10 Perfect Albums That Changed Rock History
5. The Ramones - Ramones
As much as acts like Zeppelin may have set the world on fire in the early '70s, it started to look a bit old and stale by the back half of the decade. These guys didn't really seem like the kind of rockers of the '60s...they were gods among men and playing the kind of music that few could only dream of playing. So to actually take things back to its roots, we had to get back to the basics of rock and roll.
Although people like The Sex Pistols and The Clash always get the distinction of being one of the first punk rock bands, the Ramones beat them to the punch with their self titled debut record. Birthed out of the bowels of New York's street scene, these four non brothers played some of the fastest and to the point rock music ever created, with no song eclipsing 3 minutes and virtually no solos to speak of.
And that's because they didn't need solos to get their point across. Clocking in at just under a half hour, this album was the launching pad for what would become punk rock, with fans getting lot faster as a result and going in more political directions as well. People like the Clash might be more celebrated nowadays, but the clarion call of punk began the minute that we heard Dee Dee count to four.