{"id":2707,"date":"2025-06-12T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/every-fugazi-album-ranked\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T15:00:00","slug":"every-fugazi-album-ranked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/every-fugazi-album-ranked\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Fugazi Album, Ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1204495972.jpg\" width=\"\" height=\"\" alt=\"Ian MacKaye of Fugazi at the Hollywood Palladium in 1993. (Credit: Lindsay Brice\/Getty Images)\"><\/figure>\n<p>Fugazi emerged in the late \u201880s from a tightly knit Washington, D.C., punk scene where friendships and collaborative partnerships could be long-lasting, but bands tended to be short-lived. Minor Threat, the revered hardcore band Ian MacKaye had formed as a teenager, was together for just three years. Rites of Spring, Guy Picciotto and Brendan Canty\u2019s band that\u2019s now considered a foundational influence on emo, was active for only two years. But when MacKaye, Picciotto, Canty, and bassist Joe Lally formed Fugazi, their musical chemistry was powerful and instantaneous, and that quartet remained a formidable unit for six albums and more than a thousand shows over the next 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>At a time when scores of underground bands were signing to major labels and making a run at MTV and mainstream radio, Fugazi acquired near-mythical status as indie rock\u2019s biggest holdouts. They released albums for MacKaye\u2019s label Dischord Records at longtime engineer Don Zientara\u2019s Inner Ear Studios that sold hundreds of thousands of copies. But they declined to sign to a major, play Lollapalooza, make music videos, or sell merchandise, while keeping ticket prices for their legendary live shows to an egalitarian $5 flat fee.<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/06\/from-the-breeders-to-the-amps-to-the-breeders-again-an-oral-history-of-kim-deals-finest-indie-rock-vanishing-act\/\">From the Breeders to the Amps to the Breeders Again: An Oral History of Kim Deal\u2019s Finest Indie Rock Vanishing Act<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/06\/brian-wilson-obit\/\">Beach Boys Mastermind Brian Wilson Dies At 82<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/06\/turnstile-taking-never-enough-on-tour\/\">Turnstile Taking \u2018Never Enough\u2019 On Tour<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-494788315-1.jpg\" alt=\"Ian MacKaye of Fugazi in 1991. (Credit: Martyn Goodacre\/Getty Images)\" class=\"wp-image-466217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-494788315-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-494788315-1-340x230.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-494788315-1-768x518.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-494788315-1-498x336.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ian MacKaye of Fugazi in 1991. (Credit: Martyn Goodacre\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At a certain point, Fugazi\u2019s commitment to DIY principles became oddly divisive, and arguably more famous than their actual music. But with the band\u2019s mix of hardcore aggression, deep grooves drawing from reggae, funk, and go-go, and erudite lyrics that could be personal, political, densely literary, or dreamily abstract, Fugazi became perhaps the most seminal and admired punk band since the Clash.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Without ever officially disbanding, Fugazi has quietly ceased making albums or performing since 2002, although the members of the quartet remain friends and have played together in other bands, including Coriky and the Messthetics. And in 2011, Dischord began releasing hundreds of concert recordings as downloads in the Fugazi Live Series, and put the band\u2019s first and last shows on streaming services for the first time in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fugazi\u2019s fourth full-length, <em>Red Medicine<\/em>, was released June 12, 1995 and became the band\u2019s highest-charting album, peaking at No. 126 on the <em>Billboard<\/em> 200. Where does it rank in the band\u2019s revered catalog?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-8-instrument-soundtrack-1999\"><strong>8. <em>Instrument Soundtrack<\/em> (1999)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1182\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0834034369_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-466111\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0834034369_10.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0834034369_10-340x335.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0834034369_10-768x756.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0834034369_10-498x491.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Director Jem Cohen\u2019s documentary <em>Instrument<\/em> is a must-see for any Fugazi fan, full of revealing and sometimes funny interviews and archival footage that helped puncture the band\u2019s mystique and debunk their image as humorless scolds. The companion soundtrack album isn\u2019t exactly a must-hear, mainly comprising demos and studio outtakes from the sessions for <em>End Hits<\/em>. It\u2019s the only Fugazi record that\u2019s almost kind of mellow and soothing, and one particularly atypical song struck a chord. \u201cI\u2019m So Tired,\u201d a track that runs under 2 minutes with MacKaye singing softly about depression over a lilting piano melody, has become one of Fugazi\u2019s most-streamed songs ever, currently second only to \u201cWaiting Room.