20 Greatest Post-Punk Albums Of All Time

Rankings misrepresent the spirit of the genre but oh well. Here are my picks:

1.) The Chameleons: Script Of The Bridge
-A landmark album and one of the few post-punk works to rival Revolver, Kind of Blue and other timeless masterpieces. One critic likened it, as a debut, to Shakespeare's Hamlet.

2.) Breathless: Chasing Promises
-Widely considered the best of the genre. Elegy and romance unrivalled for the past 25 years. Many critics cite "Smash Palace" as one of the greatest songs ever recorded.

3.) Echo and the Bunnymen: Heaven Up Here
-A haunting greatness: "Over the Wall," "Turquoise Days," and "I, Zimbo" are all brilliant.

4.) The Comsat Angels: Sleep No More
-New Musical Express called "Waiting For A Miracle" the greatest debut in rock history, but this was superior. "Gone" might be better than anything Ian Curtis ever did.

5.) Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
- Presaged a generation. Still sounds refreshing.

6.) Asylum Party: Borderlines
One of the great albums no one has heard. It is virtually impossible to find and probably the best album from 1987 to 1990.

7.) The Sound: From The Lion's Mouth
- Raw and elegant, uncompromising and naked. Personally, I like this better than Unknown Pleasures.

8.) The Chameleons: Strange Times
What's to say? An amazing work.

9.) Gang of Four: Entertainment -One of the most important documents (and manifestos) of the era.

10.) Lowlife: Dimuendo
-"A Sullen Sky" is one of the era's perfect songs.

11.) Echo and the Bunnymen: Ocean Rain
-"Killing Moon" and "Ocean Rain" make the album.

12.) The Cocteau Twins: Treasure
They invented their own genre and this was arguably their finest.

13.) Magazine: Real Life
So innovative.

14.)The Chameleons: What Does Anything Mean Basically?
-The best band of the eighties scores again. "Nostalgia" and "One Flesh" are unreal.

15.) Echo and The Bunnymen: Porcupine
-Their most complex and rewarding.

16.) The Cure: Pornography
-A great album, but not as focused, nuanced, or insightful as those listed before.

17.) The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead
-An album everyone thought was brilliant in high school, but still great. Just not as good as advertised.

18.) The Cocteau Twins: Garlands
Some people have this on their top 5. It's just hard with so many to choose.

19.) Joy Division: Closer
-Never gets old.

20.) Ultravox: Lament
-Arguably the finest and best produced synth album of the 1980s.

Honorable mention--- Xymox: Twist of Shadows; Mission of Burma: V.S.; New Order: Power, Lies and Corruption; Depeche Mode: Black Celebration; Magazine: Second Hand Daylight; Echo and the Bunnymen: Crocodiles


Thoughts? Disagreements?

P.S Television and Pere Ubu are technically not "post-punk," or I would have included them.

Nice. Yea, I forgot Public Image Limited, and maybe Simple Mind's New Gold Dream. Can't agree with The Sisters of Mercy though: they're pretty repetitive and droning. :)

Wire's Pink Flag.

Hard to pick just 20 and the rankings don't really mean much (apart from Joy Division). Anyway, my choices...

1= Joy Division - Closer
1= Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
3. Jesus And Marychain - Psychocandy
4. The Slits - Cut
5. Siouxsie And The Banshees - The Scream
6. The Raincoats - The Raincoats
7. Siouxsie And The Banshees - Join Hands
8. Public Image Ltd - Metal Box
9. Au Pairs - Playing With A Different Sex
10. Gang Of Four - Entertainment
11. The Cure - Pornography
12. The Fall - Dragnet
13. New Order - Movement
14. Cocteau Twins - Treasure
15. Girls At Our Best! - Pleasure
16. Siouxsie And The Banshees - Juju
17. Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls - Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls
18. The Pop Group - Y
19. The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys
20. The Fall - Live At The Witch Trials

Vs. ..... Mission of Burma
the Modern Dance... Pere Ubu
Chairs Missing....... Wire
the Punch Line.... minutemen
Daydream Nation.....Sonic Youth
Is this Real?....... Wipers
S/T...... the Raincoats
Gyrate...... Pylon
Cut.... the Slits
Entertainment.... Gang of Four
II......Meat Puppets
Colossal Youth..... Young Marble Giants
Zen Arcade.... Husker Du
the Quality of Mercy is not Strnen...... Mekons
Y..... the Pop Group
Signals, Calls, and Marches.... Mission of Burma
Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!....... Devo The Scream.... Siouxsie and the Banshees
S/T..... the Feelies
Youth of America.....Wipers