The most intriguing and dismaying aspect of the year was the lack of protest against President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq. He misguided America into thinking Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, with his talk of “weapons of mass destruction.” Punk rock had always been a particularly belligerent voice of dissent. It would be easy to think the government had finally cowed punk-rock rebels into submission, were it not for Green Day’s blistering American Idiot two years later. There was also the PunkVoter drive organized by NOFX that same year. Otherwise? Where were 2002’s equivalents of the Clash or Crass, screaming against this massive con atop crashing guitars?

Otherwise? 2002 was the year a number of positive voices emerged who would mold punk’s direction for years to come. We’re all the better for it. Please enjoy our custom Spotify playlist as you enjoy this survey of the year’s best punk albums.

The Distillers – Sing Sing Death House

The second LP from the band that gave Brody Dalle her name was the first real refinement of the Distillers’ strengths and aesthetic. On the surface, Dalle flashed the influence of her then-husband, Tim Armstrong. Both shared a certain gravelly, mush-mouthed vocal delivery, and there were times the Distillers’ music flashed hallmarks of Rancid’s, minus the reggae and ska seasoning. Then there are the moments where Dalle and her bandmates opened a vein and poured out pure inspiration, such as “City Of Angels,” their Ramones-meets-Black Flag reimagining of “Welcome To The Jungle.” This was when Dalle became a Joan Jett-like inspiration to the next generation of punk women.

The Libertines – Up The Bracket

Pete Doherty and Carl Barât were a pair of English chancers with poetic gifts, living in a romanticized Britain of their own devising dubbed “Albion.” They folded this world into their ramshackle indie band the Libertines, which never saw much success until the Strokes inspired them to get tougher, garage-ier. What oozed from the 0’s and 1’s comprising their debut, produced by the Clash’s Mick Jones, welded the articulate, very British songwriting of Ray Davies with a sloppy take on Clash/Jam-style late ‘70s punk. England finally had their own version of the Replacements. And they sold a lot of electric guitars to U.K. millennials.

Against Me! – Is Reinventing Axl Rose

Against Me!’s first full-length was an almost total rethink of punk-rock norms. Is Reinventing Axl Rose is almost a folk record in many ways. The guitar work is less distorted downstroked power chords and more clean, strummed open chords. And what Laura Jane Grace is screaming across this amplified folk backing could have been taken straight from the Crass songbook. Then there’s the Latin/spaghetti Western melodies of songs such as “Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong.” It’s probably the unique nature of this music that enabled Against Me! to connect with the large audiences they began drawing around this time on such a deep emotional level. 

Dillinger Four – Situationist Comedy

Quietly, Dillinger Four became America’s greatest active punk band. The only problem was, only a handful of people knew it. One of those was MTV’s pop-punk queen of 2002, Avril Lavigne. As “Complicated” burned up the worldwide pop charts, Rolling Stone magazine asked her what she was listening to: “Dillinger Four, do you know them?” she replied. “They’re punk.” Weeks later, Lavigne attempted to visit them backstage when they played Los Angeles’ Troubadour Club. “Who’s Avril Lavigne?” bassist Paddy Costello asked the security guard knocking on the dressing room door. The band preferred to issue their noisy, catchy, hilariously and intelligently punk albums, filled with such cleverly titled songs as “A Floater Left With Pleasure In The Executive Washroom,” without hoopla and play low-key gigs. It’s endearing, in a way. Situationist Comedy was their third album, and one of their finest. 

Good Charlotte – The Young And The Hopeless

This is it, the album that made Waldorf, Maryland’s own Good Charlotte megastars, on the back of massive hit single “Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous.” Was it the smirking lyric slashing to bits the overdriven celebrity culture on which America is still obsessed with? Was it the mutated Iggy Pop “Lust For Life” beat that the album’s guest drummer Josh Freese drove through the song like a Mack truck hauling lit dynamite? Really, it was the everyman viewpoint Benji and Joel Madden invest in every song they write. They understand high school outcasts (“The Anthem”), those with drunken absentee fathers (“The Story Of My Old Man”) and the complicated balance between the sexes (“Girls & Boys”). This was ultimately what propelled Good Charlotte and The Young And The Hopeless to the top. 

