Elton John's first album "Empty Sky" was released in 1969.
The self titled second album was released the following year.
The self titled second album was released the following year.
Best "Rock/Pop" Debut Album?
I've been thinking about this for a while and recently rifled through my catalogue to look at some contenders. The criteria I used for selecting the best debut album is based on both impact to the genre and overall musical quality. For example some of the great Rock/Pop bands of the last 45 years didn't exactly come out of the gate swinging grand slams. For example, as great as the Beatles, Stones and even The Who were or are, they're first offering was largely based on covers of American blues and doesn't represent them hitting full stride. Same full stride scenario could also be said for great bands such as Zeppelin, Tull, Aerosmith, Talking Heads, Prince, CSN&Y etc.
Without further ado here is my list:
1. Yes - "Fragile" (Unbelievable debut album. Ushered in a classical sensibility to Rock music that hadn't been tapped into as deeply prior to their arrival on the scene. The muscianship and composition on Fragile is stunning. I put this album as number 1 on my list because of the incredible muscianship and maturity of this first offering)
2. Steely Dan - "Can't Buy A Thrill" (Damn near a flawless debut album. The Dan's influence was huge and made it difficult for critics to even figure how to categorize their style of music)
3. Chicago "Chicago Transit Authority" (Wham they came out of left field and combined horns, percussions and hot guitar licks the likes of which the music scene hadn't witnessed before. Right out of the gate their debut album sounded like it was a veteran work of art)
4. Nirvana - "Nirvana" (What can you say about this debut? It was a solid musical offering with a huge impact on music. Their debut was an invitation to the Grim Reaper for Old School and Hair Spray rock bands. It's influence is still being felt to this day)
5. The Doors - "The Doors" (Unbelievably good debut album. Light My Fire is one of the best Rock songs of all time IMHO. Right out of the gate The Doors brought a style and sound all their own)
Without further ado here is my list:
1. Yes - "Fragile" (Unbelievable debut album. Ushered in a classical sensibility to Rock music that hadn't been tapped into as deeply prior to their arrival on the scene. The muscianship and composition on Fragile is stunning. I put this album as number 1 on my list because of the incredible muscianship and maturity of this first offering)
2. Steely Dan - "Can't Buy A Thrill" (Damn near a flawless debut album. The Dan's influence was huge and made it difficult for critics to even figure how to categorize their style of music)
3. Chicago "Chicago Transit Authority" (Wham they came out of left field and combined horns, percussions and hot guitar licks the likes of which the music scene hadn't witnessed before. Right out of the gate their debut album sounded like it was a veteran work of art)
4. Nirvana - "Nirvana" (What can you say about this debut? It was a solid musical offering with a huge impact on music. Their debut was an invitation to the Grim Reaper for Old School and Hair Spray rock bands. It's influence is still being felt to this day)
5. The Doors - "The Doors" (Unbelievably good debut album. Light My Fire is one of the best Rock songs of all time IMHO. Right out of the gate The Doors brought a style and sound all their own)
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Here are a few more I missed to add to my 60's/70's era list above: THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION - 'Freak Out' PINK FLOYD 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'- I bought this when it first came out in 1967. According to Wikipedia "It is now viewed as one of the better debut albums by many critics." I always thought so even though I may have prefered listening to some of their later work. JETHRO TULL - 'This Was' - still one of my favorite Tull LPs. Saw them perform on their first US tour right after 'Stand Up' came out with Joe Cocker and Jefferson Airplane. Their performance and especially their sound quality was the best I had seen at the time. I was sorry not to see Mick Abrahams perform, much less leave the band, but apparently there were some disagreements about musical direction and he went on to form his own band, Blodwyn Pig. His replacement, Martin Barre turned out to be just fine, however, and a driving force of the band's sound. JONI MITCHELL - 'Joni Mitchell'- I can't believe no one has mentioned Joni. Then again I can't believe Sex Pistols are on this list...to each his own I guess. THE MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA - 'The Inner Mounting Flame' - I wasn't going to mention this one since it moves more into the jazz realm, but since Metralla did I will too. Saw them in their first tour opening for Yes in Denver. I was pretty amazed and to this day am a huge fan of John McLaughlin. |