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-7-steady-diet-of-nothing-1991\"><strong>7. <em>Steady Diet of Nothing<\/em> (1991)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/71O5j-iBRFL._UF10001000_QL80_.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-466102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/71O5j-iBRFL._UF10001000_QL80_.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/71O5j-iBRFL._UF10001000_QL80_-340x340.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/71O5j-iBRFL._UF10001000_QL80_-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/71O5j-iBRFL._UF10001000_QL80_-498x498.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Ted Niceley frequently brought the best out of D.C. bands, producing great albums by Jawbox, Shudder to Think, Girls Against Boys, and most of Fugazi\u2019s releases from 1988 to 1993. Fugazi self-produced <em>Steady Diet of Nothing<\/em>, however, when Niceley bowed out to focus on his other career as a pastry chef and the band wasn\u2019t quite ready for the task, resulting in a frustratingly flat mix. \u201cReclamation\u201d and \u201cLong Division\u201d are utterly essential Fugazi tracks, and the best <a href=\"https:\/\/timetomeetjamaicans.ytmnd.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">memes<\/a> about the band often revolve around a frequently misheard lyric in \u201cLatin Roots,\u201d but the songs are better than the album. \u201cThe immediate intensity of their live performances doesn\u2019t translate fully in the studio,\u201d Steve Park wrote in the <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/sim_boston-phoenix_january-3-9-1992_21_1\/page\/38\/mode\/2up\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Boston Phoenix<\/em><\/a> review of <em>Steady Diet of Nothing<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-6-end-hits-1998\"><strong>6. <em>End Hits<\/em> (1998)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1176\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a2406187592_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-466104\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a2406187592_10.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a2406187592_10-340x333.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a2406187592_10-768x753.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a2406187592_10-498x488.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Strategically deployed silence has been one of Fugazi\u2019s favorite weapons since the pregnant pause in the first minute of \u201cWaiting Room,\u201d and the dub punk experimentation of <em>End Hits<\/em> makes more potent use of negative space than any other Fugazi album. It\u2019s not a record with many crowd-pleasers, but repeat listens reveal novel structures and clever arrangements on \u201cNo Surprise\u201d and \u201cBreak.\u201d And the bludgeoning force of Fugazi at their heaviest is still used to great effect on \u201cFive Corporations\u201d and \u201cCaustic Acrostic.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-13-songs-1989\"><strong>5. <em>13 Songs<\/em> (1989)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1199\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0359835891_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-466106\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0359835891_10.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0359835891_10-340x340.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0359835891_10-768x767.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0359835891_10-498x498.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Fugazi was an impressively consistent band that continued picking up new fans throughout their career, but the first song on their first release looms larger than ever over their legacy. \u201cWaiting Room\u201d can now be regularly heard at professional sporting events, and even <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2025\/05\/robert-trujillo-kirk-hammett-fugazi-waiting-room-metallica-concert\/\" target=\"_blank\">Metallica<\/a> briefly jammed on the song when they played D.C. last month. <em>13 Songs<\/em>, collecting the band\u2019s first two EPs <em>Fugazi<\/em> and <em>Margin Walker<\/em>, hews closely to MacKaye\u2019s original vision of \u201cMC5 plus reggae,\u201d and the earliest iteration of Fugazi wasn\u2019t as dynamic and textured as they\u2019d become once Picciotto added a second guitar into the mix. Still, few bands have ever sounded so purposeful from the very beginning, and \u201cGlue Man\u201d and \u201cLockdown\u201d are some of the most menacing and visceral tracks they\u2019ve ever recorded.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4-the-argument-2001\"><strong>4. <em>The Argument<\/em> (2001)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1185\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0903651670_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-466107\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0903651670_10.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0903651670_10-340x336.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0903651670_10-768x758.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a0903651670_10-498x492.