10 Most Underrated Punk Albums Ever
6. Sham 69 - That's Life
The dilemma of first wave punk was that it was founded on anarchistic, anti-establishment views which alienated it from commercial success almost by default in most cases. Despite this, Sham 69 managed to tap into the commercial viability of the genre and (with exception to Sex Pistols and The Clash) were some of Britain’s most commercially successful punks.
Considering their chart history, Sham 69 should be hailed as one of Britain’s key punk bands alongside names such as The Damned, but in most cases they simply aren’t. Their second album in particular, ‘That’s Life’, came out in 1978 and gave the band their first top 10 hits in ‘Hurry Up Harry’ and ‘If The Kids Are United’. So, why is this great album not more commonly acknowledged?
This record is mainly ignored by an audience wider than punk because of Sham 69’s follow up album, ‘The Adventures of the Hersham Boys’, which was the band’s only top 10 album. Despite the third album’s runaway success (for a punk album), ‘That’s Life’ is still Sham 69’s best album, highlighted by key songs such as ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’.