More corrections not yet noted by others: Harrison's solo debut was "Wonderwall Music" on Apple in '68. Morrison's solo debut was "Blowin' Your Mind" on Bang in '67. As Ben came close to pointing out, Nirvana's debut was "Bleach" on SubPop in (can you believe it?!) '89. (BTW, that "My Sharona" song really began a long and storied career for The Knack, didn't it?) Audiofeil has kindly corrected a few others, now I'll return the favor: "Pick Up The Pieces" was a single off of AWB's '74 Atlantic debut simply entitled Average White Band, but they had an earlier album on MCA, '73's "Show Your Hands". "Centerfield" (WB '85) was John Fogerty's third solo album, after "John Fogerty & The Blue Ridge Rangers" (Fantasy '73 -- there was no band named The Blue Ridge Rangers, it was just Fogerty) and "John Fogerty" (Asylum '75) Anyway, this list could obviously go on and on, but some other notable debuts I don't think were mentioned above are Elvis Presley, "Here's Little Richard", The Ramones, The Pretenders, The New York Dolls, Moby Grape, Gene Clark (solo debut after leaving the Byrds), The Dead Kennedys "Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables", The Dictators "Go Girl Crazy", The Modern Lovers, NRBQ, The Monkees, The B-52s, Pink Floyd "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn", Television, Wire "Pink Flag", The Cars, The Mothers "Freak Out", The Stooges, Derek & The Dominoes...I'll stop before I list a hundred more... FWIW, IMO "Are You Experienced?" is probably the most world-changing debut LP ever released, only 'cause The Beatles did it more with singles at the beginning (as did most artists prior to The Beatles). |
astral weeks is not a debut I thought that might be the case, since "Brown Eyed Girl" had come first. Shame on me for trusting Amazon By the way, I vote Zaikesman forum hall monitor. :-) |
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My opinion on a top ten list: 10-Truth-Jeff Beck 9-Electric Music for Mind & Body--Country Joe & The Fish 8-The Velvet Underground & Nico-Same 7-Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers-Same 6-Welcome to The Pleasure Dome--Frankie Goes To Hollywood 5-Cars-Same (listen in HDCD; mindblowing) 4-Led Zeppelin-Same 3-Doors 2-Are You Experienced-Jimi 1 Boston-Same Considered the best amongst many critics |
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The Beatles! Whether it's With the Beatles or Meet the Beatles, I don't see how anything else could be the "winner" of this "contest". Talk about impact! Little kids, and elderly people, are still listening (and singing along!) to this stuff; and it absolutely kick-started rock n' roll into HUGE popularity. Musical quality? Well, I can easily see arguments for other debuts, but it depends on how one defines "overall musical quality". |
I remember when "Boston" came out, I was in junior high school and everybody loved them. I once talked this girl I liked into leaving the school grounds during lunch and eating with me at my house instead. As we walked we talked about music, and she told me Boston was her favorite band. Of course, being the snobbish dweeb I was, I became nearly apoplectic that she could like them better than The Beatles, even though The Beatles had broken up before I was really old enough to be aware of them. Smooth dude, that. Anyway, I was proud that I could play the opening guitar figure from "More Than A Feeling" for my next door neighbor kid who spun that record to death, but I just never could cotton to bands like them and Foreigner. Chalk it up to precocious good taste. Then new wave started to happen (before it got co-opted by the labels), and I began to figure out why Boston sounded stupid even if impressive in their way. These days I have a more expansive attitude toward them, though I'll never own their records. Sad how even a band like Boston now makes 99% of current radio rock sound fake and without craft. |
yes, Boston sounds good today, but back then, the folks who were ther music mavens blew them off....even the movie FM looks radical today. ...i was at a party and the song 'spill the wine' by eb and War came over the radio. most of the folks there did not speak english, but jeez..that song never sound better and people were dancing and going nuts. it was good then (71), but today, it sounds like the gods inspired them. |
Perhaps some of the "Boston bashers" were changing the radio dial back in 1976 in favor of some of these infectious gems which were recieving equal airplay?: Theme From "S.W.A.T", Rhythm Heritage Convoy, C.W. McCall Disco Duck, Rick Dees In light of these ground breaking performances I suppose Boston did come off as rather stupid - what was I thinking back then? I'm so embarrased. Pardon me for the off-topic response... |
Perhaps not. Even though I was only in 6th grade at the time, I recall it being damned hard to find anything I wanted to hear on the radio in 1976. (Kind of like now, come to think of it.) Some other tunes that felt like an absolute plague then were "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "Silly Love Songs". Something I remember more fondly from the previous year was when "Walk This Way" debuted as a single, and I was taping it to cassette off the radio when the DJ got so overwhelmed with enthusiastic response from callers that he actually spun the song twice in a row back to back. For some reason that impressed the hell out of me at my age then, and I've never heard the same thing happen again before or since. |
Hey Zaikesman, all this 70's era nostalgia suddenly reminded me of another debut that I feel must be mentioned...arguably one of the greatest debut albums of the '70s and certainly one that I no problem admitting owning and listening to. "You wanted the best and you got it! The hottest band in the land...KISS!!!!!" |
