CVLT Nation’s
Top Ten North American Hardcore Albums of the 80’s

CVLT Nation’s Top Ten North American Hardcore Albums of the 80’s
By Stuart Ure

In the early 80’s, Detroit was a hotbed of activity in the punk scene. Local venues were plentiful within the Cass Corridor – an all but abandoned area of downtown known for its derelict buildings and high crime rate. It was the punk epicenter for the Detroit scene, with Clutch Cargo’s/City Club on W. Elizabeth, The Freezer Theatre on Cass and a few blocks down, The Clubhouse (a storefront turned practice space for local hardcore legends, Negative Approach). During a brief but glorious period, Detroit had a large and hungry scene and it was lauded as a must-visit city for touring bands.

It was here, in this filthy, crime-ridden city, that I was able to see these bands at the zenith of their respective careers. With a borrowed ID and the nominal sum of $4 or $5 dollars in your pocket, you could see bands like The Damned, Necros & Negative Approach sharing the same bill. Records were pressed prior to the tour, DIY sleeves were hand-glued and then sold from the backs of rusted-out tour vans (what I wouldn’t give to still have my original copy of “Walk Among Us,” purchased directly off of Glenn Danzig after one of their more infamous Detroit shows). And so it was that a respectable and much-beloved album collection was formed. Not every album was acquired at a show, but after seeing Bad Brains for the first time, you’d find yourself immediately sourcing every LP and single you could get your grubby little mitts on from the local record stores.

This is what I consider to be my Top Ten North American Hardcore Albums of the 80’s. It must be mentioned that many formative and important records didn’t make the list simply because they were released pre-1980. Of note, two albums by The Dickies, The Incredible Shrinking Dickies and Dawn of the Dickies, both released in 1979. It is my full intention to include The Dickies in a future post on North American punk in the 70’s. But I digress, … in no particular order:
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Bad Brains “Bad Brains” (1980)

When I first heard the single, “Pay To Cum” I thought it was being played at the wrong speed. I’d never heard anything like it. My heart wanted to explode from my chest. Bad Brains unloaded a barrage of raw power that has yet to be equalled. From the opening click-click-click-click drumstick lead into “Sailin’ On” through the bass kick sonic sledgehammering on “Big Take Over”, this is one of the finest examples of American hardcore ever recorded. Ground-breaking, relentless and unstoppable, Bad Brains self-titled debut is unquestionably one of the most important punk albums of the era.

Misfits “Walk Among Us” (1982)

I know I’m going to make some enemies by calling this recording sloppy but that’s what I love about it. It’s raw, unpolished and a sheer delight to listen to. For those who never had the chance to see the band live, before infighting and egos destroyed this legendary quartet during an annual Halloween show at Greystone Hall in Detroit a year and a half later, this is the next best thing. For me, this is the Misfits at their finest. It’s a culmination of B-movie horror madness set at a pace guaranteed to make your blood boil up behind your eyes. Nothing the band did prior or since (I refuse to believe that the Misfits continued without Danzig at the helm), can hold a candle to this 13 song masterpiece. “Walk Among Us” defiantly blazes a trail straight into the horror-punk genre it created. It is worthy of the highest praise. Don’t even THINK of continuing on WITHOUT listening to “Skulls”.

Black Flag “Damaged” (1981)

This was a tough one because I’m a real fan of the Ron Reyes/Dez Cadena days before Henry Rollins took over as vocal juggernaut but since technically Reyes and Cadena only laid down vocals on the early EP’s and singles rather than a full studio LP, I had to go with Black Flag’s “Damaged” as their entry point into the Top Ten. Don’t get me wrong, Rollins brought the band from relative regional obscurity into the nationally known act Black Flag became. I just thought I’d make mention of Reyes & Cadena (and also Keith Morris) so that they’re less likely to be a footnote in Black Flag’s rich and colorful past. (Go back and listen to the “Jealous Again” EP (Reyes) and “Six Pack” EP (Cadena) as a point of reference).

“Damaged” holds a special place in my heart which is largely due to the presence of Henry Rollins. The sheer ferocity in which he delivers each word is like watching a prize fighter pummel his opponent with everything he has even though he’s barely capable of standing himself – a desperate man is a dangerous man. It is raw. It is pure. And man, it is ANGRY! I would be remiss in not mentioning the opening chords of the first track on the album. In “Rise Above”, Greg Ginn’s guitar switches on and instantly hits you between the eyes with a ball-peen hammer. Cadena comes in a few bars later and as the two guitars combine, we bear witness to a sound that can only be described as a squadron of B-52’s descending on a bomb run. “Damaged” is a very special album. It is relentless and Rollins is absolutely menacing.

