10 Perfect Punk Albums That Changed Rock Music History

You could point to a handful of groups who did the punk thing before the Ramones, but no one did it with such unrefined brilliance. No one thought to take the high powered energy of MC5 and the Stooges, and combine it with the vocal melodies of the Beach Boys... not until the Ramones, anyway.

Their New York contemporaries, Television, were skipping out the punk thing, and getting a start on the post-punk sound; Patti Smith was combing spoken word poetry with low fi rock; and Talking Heads were developing dance rock as an emerging trend. This was what the Ramones were up against; no one would disagree that the Ramones' sound was far less sophisticated.

But they managed to capture the essence of what rock was, stripping things down to the bear essentials. The lyrical content wasn't overtly highbrow; it was simply, observational musings about life in the sordid and impoverished areas of New York City. They delivered it in such an affective and captivating manor, that their lack of refined skill didn't matter for a second.

From the garage rock anthem, Blitzkrieg Bop, to the surfer rock, love-ballad, I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, This is the perfect marrying of punk and pop ever put to vinyl.

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