Greatest Debut Album Ever ?

Thinking about this the other night, I have my answer already but I will save it for later.

Strictly considering debut albums only, and ignoring the rest of the artist or groups later body of work - what artist and album do you consider to be the greatest, and why ?

Don't name an album that isn't a debut, later albums don't count, neither do demos or unreleased bootlegs - debut albums on a non-private label only.

Weezer, the blue album. Classic in that Beach Boys way, but perfect when it came out and you can still listen to it and find relevance. A definate Classic.

Dire Straits (eponymous). I don't see how you can debut with a better album than that one.

non-private label?
black sabbath (1970)
led zeppelin i (1969)
why? it was the beginning of hard rock/metal movement

Kill 'Em All

Beck, Mellow Gold was the beginning of an amazing career. Odelay is pretty awesome too. So is Sea Change and Guero and the latest album, Modern Guilt. The guy has evolved in so many ways.

Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine started an amazing revolution of industrial/electronic/rock stuff that spread throughout the nineties.

Coldplay, Parachutes. I mean, come on...where would we be now without the crying face of Gwyneth Paltrows husband.

Cop Killer - Body Count

Led Zepplin I (I am by NO means a Zep fan, but this first album is an exception !)
The Doors
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood (Love Struck Baby, Pride And Joy, and Texas Flood opening up that album !)

Comercially: Boston. Fastest selling debut album for any American group. Only took it two months to earn a Gold Record and another month to reach Platinum. Three Top 40 hits. All eight songs on the album still receive regular airplay. It has continued to sell very well, accumulating 9 million in sales by the ten-year anniversary in 1986, reaching Diamond in 1990 and 17x platinum in 2003.

Artistically: Led Zeppelin. It has everything - brutal rock, power ballads, blues-rock, folk-rock. It really never gets old. A timeless classic, and I'm not a huge Zep fan, either.

Historically: Please Please Me - The Beatles. It changed R&R forever and spawned the blueprint for future R&R bands; write your own hits and play your own instruments.

I might also have to throw out Michael Jackson Off The Wall on this one too. Not his most successful album, but so very different from the Jackson Five that when it came out you knew something awesome was coming. Then he made Thriller and the rest is history...until HIStory came out and was not so good. By the way, who get's told by Paul McCartney to keep the rights to your songs and then goes out and buys all of the rights to the Beatles.

Rhoobarb said:

Comercially: Boston. Fastest selling debut album for any American group. Only took it two months to earn a Gold Record and another month to reach Platinum. Three Top 40 hits. All eight songs on the album still receive regular airplay. It has continued to sell very well, accumulating 9 million in sales by the ten-year anniversary in 1986, reaching Diamond in 1990 and 17x platinum in 2003.

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There we go. Winna winna chicken dinna

I was waiting for someone to say that - Right answer.

King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King

That, or Led Zep I

Boston FTW :rockin:

Backstreet Boys- self titled debut album. Instant classic. :rockin:

Actually, I agree with many of the posts. A couple more to throw out:

Traffic- Mr Fantasy

The Jimi Hendrix Experience- Are You Experienced?

Pearl Jam - Ten
Stone Temple Pilots - Core
Tool - Undertow
Tesla - Mechanical Resonance
Candlebox - Candlebox

+1 for Boston. It was one of the first that I put on my Ipod when I got it.

yep, it would just have to be Boston if for no other reason than if you play classic rock radio while you're having your cookout and fireworks tomorrow you're going to hear half those songs on that album before you finish your first six pack

that album totally influenced AOR rock that followed it and remains fresh to this day

and even though thats not really the kind of music that I would prefer to listen to 95% of the time, by an yardstick I can think of to measure "greatness" except perhaps how much I personally like the songs -- that album is leaps and bounds above the others, my personal musical preferences aside of course

Now if it was strictly which debut album do I enjoy listening too the most, then of course there is no way I'd pick Boston -- I'd pick either Entombed's "Left Hand Path" or "Winds of Creation" by Decapitated - both perfect all the way through and influential in their own way

I have to say I'm so sick of Boston they are now a tune-out when I have the radio on in the car. There's two classic rock stations I listen to and I bounce from one to the other anytime anything from Boston or most songs from Journey come on.

ChshreCat said:

I have to say I'm so sick of Boston they are now a tune-out when I have the radio on in the car. There's two classic rock stations I listen to and I bounce from one to the other anytime anything from Boston or most songs from Journey come on.

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It's the same way around here with AC/DC. I swear they play AC/DC every other song, to the point where I have some serious AC/DC burnout. It's a big reason i started listening to oldies stations instead of classic rock.

