Of course, among the members of the Skull Faction community who are die-hard skull fanatics, there are also many devotees of punk rock music ! That’s why we decided to bring you the ultimate ranking of the 15 greatest punk bands of all time. 🎸
As you’ll find out, many of these bands were the forerunners of the punk movement that influenced all culture after the 1970s. But not only that! Even today there are punk rock bands that offer us quality music, often with extraordinary styles.
And just before we start, we invite you to equip yourself with this punk skull necklace to have a quirky style in every situation. A true marvel of fame and madness! Discover them by simply clicking on the image below. 💀
Adopt a punk style with this punk skull necklace.
Group Punk #15: Ramones
This American punk rock band was formed in 1974 in the Forest Hills district of New York. The Ramones are often credited with being the first band to define the sound of punk rock . To the chagrin of their members, they achieved only limited commercial success. Nonetheless, they remained one of the main influences on the punk movement in the 1970s, both in the UK and the US.
In many ways, the Ramones seem like a cursed band. In the 20 years of their existence they have never charted higher than number 66. They rarely performed in venues larger than nightclubs and were mostly touring with a van. Singer Joey Ramone battled OCD his entire life, while bassist Dee Dee Ramone was desperately addicted to heroin. 🧐
Her music eventually began appearing in films and television shows. They were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received lifetime achievement Grammys. Unfortunately, between 2001 and 2004, Joey, Dee Dee and Johnny died.
Groupe Punk #14 : The Offspring
Eventually, The Offspring began to evolve into a punk rock version of The Curious Case. Here are their first four albums:
- The Offspring in 1989
- Ignition in 1992
- Smash in 1994
- Ixnay on the Hombre in 1997
These albums included almost every style of punk music that has ever existed. From horror punk to skate punk to the style of pop punk they ended up denigrating. 🤘 As they move from shrill political anthems like “LAPD” to tragic ballads like “Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?” » is incomprehensible, but no one is going to take that first decade of punk rock perfection away from them.
Punkband #13: Buzzcocks
The Buzzcocks were in many ways a role model for the pop punk bands that followed them. They weren’t afraid to rely entirely on catchy riffs and haunting choruses. They made fun of the normality of music in general by only doing what they liked.
Sometimes they could sing with love songs like “Ever Fallen in Love” or “Why Can’t I Touch It?” » also be affectionate. The fact that guitarists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle are still touring is a testament to the timelessness of this music . Punks young and old can find themselves at a Buzzcocks concert, and that’s nice.
Group Punk #12: Bad Brains
Washington DC legends, Bad Brains started out as a jazz fusion band in 1975. But two years later, punk hit and they changed their sound. They were one of the few African American bands on the CBGB . Within a very short time, however, their sound has evolved and they have gone through all styles of music: from soul to reggae to heavy metal. They are one of the big punk bands of the 1970s, still touring with their original line-up and they are currently working on their ninth studio album. Bravo for them.
Group Punk #11: Social Distortion
Inspired by the first generation of punk rock bands, Mike Ness formed Social Distortion in 1978. They went on to become one of the most celebrated punk bands of the early 1980s. And unlike almost all of their peers, they have survived to this day. 🙏
In 1992, at the height of the grunge movement, Social Distortion released their most successful album to date, Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell . The death of guitarist Dennis Danell in 2000 left Ness as the only surviving original member. However, thanks to the new members, the band continues to record and tour regularly.er et de tourner régulièrement grâce à ses nouveaux membres.
Gruppe Punk #10: The Misfits
They got their name from a film starring Marilyn Monroe, but it was horror films and aggressive punk rock that inspired Glenn Danzig to form The Misfits in 1977. They seemed destined to shock parents, with brutal lyrics about murder and songs played at a speed that would probably have stunned even the Ramones. 😵
The band was so shocking that no record company wanted to release their first two albums and they ended up on Walk Among Usfrom 1982 could not get a place in the shops. By this time Danzig was already planning a solo career and the band broke up the following year. Within a few years, bands like Metallica and Guns N’ Roses began citing them as an influence, and the Misfits’ legends grew.
Punk Band #9: NOFX
With over 30 years of band history, NOFX’s music predates what we would consider pop-punk in most of this list. However, what could be considered their trademark is the ’90s production, which includes these key albums:
- Punk in Drublic and White Trash
- Two heels
- Bean
All three are firmly rooted in pop-punk , despite the band’s willingness to get political, get rough and thwart mainstream success at every opportunity. A long reluctance to feature on MTV or direct the press highlights the punk that separated them from contemporaries like Green Day or The Offspring and likely meant the band never reached the same level of popularity.
However, their influence can still be felt in all pop punk bands, which emphasize humor and believe that antagonism can be a necessary form of rebellion. 😎
Group Punk #8: Black Flag
Long before Henry Rollins was a movie star, he was the head of hardcore band Black Flag! This band played an important role in the punk world in the early 1980s . It actually began in 1976 with frontman Keith Morris, who quit three years later. And after dealing with unsuitable singers, they hired Rollins, who had been a fan of the band for over 20 years. A few months after his arrival, the band finally recorded their legendary first EP: Damaged.
The wild concertsThe band’s performances – often at parties or other non-traditional venues – became legendary at the time and inspired countless new bands to form. They disbanded in 1986, but regrouped in 2003 for a series of benefit concerts.
Punk band #7: The Stooges
Hardly any other band has a better reunion story than the Stooges. The proto-punk icons broke up in 1974. Despite releasing three major label albums, the band never had anything resembling a hit, and drug addiction slowly crippled the Iggy Pop-led band for years .