D.O.A. “Something Better Change” (1980)

Rollins once said that as a young person seeing D.O.A. play live “was monumental, change-your-life, blown away time”. Their studio recordings could never compare to that but hearing “Something Better Change” for the first time came pretty damn close. This is as good as it gets. Clocking in at just under an hour of content, it’s a volume of vitriolic pissed off with good reason anti-establishment anthems. There is nothing out there that I can even compare this to. Dead Kennedy’s came close with their politically charged lyrics but they played it sardonically. D.O.A. cut right to the chase and close to the bone with each and every song on this album – they leave no room for interpretation. It is quick, concise and very, very angry. In spite of this, the album carries through in a very melodic manner with catchy riffs throughout (predominantly evident in songs like, “World War 3” and in slower numbers like, “Watcha Gonna Do?”). D.O.A. is one of those bands that never ever compromised. They were one of the absolutely hardest touring hardcore bands on record. If you didn’t get the chance to see them live back in the day, this is a sweet consolation prize. D.O.A.’s incredible debut, “Something Better Change” is EASILY one of my favorite hardcore punk albums ever.

Dead Kennedys “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” (1980)

This stands as a testament to a time when the American government was doing some very, very naughty things around the world and pissing off a hell of a lot of people in the process… wait a minute! “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” could just as easily be written in response to today’s headlines. It’s a scathing diatribe delivered with utter disgust and contempt for the political agendas of a Government drunk with power. Dead Kennedy’s pull no punches here. Though much of the content is in direct correlation to civic concerns, “Kill The Poor” and “Let’s Lynch The Landlord”, you can see that, in the big scope of things, Dead Kennedys were gunning for bigger game all the while painting targets on the State & Federal governments. The album concludes with the American hardcore classic, “Holiday In Cambodia” – to this day an epic song with expressive musical prowess and shame inducing lyrics. Always delivered with a wink to the listener, the songs speak to the repressed and the helpless with irony and wit, invoking a feeling that, hey… you know, he’s fucking right… it’s better to be pissed off than pissed on! The album is a dark civics class that each and every listener should enroll in. Controversial and contemptuous, this is essential listening.

Minor Threat “Complete Discography” (1989)

My first exposure to Minor Threat came from a borrowed compilation album of DC bands called, “Flex Your Head” (1982) which featured bands such as Teen Idles, Artificial Peace, State of Alert (vocals provided by a young Henry Garfield, later to take the stage name of Henry Rollins when he joined Black Flag) and of course, Minor Threat. Most of the bands on the album were of modest talent, however generic they may have sounded they were still interesting. But when the needle hit the Minor Threat tracks on the album, you realized you had discovered something very special. I’d never heard instruments played like that before. From the opening salvo of Lyle Preslar’s guitar in “Stand Up” to the track that followed, a full throttle cave-in-your-head cover of the Wire classic, “12XU” – you knew you had to own EVERYTHING by this band. Minor Threat’s “Complete Discography” (1989) covers the band’s brief yet brilliant history. It includes “Minor Threat” EP (1981), “In My Eyes” EP (1981), “Out of Step” LP (1983) & “Salad Days” EP (recorded in 1983 but released in 1985) as well as the two tracks on the “Flex Your Head” (1982) compilation. It’s ALL here in this concise collection. Though the group disbanded in 1983, they were one of the greatest offerings to come out of DC in the 80’s – this is flawless, timeless and as solid as it gets.

Social Distortion “Mommy’s Little Monster” (1983)

What distinguished this album and band from its contemporaries was the fact that these guys not only knew how to play their instruments but they knew how to write songs. In 1983, Mike Ness wrote a masterpiece and for nearly 35 years, he has continued to write profoundly melodic music, all the while true to his punk rock roots. When “Mommy’s Little Monster” came out it was as if a whole new world had opened up for me. It ushered into my life a sound that the Midwest bands hadn’t been capable of creating – a genuine, straight from the heart treatise on what it felt like to be at that age at that time in that scene… all tied up in a beautifully produced package. Punk rock wasn’t supposed to sound this good, but suddenly it DID! The production on it was so polished and lushly layered compared to what I was accustomed to. The songs spoke to me – it wasn’t just your typical teen angst whining or contempt for Reagan’s foreign policy. They were about desperate rebellion… they were about love, loss and redemption. They sang about my life and how it felt to be “different” in a generic and colorless suburban world. This album was my “Catcher In The Rye”. It got me through a difficult time by simply letting me know that I wasn’t standing alone in my little corner of the world and it wasn’t so bad being in “Another State of Mind”.