Next to Led Zeppelin, Sabbath and a few others,

Guns and Roses Appetite for Destruction is one of the best hard rock albums ever.

ok, many may not agree, but

Green Day-dookie

its probably their best album.

disclaimer-i dont like their political crap at all, but they are a hit machine

Bulls Beers said:

Guns and Roses Appetite for Destruction is one of the best hard rock albums ever.

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+1. When that came out, I remember thinking, "man, for the next 15 years this band could be what the Stones were from '65-'80". Oops...

Not sure if Nevermind counts as Nirvana's debut or not under the criteria, but it certainly reshaped the music landscape for half a decade.

Herbie Hancock, "Takin' Off" Blue Note 1962

Operation Ivy - Energy

it was their first full length release but that band was so awesome and you can listen to them over and over and over again. not to mention they spawned Rancid.

you can't hope to make a better debut album than Energy.

Van Halen
oh and a definite mention for GNR

don't know if you guys are much for hard rock but what about Disturbed's - Stupify. That album was released in 2000 (i believe). And you still can't turn on the radio without hearing something from it.

On opposite ends of the spectrum

Nirvana - Nevermind
Norah Jones - Come away with me

jonp9576 said:

ok, many may not agree, but

Green Day-dookie

its probably their best album.

disclaimer-i dont like their political crap at all, but they are a hit machine

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Is that really a debut? I mean, I know there are other discs but they might be considered self distributed demos.

Some good ones on here (especially Zep) and I'll add:

Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill
Royksopp - Melody AM
AIR - Moon Safari
Dr. Dre - The Chronic

Van Halen - Van Halen

Changed rock guitar forever. Listen to Eruption

GregR said:

Operation Ivy - Energy

it was their first full length release but that band was so awesome and you can listen to them over and over and over again. not to mention they spawned Rancid.

you can't hope to make a better debut album than Energy.

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Technically, Hectic was their debut.

Bobby_M said:

Is that really a debut? I mean, I know there are other discs but they might be considered self distributed demos.

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Correct. 1,000 Hours was their technical debut. That evolved into 1,000 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours. Kerplunk was then their second full length album.

For my generation (born in '82), I don't think anything can topple Appetite. Pure perfection.

PseudoChef said:

Technically, Hectic was their debut.



Correct. 1,000 Hours was their technical debut. That evolved into 1,000 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours. Kerplunk was then their second full length album.

For my generation (born in '82), I don't think anything can topple Appetite. Pure perfection.

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yes, hectic was their debut, but Energy is largely considered their first (and only) debut. everything that was on hectic was on energy. hectic was so obscure that it is impossible to get. the only way anyone could have gotten hectic was to be on gilman street circa 1988. but that CD can be played forever and not get old.

VH
The Black Crowes-Shake Your Money Maker

bearcamp said:

Van Halen - Van Halen

Changed rock guitar forever. Listen to Eruption

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Eruption, if memory serves (and granted, there's a LOT that I don't remember from those days !) is all BASS guitar, not Eddie.

Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables - Dead Kennedys

Straight Outta Compton - NWA

Pretty Hate Machine - Nine Inch Nails

Cowboys From Hell - Pantera (if you don't count their minor label fiascos)

Use Once and Destroy - Superjoint Ritual

Driver Not Included - Orange 9mm (the best rap-rock-crossover band ever)

Behind the Green Pachinko - Pachinko (just beats out their sophmore effort : Splendor in the Ass II: Electric Boogaloo)

Creed - My Own Prison
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Pearl Jam - Ten
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
The Doors - The Doors
Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
Van Halen - Van Halen
Boston - Boston
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

MeatyPortion said:

Driver Not Included - Orange 9mm (the best rap-rock-crossover band ever)

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I loved that CD, haven't listened to it in years though.

All the ones that immediately came to mind when I saw the topic have already been mentioned. Zep, GnR, Pearl Jam, SRV, The Doors. So I'll go with Rage Against The Machine's self-titled debut.

arturo7 said:

Herbie Hancock, "Takin' Off" Blue Note 1962

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+1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It depends on your criteria of Greatness. If it's Money grossed and postion on the charts in the least amount of time, then it has to be Boston. However if you look at Greatest as the impact on human culture and the Music Industry and History itself, it is hard to not think of the Beatles and Micheal Jackson. Of course I think we are all partial to the music we grew up on so for me it has to be Van Halen- Van Halen.

Eastside

Forgot all about Rage Against the Machine. Best album IMO ever!