The Progression of Hardcore and Punk

Music over the years has always followed a certain equation of progression. It is one of the most expressive forms of art. Music has always been very in touch with culture, whether going against the popular culture, or with it. A great example of this is Punk Rock, which came to fruition in the early 1970's. Countless genre's stem back to early bands such as The Ramones, The New York Dolls, Suicides, and many others.

The term punk is meant to describe a troublemaker, or hoodlum, and the aggression, and trouble-making of many punk bands exemplifies this excellently. Punk Rock exploded like it did in reaction to mass commercialism of music in the 70's, and out of that spawned the DIY (do it yourself) aspect of most underground punk bands to this day.

One of the most influential early punk bands were The Ramones, formed in 1974 in Queens, New York, The Ramones were around for 22 years touring, playing shows and releasinga total of 14 studio recorded albums, 6 live albums, 12 compilation, greatest hits style albums. They are credited with being the first band to earn the "punk" moniker, greatly influenced by garage rock bands of the 60's. The Ramones put now defunct but former New York Punk Rock hot spot CBGB's on the map, as one of the most famous concert venues ever, thanks greatly to their intensely energetic, fast paced live shows. They released their first album in 1975 on sire records simply entitled Ramones. Unfortunatly when they attempted to venture outside of New York City to play a show, the reaction was not nearly as well received as their shows at their home venue. This continued until their first tour of the UK, in which The Ramones, along with fellow punk pioneers, The Sex Pistols influnced many of the original punk bands in the UK, who would follow in the same DIY counter-culture lifestyle as the Ramones.