Circle Jerks Albums Ranked

Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. To date, Circle Jerks have released six studio albums, one compilation, a live album and a live DVD. Their debut album, Group Sex (1980), is considered a landmark of the hardcore genre. The band has broken up and re-formed several times, sometimes with different bassists and/or drummers. They disbanded for the first time after the release of their fifth album VI (1987), allowing Hetson to focus on Bad Religion (where he had been a member from 1984 to 2013) full-time. The Circle Jerks first reunited in 1994 and released their sixth and last studio album to date, Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, the following year before separating for the second time. The band reunited for the second time in 2001 and spent the next ten years performing live periodically; this reunion lasted for only one new song, “I’m Gonna Live”, which was released on their MySpace profile in 2007. Tensions among its members and failed attempts to record the follow-up to Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities resulted in the Circle Jerks breaking up yet again in 2011. However, the band announced in November 2019 that they will reunite in 2020 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Group Sex with live shows. Here are all of Circle Jerks’ albums ranked.

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6. Gig (1992)

“This is a very solid disc with great sound quality and great songs. I was pining badly for some live Circle Jerks when I bought this, and the disc definitely delivers. Listening to this isn’t quite as energetic an experience as actually being there, but it’s certainly better than nothing. There are a few songs I recall them playing pretty regularly live that I wish were on this album, but oh well. This CD is a fantastic document of one of the best live punk bands that I ever had the good fortune of seeing. The Jerks never disappointed me live.”

5. VI (1987)

“If you only buy one Circle Jerks cd, make this it. It took me forever to find this cd (no record store seemed to carry it), but it was worth it. Circle Jerks are my favorite band and this is my favorite cd by them. The sound has changed alot since thier earlier stuff, the music has slowed down in pace a bit, some of the songs are longer, and there are guitar solos. I think its quite an improvement over thier previous releases.”

4. Golden Shower Of Hits (1983)

“A good Jerk’s release , not as good as Group Sex and Wild in the Streets , but alot better than Wonderful and VI . The songs are still loud and slamming , but you can feel the band’s energy burning out somewhat , but producing some memorable moments ” Red Blanket Room” , “Junk Mail” and the hillarious final track “Jerks on 45”. I wouldnt’ recommend this to be your first Circle Jerks album , get Group Sex and Wild in the Streets first , then get this one “

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3. Wönderful (1985)

“If you are a Jerks fan, then this might be their last legendary album. Sure it’s uneven, but with such standouts as “Making the Bombs”, “Dude”, “American Heavy Metal Weekend”, and “Killing for Jesus” I would say this is a must have.”

2. Wild In The Streets (1982)

“This album is timeless and classic in it’s portrayal of human anxieties. Many people are judging this by today’s standards on what passes as punk, but for what it was it’s a great album. The sad thing about punk these days is that it has too many standards to conform to. Punk rock was representative of a then counterculture, but as a lot of things do, it melded with pop culture. Now I think that people have forgotten what punk was about. This record is pure, passionate, and fun at the same time. Keith Morris’s knack for sarchasm is fully intact, on what I see as an honest view of our society’s decreasing compassion towards humanity. The music does it’s job by conveying the same anxious emotions in an original way. It sounds like the Circle Jerks, nothing else and nothing less.”

1. Group Sex (1980)

“”Group Sex” has to be among the very first of the hardcore punk albums. You have to realize that the main difference between “punk” and “hardcore” was the latter’s vicious speed delivery and more “tough” sound. Some people argue about whether BAD BRAINS, BLACK FLAG or THE MIDDLE CLASS were the 1st “hardcore” band, but many seem to forget the CIRCLE JERKS and this seminal hardcore album, which was the blueprint for a LOT of subsequent hardcore bands (MINOR THREAT, to name one REALLY important band of the genre). Songs like “Deny Everything”, “Wasted”, “what’s your prpblem” and the blazingly fast “Red Tape” sound as raw and undilluted as the day they were recorded (and we’re talkin about a 25 yearl old album!). The production isn’t always spot on (it sounds as if this were recorded in a very, very small room), but it’s raw and sounds vastly superior to other hardcore albums of the time (most notably BLACK FLAG’s “Damaged”, which despite being such an influential release, it sounds messy at best!).”