Top Ten Punk Albums of All Time: Number 9

Minor Threat (Washington D.C.)
Minor Threat (1981, 1984)

Technically this 1984 LP is a compilation, which I had decided not to include in this list. But since it consists of Minor Threat's first two seven inches as opposed to, say, a collection of singles or “hits,” I'm breaking the rules—ooh, that's sooo punk. Kings of the D.C. hardcode scene, Minor Threat in many lays laid down the prototypical hardcore sound with these twelve tracks. And they're one of the few bands of any genre, or any era, to produce a song that inspired a lifestyle, Straight Edge, taken up by tens of thousands of young people (probably more) over the years. And no one has taken the punk DIY ethos further than frontman Ian MacKaye, especially through his record label, Dischord Records.

Representative lyric:
You tell me you like the taste—
You just need an excuse.
You tell me it calms your nerves—
You just think it looks cool.
You tell me you want to be different—
You just change for the same.
You tell me it's only natural—
You just need the proof.
(from “In My Eyes”)

Minor Threat, “Filler”


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