10 Perfect Punk Albums That Changed Rock Music History

10. MC5: Kick Out The Jams (1969)

1976 was the year punk rock officially arrived. The Ramones dropped their debut, and pretty soon British groups like the Damned and the Clash followed suit. But Punk didn't happen in a vacuum. Since the late '60s rock groups were doing their upmost to kick against the pr*cks.

The war in Vietnam was raging, and the hippie movement was going strong; counterculture was the driving force of the youth; and in rock, the dominate fad was prolonged guitar solos and shrieking frontmen. But the self-indulgent nature of groups like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, didn't land with everyone.

Detroit group MC5 was kicking out gritty, fast-paced rock, pumped full of attitude, energy and feedback. In true punk fashion, they broke onto the scene hard and fast; just three years after the release of the debut album, they disintegrated into drug-addled bedlam.

This was punk before punk had a name. Songs were punchy, easy to remember, and lit an antiestablishment fire under your arse. You want to know how punk came to be? This album birthed it.