10. Refused "The Shape Of Punk To Come" (1998)

What it is: Loud and epic post-hardcore
Favorite Track: Liberation Frequency

I don't know why I held off on this album for so long, but I did. Maybe it was because I was intimidated. It was probably that didn't want some crappy hardcore with political ideals that I don't exactly agree with shoved down my throat. But boy, was I pleasantly blown away by Refused's 1998 hardcore punk classic "The Shape Of Punk To Come".

"The Shape Of Punk To Come" is the loudest album I have ever heard, and one of the few that I fell in love with on first listen. Like Genghis Tron, they have all of my favorite elements of music. They are most often described as a hardcore band, but this is not your average generic hardcore record. This is madness.

The album opens to the sound of traffic with Worms Of The Sense/Faculties Of The Skull, and follows with some angry screaming over top of some infectious instrumentation. It is one of the better tracks on the album, but only a taste of what is to come. Liberation Frequency begins with a quiet and moody opening verse, but you are soon assaulted with shrill screaming and hard guitar with the volume set to eleven.

Refused achieved levels of intensity that your band wishes they could. They effectively use loud-soft shifts on Liberation Frequency and New Noise as well as (hard-to-describe) two-note patterns in the title track. I don't know how to describe how awesome the latter technique is (Genghis Tron and L'Antietem have also used it) or even what it is, but just listen to the harder parts, and you'll understand.

Refused completely revolutionized hardcore punk with this album. Instead of making another shriek-fest like Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent, they completely reinvented the genre using electronics, samples, and odd song structures. It's punk-punk rock so to speak.

This album wasn't the shape of punk to come in the sense of people making experimental masterpieces like this one, but it did open the eyes of fans around the world who were content with their fast, angry three chord nonsense. No matter how many times I listen to this album it never gets old, and I can't see that changing any time soon. Refused made one of the most addictive and infectious albums ever, and I don't know what I would do without the album. If you are a fan of punk, hardcore, or heavy music in general, you must hear this album before you die.