So why is X-Ray Spex’ Germ Free Adolescents on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I know I’m starting to get really into a song or a band when I start to think about its influences, how it sounds like other bands and artists, and especially how it then also defines its own unique sound at the same time.
With X-Ray Spex, there’s that and then there’s also a part where I also think about what future bands and artists they obviously had an influence on.
With “Lets Submerge,” off of Germ Free Adolescents, it gets really fun. I hear the New York Dolls in terms of the glam rock elements going on and certainly its use of horns, but then there’s some crushingly great punk rock that reminds me of the band’s late ‘70s UK punk rock contemporaries like the Sex Pistols.
And then I think about the female-fronted punk rock bands this could have influenced a generation later, ranging from L7 to The Distillers. But then at the same time no one can quite ever replicate Poly Styrene’s vocals (and what a stage name!).
Give me a punk song with a title like “The Day the World Turned Dayglo,” and I’m pretty sure I’m going to dig it. And in this case… I’m correct. It’s another fun, aggressive, chugging punk rocker with New York Dolls-y elements.
“I Am A Poseur” is a song title we can all relate to*. In any event, it absolutely rocks, with a chugging, thumping guitar riff that’s 1970s heavy metal (Black Sabbath specifically comes to mind) sped up to head bopping punk rock levels.
* What, just me?
Pop culture stuff that has something to do with X-Ray Spex’ Germ Free Adolescents
Do we think that Rollins Band’s “I Go Day Glo” is in some way an homage to “The Day the World Turned Dayglo”? Nah, I didn’t think so either.
Some stats & info about X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescents
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? British Bands, Punk Rock, Old School Punk, British Punk
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #354
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Germ Free Adolescents released? 1978
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #613 out of 1,000
X-Ray Spex’ Germ Free Adolescents on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from X-Ray Spex’ Germ Free Adolescents that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
It’s dark and eerie and it’s really late, come on kids don’t hesitate.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.