Best Pop Punk album you've heard (quality-wise)

[bigwig1987]

Originally Posted by rafter@vt.edu

Good call- It's excellent to see someone with such insight into current punk rock productions. I honestly get sick don't when people try to argue that punk "died" after 1977. It's just different now, and it's ****ing good too. Not many genres allow for $7 shows on weekdays and every album on vinyl from your favorite bands that have literally been playing for 10+ years.

Oh dude, totally. I get so mad when someone tells me that. There are a lot of great sounding punk records that don't get much credit in our community just because of the amount of recognition they receive(which is less than none.) It's gotten harder, faster, more aggressive, and more thought provoking than previous generations. They just keep pushing it. I love (what I consider) punk music. I love great sounding records. Is it bad to want to combine the 2, and make great sounding punk records? Nope. Look at the Blasting Room :)

Oh, and F**K the Sex Pistols.

[tommy lee]

Originally Posted by vernier

"Never Mind The Bullocks" ..probably the only recording that I'd call punk.

[tommy lee]

OrThe Feeding of the 5000
By Crass, not that bad and one of my first albums.

Tommy Lee

[xhavepatiencex]

Originally Posted by bigwig1987

I'm gonna up a few that haven't been listed:

Hot Water Music- Caution
Give up The Ghost- We're not down til we're underground
Bear Vs. Shark- Terrorhawk
Brand New- The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me
Crime In Stereo-Is Dead
Death By Stereo- Into The Valley of Death
The Get Up Kids- Something To Write Home About
The Lawrence Arms- Greatest Story Ever Told
No Trigger- Canyoneer
A Wilhelm Scream- Ruiner/Career Suicide
Propagandhi-Potemkin City Limits
Strike Anywhere- Exit English
This is a Standoff- Be Excited

And honestly, the new Paint It Black album, New Lexicon, has some of the sickest bottom end i've ever heard in any hardcore/punk/pop punk album ever.

really? the new crime in stereo? I do love that record but I think it does not sound very good. The guitar tones are not good on it... I do agree on down till we're underground, one of my fav hardcore albums soundwise.

[bigwig1987]

Originally Posted by xhavepatiencex

really? the new crime in stereo? I do love that record but I think it does not sound very good. The guitar tones are not good on it... I do agree on down till we're underground, one of my fav hardcore albums soundwise.

The guitars sound a little thin, but the drums sound really good in a different way. The cymbals are a little too bright, but over all I dig it.

[alohachris]

Aloha,

Since the recording era came in 100 years ago, America has always had the best pop music in the world.

There are cutting-edge examples in every era, every style really.

I've been listening to pop music for 55 years and have a collection from the 1920's forward. I love much of it, can't stand some. But acknowledge and respect almost all of it.

Digital technologies applied to music have produced an incredible range of cutting edge pop music examples. Think Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson on 'Thriller.'

But for me, the single biggest creative and technological leap forward in pop music - beyond Edison singing 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' in that first radio transmission - is the Beatles' ' Sargeant Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band." Nothing else comes close.

Just think about it, a four track Teac machine, the four lads and George Martin?!? That was pretty much it. People today have more technology on their wrists than the Beatles had on hand to produce that amazing 'pop' album.

Sargeant Pepper gets my vote for best all time!

alohachris

[manning1]

alohachris.
i agree about the pepper album.
actually i feel there was some craftyness on that album.
i suspect that they used two 4 trak tape machines.
build up beds on one 4 trak.
add more traks prolly while mixing to second etc etc.
according to this article studer 4 traks were used.
an interesting read....
Sonic State - News Sgt. Pepper’s only 8-Track Plan, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum to exhibit Studer tape recorder used on seminal Beatles album

[sharky]

Some of the following are for sonic achievement, some for stylistic reference for an era or specific recording trait. This is a quick list off the top of my head.
----------------------

Some Good Sounds in Commercial Punk-ish Modern Rock (titles not exact, spelling questionable):

Propagandhi - Potemkin City Limits ("How to clean everything" if you want the early Fat Wreck sound, best "punk" guitarist I've ever seen)
Jawbreaker - Dear You (JCM800 goodness)
Green Day - Warning (uber-tight)
Teen Idols - the Honest Don's band, not the Dischord one (First two records?) A lesson in harmony and how to rip three chords. Screeching Weasel could only dream of achieving what this band did right outta the gate.

