Top Ten Punk Albums of All Time: Number 8

Bad Brains (Washington D.C.)
Bad Brains (1982)

Don't be fooled by the date above: these guys were immensely influential well before their long-awaited first album. Their influence extended not just to later hardcore/crossover bands, like Black Flag (via Henry Rollins), Minor Threat, the Cro-Mags and Corrosion of Conformity, but to many bands who went on to more mainstream success: the Beasite Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Living Colour, and No Doubt, among others.

Representative lyric (though I'm just guessing on some of this):
I say your dollar, dollar drop down real low.
You ain't got no gold to show.
We gonna step right through that door.
Not gonna come back no more.
I said the politicians lyin',
my momma's just a-dyin',
and nothin' ever comes of the day.
My papa's just a-sighin',
my sister does the lyin',
and I ain't got nothin' to say.
(from “Leaving Babylon”)

Bad Brains, “Attitude”


Previously on the Top Ten Punk Albums of All Time:
Intro
Number 10
Number 9