The Best of Grin
Artist: Grin
Community Score: 10.00

While Grin-1+1 remains Grin's most consistent record, The Best of Grin pieces together ten compelling cuts from their three CBS albums. As a writer and player, Nils Lofgren was adept at dreamy love songs ("Like Rain") and straightforward rock 'n' roll ("Direction"). Despite its brevity, this compilation spotlights both tendencies. ~ J.P. Ollio,... Read More

Horses
Artist: Patti Smith
Community Score: 8.33

It isn't hard to make the case for Patti Smith as a punk rock progenitor based on her debut album, which anticipated the new wave by a year or so: the simple, crudely played rock & roll, featuring Lenny Kaye's rudimentary guitar work, the anarchic spirit of Smith's vocals, and the emotional and imaginative nature of her lyrics -- all prefigure... Read More

Easter
Artist: Patti Smith Group
Community Score: 6.00

Patti Smith came back from the year-and-a-half break caused by her fall from a stage in January 1977 without having resolved the art-versus-commerce argument that had marred her second album, Radio Ethiopia. In fact, that argument was in some ways the theme of her third. Easter, produced by Bruce Springsteen associate Jimmy Iovine, was Smith's... Read More

So Alone
Artist: Johnny Thunders
Community Score: 9.00

Following the drug-fueled implosion of the Heartbreakers, Johnny Thunders bounced back with his first solo outing, So Alone. Featuring a veritable who's who of '70s punk and hard rock -- Chrissie Hynde, Phil Lynott, Peter Perrett, Steve Marriott, Paul Cook, and Steve Jones, among others -- the record was a testament to what the former New York... Read More

Jasmine Nightdreams
Artist: Edgar Winter

Not since his debut, Entrance, had Edgar Winter appeared in a solo capacity. This time out, he reverts to his heavy jazz and gospel influences to produce an album that merits much more attention than what it ultimately received. Winter is decidedly laid-back on tracks such as "Hello Mellow Feelin'" and "Tell Me in a Whisper," which serve as the... Read More

Damn the Torpedoes
Artist: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Community Score: 8.81

Not long after You're Gonna Get It, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' label, Shelter, was sold to MCA Records. Petty struggled to free himself from the major label, eventually sending himself into bankruptcy. He settled with MCA and set to work on his third album, digging out some old Mudcrutch numbers and quickly writing new songs. Amazingly,... Read More

Max
Artist: The Rumour

On their debut, the Rumour play laidback pub-rock in a style (predictably) not too dissimilar to their work with Graham Parker, though it is looser and more in the style of later Brinsley Schwarz. Max is probably most noteworthy for the clear high point, the band's cover of Nick Lowe's "Mess With Love" (a song he wouldn't get around to recording... Read More

Spitballs
Artist: Spitballs

There was certainly a precedent for label mates to sing on each others records at Beserkley; for instance, Jonathan Richman sang on Greg Kihn's "All the Right Reasons." Still, the idea of the entire label roster combining under one "band name" to make this record is kind of unique and part of what makes this record fun. Consisting of mostly... Read More

No More Heroes
Artist: The Stranglers
Community Score: 7.75

Rattus is hardly a punk rock classic but still is a pretty good chunk of art-punk. Hugh Cornwell's testosterone level is very high here, and the macho preening gets a bit much, but it's still an enjoyable bit of noise that holds up better than anyone would have guessed at the time. Still, it's odd to think of this as a part of the punk rock era... Read More