Fifty Artists Pick Their Personal Top 10s

Rolling Stone


Dave "I was lucky enough to grow up in Washington, D.C., and see some of the greatest hardcore- punk shows ever,” says Grohl. “Hardcore was born during the Reagan era, when the country was undergoing this horrible conservative shift. The music inspired all us kids to say, ‘Fuck you. I don’t want to be a part of your system.’ I thought my destiny was to work at a furniture warehouse, but then I saw hardcore bands and I realized, ‘I can do this! I don’t even have to be good at playing my instrument!’ ”

1."Surf Combat" Naked Raygun, 1985
Most hardcore songs in the Eighties were either about Reagan or nothing. This is one of the latter.

2."Loss for Words" Corrosion of Conformity, 1985
They made Metallica sound like the Spice Girls.

3."It's Catching Up" NoMeansNo, 1989
Scream, the hardcore band I was in back then, opened up for NoMeansNo in 1987 in Tacoma, Washington.

4."Who Are You?" Void, 1982
Their shows were so incredibly chaotic. Void were heavy as fuck and sloppy as hell.

5."Room 13" Black Flag, 1981
I have a faded Black Flag tattoo I tried to give myself when I was 12 that looks like I got shot in the arm with a piece of pencil lead.

6."Sun God" Squirrel Bait, 1985
I played this recently for [Foo Fighters drummer] Taylor Hawkins. He said, “Wow, was Kurt really into this band? Goddamn if this doesn’t sound like Nirvana.”

7."I Don't Need Society" D.R.I., 1983
Most of their early songs lasted between 20 and 60 seconds. I saw them at the Rock Against Reagan concert in ’83, on the Mall on July Fourth.

8."For Want Of" Rites of Spring, 1985
They came with this perfect mix of melody and poetic lyrics. This is a heartbreaking love letter with beautiful, reckless music behind it.

9."Chartered Trips" Hüsker Dü, 1984
No Hüsker Dü, no Foo Fighters.

10."At the Movies" Bad Brains, 1983
Without a doubt, the greatest American hardcore band of all time. Four African-American men who influenced everyone in D.C. to start a punk band.