My Favourite Debut Albums
Most debuts are good. Some are great. These are the ones I personally consider the best out of all the ones I've heard. |
| 1 |  | AC/DC
High Voltage
5/5
Yeah, yeah, I know it's not their *actual* debut. Shut up. It's still virtually flawless. |
| 2 |  | Backyard Superheroes
Falling With Style
4.5/5
...and they only got better from here. These guys really do need to be better known. |
| 3 |  | Barfighter
Barfighter
4.5/5
Mind. Blown. |
| 4 |  | Billy Talent
Billy Talent
4/5
A very promising first draft for what would be their greatest album ever. |
| 5 |  | Cinderella
Night Songs
4/5
Had they opted for literally any other name and cover style, they would have been much more respected. Just saying. |
| 6 |  | Firehouse
Firehouse
4/5
These guys were so good, they managed to have a career despite being a hair metal band with a debut album released in 1990. |
| 7 |  | Godspeed You! Black Emperor
F♯ A♯ ∞
4.5/5
Not so much an album as an aural experience. The soundtrack to the greatest film never written. |
| 8 |  | Killswitch Engage
Alive or Just Breathing
4/5
The album that popularised the concept of metalcore, and still a strong candidate for best album ever from that genre. |
| 9 |  | Linkin Park
Hybrid Theory
4/5
AOTY for 16-year-old me, and still a massive nostalgic guilty pleasure for thirtysomething-year-old me. |
| 10 |  | Manu Chao
Clandestino
4/5
A few too many songs on this one, but the ones that slap, slap HARD. That initial sequence of Clandestino / Desaparecido / Bongo Bong brooks absolutely NO argument, and tracks like Mama Call and Minha Galera keep the Latin party vibes going strong well into the album's running time. |
| 11 |  | MC5
Kick Out the Jams
5/5
The aural equivalent of a wild hallucinogenic trip. It has to be heard to be believed. |
| 12 |  | Metallica
Kill 'Em All
4/5
Again, this feels like a first draft for its two superior sucessors, but there is no denying the youthful energy of songs like The Four Horsemen, Motorbreath, Seek and Destroy or Metal Militia. |
| 13 |  | Nirvana
Bleach
4/5
Low-key my favourite Nirvana album, even if its sucessor wins out on historic importance. Kurt and Co. would never be this grungy, sludgy or fuzzy ever again - and more's the pity. |
| 14 |  | Poison
Look What The Cat Dragged In
4/5
Once again, this feels like a first draft for their superior sophomore effort, but just you try to deny songs like Talk Dirty To Me or the title track. |
| 15 |  | Ramones
Ramones
4.5/5
Acknowledged as one of the greatest debuts in music history, and with good reason. |
| 16 |  | RDGLDGRN
Red Gold Green
4.5/5
One of the most unique albums I have ever listened to. Shame they chose a different sonic path after this, but this debut remains an absolute gem. |
| 17 |  | Slipknot
Slipknot
4/5
The album that brought me back into harder styles of music at age 14. I don't listen to it so much anymore these days (it has been over 20 years) but the first half of the album is still not to be denied. |
| 18 |  | Stiff Little Fingers
Inflammable Material
4.5/5
My first brush with these guys was a live album, and I didn't get the hype around them. My second was Nobody's Heroes, and I still didn't get the hype around them. Third time around...I got it. |
| 19 |  | The Clash
The Clash
4/5
London Calling's my favourite by them, but this one is a close second - especially as it contains some of my favourite songs of theirs, like Clash City Rockers and I Fought The Law. |
| 20 | | The Prodigy
The Prodigy Experience
4/5
The tracklist reads like a Greatest Hits compilation, and while the next two albums would improve on this debut's sound, it remains a very strong outing in its own right. |
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