – Inflammable Material