Jim's Gems: Joy Division, Portishead, Stone Roses — the 10 best debut albums ever
Jim Comet's list of favourite debuts includes the Velvet Underground and Portishead
They often arrive to thunderous applause, complete indifference or if you're really unlucky, utter derision.
Some debut albums can become so influential they can go on to define not only the artist but an entire genre, which brings its own set of problems. Either way, an artist’s first album is so important in determining their career path, so it’s important to get it right.
Here are my 10 favourites. It was a difficult list and I don't expect everyone to agree with it, so feel free to express your own opinions in the online form.
Arguably the album that invented alternative music The Velvets originally emerged from Andy Warhol’s Factory around 1967 with an album that was as far away from the summer of love as you could possibly get. Tales of sado-masochism, heroin and amphetamine use, bisexuality, drag queens, and anything else from New York’s underbelly didn't initially attract much attention. The ‘Banana album’ flopped initially. However, thanks to certain journalists and early fans, in particular David Bowie, it gradually developed cult status. Today the album is rightly recognised as one of the most influential records of all time.
Legend has it Joy Division formed after attending a Sex Pistols gig in Manchester 1976, but there are so many urban myths connected to this band it's hard to determine truth from fiction. Either way, Joy Division were a band like no other with a very distinctive sound and persona that launched the entire post-punk scene. As drummer Stephen Morris said, everything they did worked. Unknown Pleasures is basically the band’s live show reproduced in studio, with added bells and whistles courtesy of genius producer Martin Hannett. It's direct and very honest music and showcases a band that could have seriously affected musical change had circumstances taken a different turn.
"I've been searching for the young soul rebels, I've been searching everywhere, can't find them anywhere, where have you hidden them."
So sang Kevin Rowland with intensity, passion and without a trace of irony on this excellent debut that exploded out of the ashes of the dying punk scene in 1980, one of music’s best years. It also came in the middle of the mod/ska revival which it was lumped in with, partly due to the fact that it was a British white soul album and very few in the industry knew what to do with it. It also had an Irish connection.
Rowland was second-generation Irish and the album was hugely influenced by Van Morrison’s Into The Music. The debut single ‘Dance Stance’ addresses British anti-Irishness brilliantly while the second single was ‘Geno’ .... the rest is history.
Even today when I listen to this I think of John Barry film soundtracks. I remember this album coming out and to be honest I didn't know who they were at the time. Being from Bristol where Massive Attack came from meant they were probably OK. Nothing prepared me for the mixture of hip hop, jazz, easy listening, and that cinematic groove combined with Beth Gibbons vocals.
Dummy sounded like one of those classic 1960s records you'd find in the Swap Shop second-hand store on MacCurtain St in Cork. It was probably intentional as it was an analogue recording and all the samples came from actual vinyl. The record was huge and ended up on every coffee table in Europe and inspired the whole trip-hop movement.
On a personal level, it was a huge inspiration for me as a DJ and it remains my favourite album of the ’90s.
Music never changed quite as quickly and dramatically as it did in 1965/66, spearheaded by Dylan and The Beatles on either side of the pond. While Dylan had the words, The Beatles had rock'n’roll. However, when The Byrds put their Rickenbackers to Dylan’s ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, it was the spark that ignited the counter culture, the entire West Coast music scene, and would ultimately change popular music forever.
The album was also America's first serious response to The Beatles and the British Invasion, and it caused similar ructions Stateside. Despite the large amount of Dylan material on the album, The Byrds were by no means reliant on him. The group contained four serious songwriters, in particular Gene Clark, who on his day could match Lennon and McCartney.
By 1976, with the exception of a few artists, music was starting to sound tired and jaded. Punk provided that much-needed kick up the arse the industry badly needed. It was the Brits, with their in-your-face approach than their more highbrow American counterparts, who kicked the door in. The Sex Pistols outraged everyone everywhere when they came on the scene. Parents, teachers, politicians, the music industry, the queen, etc. Nothing was off limits.
However, what was originally a brilliant band with one of the best frontmen ever, quickly became tabloid fodder and it became more about the outrage and less about the music. Their management were also quite happy with this situation. The whole thing eventually degenerated into a soap opera with the most tragic end. The album itself never really lived up to the hype in terms of music, but its impact was incredible.
Sampling really became a thing in the 1990s, particularly within hip-hop, but it was DJ Shadow who took it to a whole other level with an album made entirely from obscure samples and hip-hop beats. In the mid-90s, the golden era of clubbing and total debauchery, Entroducing became the ultimate wind-down album after a night on the tiles. I can't even imagine the amount of dawns I saw that were accompanied by the sound of this album.
No other record takes me back to the 1990s in the way this one does, to the point where I find it difficult now to listen to it. A musical time machine, a hip-hop symphony, a work of absolute genius.
So you're a great band, you're developing this great following and you record this incredible debut and... nothing. It just completely flops. That's the situation Big Star found themselves in. Their catchy melodic Stones meets Byrds meets Burritos jangling rhythmic style just didn't resonate with the record-buying public.
Maybe it was record company incompetence or perhaps in the era of Bowie, Bolan and Glam they just sounded like a band out of time. It remains one of the music industry’s great mysteries. By the time Big Star got to album two, it was clear that they'd used all their good songs on the unfortunate debut. From then on, it was only going to end one way. History, however, has been kind to them and 1st Record has since become a cult classic and an inspiration for many other musicians.
Three extremely talented, cranky and egotistical musicians disillusioned with (or kicked out of) their own bands decide to form the first supergroup. What could possibly go wrong?
Quite a lot actually but that's another story. What they did right was release a debut where they could unashamedly open up and reveal their true selves as artists on a stunning debut. The album moved away from the whole late ’60s heavy rock thing and brought it back to singers and songwriters.
The album and group have become synonymous with the hippy movement and the Woodstock generation. The Woodstock movie wouldn't have seen the light of day had they not appeared. The album pretty much defined the career of those involved and continues to inspire people to this day. For the follow up they recruited Neil Young, who completely changed the dynamic and direction of the group.
Before Britpop there was Madchester and its undisputed leading lights were the Stone Roses. At a time when music was at a crossroads and a successor was needed to fill the gap vacated by The Smiths, the Roses more than delivered. Every song on the album was like an anthem and the group themselves seemed very close to their audience. Predictably the album exploded and the group became overnight superstars.
It all culminated in a legendary gig at Spike Island which has since achieved Woodstock-like legendary status. However, the weight of being the new messiah started to take its toll. Infighting, feuds with the press, substance abuse and the inability to follow up such a huge record eventually led to the group's demise.
- Fontaines D.C, Dogrel: The best band in the world or the emperor's new clothes? They do split opinion, but this is a fine album.
- Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not: In 2006 a breath of fresh air in a scene that was gasping for oxygen.
- Sinéad O Connor, The Lion And The Cobra: Stunning debut that she never quite equalled.
- Lloyd Cole And The Commotions, Rattlesnakes: The Bunnymen with all the complicated bits taken out and don't get me started on the namedropping. Still a great record.
- The Band, Music From The Big Pink: A debut like no other from a group like no other. The original Americana.
