Other outlets' rankings

The new "chart of others" we're presenting is dedicated to one of the most beloved genres on this site: post-punk. This time it's "The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums Ever", the list published by PopMatters selecting what, in their view, are the 50 essential titles of the genre. Here we find some of the essential albums of the post-punk era of the '70s and '80s, when, in an attempt to break free from rock clichés and the already established patterns of the punk scene, new artists incorporated avant-garde influences, funky rhythms and more complex, menacing textures to drive a new movement that celebrated innovation in all its stylistic forms. In an age of post-punk revival (or rebirth, as the more cynical would call it), it's always worth going back to the originals, the sources of inspiration that the new generation of bands bringing this genre back into the spotlight have drawn upon. In short, if you want to know where contemporary acts like Fontaines DC, Shame, Sleaford Mods, Idles, Goat Girl, Protomartyr, Iceage, Girl Band and Murder Capital drew their inspiration from, you'll find plenty of answers here.

Here is PopMatters' ranking of the 50 best post-punk albums of all time (full feature here).

On OndaRock, meanwhile, you can find a podcast dedicated to the birth of post-punk.

50. Gang Of Four – Solid Gold (1981)

49. The Durutti Column – The Return Of The Durutti Column (1980)

48. Au Pairs – Sense And Sensuality (1982)

47. Adam And The Ants – Kings Of The Wild Frontier (1980)

46. Tuxedomoon – Half-Mute (1980)

45. Throbbing Gristle – 20 Jazz Funk Greats (1979)

44. Josef K – The Only Fun In Town (1981)

43. Public Image Ltd – First Issue (1978)

42. Liliput – Liliput (1982)

41. The Birthday Party – Prayers On Fire (1981)

40. The B-52’s – The B-52’s (1979)

39. The Fall – Hex Enduction Hour (1982)

38. The Feelies – Crazy Rhythms (1980)

37. Siouxsie And The Banshees – Juju (1981)

36. Mission Of Burma – Signals, Calls, And Marches (1981)

35. This Heat – This Heat (1979)

34. Essential Logic – Beat Rhythm News (1979)

33. The Cure – Pornography (1982)

32. ESG – Come Away With ESG (1983)

31. Magazine – Real Life (1978)

30. Echo & The Bunnymen – Porcupine (1983)

29. Pylon – Gyrate (1980)

28. Pere Ubu – Dub Housing (1978)

27. The Chameleons – Script Of The Bridge (1983)

26. Bauhaus – In The Flat Field (1980)

25. Cabaret Voltaire – Red Mecca (1981)

24. Orange Juice – You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever (1982)

23. Killing Joke – Killing Joke (1980)

22. Swell Maps – Jane From Occupied Europe (1980)

21. Lizzy Mercier Descloux – Press Color (1979)

20. James Chance And The Contortions – Buy (1979)

19. Mission Of Burma – Vs. (1982)

18. The Art Of Noise – Who’s Afraid Of The Art Of Noise? (1984)

17. The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace (1985)

16. Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978)

15. This Heat – Deceit (1981)

14. The Residents – Eskimo (1979)

13. Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth (1980)

12. Talking Heads – Talking Heads: 77 (1977)

11. The Pop Group – Y (1979)

10. Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (1979)

9. Television – Marquee Moon (1977)

8. Wire – Pink Flag (1977)

7. Suicide – Suicide (1977)

6. The Raincoats – The Raincoats (1979)

5. Public Image Ltd – Metal Box (1979)

4. The Slits – Cut (1979)

3. Talking Heads – Remain In Light (1980)

2. Joy Division – Closer (1980)

1. Gang Of Four – Entertainment!(1979)

In an England consumed by punk fever, there were also those already looking ahead. Curious, impatient, and ultimately inconvenient people. Because in the punk era, you had to be and sound punk. And whoever abstained from the fight was, at best, a turncoat. Like Howard Trafford “Devoto”. A man who had already written punk history, right from the start, in the ranks of pioneers Buzzcocks, and who would go on to find brilliant new creative ground fronting Magazine. A tendency that at the time was also infecting bands like Stranglers, Wire and Ultravox!, all determined to shake off the punk formula learned by rote and – horror of horrors! – open up to keyboards and sophisticated arrangements, looking to the tradition of British pop and to the high-end glam-rock of Bowie–Roxy Music, but also to the more melodic side of kraut-rock and the “icier” side of funk and soul.

So, while “God Save The Queen” had yet to finish rattling Buckingham Palace, a new generation of bands was crossing genre boundaries in search of new frontiers. Many of the punk pioneers themselves would be at the forefront of this shift, including some of the heroes of that era, like the Clash, who moved toward new fusions of dub and pop, and John Lydon, frontman of the Sex Pistols, who would transform into the dark, irreverent muezzin of Public Image Ltd. No less significant was the woman who, from being a Pistols groupie (in the famous Bromley Contingent), would become the queen of the new darkwave: Siouxsie Sioux, fronting her Banshees, worthy companions to the other ex-punks struck down on the road to the darkest strain of rock, namely Joy Division (soon followed by Cure).

In short, a revolution in the truest sense. Some would take it in a funk-punk direction (Talking Heads, Pop Group, Gang Of Four), others would lean more toward the avant-garde (Wire, Tuxedomoon, Pere Ubu), and others would refine a warped noisiness particularly dear to the new generations of Y2K post-post-punk (Fall). Not to mention the demented pop-rock of Devo and the neurotic “crazy rhythms” of the Feelies.

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28/02/2026