10 Best Pop-Punk Records
3. Rocket To Russia - Ramones
No matter who you talk to in the pop-punk scene, almost every musician traces their lineage back to one band: the Ramones. Throughout the group's initial run, the Ramones were the architects who crafted what pop-punk would be. The band's penchant for playing pop tunes was perfectly juxtaposed with their incessant need to play their songs at a rapid-fire pace.
Even though the band's self-titled album heralded more classic songs, Rocket to Russia was where the band truly refined their sound into tight, 2-minute pop masterpieces. The punk jewels found in "Rockaway Beach" and "We're a Happy Family" are some of the greatest examples of the band flying off the hinges with massive amounts of attitude. The lyrics also set the precedent for the pop-punk genre like the down-on-your-luck hope of "I Wanna Be Well" and the mindless party vibes of "Do You Wanna Dance?."
From this point on, every pop-punk act used the Ramones' discography as a barometer for how to measure their work. The pop-punk scene didn't see major success for a few more years, but for anyone even mildly interested in the genre, this record is ground zero.