13 Songs is Fugazi's most successful release, with total worldwide sales over 3 million.
Reception
The album has gone on to receive a significant amount of critical acclaim, despite being a compilation, with many calling it one of the best albums of the post-hardcore genre. Stereogum called it "as auspicious as punk debuts come", further noting that on the album, "most of the Fugazi elements were in place from the jump, albeit in a somewhat less-developed form. If the concept of a punk band writing a song from the perspective of a woman being hooted at by sexist loudmouths seems revolutionary now, imagine what it sounded like in 1988, when the canon of classic punk still consisted largely of songs dealing with beating on brats, lynching landlords, and the ritual impaling of cats." In a 5-star review for Allmusic, Andy Kellman called the album "timeless" and wrote that "the importance of this record can perhaps be more suitably measured by the number of people who remember the first time they heard it. 13 Songs is usually among the first records that spring to mind when defining alternative rock. Furious, intelligent, artful, and entirely musical, it's a baker's dozen of cannon shots to the gut -- not just a batch of emotionally visceral and defiant songs recorded by angry young men, but something greater." Consequence of Sound called it "a solid classic, instantly grabbing the ear with a timeless quality that you just don’t find every day. I know this music is over 20 years old, but it sounds like it’s pouring out of someone’s garage down the street. You can’t fake this kind of timeless authenticity, though God knows many have tried." According to Popmatters, the album "remain the band's most widely successful and consistently praised work. 13 Songs, for instance, has sold over three million copies -- all without radio singles, music videos, or any of the tools of corporate publicity that help musicians reach that stratospheric level of success." "Looking back upon the arc of alternative rock, punk and indie throughout the decade," writes Treble, "from Nirvana to Jawbox, Shudder to Think, Sunny Day Real Estate, Quicksand and The Afghan Whigs, there’s a line that traces back to the jittery funk and searingly melodic hardcore of Fugazi’s first two EPs, which comprise 13 Songs."
Accolades
In 2005, 13 Songs was ranked 29 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005". NME ranked it #284 in their list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2014. Paste ranked it at #57 on their list of "The 80 Best Albums of the 1980s". In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked it 35th on their list of the "40 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time".
Influence
Both Jack Johnson and Eddie Vedder have named 13 Songs as one of their favorite albums of all time.