Joey Ramone – Don’t Worry About Me

Obviously the Ramones’ iconic singer, Joey Ramone was recording his first solo album as quietly as he’d been battling lymphoma. The disease finally claimed him April 15, 2001. Don’t Worry About Me was unveiled posthumously 10 months later. Aside from the uncharacteristically cynical “Venting (It’s A Different World Today),” the album’s tone is delightfully upbeat. The opening rave-up of Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World,” featuring a borrowed guitar hook from the Sex Pistols’ “Pretty Vacant,” became an instant classic more beloved than the original. Produced by Daniel Rey, who’d worked on the last few Ramones albums, Don’t Worry was a more solid effort than anything from the Ramones final decade. Which made it a fitting memorial for the much-missed singer.

The Hellacopters – By The Grace Of God

The architects of what they called “action rock,” Sweden’s the Hellacopters were five albums in with By The Grace Of God. They went from lo-fi, ultra-distorted, ‘69 Detroit power punk to an ultra-clean and hi-fi ‘70s AOR sound with this LP. Tracks such as “Carry Me Home” could even put one in mind of Lynyrd Skynyrd remodeling Boston’s “Don’t Look Back,” complete with harmonized guitar solos. Was it still action rock? Sure, it was. But it was just really well-groomed and manicured. Which is likely why Grace was the most commercially successful of the Hellacopters’ albums in their native land.

Bad Religion – The Process Of Belief

Bad Religion, the fathers of hyper-intelligent pop punk, left Atlantic Records in 2001. They returned to Epitaph Records, and brought founding member Brett Gurewitz back as well. They were now an expanded six-piece, with new drummer Brooks Wackerman replacing Bobby Schayer. This was the form of Bad Religion that entered production on The Process Of Belief, their 12th studio LP. Also making its return was the melodic hardcore sound that marked their classic period, from Suffer through Stranger Than Fiction. The upshot? The sins-of-the-father classic “Sorrow,” Bad Religion’s first U.S. charting single in six years, a live staple to this day.

My Chemical Romance – I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

A legend begins. New Jersey’s My Chemical Romance inaugurated the intense devotion of their incrementally expanding following with this Eyeball Records release. The entire MCR vision arrived with I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love: the near-operatic mix of punk/emo/screamo and classic rock, especially Queen; the deep roots in horror comics; and a revival of the ancient ‘60s/’70s rock conceit, the concept album. The debut storyline: a pair of outlaw lovers eventually gunned down in the desert. Guitarist Frank Iero guested, joining after Bullets’ release. Stay tuned, as our heroes net the attention of Reprise Records and go massive in 2004. 

The Donnas – Spend The Night 

Palo Alto’s punk-metal queens the Donnas bit the major-label bullet in December 2001, signing with Atlantic Records after many years with Lookout! Records. Which meant they could finally afford the slick AOR rock production befitting the heavy-metal status they always desired. It enabled singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Allison Robertson, bassist Maya Ford and drummer Torry Castellano to finally hit the Billboard 200 with their fifth studio album, Spend The Night. It peaked at No. 62, selling 450,000 copies as of 2005. With single “Take It Off” taking off, TV shows ranging from Total Request Live to SNL, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman booked appearances. The Donnas arrived. 

Sleater-Kinney – One Beat

“One Beat…was a much more strident and pointed political record, in terms of the lyrics,” founding Sleater-Kinney singer/guitarist Carrie Brownstein reflected to Verbicide in 2005. The band have noted they conceived their sixth studio effort as a post-9/11 “voice in the silence.” The martial-rhythmed “Far Away” alone is pointedly critical of President Bush’s response to the terrorist attacks. The material, developed organically in unhurried practice sessions in drummer Janet Weiss’ basement, was the most intricate and complex of their career. Longtime producer John Goodmanson worked with Sleater-Kinney to shake up their normal work modes in the studio. Co-singer/guitarist Corin Tucker opined that the outcome was their discography’s most fully formed entry.

Henry Rollins and Friends – Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs To Benefit The West Memphis Three

The case of the West Memphis Three was the most savage indictment of a broken American justice system. In 1994, three men — Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin — were wrongfully convicted as teenagers of the murder of three West Memphis, Arkansas boys the previous year. The trial was an emotional, sensationalized affair misrepresenting the teens as Satanists, murdering the children as part of some rite. A pair of documentaries focussed a white-hot spotlight on the case, leading to the 2011 release of the WM3 for time served. It was the result of a concentrated fundraising effort by celebrities and musicians to process and submit new DNA evidence, indicating the teens did not commit the crime.

