25. Kung Fu Monkeys – Schools Out, Surfs Up, Let’s Fall In Love (Mutant Pop)
24. The Lillingtons – Shit Out Of Luck (Clearview)
23. The Travoltas – Modern World (Coldfront)
22. Boris The Sprinkler – Mega Anal (Buldge)
21. The Zatopeks – Ain’t Nobody Left But Us (Stardumb)
20. MxPx – Life In General (Tooth & Nail)
19. Lagwagon – Hoss (Fat Wreck Chords)
18. Psychotic Youth – Small Wonders (Zone)
17. Undertones – S/T (Rykodisc)
16. Green Day – Dookie (Warner Bros.)
15. The Queers – Don’t Back Down (Lookout)
14. The Dickies – The Incredible Shrinking Dickies (A&M)
13. Sweet Baby – It’s A Girl! (Ruby)
12. The Unlovables – Crush, Boyfriend, Heartbreak (Whoa Oh)
11. Descendents – Milo Goes To College (New Alliance)
10. The Muffs – Blonder And Blonder (Reprise)
09. Smoking Popes – Born To Quit (Capitol)
08. Screeching Weasel – Anthem For A New Tomorrow (Lookout)
07. Fastbacks - Zucker (Sub Pop)
06. Leftovers – On The Move (Rally)
05. Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady (EMI)
04. Beatnik Termites – Taste The Sand (Black Pumpkin)
03. The Mr. T Experience – Love Is Dead (Lookout)
02. Green Day – 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (Lookout)
01. The Ramones – Rocket To Russia (Sire)

Not in any particular order. I tried to be both narrow in my considerations of what is pop punk, but also include some variety as well. While some people consider pop punk to range from the SoCal/skater/melodicore (think Epitaph) to the mainstream radio mall punk (think Hot Topic) as well as overlapping with power pop I tried to be a little more loyal to the pop side of things. If it leans more toward POP/bubblegum/fun then I consider it pop punk. if it leans more toward SNOTTY/PUNK/angry/political I consider it of it's own sub-genre under the punk umbrella. There are of course exceptions to these rules but I'll open the floor to others.

questionable inclusions (do they fit the genre): buzzcocks?, smoking popes? descendents? fastbacks?

questionable exclusions: rezillos? cub/buck? an additional Ramones/Queers/MTX album? anything from the mid-80s?

i haven't heard a few of these, but this looks pretty sharp.

i would have dropped in death by television over shit out of luck, but that's not a huge difference. and i may have found room for that first boys' album. not sure what i would've taken out, though.

Some great, fun stuff on that list for sure. Still, I gotta quibble with the Ramones not being #1. I mean 80% of the bands in that genre flat out ape everything they ever did. Seems like they deserve top spot.

Don't get me wrong, I like seeing newer bands mixed in with the old warhorses, but the Ramones have been the all time gold standard here.

well the list is not in order, except in the "as they came to me" order. i'll edit just for the sake of it, but i just assumed that the list is 25 ESSENTIALS and not in any way ranked.

in general question about the project: are some albums MORE essential than others?

Green Bay represent. Concert Cafe forever.

I'd add:
Ergs! - Dorkrockcorkrod
Dillinger 4 - Midwestern Songs of the Americas

I've never understood the appeal of mxpx.

I have a lot of issues with this thread/genre.

To me pop punk is mall punk stuff like Green Day and Blink 182.

I'm having trouble getting past the labels on this one because while many see the Ramones first album as the Rosetta Stone for punk rock. At the very least the loud, fast, 3 chords, DIY attitude for punk. BUT, they also wrote straight up pop songs as well.

To me, I fail to see how one of the obscure "pop punk" bands in bort's list is more essential than say, Blink-182's "Enema of the State".

Where does Rancid fall? Offspring? What do you consider "essential"? Album sales that reached many many people? Band that had influence on those after them?

I especially like The Dickies and The Fastbacks. Two criminally under appreciated bands

After co-optation of the term, yes, that is what it came to mean. But that's only skimming the surface.

Rancid is overall too rough and snarly and comes more from the '77/street punk sound. they do have some poppier songs but even a majority of those are have a ska blend to them, thus not making them representative of the pop punk genre.

Offspring's Smash is a mix of pop punk/sugar metal/Socal slick punk, and doesn't fit the sound quite enough to make it essential. If someone were asking for a pop punk primer, i wouldn't think of including this album anymore than i'd think to include bad religion, pennywise, nofx, etc.

Blink 182's Enema is the pop punk/skate/mall punk stuff, and although it's considered to be of the "3rd wave" it still counts. although having said that, the album IMO is not as good as Hoss or Life In General or Dookie. it's got like 5 great songs on it, at least 2 of which were overplayed, and the rest is mediocre/filler. Granted, they're a tier above Sum 41/Fallout Boy/New Found Glory and the rest of that crap but I don't consider the album essential listening.

I love the Ergs! to a high degree, and have everything they ever recorded, but if i had to choose between dorkrock and milo, i figured i would go with the original. i could be convinced to add it though.

D4 is too screamy, too political, and too beardo gainsville Fest-related to get in this list.

i definitely would not consider album sales to be a determining factor at all. not for this list or any other.

Saw one of them Ergs last night in the guise of Used Kids...pretty good show. Grabbed a 7", but haven't listened to it yet.

Used Kids are good--2/3 of Modern Machines.

I missed seeing Psyched to Die last week, which also features Mikey Erg. That guy is almost in too many bands right now.

I'm really liking that Radio Faces album that's got some folks from them bands in it too. It's way more just regular mid-tempo, rock 'n' roll but it's a fun album.

used kids and radio faces = great. mikey erg can never be in too many bands.