Ramones

Released on April 23, 1976, and recorded for an estimated $6,400, the first Ramones album remains among the most important albums of the 20th century, inventing punk rock (or at least updating the blueprint heard on the first Stooges album) and inspiring countless punk, hard rock, and metal bands in the process. The original 14-song album retains a brashness that's as evocative as its black-and-white cover photo and as severe as its hard stereo mix. At a time when much music was getting slicker due to technological advances made in recording studios, The Ramones made sure the band's energy was heard above all else. There isn't a bad cut, and many have gone on to become classics. "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat on the Brat," "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue," and "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement" teem with the lessons of Brill Building pop and the elemental instrumental power of a guitar-bass-drums trio led by a singer who wished he'd been born in Liverpool.