Top Ten Punk Albums of All Time: Number 5

Operation Ivy (Berkeley, CA)
Energy (1989)

Operation Ivy existed briefly (two years) and broke up the same month their one and only album was released. That they reached the level of national popularity they did (without even the benefit of a band member dying tragically young) is testament to how great an album it is. Never mind that it was released well past punk's heyday, coming five years after the second-latest album on this list, Minor Threat's eponymous LP (with songs from 1981). Their mix of ska (e.g., “Sound System”), hardcore (e.g., “Jaded”), reggae (e.g., “Take Warning”), and old school punk melodies worthy of The Clash or the Ramones (e.g., “The Crowd”) made them deeply influential, so that certainly something like the success of Green Day owes a lot to them

Representative lyric:
Something breaks inside of you with the spectacle of all the shows, with fifteen fights and your six bucks has gone up some promoter's nose. Jaded eyes see clearly, but only half of what is there. Good old days are far behind; what's left is boredom and despair. But sometimes every once in a while, sometimes every once in a while . . .
It's beautiful—I would say—
I wouldn't have it—any other way.
If I said different—that would be a lie.
If I said different—that would be a lie.
(from “Jaded”)

Operation Ivy, “Unity”


Previously on the Top Ten Punk Albums of All Time:
Intro
Number 10: Suicidal Tendencies / Suicidal Tendencies
Number 9: Minor Threat / Minor Threat
Number 8: Bad Brains / Bad Brains
Number 7: The Clash / The Clash
Number 6: Dead Kennedys / Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables