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I've been listening to these two bands a lot lately. Made me think of a thunderdome.

As much as I absolutely adore Bad Brains's first record, my vote has to go with Minor Threat. Their records form the most dense and consistent hardcore discography of all-time. Perhaps that is due to how short-lived the band was, but still, MT.

This is another good one. It'll take time to weigh the options.

The first Bad Brains ROIR cassette and Rock for Light sexually assault any other hardcore album known to man. It's not even close. It's like, the distance between those two full-lengths and everything else is akin to the distance between Jupiter and Earth.

At that time, Bad Brains had such ferocity, such charisma, such musicianship, and such little bullshit. It amazes me that a band like that even existed. I mean, they were fucking retarded, ganja-smoking, homophobic jazz fusion musicians, for Christ's sake. And they turned into this raging beast that could not be denied.

Can someone name a rock and roll phenomenon that is or was more improbable than the situation I've just described? It's pretty shocking to contemplate how weird the Butthole Surfers got over the first seven or eight years of their tenure, when you look at their progression from the very beginning. But no band's career was less probable than that of the Bad Brains. No band's.

Minor Threat is the second greatest hardcore band of all time. But they're still on Earth, while those two Bad Brains albums are on Jupiter.

this is a great poll, but I give it to Minor Threat by a nose hair.

They never did lame reggae, and at their worst they didn't sound like Van Halen crossed with Black Flag.

although "Guilty of Being White" is equally as repulsive as Bad Brains homophobia.

Bad Brains. for the RIOR cassette/album alone.

Minor Threat... meh. i don't know. neither here nor there.

I knew who started this poll without even looking.

Easiest Thunderdome ever.

Minor Threat

Frankly, as goofy as the Bad Brains turned out to be, this is not that hard.

No Bad Brains, no Minor Threat.

MT never did anything as ferocious as the ROIR recordings and the Pay to Cum 7" constitutes what is probably the pinnacle of hardcore punk. Scorsese plays the whole damned thing in After Hours. It's that fucking unsinkable.

Love Minor Threat, especially the 7" songs, but the Brains go beyond.

Mr. Arrison, you can't be serious about 'Guilty of Being White.'

mr.arrison wrote:although "Guilty of Being White" is equally as repulsive as Bad Brains homophobia.

I don't think so. MacKaye makes a pretty convincing defense of the song in the AH doc.

Another reason why Minor Threat kicks ass: their lyrics were never situationist, which means they aren't nearly as dated as some of their contemporaries.

Steve V. wrote:

mr.arrison wrote:although "Guilty of Being White" is equally as repulsive as Bad Brains homophobia.

I don't think so. MacKaye makes a pretty convincing defense of the song in the AH doc.

I don't doubt this since I haven't really given the song much thought since hearing it last (like ten or fifteen years ago)

you have a link to this AH doc? I'd like to read it.