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Bad Brains - Bad Brains (ROIR, 1982): Bad Brains' first album isn't just a landmark in the DC scene but a hardcore building block. The punk template created by the Clash and others was rebuilt and refined in England by bands like the Damned. It was abandoned in the States for something streamlined, the musical equivalent of an EpiPen. Bad Brains were inconceivably fast for the times and more aggressive than contemporaries; songs like "Pay To Cum" and "Banned In DC" still haven't been matched. The acolytes of this record include the Beastie Boys, who dabbled in hardcore before turning to hip-hop. Thirty years later this seems fresh and relevant: more powerful and heartfelt than a majority of music released today.