Among those fundraisers: This Black Flag tribute album, conceived by best-known BF singer Henry Rollins, using Greg Ginn’s powerful odes to defiance in service of this larger cause. The Mother Superior-staffed lineup of Rollins Band ably recreated — sometimes improving upon — these 24 Black Flag classics, mostly resung by Rollins, or performing in duet with different singers. Some of the highlights come from completely different singers entirely: Original BF vocalist Keith Morris outstripping his performance on debut single “Nervous Breakdown”; punk godfather Iggy Pop’s rethink of “Fix Me”; Lemmy’s growl through “Thirsty & Miserable”; and Slayer’s Tom Araya’s paint-peeling “Revenge.” The subsequent tour featuring a set divided between Morris and Rollins fronting Rollins Band was a marvel. Suddenly, Ginn’s groundbreaking songs gained a higher purpose, one that eventually paid off. 

The Used – The Used

Orem, Utah screamo specialists the Used never served the usual indie apprenticeship of other punk scenesters. Their first record deal was with Reprise, and their self-titled debut album was an instant success story upon its June 2002 release. This isn’t to say this band did not pay dues. They suffered a harder gestation than most: Homelessness, poverty, drug addiction and panhandling for food marked the writing of these songs. Goldfinger’s John Feldmann took a real gamble in flying the band to Los Angeles and showcasing them to record companies. Reprise joined in the chance, installing Feldmann and the Used in Marina Del Ray’s Foxy Studios. The overwhelming emotional toll of the band’s backstory poured out of Bert McCracken’s throat as he stepped into the vocal booth. It created a deep connection with all 500,000 people who bought the album by July 2003. It has since been certified platinum.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – A Jackknife To A Swan

2000’s ironically titled Pay Attention failed to perform as spectacularly for Boston ska-punks the Mighty Mighty Bosstones as 1997’s breakthrough Let’s Face It. Maybe it was because it didn’t have a monster track a la “The Impression That I Get.” More likely, the Bosstones got lost in the shuffle as Mercury Records folded into the megalithic Universal Music Group. They got the requested release to sign with Side One Dummy, returning to the indie leagues with their seventh studio LP. A Jackknife To A Swan emphasized the Bosstones’ more roaring power chord punk side, in anthemic tracks such as the opening title track. Which didn’t mean their power-ska was gone — it’s there in spades in such tunes as the mobster drama “Mr. Moran.” It was a strong album, which was puzzling in wake of the four-year hiatus began in 2003.

Flogging Molly – Drunken Lullabies

L.A.-based Celtic punks Flogging Molly came by their Irish-inflected sound naturally: Leader/frontman Dave King is a Dublin-born immigrant, previously singer for guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke’s post-Motörhead hard-rock band Fastway. Drunken Lullabies was the more successful follow-up to their 2000 debut, Swagger. Like that one, these 12 tracks reeked of the Pogues’ punk-up of traditional Irish music, with the addition of crashing electric guitars. It took Flogging Molly as high as No. 104 on the Billboard 200, and netted them a gold record. Certainly placing the banjo-rocking title track on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 didn’t hurt any.

From legendary production masters to the next generation of talent behind the desk with a few musician-goes-producers in the mix, these LPs are must-listens. We’ve collated 15 albums where producers made their mark with their early works, from pop to black metal. 

Read more: 12 influential early 2000s metalcore albums that shaped the genre

Geoff Rickly: My Chemical Romance – I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

Better known as the emo mastermind behind Thursday, Geoff Rickly’s production debut was a pivotal moment in the genre’s development, stepping behind the deck to bring My Chemical Romance’s first venture, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, to life. That same vivid, unpolished intensity that bleeds through Thursday’s Full Collapse from the year before wound up structuring the beating, bleeding heart of MCR’s introduction to the scene in 2002. In fact, they released under the same label—Eyeball Records—as their New Jersey peers to establish an intent that’s stuck with the emo icons ever since. In more ways than one, there would be no MCR without Thursday and Rickly’s contribution.

Jennifer Decilveo: Melanie Martinez – Cry Baby

Armed with writing credits for Machine Gun Kelly, Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus, it’s no surprise that Jennifer Decilveo’s turn behind the production desk crafted Melanie Martinez’s sensational debut, Cry Baby, in 2015. Co-penning the iconic “Play Date” alongside Martinez, Decilveo takes a particular interest in bringing forward the female voices of her generation, lending her production talents to the likes of Beth Ditto, MARINA and Anne-Marie at the start of an already prolific and landscape-changing career.

