Arguably one of the 20 greatest rock’n’roll albums of all time, Bad Brains’ first studio album quite simply rewrote the parameters of hardcore punk. Where up until that point punk rock had explicitly rejected instrumental and vocal virtuosity, Bad Brains embraced both; where punk tended to be explicitly anti-religious, Bad Brains’ HR sang unabashedly about his spiritual devotion. And the band could shift on a dime from headlong hardcore thrashing to spacey, dubwise reggae. The title track is their manifesto; “We Will Not” is their statement of intent; “Banned in D.C.” is their message to the haters. The influence of this album is still felt today, and probably will be for another 40 years.