Best IPO of All Time?
Sometimes I can’t quite get the trader mentality out of my head. The title is a little misleading today. This isn’t about some Initial Public Offering of stocks, it’s about the Initial Public Offering of a new group or artist.
That debut album that everyone must have and stands the test of time. Every artist or group has that debut album but not all of them are great. Some artists need time to explore and define themselves and the first album is equal parts artistic endeavor and record company pressure.
The great debut album transcends all of that and taken by themselves can be considered classics. For the most part, most of these groups couldn’t follow up with anything nearly as good and eventually dissolved.
Before I start this little rodeo there are a few caveats. One is I generally look at music after 1966 only because I need a starting point and I think I started enjoying music around that time. The other is simply, this is my list. I am sure there are dozens of albums I have not mentioned and that is where the reader comes in. I would love to hear peoples opinions about other great debut albums I have not mentioned. This is only one man’s opinion.
The first album, and you also have to remember this is random, would have to be Boston’s self titled album “Boston”. One of the best selling albums ever, this one broke the mold for debut albums. They were just another band out of Boston, just trying to make ends meet when they were discovered. Tom endeavor wrote most of the songs years before and they were actually a very popular bar band playing this material when someone from Epic records finally decided to hear them play. They recorded the album pretty much in the basement of Tom Scotz’s house. Released in 1976, the album went to number one directly and the die was cast. They had several other albums afterwords but none of them could compare and there were also some personel issues as well.
Next up is the The Cars self titled album “The Cars”. The sound from this album was so different from anything before it(and pretty much since it was released) that it will always stand out to me. The heavy drumbeats, synthesizers and moody lyrics along with some superb guitar made this record unique at the time. Towards the end of the 70’s rock was becoming stagnant and repetitive. The Cars changed that with an arty twist. Another group that could not generate anything even remotely as good but who cares? This album is as listenable (that even a word??) now as it was back then.
Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Are You Experienced” was so different when it was released most people could not figure out what in God’s name was going on. After a few listens, people understood that Jimi Hendrix was a groundbreaking guitarist who could also write. While never gifted with a great voice (he didn’t need it) Hendrix broke ground for every guitarist to follow. This was the album they all listened to. Free flowing guitar licks and literally finger gymnastics while playing, Hendrix was head and shoulders the greatest guitar player ever. Unlike the others on this list, Hendrix recorded some of the greatest music of the 60’s and his estate released twice as many albums after he died then he released while he was alive.
If you have read any of my other rock columns you know The Ramones are a favorite of mine and it all stems from “The Ramones”. I was not into the Punk, New Wave scene at all back in 1976. Most people did not even know such a genre existed back then but then The Ramones came along. Rock and Roll, definitely. Punk, huh, whats that? Every song is 2:39 of the same 1-2-3-4 Bang! Hit you over the head rock and roll. I didn’t care. I thought these Queens (or was it Brooklyn) boys could blast songs for 2:39 (and no longer). Seriously, they started the punk sound, which started New Wave and freed hundreds of English bands to get out of the factories and get into the Pubs and play.
To show what a simpleton I was back then, I thought The Band’s debut album “The Big Pink” was about some gorgeous spot on the California coast. I thought the Band was from Northern California. How wrong was I. This album was recorded in Upstate New York and was as rustic and real as any album I have ever heard. I knew The Band backed up Dylan for a time but I didn’t know that they were all neighbors and that Dylan had written a song or two for The Band for this album. This album blended country, rock, jazz and R&B for one of the most unique sounds of the 60’s. Hey, any album that has “The Weight” and “Chest Fever” on it has to be great.
“My Aim is True” by Elvis Costello is more about lyrics than singing or guitar playing and Costello was this nerdy looking rock and roller that could write. The songs here are the message and that message is heartache, melancholy and anger. Typical for the time in England but masterfully expressed by one of the best songwriters of his generation. Costello did follow up with “This Years Model” and “Armed Forces” and sealed his reputation.
As you know by now, I love the J.Giels Band and their first studio album The J.Giels Band will be included here because I love them. However good this album is (and it is plenty good) the live versions of most of this album is better. What this album has is some supreme cover versions that separate it from most other debut albums. A debut album with covers, who would have thunk it? I actually like the idea and seriously, they do a better version of “Serves you Right to Suffer” than John Lee Hooker.
Another group from the late 70’s I loved was the B-52s.Their debut album “The B-52s” was unlike anything before it or after it. They had one of the most unique sounds ever and the songwriting was just as unique. They exuded fun and playfullness and everything was danceable (not that I dance). The group was campy and fun to listen to. Come on now “Planet Claire” isn’t hysterical? The risk they took with bringing this odd mix global stands out enough for me. This is another album that I can listen to pretty much anytime and enjoy it.
What debut list would be complete without Van Halen’s “Van Halen”? This album erupted on the scene and Van Halen became instant mega stars. They didn’t play the Beacon Theater to build up an audience. They played The Meadowlands and the tickets sold out in 15 minutes. They played mega stadiums from the start because those were the only venues that could contain the sound. The band was a perfect blend of showmanship and extraordinary guitar playing. This album was the foundation for everything they did afterwords and Van Halen released a lot of great music. Granted, FM radio ruined 95% of their music by playing it to death but if you pick up this record and play it from beginning to end, most of what FM radio ruined will come back to life. I don’t play it often, but when I do play it, I play it loud.
There are probably 30 or 40 more albums I could include and there are some I will never include like Hootie and The Blowfish’s “Cracked Rear View” or GNR’s “Appetite for Destruction’. “Cracked Rear View” sucked and “Appetite for Destruction” was always an album that tried to be more than it actually was, good not great.
Let me know what you think.