The Exploited

One of the leading bands of the second wave of U.K. punk, the Exploited championed a raw, no-frills sound that found common ground between fans of street punk, Oi!, and hardcore with their anthems of anti-authoritarian fury. On early albums like 1981's Punks Not Dead and 1982's Troops of Tomorrow, the Exploited cranked out buzzy four-square punk enlivened by the passionate bark of lead singer Wattie Buchan. By 1987, when they issued Death Before Dishonour, the Exploited had added elements of crossover thrash metal to their formula, which suited their defiant attack quite well. While studio releases were few and far between after 2003's Fuck the System, the Exploited continued to tour the U.K. and Europe on a regular basis, leaving ringing ears and chaos in their wake; the 2000 collection The Singles is a handy introduction to their catalog.