Channel 3 “Fear of Life” (1982)

Front to back this debut album from Channel 3 is rife with clever, power driven songs. Sharing the same Orange County suburban landscape as that of Social Distortion, this band took a slightly different route in style, highlighted by tandem guitar riffs that mimicked the rapid chop of helicopter blades and machine gun fire. That isn’t to say that the compositions aren’t lacking in melodic flare – you can’t help but feel your brain bouncing off the walls of your skull when you hear, “I’ve Got A Gun”. The entire album is what I consider to be the definitive Orange County hardcore sound (owing largely, I imagine, to the Posh Boy label). Worth noting is one of the few political songs on the album, “Manzanar”, a scathing denouncement of the United States government’s own use of concentration camps on American soil to inter Japanese Americans during World War 2. Between this album, Agent Orange’s “Living In Darkness” (1981) and Social Distortion’s “Mommy’s Little Monster” (1983), you’ll have a pretty good idea of what Orange County hardcore offered up sound-wise in the early 80’s.

The Effigies “Remains Nonviewable” (1989)

Hailing from Chicago, The Effigies had a sound that was entirely unique. You’d be very hard pressed to discern where exactly that sort of sound came from. Certainly there were elements of UK post-punk outfits like Killing Joke, Gang of Four and Joy Division (The Effigies eventually covered, Joy Division’s “No Love Lost” on 1985’s “Fly On A Wire”) but The Effigies pushed forth a sound that could only be described as “working class” – it was guttural and raw without sounding unpolished – it held absolutely no pretention yet it was delivered in an honest and melodic manner. “Remains Nonviewable” (1989) is an anthology which largely strings together The Effigies early releases, “Haunted Town” EP (1981), the “Bodybag/Security” single (1982), “We’re Da Machine” EP (1983) and 4 tracks from their 1984 LP, “For Ever Grounded”. The early material is what’s really exciting here. In “Mob Clash” front man, John Kezdy offers up a sarcastic dissection on mob mentality, “Beat a man you’re someone, with a mob to back you up…” over an ominous and menacing guitar style reminiscent of early Killing Joke. “Below The Drop” is a flat out refusal to buy into the false promises of organized religion, “Religious convention is your own invention, called the lightning-fast fist of Man”. Perhaps one of the finest songs on the album is, “Quota”, a scathing rant on the working man feeling small and powerless to the demands and bureaucracies that confront him every day, “I’m too tired when I come home, to fight all the things I have been shown”. This collection is a fine departure point for those wanting to discover what was coming out of Chicago in the early to mid-80’s. It also serves as a great companion piece to the documentary, “You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk, 1977–1984”.

Hüsker Dü “Zen Arcade” (1984)

Minnesota’s Hüsker Dü were a three piece outfit that charged out of the gate with feedback laced wall of sound that was unparalleled and ground breaking. Early releases were far from your typical punk rock fare of the time. In spite of falling under the banner of American hardcore, Hüsker Dü was a band that you instantly knew would not be defined by any set genre for long – they were destined to do great things. In the summer of 1984, Greg Ginn’s label SST released a masterpiece. Hüsker Dü’s “Zen Arcade” was epic in scope. It was almost impossible to believe that a hardcore band would release a double album of content at that time. What makes it all the more amazing is that the record was a concept album! The record tells the story of a troubled youth who runs away from home into an uncaring world where society’s institutions fail him and the city’s seedy offerings of opiates offer little hope. In the end, he accepts that his issues have to be confronted head-on without having to rely on the assistance of others. It’s a sprawling effort and worthy of high praise. The album weaves in and out of its punk rock conventions into carefully constructed pop anthems and ballads. Hüsker Dü successfully flexes their creative muscle on this album. It’s raw, magnificent and an absolutely stellar representation of a very talented band’s song writing ability and musical prowess. It’s not an easy listen but if you give the album a chance it will only leave your turntable when you want to flip sides or put on the second disc.

Honorable mention:
Circle Jerks “Group Sex” (1980)
Subhumans (Canadian) “Incorrect Thoughts” (1980)
The Descendents “Milo Goes To College” (1982)
Bad Brains “Rock For Light” (1983)
Husker Du “Metal Circus” EP (1983)
Negative Approach “Tied Down” (1983)
Youth Brigade “Sound & Fury” (1983)
Marginal Man “Identity” EP(1984)
Minutemen “Double Nickels On The Dime” (1984)
Scream “This Side Up” (1985)