20 Most IMPORTANT Classic Rock Albums Ever Made

Punk was a genre that was sorely needed in the late 70's. After too many bands got bogged down in pretentious prog music and incessant soloing, here was a genre that had no time for any gimmicks and got right to the point with songs that had the sonic sharpness of a switchblade. Bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols certainly had their fans, but it took The Clash's London Calling to show what punk could do.

Rather than just make another album of political diatribes, this double record shows the Clash throwing caution to the wind and bringing in every genre they can think of to create the sound they wanted to hear. There is a lot of punk to go around like on the title track, but the band take on rockabilly, pop, and even reggae styles to create an eclectic musical menagerie that almost anyone can enjoy.

Coupled with the differing sounds are the lyrics, which run the gamut with songs about the lack of trust, consumerism, political uprisings, and drug dealing. At a time when punk was still looked at as a meatheaded genre, these lyrics gave punks something to say aside from destruction. The focus may have been on London, but this was a message for the entire world of rock that things were going to be different.