10 Perfect Punk Albums That Changed Rock Music History

You can't mention punk without bringing Patti Smith into the conversation. Her music might not be the first thing that springs to mind when you mention the genre, but in terms of punk ethos you don't get better then this.

The New York music scene during the '70s was a melting pot of musical innovation. Only a few years earlier, the Velvet Underground had been making avant-garde, seedy art rock. Although they weren't initially commercially successful, their music made a profound impact on the bohemian, artistic types of the city.

You had bands like the Ramones playing in venues alongside Talking Heads. Sonically you couldn't get much wider apart, but they shared the DIY ethos that punk rock embodied. Smith was inundated in the scene, she was perceptive enough to pick up on the different directions rock was going on. She combined the kind of poetic balladry of Bob Dylan with the minimalist approach of the pro-punks of the time.

This was three chord rock, that had a message. Smith was all about subverting conventions, from her androgynous album cover shot, to her blasphemous song themes. Her lyrics painted evocative pictures, with a revolutionary spirit, while leaving a certain amount of ambiguity to them. With Horses, Patti Smith became the God Mother of Punk.