Entertainment For Lively Minds
Greatest/most influential Debut album ever?
I don't know if The Word has hosted a debate on this subject before but Planet Rock radio have just started a poll on best debuts. Its actually a very interesting question. When you look at most top artists' and bands' back catalogues their best work was not always their first record. That said, there were some debuts who are generally regarded as particularly good/influential within a specific genre (e.g Oasis' Definitely Maybe - mid 90s Britrock).
On the Planet Rock poll, focussed of course on classic rock/metal, I submitted Led Zeppelin I, Van Halen's first album and Black Sabbath I.
Now you could argue the toss all day about the last two albums and which contributed most to the evolution of Heavy Metal. Ozzy and Iommi spawned legions of black, thrash, death and goth metal bands and anyone else who feels more comfortable in black eye liner. Van Halen I came along a few years later and Eddie VH showed us how a guitar can be played both very fast and tunefully at the same time. That took metal off in a more glamorous and commercially successful direction, especially in America
However, let Planet Rock deal with arguments about heavy metal. That needn't detain us here. Let me instead take a position on Led Zeppelin I. I believe if this is not the most influential debut album of all time (though its still up there with the best) it most certainly is the best debut ever within the scope of classic rock, coming as it did during that golden age of creativity and innovation generally (late 60s to early 70s).
Views on this and other great debuts, including in other musical genres?
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The Ramones
If it only had one of the most-copied sleeves it would be a candidate for influence. But it also has magic in the grooves. Cartoons ? Idiots savants ? Funny and smart and uplifting, stripped down and minimal but not simple.
I still love it, all these years on.
Grace
Jeff Buckley's début (and only) album is an absolutely stunning piece of work. And, like it or not, it's greatly influenced many of today's popular bands, like Coldplay and Radiohead.
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Superb beginning
Obvious - but has to be said Never Mind The Bollocks
All of the above excellent and import. NMTB's importance was so widespread you wouldn't have to heard a note of it to understand why.
As to whether it's the best, that's probably The Clash.
my generation/the who
easily a good candidate - attitude and menace from a bunch of english blokes playing hyped-up blues...
And not forgetting
Jimi Hendrix 'Are You Experienced'
The Band 'Music From The Big Pink'
The Beatles 'Please Please Me'
Entertainment!
Predictable from me, since I am just a little obsessed with it, but how many of the guitar bands in the last 10 years have not been influenced by Gang of Four's debut?
The Doors
by The Doors
Bert Jansch- "Bert Jansch"
This is a great debut album from 1965, and it's had a profound effect on the British folk/blues scene ever since.
The Clash's
first offering
Patti Smith...Horses
Velvets and Nico
Aztec Camera's
High Land Hard Rain was an amazing debut if only for the fact that Roddy Frame was only 16 when it was written and released. As far as influence goes I don't know but it certainly opened up a new seam of music for me.
Did this spark the whole Glasgow jangly thing?
Were there any other bands from Scotland doing the same stuff at this time?
Postcard Records
Home of Orange Juice & Aztec Camera. (And Josef K)
Aztec Camera were by no means alone, but they were probably the two best of the bunch.
Orange Juice were revolutionary at the time - in a city where pubs were still full of bands who wanted to be Frankie Miller (and I love Frankie Miller) to have a band wearing sailor suits, playing fey jazz-inflected awkward pop was fantastic!
This has got to be right up there in terms of brilliance...
Patti Smith
Horses
Brilliant. Imspirational
The best by far
is Steely Dans Cant buy a thrill - not a duff track.
Songs of Leonard Cohen is not too shabby either.
Bjorks Debut is not only a great debut album but the only good album she ever did.
sorry but Bjork
has made other great albums, Post for example with the amazing Hyperballad and Army Of Me and her most popular track It's Oh So Quiet.
And my favorite and I think her most interesting sonic experience Vespertine
She has made some dicey ones as well to be fair, I really couldn't relate to Medúlla and Volta was awfully confused lyrically.
Also technically Debut wasn't her debut album. She made one in 1977 called Bjork: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B6rk_(album)
I'm not dissing Debut though it is a fine album with my favorite Bjork song on it: Venus as a boy
HAVE TO
agree with you Mr Fat. This is, indeed, a wonderful song, that I had all but forgotten about. Thank you for the reminder
Homogenic
Stands up as her best, to me.
Buddy Holly
'Chirping Crickets' by The Crickets.
Beatles, Stones, Who, Yardbirds, Floyd, The Shadows.....indeed any male born between 1935 and 1948.
Didn't just influence 'quantity' (Bowie, Smiths, Clash, Sex Pistols etc.) but actually influenced 'quality'.
Dexys
Searching For The Young Soul Rebels
I've met many a friend and musician of my age who were fired up by this one.
Two Sevens Clash
Awesome debut album from Culture, not only kick-started their fabulous career, but influenced a lot of vocal reggae groups around the world.
Also ignited an interest in roots music for many who hadn't previously been snared (myself included).
Great Album
- although not sure how ground-breaking it was. Burning Spear probably - and the sometimes derided by reggae fundamentalists - Marley/Wailers had paved the way for "conscious" vocal groups previously.
Acts like The Heptones and The Abbyssinians were a little ahead of Culture too.
Having said all that - the album above - did break open my mind to reggae in general. I sometimes think that if I had to choose one genre only to listen to forever - then Reggae from the 70s/80s would be my choice
Mmm
I think this LP swung a lot of doors for reggae artists in general, and certainly didn't do the popularity of other vocal groups (Heptones etc.) any harm. In the UK particularly, it opened up a major new audience for reggae music.
Obviously in the grand scheme of things Marley and co. had a bigger influence in the development of the genre, but if we're looking purely at at debut albums, then this is definitely up there.
I'm with you on the 'one genre I'd listen to' argument, I've amassed reggae LP's in the thousands since it revealed itself to me in the late '70's - it's the only avenue of music where 30 years down the line there is still lots of new nuggets to be found.
I was pondering this...
just the other day. The conclusion that I came to was John Prine: S/T.
Thirteen (count 'em) tracks that whup most artists greatest hits CD's.
I can think of many fine first albums.
I can think of many influential albums.
But influential first albums? Difficult.
How about Big Star's #1 Record?
Yeah. That does it for me. I can go to bed now.
surely
the velevet underground
notwithstanding disparaging thread running currently
Why have I had to scroll this far down
before anybody mentioned Roxy Music
The Kick Inside...
By Kate Bush - a couple of smash hits, some helium-voiced classics and an inspiration to a generation of female singers. Ticks all boxes.
The Stone Roses
Indescribably influential in shaping yer Britpop, right?
CSN
All three of these produced superb solo debuts:
David Crosby - If only I Could Remember My Name
Graham Nash - Songs for Beginners
Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills
And there's more...
Zeppelin I is certainly influential. I'd add Rick Wakeman's 'Six Wives of Henry VIII' as the success of this delivered a key message to the music business - you don't need a singer to make a hit rock record. I'd also add Kate Bush (The Kick Inside) and Dire Straits' first album - 'Sultans of Swing' sounded so fresh!
Leonard Cohen's
Songs of Leonard Cohen - the first album of a very long career - never bettered despite some very good efforts.
2 great debuts that spring to mind are...
Daft Punk - Homework
and
The Strokes - Is this it
Maybe not the greatest influential debuts but pretty good all the same.
Can't be sure how influential yet, but...
Arctic Monkeys - 'Whatever People Say...'
Unfortunately suffering from the lull of becoming too popular too fast, but I still reckon people will be coming back to this album for years to come.
Also...
Buffalo Springfield
The Smiths