Top 10 Greatest Debut Rock Albums

Stumbled across MoJo's vid ranking of debut albums. Not surprising, no one likely agrees 100% but thought it might be worth a post on SHS.

Stated critera:

Critical and commercial success

Impact on the band or on future artists

Ranking:

10. Boston

9. Funeral

8. Is This It

7. Definitely Maybe

6. The Stone Roses

5. My Aim Is True

4. Ten

3 Appetite for Destruction

2 Led Zeppelin

1 Are You Experienced

Due to my personal generational and genre biases I can't really judge 9 thru 6, but that also suggests not as huge an impact. "Boston" really started the classic arena rock of the late 70s and early 80s, so I would have it top 3. "Ten" while a huge debut had far less of an impact than Nirvana's "Nevermind". "The Cars" really brought post-punk new wave mainstream and had a huge impact, thinking far more than others on this list. Can't say for sure, but were the Zep and Hendrix debuts that different from their contemporaries at the time?

Last edit: 2020-04-14 17:24:02 UTC by Tar Heel

Interesting list, VV, and - as lists like this go - in essence controversial!

Are You Experienced was indeed a sensation in 1967 and totally unlike any other album at the time and so was of course Jimi Hendrix.

The rest of the list does not mean very much to me (Boston? huh), apart of course from Britpop sensation Oasis and their 1994 Definitely Maybe. The band was huge in the UK at the time (and Mojo is of course a British magazine), but did not have much of an impact in the States.

And again, lists like this are controversial and that is the way it should be!

Thom

I didn't know that MoJo is British. With that in mind, one would likely need to adjust down British/Euro releases and adjust up American for this analysis. That would explain some of the list from my perspective. With that said, remember the stated criteria: a) a big seller that the critics like as well and b) affected the music environment at the time of release (i.e. spawned similar artists or caused existing artists to change).

I'm surprised at your reaction to "Boston" (1976). Consider at the time the 70s were at the tail end of the singer-songwriter era, the middle of the "soft rock" and "power pop" period, and the beginning of disco and punk. This debut sounded nothing like anything else at the time and likely started the ~10 year classic/arena rock period by bands like Styx, Foreigner and Journey (some of which pre-existed "Boston", but were still looking for successful sound).

On the other hand, the number of covers from a release should also be a useful measure of legacy, and "Boston" has far fewer than one would guess. This could be a function of the distinctive production though.

Like my father used to say De gustibus non est disputandum...... It is all a matter of taste.

And as far as Boston is concerned their biggest US hit More Than a Feeling was only a minor hit in Europe: #9 in Switzerland, #11 in The Netherlands and #22 in the UK.....

I think the band did not even bother to tour in Europe, but maybe I am mistaken.

Of course Tom Scholz is a special songwriter, but the choice of Mojo for Boston's first album was rather surprising to me.

Thom

I agree that music is a matter of taste, but this isn't represented as the best debuts, but rather debuts measured by somewhat objective standards. We can measure how many albums have sold and read the reviews by critics. We can also look back with hindsight and determine some legacy.

Consider that Slippery When Wet (1986) came out the year before and likely paved the way for the success of Appetite for Destruction (1987). The former wasn't a debut while the later was. Ramones (1976) likely had more impact on its own, but did not have high commercial success at the time of release. Hair/Neo-Glam lasted maybe 5 peak years. Punk similar.

Thom, WatchMojo is based in Montreal. They're not affiliated with the British magazine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WatchMojo

Seems like there was a third constraint that I failed to mention, namely a limit of two debuts per decade (60s thru 00s)....

Quote from Oldiesmann

Thom, WatchMojo is based in Montreal. They're not affiliated with the British magazine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WatchMojo

That explains a lot! Thanks for telling me.

Thom