I know there are a lot of Social Distortion fans on this board, so I'm hoping somebody can give me a suggestion as to a good starting point as far as which CD to buy first.

i'm not an expert or anything but this one is fantastic, despite the horrible cover

Oh Mikey, where ever did you go wrong?

They overplay SD here. It gets old. This is like the Social Distortion capital of the world.

uh? what?

I've been a big fan for a long time. "Self-titled" is what got me into them. I think their best album though is "White Light, White heat, White Trash".

Mike Ness?

As a former El Cajon resident, I can back you up on this, even 10 years ago.

Mommy's Little Monster

nah... whatever you said about the SD capital of the world... but i got it... did you mean california at large or just your location?

Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell or White Light, White Heat, White Trash should be picked up immediately. Eh, just get both.

if you were to make a social d mix cd what would be on it

There is another thread about this, but Self-Titled and Heaven and Hell are must owns.

Their newest (Sex, Love, R&R) is really great - something must've gotten into Ness to get make him musically interesting again.

Mommy's Little Monster is of course where it all started, but is very amateur punk, with Ness trying to find his voice.

White Light White Heat is terribly boring and labored compared to the rest of their stuff, IMO.

I think the newest album is pretty weak compared to everything else. "Mommy's Little Monster" is a punk must-have.

It got really nuts with 91.1. Freakin' Hilary and Robin Roth engrained those songs in my head. Total overflow of SD. Now they're under new management, so no more droning DJs, but now we have idiotic droning DJs talking about how everything is gonna be cool and new again.
I don't know if you were around for 94.9 but that is one good station!

Hmm, let's say I can have 14 songs then it would be this for now:

1. Ring of Fire
2. Ball and Chain
3. Bye Bye Baby
4. When She Begins
5. Drug Train
6. Footprints On My Ceiling
7. Nickels and Dimes
8. 99 to Life
9. Bye Bye Baby
10. Dear Lover
11. Pleasure Seeker
12. Down on the World Again
13. All The Answers
14. 1945

if i had to go with 3 essential social d albums it would have to be "sex drugs and rock n roll", "white light, white heat, white trash", and "live at the roxy"... i know its their last few but they're fucking great

this is good advice, you should go with this one first
I like "Sex, Love & Rock and Roll" a lot, maybe even in a second place

start with the self-titled album. you'll figure the rest out.

This band is kinda ruling me right now. Can't believe it took me so long to get into them. I knew their stuff, but this is the first time I've gotten deeper into their more recent records. A little mix for the car:

1. Road Zombie
2. Machine Gun Blues
3. Don't Take Me For Granted
4. Gotta Know The Rules
5. I Wasn't Born To Follow
6. Nickels And Dimes
7. Highway 101
8. Footprints On My Ceiling
9. Angel's Wings
10. Winners And Losers
11. Faithless
12. Down Here (With The Rest Of Us)
13. Gimme The Sweet And Lowdown
14. Sometimes I Do
15. When The Angels Sing
16. Pleasure Seeker
17. Don't Drag Me Down
18. Live Before You Die
19. Ball And Chain
20. I Was Wrong

Sex Love Rock and Roll and White Light White Heat without question. The new one was very disappointing....