One of the problems in seeking a consensus on the greatest punk album ever is that if you ask ten rock fans for their definition of punk rock you'll get ten different answers.
To some purists, 'punk' begins and ends with England's Class of '77 - The Damned, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks - while others argue that the true spirit of punk rock existed earlier on the other side of the Atlantic with The Stooges, MC5, Ramones and the New York Dolls, all subsequent bands being merely a dilution of the original sound.
There are also those - and this may be an age-related argument, admittedly - who will identify punk's finest hour as the early-to-mid '90s with the emergence of Green Day, Rancid, NOFX, The Offspring, and SoCal scene elders Bad Religion, while for another (younger) generation, it's Blink-182, Sum 41 and Paramore who are held up as scene gods.
An older generation, however, may sneer at these upstarts, and cite Black Flag, Germs, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, DOA and their hardcore brethren as the essential punk rebels, with the definitive releases. Or you could maintain that the influential Sub Pop, or Dischord, or SST, or Touch & Go labels released the genre's most essential records, via artists such as Big Black, Nation of Ulysses, Bikini Kill or Minutemen.
Personally, I know people who'd argue until their dying breath that The Crack by The Ruts, or Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material, or the first, self-titled Killing Joke album are the greatest punk records you'll ever hear. But... have these people heard Randy The Band or Blood Guts & Pussy, or The Shape Of Punk To Come or Entertainment before choosing these hills to die on? Maybe, maybe not.
Not easy, is it?
So this is where you come in. Kindly tell us in the comments below what YOU think is the greatest punk record ever, and why.