Over the decades that followed, her legend slowly grew as bands from the Sex Pistols to Guns N’ Roses cited her as their major influences . When they got back together in 2003, they suddenly found themselves headlining festivals and earning a lot of money. Founding guitarist Ron Asheton died in 2009, but Iggy Pop brought back then-guitarist Raw Power and they continue to tour regularly. 🤙
They are also known as « Iggy and the Stooges ” known. Although the Stooges were not very successful in their original incarnation, often performing to uninterested and intimidating audiences, they still managed to play a major role in the rise of the punk rock scene and influencing heavy metal and rock. In 2010 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2004 they were ranked 78th in Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Good job!
Punk band #6: Blink-182
The definition of pop punk is twofold: an older and “original” sound that injects pop elements into punk, and a newer and “simpler” sound that dresses up pop song structures with punk styles. And that style of music can’t be better defined than by California trio Blink-182 . From the very beginning, when Scott Raynor was still playing the drums, they knew their sheet music and haunting lyrics were exactly what this young generation needed to hear. Punk needed to lighten up, and Blink-182 gladly took on the task. 👊
All three changed the way pop punk bands wrote their songs. God knows Tom DeLonge’s voice has been mocked a million times, but it works. His yapping and whimpering makes every punk rock singer daydream. Just like the sounds of The Nightmare Before Christmas stick in your head after hearing just one song.
Among other things, they wrote music for punk fans who pray for the prolongation of their youth and disseminated it in a way that people could sing along to. Today, more than 20 years after the release of their first album, Blink-182 remain true to their pop-punk roots. This will keep the teenage dream of yesteryear alive!
Groupe Punk #5 : Die Dead Kennedys
The Dead Kennedys really upset a lot of people early in their careers. With songs like “Too Drunk To Fuck,” “Holiday In Cambodia,” and “Nazi Punks Fuck Off,” many punk fans thought they were a gang of violent, anarchistic monsters. Anyone who took the time to listen to her lyrics recognized that her songs were sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, and often very brilliant.
They split in 1986, and frontman Jello Biafra became a very active member of the Green Party and a spoken-word artist. The rest of the band re-formed in 2001 without him.
Group Punk #4: Sex Pistols
Formed in London in 1975, the Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that only lasted two and a half years on the music stage. They attracted so much attention in the punk world that it would take an entire article to cover them! Their TV appearances, their clothes, their arrests, their hairstyles, their constant fights, their drug habits and of course their music have made them icons of the punk rock movement .
Of course you can also find them in our top albums punk rock !
They’ve only released one full-length album in their short career: 1977’s Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols. But it had an incredible impact. Almost every song is a classic. But despite the short time they spent on the music stage, they managed to catch on and are now recognized as one of the most influential bands in the history of punk music and one of the bands that initiated the punk movements in Britain. Their music was very iconic and was able to influence and inspire several later punk and alternative rock bands and artists.
Backup bassist Sid Vicious died in 1979 but they brought back original bassist Glen Matlock when they re-formed and they still tour every two or three years. Check out this clip of Bodies from a few years ago to get a sense of just how powerful their performances were.
Gruppe Punk #3: The Clash
Formed in 1976, The Clash was an English punk rock band that was part of the first wave of British punk. They were quite an eclectic band because they liked to incorporate other genres of music like funk, dub, reggae, rockabilly and of course punk into their music. The band found instant success in the UK when they released their self-titled debut album in 1977. The Clash was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 and ranked 28th on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. 🎸
The Clash only existed for seven years, but in that time they produced one of the strongest catalogs in rock history. The Beatles are the only other band that has such a claim. The Clash started out as a traditional punk band with their debut single, “White Riot,” but they quickly got things on fire. From rockabilly to reggae to hip hop. Their 1980 album London Calling is often cited as one of the greatest albums of all time. 🎼
During a discussion about the band’s reunion during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Joe Strummer passed away suddenly.
Group Punk #2: Rancid
Behind their rugged exterior, Rancid featured some of the catchiest pop-punk tunes of the era. The popularity and quality of their music peaked in 1995 with And Out Come the Wolves. Rancid’s punks released a string of strong and popular albums throughout the ’90s.
The presence of Tim Armstrong in the band had a strong impact on the band’s success. Armstrong and Rancid essentially created a punk rock institution that has endured for decades and is a cornerstone in the building of pop punk .
Group Punk #1: Green Day
Green Day formed in 1986 and is an American punk rock band with only three members namely Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt. The band originally formed part of the California punk scene.
From the beginning of their career to date, Green Day have sold over 85 million records worldwide and have become one of the players who have influenced not only punk artists but also other bands and acts outside of the punk genre. In 2015, Green Day was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 👑
It’s easy to forget it now, but by the early 2000s, Green Day seemed swept away. Reduced to opening act for Blink-182 in the summer of 2002, it was hard to imagine they would make a comeback. Never mind that they would become one of the biggest bands on the planet. 2004’s brilliant rock opera changed their careers forever, and suddenly they were playing stadiums and recording more hits than any other band.
Punk music fanatics, join us!
Our ranking of the best punk music bands of all time is now complete. The list could be extended to over 100 bands as there is so much talent in this scene, but with these 15 alone one can enjoy the good music that is on offer to us. Let us know what you think of it and what you think are the top three punk rock bands in the comments . 🤘
If you’re a true fanatic of punk rock music, you need to show it proudly too! Skull World accompanies you on the way to the demonic look you are looking for. And the first piece you must own is a”” skull ring”” .