Interesting or Good Sounds in Rock that may or may not be "Punk" (in fact probably aren't) but should be listened to for a lesson in how to record cool shit:

Fugazi - Anything. Red Medicine, the Argument and whatever record had "5 Corporations" especially
Burning Airlines - Identikit, Mission Control
Snapcase - 2nd to last record (I'm awesome with names, eh?)
The Refused - "Shape of sounds that will make you lose your shit while high"

Reagan Era Angst :

RKL - Rocknroll Nightmare (inspired countless bands that rose to infamy a decade later)
Bad Brains - Anything, but the reggae is lethally bad. Be afraid. (technically under Reagan, but I always associate them earlier for some reason)
Husker Du - Zen Arcade
No Means No - Tons of meat here, but I was partial to the ep with Biafra making me scared of Nuclear holocaust
Bad Religion - "Into the Unknown" (just kidding)
Bad Religion - "Suffer" (that's more like it.)
The Replacements - Celebrate their whole catalog
Minor Threat - or just skip ahead to Fugazi

Classic Sounds in things called "Punk" (or not!):

The Ramones - take your pick, I choose "Road to Ruin"
Sex Pistols - "Never mind things were just as commercial then, Here's some classic songs anyway"
MC5 - all types of ill shit
Led Zeppelin - the song "Communication Breakdown" always seemed to me to be an early harbinger of sounds that would later come to be called "punk"

Stuff that probably isn't "Punk" exactly or even remotely, but shares some DNA (may include un-abashed pop with heavy guitars):

Weezer - 1st two records (don't bother after that unless you absolutely adore them)
XTC - somebody mentioned it up top and it reminded me to spend some $$ to replace things lost, but soon to be recovered
The Pixies - required reading
The Posies - "Frosting on the Beater" (the song with the line "say goodbye to your friends and family..." is as good as it gets for me)
Drive Like Jehu - You'll say you like this better, but you'll put in Hot Snakes records when nobodies looking. Don't say you won't. I won't believe you.
Nirvana - Duh.

Damn there are so many more. But if you're 13 and reading this your uncle Sharky hasn't steered you wrong here.

I'm tired now. Someone else can add some stuff. I'll spare the thread a wordy, endlessly boring pontification on "pop" and "punk" and points in between, but I will say that there are some bands some people have named earlier in this thread that deserve to be dragged into court and tried for heinous crimes against both the terms "pop" AND "punk".

[Noize919]

Brand New - Deja Entendu

Not a big fan of the music but awesome sounding record.

P.S. The original poster said Pop Punk...90% of the bands people are listing dont fall under that category

[gollumsluvslave]

The Damned - New Rose

Sound, feel, the song.

Sums it all up for me.

Damn, no one in this thread even mentioned it!

Even worse, possibly *the* song that best fits 'pop-punk' as a genre hasn't been mentioned:-

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

Criminal!

[AntillesSound]

Set Your Goals-Mutiny!
Sum41-All Killer No Filler

hands down.

[Bitfiend]

pop-punk.....
Blink's last album
Starting Line - debut on a major, out last year i believe
Fall out Boy - from under the cork tree
Lost Prophets

oh yeah and sugarcult

[Bitfiend]

Originally Posted by jammybastard

how 'bout something recent....more punk than pop tho...

Against Me "New Wave"
solid production by Butch Vig

damn!!! how'd i forget this one!!

[UneducatedWeasel]

Hey all, long time reader, first time poster

Loving the new Against Me album at the moment

Originally Posted by paul101

Reuben-RACECAR IS RACECAR BACKWARDS
not technically pop punk and full of flaws, but has more vibe than any of the records above imo

Also have to mention Reuben. Current fav band of all time. Fantastic guys, absolute legends live. Unfortunately have just gone on indefinite hiatus (read pretty much broken up) which is very sad. Too much work, not enough cash flow. Listen to Freddy Kreuger, and Three Hail Mary's. God I wish I could get songs to sound like that...

[UneducatedWeasel]

Hey all, long time reader, first time poster. Loving the new Against Me album at the moment

Originally Posted by paul101

Reuben-RACECAR IS RACECAR BACKWARDS
not technically pop punk and full of flaws, but has more vibe than any of the records above imo

Also have to mention Reuben. Current fav band of all time. Fantastic guys, absolute legends live. Unfortunately have just gone on indefinite hiatus (read pretty much broken up) which is very sad. Too much work, not enough cash flow. Listen to Freddy Kreuger, and Three Hail Mary's. God I wish I could get songs to sound like that...

[neilio]

if it qualifies; the jimmy eat world stuff...

[sharky]

Originally Posted by neilio

if it qualifies; the jimmy eat world stuff...

Yeah, I think their major label stuff is a great reference for modern guitar-driven stuff. "Bleed American" is a permanent fixture on my reference CD.

[skythemusic]

These two words should never be used in the same sentence.

[skiltrip]

All - Allroy Saves

This is genius from beginning to end.

[skiltrip]

Originally Posted by skythemusic

These two words should never be used in the same sentence.

Get over it. They've been "used in the same sentence" for at LEAST the past 28 years.

It started out simply as punk with more melodic hooks. You can't say you like music if you don't like hooks.

No, I agree, the mass produced crap these days they are still calling pop-punk (are they calling it that?) is just an insult to everyone from Bad Religion to the Dead Kennedys.

[Elvis]

whoever thinks pop punk is an oxymoron obviously never went through that stage in junior high.

best pop punk production? depends on what era.

Ramones - rocket to russia

Screeching Weasel - Boogadaboogadaboogada!

Nofx - punk in drublic

Lawrence Arms - Apathy and exhaustion