Bad Brains

Let's get one thing out of the way: "Pay to C*m" is one of the most important singles ever. Period. Aside from being the bottle-to-the-face debut of Bad Brains, it defined hardcore punk in 85 scathing seconds of reckless race car riffs, breakneck drumming, and the rabid ramblings of what may or may not be a madman. While "I Against I," "Banned in D.C.," and "Sailin' On" are also considered catapult classics of the CBGB age, songs like "Leaving Babylon" and "Rally Round Jah Throne" reveal the other side of Bad Brains: Rastafarians with a genuine love for reggae's politicking and palm tree rhythms.

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It's easy to imagine a fire engulfing H.R.'s eyes as he rages against his battering ram of a band in a blistering early-'80s version of "Right Brigade." While the rest of this playlist comes from the studio rather than a stage, it's just as frantic, frightening, and, well, seemingly stoned (for a song or two) as a vintage Bad Brains set. The chunky chords and manic melodies of "Re-Ignition" predicted nü metal a decade early; "The Regulator" and "How Low Can a Punk Get" are instant pit pleasers; and the dub-laden lazy Sunday-ness of "Jah Love" and "I and I Survive" open the mind as much as they melt the day's worries away.

The folks at iTunes Essentials recently caught a rare Bad Brains gig — on a New York City ship skimming its way across the Hudson River. As odd as the pairing may sound (one of the most important hardcore matinee acts ever . . . on a "concert cruise"?), the band silenced all skeptics with a well-oiled set of punk standards ("I Against I," "Banned in D.C.," "Pay to C*m") and gnarly new jams ("Build a Nation," "Universal Peace") so electrifying they got some aging punks to stage dive from a nearby balcony (let's just say everyone was thankful for dub reggae breathers like "Jah Love"). In the end, H.R. and company showed, once again, that when it comes to punk, they're as timeless — and nearly as important — as the Clash and the Ramones.