Terry Date: Metal Church – Metal Church

Metal production mastermind Terry Date started his career on solid ground with Metal Church’s self-titled 1984 voyage into the genre’s vibrant golden age. Bringing the San Francisco outfit’s charged riffs to life and opening the stage for one of metal’s enduring mainstays, this album became a springboard for Date’s meteoric rise through the ranks. It even led to crafting Pantera’s iconic Cowboys From Hell and supporting the careers of Slipknot, Soundgarden and Deftones. As if that weren’t enough, you can also thank Date for Funeral For A Friend’s Hours and Bring Me The Horizon’s Sempiternal. Let’s be honest: Your album isn’t truly phenomenal unless it’s been touched by the magic hands of Terry Date. 

WondaGurl: Travis Scott – Rodeo

Whole album production credits are so 2020. With the fast-moving musical climate of today, producers find their feet with single song credits and climb the ladder that way. The partial credit method works wonders for WondaGurl, a rap production star who’s since garnered credits with Drake, Kid Cudi and Lil Uzi Vert for over a decade. Lending her sharp production eye to Travis Scott’s output many times over the years, 2015’s debut full-length Rodeo offered the most contributions and cemented WondaGurl as a dependable, supportive producer with a flair for present-day rap sensibilities.

Jason Suecof: Trivium – Ember To Inferno

Most metal producers come from humble beginnings, starting from the bottom and working their way up the ladder in an orderly fashion… Jason Suecof had other ideas. Establishing his production sideline to then-band Capharnaum, Suecof opened for business with Trivium’s debut outing, Ember To Inferno, a comprehensive, no-holds-barred foray into the extraordinary talents of a band who quickly became one of metal’s most beloved frontrunners. Clearly winning the lottery on producer’s gifts, Suecof has since bestowed his magic on bruising works by Job For A Cowboy, Carnifex and the Black Dahlia Murder, with the odd dive into the industrial scene for Motionless In White’s Infamous and the Defiled’s Daggers to top it all off. Whatever subgenre, metal is in safe hands with Jason Suecof.

Linda Perry: P!nk – M!ssundaztood

As if taking the mic as frontlady for alternative rockers 4 Non Blondes in the 1990s and a storming solo career wasn’t enough, multitalented musical titan Linda Perry has also produced some of the most iconic pop songs in the charts. After grounding her roots in the producer’s chair, Perry worked on P!nk’s blockbusting 2001 sophomore release, M!ssundaztood, writing and producing “Get The Party Started.” The rest of her hit-making career is history. Holding credits for Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” (songwriting/production) and “What You Waiting For?” by Gwen Stefani (songwriting), Perry earned a reputation as the good luck charm for earworm chart contenders that would live on well beyond their time.

Misha Mansoor: Animals As Leaders – Animals As Leaders

The mastermind behind Periphery’s progressive-metal revolution, Misha Mansoor has kept the artistic vision of the band and his solo career Bulb in-house by producing both himself. Alongside his own output, Mansoor joined production forces with Animals As Leaders for their self-titled debut in 2009, bringing along his first-hand knowledge of the time and care it takes to nurture prog metal from concept to track without losing its thread along the way. Months later, Mansoor accepted the challenge to spread his production wings to Stray From The Path’s Make Your Own History. That lead to credits with Volumes and Veil Of Maya, cementing the value of a producer who speaks from experience.

Sylvia Massy: Tool – Opiate EP

Whether we like it or not, female producers are hard to come by. In a scene still dominated by male figures and outdated ideals to this day, the rise of a producer like Sylvia Massy is a testament to her talents behind the desk. From fronting punk outfit Revolver to producing metal’s brightest stars, Massy’s remarkable career began in the studio with metal giants Tool on their first and only EP, Opiate, in 1992. An awe-striking intro to what would become metal’s most intense and engaging groups, this relationship with the great minds led to Massy’s further work with Maynard James Keenan’s side project and precursor to Tool, Green Jellÿ, and opened her career to future collaborations with Skunk Anansie, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Avatar, System Of A Down and… Kylie Minogue? Metal really can lead you anywhere.

Tom Morello: Primus – Antipop

Changing the musical landscape with Rage Against The Machine was only one of legendary guitarist Tom Morello’s many career branches. The producer’s desk came calling in 1999 for Primus’ quirky but no less battering sixth album, Antipop. Holding a partial production credit for The Crow’s official soundtrack in 1994, this shift to a full record commitment led to yet another notch in the belt for one of rock’s most active members. Working on Anti-Flag’s The Terror State and Cypress Hill’s Rise Up, Morello’s two musical worlds collide in a production career we’d love to hear more from in the future.

