hArDCorE pUnk, the not quite but almost definitive list

By Grand-Imperialist
updated about 1 year ago

Some essentials .. curated to be lean 'n mean so far from complete and obviously with a ton of personal bias. I'm gonna stay away fro the pre-1980 KBD stuff here but it's gonna include some Punk cause the line is blurry eh.. In progress you dig?

  1. Pretty generic '82 sound h.c., interesting for historic reasons

  2. Their sound transformed into this hugely influential monster

  3. 1 For Sale from $200.00

    And out of the ashes of the Fartz rose Hardcore's own Eddie

  4. 10 For Sale from $32.15

    A more affordable UK reissue of the O.G. with more err 'grown up' artwork and bonus tracks. A great starting point.

  5. 27 For Sale from $26.88

    They hopped upon the Combat Crossover train and sounded more polished and metal.

  6. 8 For Sale from $10.00

    I'll include this one for the awesome Jeff Gaither artwork and because I rate it more than Open Casket. Again more polished sounding crossover but in a good way. Think early C.O.C. meets Martha. It all went a bit downhill after imo.

  7. Fairly bog standard UK fare, but enjoyable.

  8. 24 For Sale from $6.10

    If you have to pick one anti-Tatcher song to illustarte Punk's disdain for her then let it be this one.

  9. 1 For Sale from $70.00

    Fairly passable but hey, it's from Kentucky so bonus points for that

  10. 2 For Sale from $75.00

    They got it right this time. Great production and Rock Stars is the ultimate snarl and companion piece to Dead Rock N Rollers by Detention featured elsewhere here. It's Lexington vs L.A.!

  11. 2 For Sale from $200.00

    Catchy So-Cal influenced funnycore from New Jersey

  12. 17 For Sale from $24.84

    More of the same but with better production and more speed than their 1st EP

  13. As you can tell from the sleeve they're still really wacky, but now with a more crossover sound. They went on to release more but we'll leave it at this.

  14. 10 For Sale from $29.19

    Hits packed action fest Fullerton classic! Belongs in any So-Cal starters kit.

  15. 12 For Sale from $43.01

    Three classics for the price of three.

  16. 7 For Sale from $15.00

    Hard to leave this off the list, but doesn't do that much for me tbh. More of the same just not as good.

  17. 1 For Sale from $43.01

    Released 10 years after the fact, but this track is so iconic it deserves a spot here. Differnt (and better) than the album version. Essential

  18. 1 For Sale from $1,000.00

    Early LA monster. Not exactly HC yet but very influential

  19. Fast paced and aggro, what more to say. Buy on sight (urggghh)

  20. 2 For Sale from $675.00

    One of a handful of perfect H.C. albums, clocking in at under half an hour, all meat and no veg. Total classic, top 10.

  21. Now 'enhanced' with a more punchy crossover Combat sound that they would develop in the years to come. Broke them into a Metal audience but more and more away from the punk scene. Not half bad but pales in comparison to their previous and I'm not being purist AT ALL.