10 Punk Albums You Need To Own

For many punk fans, it felt like the ground had shifted the first time you heard the Clash. While punk had already been a cultural force before the band made waves on the scene, they were the first to take the genre into the political sphere and make it feel like a real social movement. Though the band's first album is the first taste of that punky bombast, London Calling is the crowned jewel of what this band stood for.

There is a lot of punk rock to go around, but this double album of material shows the band flirting with almost any genre that will suit them, from the rockabilly of "Brand New Cadillac" to the reggae stylings of "The Guns of Brixton." While true punks would argue about the less aggressive side of the record, the band's decision to step away from the traditional song structures showed them to be innovators in their field, bringing every single great genre under one roof.

Even apart from the music, the lyrics are some of the most pertinent messages in the punk rock canon, from the social unrest on the title track to the disillusion with everyday matters on "Lost in the Supermarket." It may seem a bit pretentious for the Clash to be billed as the Only Band That Mattered, but after a few listens to this record, it's not like they're necessarily wrong.