Grimes: Grimes – Geidi Primes

Let’s face it: The only person who could truly produce Grimes’ genreless, out-of-this-world approach and keep its authentic style could only be Grimes. The multimedia marvel began her colorful career by establishing herself as the full package, an artist with complete musical independence and the freedom to command her own output instead of passing her material into the hands of others. As a result, her deep conceptual debut, Geidi Primes, is every bit as surreal and authentic as her original vision.

Eirik “Pytten” Hundvin: Burzum – Burzum

Norwegian black metal would likely have arrived on the scene with a distinctly reduced bite if it weren’t for the contributions of producer Eirik Hundvin, also known as Pytten. Establishing his reputation for bringing a raw edge to the fledgling genre, by the time Burzum’s self-titled debut arrived in 1992, Hundvin’s knack for showcasing black metal took his career skyward. He immediately moved on to craft Immortal’s first effort, Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism, months later. Pytten’s long-standing relationship with genre frontrunner Burzum continued alongside his production credits for Aeternus, Enslaved, Emperor and Gorgoroth. If anybody knows the meandering waves of success for a genre that’s enjoyed unexpected global success, it’s Pytten.

Catherine Marks: Wolf Alice – Creature Songs EP

The surge in popularity of British alternative rock in the 2010s brought about the rise of producer Catherine Marks. She commenced a bright career behind the desk with Wolf Alice’s surreal Creature Songs EP in 2014, bringing out the best in the British outfit’s grunge-tinged style. Hopping between production and mixing over the last decade, Marks has garnered credits for Death Cab For Cutie and Coheed And Cambria while lending her production talents to Frank Turner’s No Man’s Land.

Joey Sturgis: The Devil Wears Prada – Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord

Introducing the Devil Wears Prada to the world is no small feat, let alone welcoming them with a debut record as visceral and hungry as Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord way back in 2006. Joey Sturgis’ palpable adoration for the metalcore genre and production that sounds as intense as on a live stage has gone from strength to strength in the years since. He’s garnered producing credits for the likes of blessthefall, We Came As Romans, Miss May I and even a few Punk Goes… records along the way. The man behind the production of Asking Alexandria’s career between Stand Up And Scream and The Black, a credit from Sturgis is a sure sign of success in the genre.

Steph Marziano: Hayley Williams – Petals For Armor

Holding production credits from Denai Moore and Boniface, Steph Marziano had already defined her skill of allowing a personality to shine through the music. Charged with the task of producing a solo album as hotly anticipated as Hayley Williams’ Petals For Armor, those talents blossomed through the genre-shattering sounds fairly early in her career behind the desk. Gifting this 2020 debut with the freedom for Williams to spread her vocal wings, far removed from overbearing instrumentals, this stripped-back effort is the first giant leap in the career of one of music production’s future diamonds.

Jerry Finn: Pennywise – About Time

Mixing Green Day’s Dookie in 1994 lit the blue touch paper for late punk legend Jerry Finn’s studio career. However, he soon shifted to the production side of events a year later for his first credit, About Time by Pennywise. Finn’s authentic punk credentials opened doors to work on some of the greatest albums to emerge from the scene, including blink-182’s Enema Of The State, Sum 41’s All Killer No Filler and AFI’s Sing The Sorrow. The genre comfortably grew into its pop-punk shoes in large part due to Finn’s production—single-handedly defining a gear change that remains strong to this day.

Everybody Left

This review originally ran in AP 286.

It’s genuinely befuddling that the Forecast aren’t absolutely huge. Over the course of three prior full-lengths, the Illinois band have preserved (and extended) the legacy of ’90s Midwestern emo, thanks to no-frills, heart-hitting songwriting. Sonically, their Kickstarter-funded, hook-filled fourth album, Everybody Left, picks up where 2010’s self-titled album left off. Brisk, livewire pop-punk duets between frontman Dustin Addis and bassist/vocalist Shannon Burns (“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts,” “Skyline”) alternate with hollering power-pop (standout “Like A Habit”) and slower material with hints of mournful twang (“Last Stand”). Lyrically, the album is restless with movement: Several tunes grapple with conflicting emotions stemming from relocation—most effectively on the ballad “Skipping Stones,” whose downtrodden, classic-rocking guitar licks enhance a thematic desire to escape small-town life—while others examine the evolution (or dissolution) of relationships through the prism of travel. As always, however, the Forecast temper their sentimentality with pragmatism and just a touch of bitterness, making their music as relatable as it is catchy. Fans of the band will love Everybody Left; in a perfect world, everyone else would, too.

Clifton Motel http://www.cliftonmotelnyc.com

“Like A Habit”