The Greatest DEBUT rock albums of all time

Some bands get better with age; others do their best work on their first album.

My rule: it had to be a debut album by a band that never seemed to top their first one for some reason.

My picks for the greatest rock DEBUT albums of all time (in alphabetical order since I just can’t decide which one should be number one):

*APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION Guns 'N' Roses

The band that saved rock from hair metal made what is probably the best metal debut album since the best albums of the seventies. Pity the band self-destructed.


· ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Jimi doesn’t need any accolades from me. Simply the greatest.


· BOSTON Boston

Tom Scholz proved that a do-it-yourself attitude could produce one of the classic albums of the Seventies…and of all time for that matter.


· BOYS DON’T CRY The Cure

Picked because it’s just guitar bass and drums and short pop songs—none of the melancholy (read: boring) soundscapes the band would become famous (or infamous) for.


· DROP OUT WITH THE BARRACUDAS The Barracudas

“I wish it could be 1965 Again” proclaims one of the songs. The band never went on to do anything else, but it’s a fantastic imitation of 1960’s punk and surf music. Released in the 1980’s, you’d swear it came out right after the movie “Riot on Sunset Strip.”


· L.A.M.F. REVISITED Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers

Johnny was a punk rocker with talent. A lot of his guitar playing style reminds me of Ted Nugent’s, though usually rawer and with much less emphasis on soloing. “Get Off the Phone” could have been a Nuge song, to my mind. Too bad Thunders chose drugs over music.


· PRETENDERS The Pretenders

One of the tightest, most exhausting rock albums of all time. Tricky time signatures, playing so tight you can bounce a quarter off it. Fantastic.


· RAMONES The Ramones

These guys took their short but loud songs over to England and started the punk revolution. Although they considered themselves rock and not punk, every punk and hardcore band after them pales in comparison.


· RUSH Rush

Before there was Neal Peart, Rush made bone-busting metal. Virtuoso playing and tight writing (as well as some winsome passages) make you think this band should have stuck with this type of rock and not gone on to its more “pop” metal sound.


· STONEAGE ROMEOS The Hoodoo Gurus

Another band in the tradition of 1960’s punk and surf bands, Australia’s Hoodoo Gurus pay tribute to that sound and make it their own. Some of the songs have a quirky humor about them, and the playing and writing sound somehow familiar and original at the same time.


· TEN Pearl Jam

One of the best Grunge albums of all time, and a rock album with real heart. If Nirvana was all screaming blood and thunder, Pearl Jam proved that Grunge was not just punk warmed over.


Honorable Mention:

Moby Grape's first album gets tons of accolades as the great lost debut album by a band that should have been huge. But has anyone younger than 50 years old ever actually heard it?



[edit on 10/4/07 by Zane Zackerly]

After growing up to the amazing music of the 70's, damn even pop music was listenable then, the 80's SUCKED. Had to listen to metal, rock was dead. Duran Duran? Flock of Seagulls? That's the music that's playing nonstop in hell. Then a shining bright light saved us all. You've mentioned it, but last. I'd say it was the best Appetite for Destruction. Even the filler is good.

Originally posted by intrepid
After growing up to the amazing music of the 70's, damn even pop music was listenable then, the 80's SUCKED. Had to listen to metal, rock was dead. Duran Duran? Flock of Seagulls? That's the music that's playing nonstop in hell. Then a shining bright light saved us all. You've mentioned it, but last. I'd say it was the best Appetite for Destruction. Even the filler is good.

Edited my first post: were supposed to be in alphabetical order.

This band might be a little obscure outside of Canada but Moist's debut album Silver was really good.

Push(lousy quality):



Silver:

DIRE STRAITS-Dire Straits.

I know they remained successful for quite some time, but in my mind nothing they did after ever measured up to this album. Great guitar playing, nice lyrics, and the whole thing has such a smooth feel. I liked it a lot and was lucky to see them up close (think 8 feet) in a small club in Milwaukee, WI. I was 18. Mark Knopfler hit on my girlfriend after the show. I don't hold it against him. He's a really talented guy. Second and third albums were also good, but not quite the same.

GET THE KNACK-The Knack

Disco sucked and punk wasn't my thing. Along came The Knack. Some people went so far as to mention their name in the same breath as the Beatles, and they played that to the hilt. Only "My Sharona" is remembered these days, and even that not so much, but every song on the album was good. Super quick guitar licks in short songs, controversial lyrics for the time, and absolutely POUNDING drums. It was fun.

Their second album, BUT THE LITTLE GIRLS UNDERSTAND is also quite good. After that it was pretty much off to oblivion.

I passed on seeing them in 1980 so I wouldn't miss a freshman college math test the next day (would have had to drive six hours). To this day I regret it. Listened to a lot of New Wave music for a couple of years mainly because of The Knack.

Evanescence: Fallen

This album I think is just absolutly amazing. I know some people don't like them, but hey, it's my list, right? I jus think that when it came out, nobody was expecting it to go that mainstream. I love every bit of that album, and I honestly think there is not a bad song on it.



I'll have to think on more to add to my list....

The Cars
Self titled

Although, I call it "The Cars Greatest hits"..because it was/they were:

1. Good Times Roll -
2. My Best Friend's Girl -
3. Just What I Needed -
4. I'm in Touch With Your World -
5. Don't Cha Stop -
6. You're All I've Got Tonight -
7. Bye Bye Love -
8. Moving in Stereo -
9. All Mixed Up -


[edit on 5-10-2007 by spacedoubt]

Van Halen - Van Halen
Dio - Holy Diver
Gun's N Roses - Appetite For Destruction
Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates of Dawn

Originally posted by spacedoubt
The Cars
Self titled

Although, I call it "The Cars Greatest hits"..because it was/they were:

1. Good Times Roll -
2. My Best Friend's Girl -
3. Just What I Needed -
4. I'm in Touch With Your World -
5. Don't Cha Stop -
6. You're All I've Got Tonight -
7. Bye Bye Love -
8. Moving in Stereo -
9. All Mixed Up -


[edit on 5-10-2007 by spacedoubt]

I SERIOUSLY considered including this one. The only reason I think I didn't is because the Cars did do other albums that were really good, and the debut has just been played and played and played and played and played....

Well, in sticking with the rules of the thread, you'd have to consider Ten by Pearl Jam.

Eddie Vedder really started weirding me out after that.

Peace

Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz

Dio - Holy Diver

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

*EDIT* I didnt notice the "never topped first album" part so ...

Damage Plan - Damage Plan (sadly, they will never get the chance to top themselves)



[edit on 10/5/2007 by Xodiac]

Originally posted by Xodiac


*EDIT* I didnt notice the "never topped first album" part so ...

Hehehe...I've been waiting for someone to take me to task on naming Rush's first album as being their best, but no one has yet.