The Ska 100
four waves, one offbeat · Kingston to Coventry to the DIY basement
0 / 100
0 / 100
Search100 albums
Genres
Decades
Status
Country
No. 11
I Feel the Spirit
Prince Buster
1963🇯🇲Ska
No. 38
Forward March
Derrick Morgan
1963🇯🇲Ska
No. 2
Ska Authentic
The Skatalites
1964🇯🇲Ska
No. 80
Never Grow Old
The Maytals
1964🇯🇲Ska vocal
No. 9
The Wailing Wailers
The Wailers
1965🇯🇲Ska vocal
No. 16
Ska Boo-Da-Ba
The Skatalites
1966🇯🇲Ska instrumental
No. 20
007 Shanty Town
Desmond Dekker & The Aces
1967🇯🇲Rocksteady
No. 79
Mr. Soul of Jamaica
Alton Ellis
1967🇯🇲Rocksteady
No. 81
This Is Desmond Dekkar
Desmond Dekker
1969🇯🇲Ska & rocksteady
No. 98
Skinhead Moonstomp
Symarip
1970🇬🇧Skinhead reggae
No. 50
Man from Wareika
Rico Rodriguez
1976🇯🇲Ska jazz
No. 1
The Specials
The Specials
1979🇬🇧2 Tone
No. 3
One Step Beyond…
Madness
1979🇬🇧2 Tone
No. 4
I Just Can't Stop It
The Beat
1980🇬🇧2 Tone
No. 6
Too Much Pressure
The Selecter
1980🇬🇧2 Tone
No. 7
More Specials
The Specials
1980🇬🇧Muzak ska
No. 30
Absolutely
Madness
1980🇬🇧Nutty sound
No. 31
Ska 'n' B
Bad Manners
1980🇬🇧2 Tone
No. 82
Loonee Tunes!
Bad Manners
1980🇬🇧2 Tone
No. 29
Wha'ppen?
The Beat
1981🇬🇧2 Tone
No. 46
Celebrate the Bullet
The Selecter
1981🇬🇧2 Tone
No. 49
Special Beat Service
The Beat
1982🇬🇧Pop ska
No. 21
In the Studio
The Special AKA
1984🇬🇧2 Tone tardif
Kortatu
Kortatu
No. 45
Kortatu
Kortatu
1985🇪🇸Ska basque
No. 69
In Your Face
Fishbone
1986🇺🇸Ska-funk
No. 23
Skaboom!
The Toasters
1987🇺🇸Trad ska
No. 10
Truth and Soul
Fishbone
1988🇺🇸Ska-funk
No. 85
Patchanka
Mano Negra
1988🇫🇷Patchanka
Energy
Operation Ivy
No. 5
Energy
Operation Ivy
1989🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 27
Puta's Fever
Mano Negra
1989🇫🇷Patchanka
No. 89
Ruder Than Rude
The Busters
1989🇩🇪Ska allemand
No. 44
Devil's Night Out
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
1990🇺🇸Ska-core
No. 24
The Reality of My Surroundings
Fishbone
1991🇺🇸Ska-funk
No. 26
El Circo
Maldita Vecindad
1991🇲🇽Ska mexicain
No. 8
40oz. to Freedom
Sublime
1992🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 86
El León
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
1992🇦🇷Ska argentin
No. 68
Don't Know How to Party
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
1993🇺🇸Ska-core
No. 37
Hi-Bop Ska
The Skatalites
1994🇯🇲Ska jazz
No. 52
Sing Along with Skankin' Pickle
Skankin' Pickle
1994🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 74
Robbin' the Hood
Sublime
1994🇺🇸Lo-fi ska
No. 75
Dub 56
The Toasters
1994🇺🇸Trad ska
No. 90
Canto Popular de la Vida y Muerte
Desorden Público
1994🇻🇪Ska vénézuélien
No. 12
Tragic Kingdom
No Doubt
1995🇺🇸Ska pop
No. 36
Firme
Voodoo Glow Skulls
1995🇺🇸Ska-core
No. 56
Rey Azúcar
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
1995🇦🇷Ska argentin
No. 65
Pezcore
Less Than Jake
1995🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 76
Lockjaw
Dance Hall Crashers
1995🇺🇸Ska pop
No. 17
Sublime
Sublime
1996🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 19
Turn the Radio Off
Reel Big Fish
1996🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 22
Losing Streak
Less Than Jake
1996🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 32
Destruction by Definition
The Suicide Machines
1996🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 35
El Vals del Obrero
Ska-P
1996🇪🇸Ska espagnol
No. 43
Scientific
Hepcat
1996🇺🇸Trad ska
No. 58
Goldfinger
Goldfinger
1996🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 77
New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble
New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble
1996🇺🇸Ska jazz
No. 15
Let's Face It
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
1997🇺🇸Ska-core
No. 25
Redlight
The Slackers
1997🇺🇸Trad ska
No. 41
It Means Everything
Save Ferris
1997🇺🇸Ska pop
No. 48
Evildoers Beware!
