Richard Hell and the Voidoids - Blank Generation [Punk Rock] (1977)

I can't even put into words how amazing this sounded when it was new. Yes, it still sounds amazing, but back then it was so different, so outrageous, so authentically urgent, with an irresistible beat and such engagingly stark lyrics. It was absolutely 100% unlike the shallow, predictable '70s pop we'd been forced to hear for years, and which we'd been forced to believe was "our music." Songs like Blank Generation felt desperately real, and that's exactly what a lot of us needed.