Germ Free Adolescents

Germ Free Adolescents

Germfree Adolescents is the debut album of English punk rock band X-Ray Spex. It contained the UK hit singles: "The Day the World Turned Day-Glo" (No. 23 in April 1978), "Identity" (No. 24 in July 1978) and "Germfree Adolescents" which reached No. 18 in November 1978.

The album received wide acclaim upon its release. In his February 1979 Consumer Guide in the Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau bemoaned the fact that Germfree Adolescents had not been released in the US and praised Poly Styrene's "cheerfully moralistic nursery rhymes", strong melodies, and the "irresistible color" of the band's "dubiously tuned one-sax horn section". Trouser Press called it "a masterpiece!" The Rough Guide to Rock calls it a "storming album".

In 1994, The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music named Germfree Adolescents the eighth best punk album of all-time. Seven years later, in May 2001, Spin magazine ranked the album number 5 in its "50 Most Essential Punk Records". In March 2003, Mojo magazine ranked the LP number 19 in its 'Top 50 Punk Albums'.