10 Classic Albums That Are Criminally Short

When putting together an album, most people would want it to feel like a grandiose statement. If you've gotten used to the more epic rollouts that happen for albums nowadays, it's not out of question to make something that means a lot more than just notes blaring out of a speaker. Then again, sometimes it's the records with the least amount of BS that are able to win people over.

Aside from having some of the best material in their field, these records are known for not having that much meat on their bones. For all of the kickass tunes that are on display here, there's really not that much of them compared to what we could have gotten. Most people listening to an album normally are used to being in the fold for maybe an hour or so, but these are the polar opposite. You get in, you shred minds, and you get out before the audience even knows what hit them.

There's honestly something to respect about that too. As much as you could stretch your singles out for all they're worth, these records give you exactly what you want and get the job done with as little fuss as possible. Considering the slim runtime of all of these records, it's nice they cut out any of the mediocre bits along the way.

Punk rock as a genre is not necessarily known to be the most long winded of genres in the first place. After all, when you have someone playing that fast over each and every one of their songs, there's only so much that your average music fan can take in all at once. Then again, Milo Goes to College feels like it's done right as it seems to be getting started.

Along with fellow punk acts around the same time like Bad Religion, the Descendants were equally informed by the Ramones as they were with acts like Minor Threat, taking bits and pieces from hardcore and mixing it with some of the most aggressive playing of the time. In the lyrical department though, there was a far more bratty sentiment being laid down here, with each line sounding like it could have been written by some whacked out suburban kid.

While not getting the proper credit, this is probably the clearest antecedent to pop punk since the Ramones, with Tom DeLonge citing this record as one of the first things that influenced him to play guitar when putting Blink-182 together. Whereas most kids decide to kick back and try to ignore their problems, this is an album that's facing them head on and willing to go down with the ship if they have to.