100 Greatest Post-Punk Albums

album covers for Closer by Joy Division and Remain in Light by Talking Heads
Criteria: This list of Post-Punk Albums highlights the best examples of the genre. Albums were ranked considering influence, popularity (chart positions and sale figures), and critical acclaim.

Last Updated: 2017-11-10
Greatest Post-Punk Albums
  1. Closer (1980) - Joy Division
  2. Remain in Light (1980) - Talking Heads
  3. Unknown Pleasures (1979) - Joy Division
  4. Entertainment! (1979) - Gang of Four
  5. Metal Box (1979) - Public Image Ltd
  6. Fear of Music (1979) - Talking Heads
  7. The Modern Dance (1978) - Pere Ubu
  8. More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978) - Talking Heads
  9. Power, Corruption, Lies (1983) - New Order
10. Juju (1981) - Siouxsie and the Banshees
11. Pornography (1982) - The Cure
12. War (1983) - U2
13. Real Life (1978) - Magazine
14. Chairs Missing (1978) - Wire
15. Cut (1979) - The Slits
16. The Head on the Door (1985) - The Cure
17. Turn on the Bright Lights (2002) - Interpol
18. The Scream (1978) - Siouxsie and the Banshees
19. Public Image: First Issue (1978) - Public Image Ltd
20. Colossal Youth (1980) - Young Marble Giants
21. Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978) - Devo
22. Crazy Rhythms (1980) - The Feelies
23. Dub Housing (1978) - Pere Ubu
24. Jeopardy (1980) - The Sound
25. Faith (1981) - The Cure
26. Hex Enduction Hour (1982) - The Fall
27. The Raincoats (1979) - The Raincoats
28. Crocodiles (1980) - Echo and the Bunnymen
29. In the Flat Field (1980) - Bauhaus
30. Deceit (1981) - This Heat
31. Y (1979) - The Pop Group
32. Ocean Rain (1984) - Echo and the Bunnymen
33. Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987) - The Cure
34. Secondhand Daylight (1979) - Magazine
35. Kaleidoscope (1980) - Siouxsie and the Banshees
36. Seventeen Seconds (1980) - The Cure
37. Boy (1980) - U2
38. Solid Gold (1981) - Gang of Four
39. A Kiss in the Dreamhouse (1982) - Siouxsie and the Banshees
40. The Human League (1979) - Reproduction
41. October (1981) - U2
42. Black and White (1978) - The Stranglers
43. First and Last and Always (1985) - The Sisters of Mercy
44. Life in a Day (1979) - Simple Minds
45. Three Imaginary Boys (1979) - The Cure
46. This Nation's Saving Grace (1985) - The Fall
47. 154 (1979) - Wire
48. Talk Talk Talk (1981) - The Psychedelic Furs
49. Live at the Witch Trials (1979) - The Fall
50. Tinderbox (1986) - Siouxsie and the Banshees
51. For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? (1980) - The Pop Group
52. Heaven Up Here (1981) - Echo and the Bunnymen
53. The Raven (1979) - The Stranglers
54. Killing Joke (1980) - Killing Joke
55. Youth of America (1981) - Wipers
56. The Correct Use of Soap (1980) - Magazine
57. The Psychedelic Furs (1980) - The Psychedelic Furs
58. Mask (1981) - Bauhaus
59. The Flowers of Romance (1981) - Public Image Ltd
60. Real to Real Cacophony (1979) - Simple Minds
61. Half-Mute (1980) - Tuxedomoon
62. Playing With a Different Sex (1981) - Au Pairs
63. Movement (1981) - New Order
64. Sleep No More (1981) - The Comsat Angels
65. Vs. (1982) - Mission of Burma
66. Porcupine (1983) - Echo and the Bunnymen
67. Prayers on Fire (1981) - The Birthday Party
68. A Trip to Marineville (1979) - Swell Maps
69. Epic Garden Music (1982) - Sad Lovers & Giants
70. The Sky's Gone Out (1982) - Bauhaus
71. Sextet (1982) - A Certain Ratio
72. Beat Rhythm News (1979) - Essential Logic
73. Kilimanjaro (1980) - The Teardrop Explodes
74. Peepshow (1988) - Siouxsie and the Banshees
75. After the Snow (1982) - Modern English
76. Script of the Bridge (1983) - The Chameleons
77. Thunder and Consolation (1989) - New Model Army
78. The Wonderful and Frightening World Of... The Fall (1984) - The Fall
79. A-Z (1980) - Colin Newman
80. Grotesque (1980) - The Fall
81. ...And Don't the Kids Just Love It (1981) - Television Personalities
82. Gyrate (1980) - Pylon
83. Night Time (1985) - Killing Joke
84. Half Machine Lip Moves (1979) - Chrome
85. Out of the Tunnel (1980) - MX-80 Sound
86. The Return of the Durutti Column (1980) - The Durutti Column
87. From the Lions Mouth (1981) - The Sound
88. Over the Edge (1983) - Wipers
89. Seven Songs (1982) - 23 Skidoo
90. What Does Anything Mean? Basically (1985) - The Chameleons
91. Empires and Dance (1980) - Simple Minds
92. Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One) (1979) - Alternative TV
93. ...If I Die, I Die (1982) - Virgin Prunes
94. Garlands (1982) - Cocteau Twins
95. Feeding the Flame (1983) - Sad Lovers & Giants
96. Throwing Muses (1986) - Throwing Muses
97. Echelons (1987) - For Against
98. Diminuendo (1987) - Lowlife
99. Dead Can Dance (1984) - Dead Can Dance
100. Dancing to Restore an Eclipsed Moon (1988) - Red Temple Spirits


album cover Closer by Joy Division
Closer

album cover Remain in Light by Talking Heads
Remain in Light

album cover Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division
Unknown Pleasures

album cover Entertainment! by Gang of Four
Entertainment!

album cover Metal Box by Public Image Ltd
Metal Box

album cover Fear of Music by Talking Heads
Fear of Music






DigitalDreamDoor playlists on Spotify link button
Background - The post-punk sound grew out of the simplistic formula of Punk Rock around 1977 blending more avant-garde elements such as electronic music, art-rock, noise, and other non-rock styles with more advanced recording methods.

"Siouxsie and the Banshees" and "Wire" were the first punk bands to explore experimental sounds, deeper lyrics, and conceptual songwriting. They were soon followed by "Joy Division", "Public Image Ltd", 'the Slits", "Scritti Politti," "Gang of Four, in the UK and "Television", "Suicide", "Talking Heads", "Pere Ubu", "Mission of Burma", among others from the US.

By the mid 1980's post-punk had evolved into more MTV friendly styles such as "New Wave", "New Pop", and what can only be described as alternative, and indie rock.

A post-punk revival emerged in the mid-1990's and continued on with bands like "Interpol", "the Strokes", "Franz Ferdinand", and others.









More Music Lists