I find it shocking that some bands’ debut albums are undeniably their best releases. Just from my own perspective, as someone who is about to put out his ninth album, I consider my debut to be my weakest effort. In fact, I have a half-baked plan to re-record much of it with a full band rather than just all by myself. I think that for the most part, bands and solo artists should find their mojo after a few years together. Not to mention, they should be improving as musicians.
I suppose there’s the whole “matter of preference” thing. Like, I know people who consider the music The Beatles were making in Hamburg to be far more to their liking than anything on Sgt. Pepper. Then there are bands like Hüsker Dü, whose Land Speed Record debut is nothing like their far more melodic and accessible later albums. Rush’s first record has a different drummer and lyricist than all the others. The late Jeff Beck started his solo career as an explosive blues guitarist and then progressed into a major fusion era. I’m not much of a fan, though I recognize the excellence of albums like Blow By Blow and Wired. Give me 1968’s Truth any day. Similarly, there’s almost no comparison between Chicago’s first album, Chicago Transit Authority, and their best-selling albums of the ’80s, Chicago 16 and 17. I’ve not encountered many people who are fans of both eras. Similarly, I doubt From Genesis To Revelation is anyone’s favourite Genesis album.
So it’s worth a bit of my superficial list analysis. First, let’s examine what I believe to be the best debut albums from 1963 to 2023:
The Beatles | Please Please Me (1963)
The Kinks | Kinks (1964)
The Who | My Generation (1965)
The Mothers Of Invention | Freak Out! (1966)
Jimi Hendrix Experience | Are You Experienced? (1967)
Jeff Beck Group | Truth (1968)
Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin (1969)
Black Sabbath | Black Sabbath (1970)
John Prine | John Prine (1971)
Big Star | #1 Record (1972)
Tom Waits | Closing Time (1973)
Kiss | Kiss (1974)
Patti Smith | Horses (1975)
Ramones | Ramones (1976)
Television | Marquee Moon (1977)
The Cars | The Cars (1978)
The B-52s | The B-52s (1979)
The Pretenders | The Pretenders (1980)
The Go-Go’s | Beauty And The Beat (1981)
Bad Brains | Bad Brains (1982)
Violent Femmes | Violent Femmes (1983)
Run-D.M.C. | Run-D.M.C. (1984)
The Armoury Show | Waiting For The Floods (1985)
Yo La Tengo | Ride The Tiger (1986)
Guns N’ Roses | Appetite For Destruction (1987)
Pixies | Surfer Rosa (1988)
Masters Of Reality | Masters Of Reality (1989)
The Breeders | Pod (1990)
Mercury Rev | Yerself Is Steam (1991)
Pavement | Slanted And Enchanted (1992)
Liz Phair | Exile In Guyville (1993)
Nas | Illmatic (1994)
Son Volt | Trace (1995)
Fiona Apple | Tidal (1996)
Spiritualized | Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (1997)
Lauryn Hill | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
Roots Manuva | Brand New Second Hand (1999)
Coldplay | Parachutes (2000)
The Strokes | Is This It (2001)
RJD2 | Deadringer (2002)
The Postal Service | Give Up (2003)
Arcade Fire | Funeral (2004)
Black Mountain | Black Mountain (2005)
The Raconteurs | Broken Boy Soldiers (2006)
Young Galaxy | Young Galaxy (2007)
School of Language | Sea From Shore (2008)
Florence And The Machine | Lungs (2009)
Junip | Fields (2010)
Charles Bradley | No Time For Dreaming (2011)
Louis-Jean Cormier | Le Treizième Étage (2012)
Big Black Delta | Big Black Delta (2013)
Alvvays | Alvvays (2014)
Courtney Barnett | Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)
Dope Lemon | Honey Bones (2016)
Matt Cameron | Cavedweller (2017)
Snail Mail | Lush
Black Pumas | Black Pumas (2019)
Andy Bell | The View From Halfway Down (2020)
Olivia Rodrigo | Sour (2021)
Ombigizi | Sewn Back Together (2022)
Boygenius | The Record (2023)
And here’s a list of debut albums which represent one of the act’s weaker efforts:
Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan (1962)
David Bowie | David Bowie (1967)
Neil Young | Neil Young (1968)
John Lennon & Yoko Ono | Two Virgins (1968)
Genesis | From Genesis To Revelation (1969)
Alice Cooper | Pretties For You (1969)
(Ambrose) Slade | Beginnings (1969)
Warren Zevon | Wanted Dead Or Alive (1970)
Supertramp | Supertramp (1970)
Billy Joel | Cold Spring Harbor (1971)
April Wine | April Wine (1971)
Wings | Wild Life (1971)
Johnny Cougar | Chestnut Street Incident (1976)
Hüsker Dü | Land Speed Record (1982)
Sonic Youth | Confusion Is Sex (1982)
Meat Puppets | Meat Puppets (1982)
Pantera | Metal Magic (1983)
Flaming Lips | Hear It Is (1986)
Beastie Boys | Licensed To Ill (1986)
Guided By Voices | Devil Between My Toes (1987)
Radiohead | Pablo Honey (1993)
• • •
Area Resident is an Ottawa-based journalist, recording artist, music collector and re-seller. Hear (and buy) his music on Bandcamp, email him HERE, follow him on Instagram and check him out on Discogs.