Mustard Plug
1997🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 51
Twenty-Eight Teeth
Buck-O-Nine
1997🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 53
Willis
The Pietasters
1997🇺🇸Soul ska
No. 57
The Fury of the Aquabats!
The Aquabats
1997🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 72
Hang-Ups
Goldfinger
1997🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 96
Baile de los Locos
Voodoo Glow Skulls
1997🇺🇸Ska-core
No. 13
Keasbey Nights
Catch 22
1998🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 18
Right on Time
Hepcat
1998🇺🇸Trad ska
No. 33
Hello Rockview
Less Than Jake
1998🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 42
The Question
The Slackers
1998🇺🇸Trad ska
No. 70
Why Do They Rock So Hard?
Reel Big Fish
1998🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 71
Battle Hymns
The Suicide Machines
1998🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 91
Skalariak
Skalariak
1998🇪🇸Ska basque
No. 62
Compañeros Musicales
Panteón Rococó
1999🇲🇽Ska mexicain
No. 67
No Gods, No Managers
Choking Victim
1999🇺🇸Ska-crust
No. 73
Pray for Mojo
Mustard Plug
1999🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 99
Alone in a Crowd
Catch 22
2000🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 97
Wasted Days
The Slackers
2001🇺🇸Trad ska
No. 64
World Ska Symphony
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
2002🇯🇵Ska japonais
No. 14
Everything Goes Numb
Streetlight Manifesto
2003🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 63
How It Goes
Big D and the Kids Table
2004🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 87
Dances of Resistance
Babylon Circus
2004🇫🇷Ska français
No. 61
Reggae Hit L.A.
The Aggrolites
2005🇺🇸Dirty reggae
No. 78
Transitions
Westbound Train
2006🇺🇸Soul ska
No. 88
Combat Circus
Talco
2006🇮🇹Ska-punk italien
No. 66
Somewhere in the Between
Streetlight Manifesto
2007🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 100
Skapara Toujours
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
2009🇯🇵Ska japonais
No. 60
Say It Out Loud
The Interrupters
2016🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 28
Fight the Good Fight
The Interrupters
2018🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 83
Self Care
We Are The Union
2018🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 92
No Faith
Omnigone
2019🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 94
Division in the Heartland
Bruce Lee Band
2019🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 39
Can't Complain
Kill Lincoln
2020🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 47
Bad Operation
Bad Operation
2020🇺🇸New Tone
No. 34
Ordinary Life
We Are The Union
2021🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 40
Nice One
Catbite
2021🇺🇸Ska revival
No. 59
Burn Deluxe
Skatune Network
2021🇺🇸Ska instrumental
No. 93
Afterglow
Flying Raccoon Suit
2021🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 54
Bothered/Unbothered
JER
2022🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 55
In the Wild
The Interrupters
2022🇺🇸Ska-punk
No. 95
My Checkered Future
Eichlers
2022🇺🇸Ska hyperpop
No. 84
Yes It's True
Catbite
2023🇺🇸Ska revival
Curation notes
- Crossed from BrooklynVegan's 64 essential ska albums (1964 to now), the 2 Tone and third-wave charts on RateYourMusic and Album of the Year, Classic Pop's 2 Tone guide, and the fourth-wave coverage in Billboard and the Washington Post, 1963–2023.
- The first wave is thinner than it should be, and structurally so: Jamaican ska between 1962 and 1966 was a 45s culture. The Skatalites existed for fourteen months, Don Drummond and Roland Alphonso barely made albums, and most first-wave LPs are compilations assembled later. Our no-compilations rule costs Dance Craze, the 1981 live film that fixed 2 Tone in images, and Prince Buster's Fabulous Greatest Hits.
- The United States take 61% of the list, and that is simply the shape of the genre: the third and fourth waves are overwhelmingly American.
- At most three albums per artist — the Skatalites, The Beat, Sublime, Fishbone, the Bosstones, Less Than Jake, The Slackers and The Interrupters are at the cap.
- Rancid stays on the punk shelf: …And Out Come the Wolves carries 'Time Bomb', but it is a punk record that plays ska rather than the reverse.
- Narrowly missed, or claimed by another shelf: Rancid, Sublime & Rome, the Bodysnatchers (singles only), Bim Skala Bim, Deal’s Gone Bad, Los Auténticos Decadentes, Skaos.