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<p>At the time, nobody thought <em>The Argument <\/em>would be the last Fugazi album. The only time I saw the band live, at Fort Reno Park in Washington, D.C., in 2002, turned out to be Fugazi\u2019s last American concert, a few months before their last show ever in London. Few great bands have gone out on a decisive high note like <em>The Argument<\/em>, still subtly expanding their sound without diluting their attack. Fugazi began performing with a second drummer, Jerry Busher, in the late \u201990s to pull off some of the polyrhythms from <em>End Hits<\/em> songs onstage. And the handful of tracks on <em>The Argument<\/em> that feature Busher, including \u201cEpic Problem\u201d and \u201cEx-Spectator,\u201d give an exhilarating glimpse at the dense sound that the five-piece version of Fugazi was just beginning to develop. \u201cWhen Guy Picciotto matches his voice to the band\u2019s blitz, it sounds like nothing less than lightning over the Capitol dome,\u201d Chris Ryan wrote in the <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=wXGw14ml_M4C&amp;pg=PA107#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\"><em>SPIN<\/em><\/a> review of <em>The Argument<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-in-on-the-kill-taker-1993\"><strong>3. <em>In on the Kill Taker<\/em> (1993)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1195\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a4266152337_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-466108\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a4266152337_10.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a4266152337_10-340x339.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a4266152337_10-768x765.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a4266152337_10-498x496.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<p>The idea of Fugazi making an album with Steve Albini sounds like the holy grail of \u201990s post-punk. But the band\u2019s heavily bootlegged first attempt to record several songs from <em>In on the Kill Taker<\/em> with Albini at Chicago Recording Company don\u2019t quite live up to the potential of that combination of talents. When the band returned to their home turf at Inner Ear with Niceley, they sharpened and perfected those taut, fiery songs like \u201cGreat Cop\u201d and \u201cSmallpox Champion\u201d for what was probably the band\u2019s most pointedly political album.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-red-medicine-1995\"><strong>2. <em>Red Medicine<\/em> (1995)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1191\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a2056304740_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-466109\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a2056304740_10.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a2056304740_10-340x337.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a2056304740_10-768x762.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/a2056304740_10-498x494.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI realize I hate the sound of guitars \/ A thousand grudging young millionaires \/ Forcing silence, sucking sound, forced into this conversation.\u201d Despite Picciotto\u2019s most famous lyrics on the album, from \u201cTarget,\u201d Fugazi remained very much a guitar band, one of the best in the world, on <em>Red Medicine<\/em>. They did begin flirting with different textures on their second self-produced album, though, including Picciotto playing some clarinet and Canty adding a clanging bell to his drum kit. There\u2019s even a musique concr\u00e8te element to the way tracks like \u201cDo You Like Me\u201d and \u201cDowned City\u201d feature abrupt jumpcuts between distorted lo-fi practice space jams and proper studio recordings. And Lally began to emerge as the band\u2019s third lead singer and lyricist with the simmering epic \u201cBy You.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-repeater-1990\"><strong>1. <em>Repeater<\/em> (1990)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"994\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/51YUlYNXDDL._UF10001000_QL80_.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-466110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/51YUlYNXDDL._UF10001000_QL80_.jpg 994w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/51YUlYNXDDL._UF10001000_QL80_-340x342.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/51YUlYNXDDL._UF10001000_QL80_-768x773.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/06\/51YUlYNXDDL._UF10001000_QL80_-498x501.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 994px) 100vw, 994px\"><\/figure>\n<p>The first time I ever heard of Fugazi was in the early \u201990s, when T-shirt catalog advertisements in rock mags always included the bootleg \u201cThis is not a Fugazi T-shirt\u201d shirts that became popular when the band abstained from selling official apparel. By that point, Fugazi had made it pretty clear on the<em> Repeate<\/em>r anthem \u201cMerchandise\u201d that they weren\u2019t interested in selling anything besides music. With Picciotto adding a second guitar and taking a greater role in writing songs like \u201cBlueprint\u201d and the blistering \u201cSieve-Fisted Find,\u201d the band\u2019s proper full-length debut was the point when <em>Fugazi<\/em> really began to sound unstoppable, and win over a passionate legion of fans who were eager to wear the band\u2019s name on their chests, whether Fugazi wanted them to or not.<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fugazi emerged in the late \u201880s from a tightly knit Washington, D.C., punk scene where friendships and collaborative partnerships could be long-lasting, but bands tended to be short-lived. Minor Threat,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,1634,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-fugazi","category-pushly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2707\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}