Re: Uncut's 100 greatest debut albums

Methinks Dexy's & Bunnymen were a bit hard done by.

100. The Arcade Fire - Funeral
99. Suede - Suede
98. Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters
97. Vashti Bunyan - Just Another Diamond Day
96. PJ Harvey - Dry
95. The White Stripes - The White Stripes
94. Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
93. The Birthday Party - Prayers On Fire
92. Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies
91. Throwing Muses - Throwing Muses
90. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
89. Elastica - Elastica
88. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
87. Dr Feelgood - Down By The Jetty
86. The Undertones - The Undertones
85. Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
84. Tricky - Maxinquaye
83. Little Feat - Little Feat
82. The Pop Group - Y
81. Pearl Jam - Ten
80. Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick
79. Jackson Brown - Jackson Brown
78. The Libertines - Up The Bracket
77. Eminem - The Slim Shady LP
76. Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
75. The LA's - The LA's
74. Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
73. Pavement - Slanted And Enchanted
72. The Strokes - Is This It
71. Scritti Politti - Songs To Remember
70. Judee Sill - Judee Sill
69. Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles
68. Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen
67. Suicide - Suicide
66. Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill
65. Dexys Midnight Runners - Searching For The Young Soul Rebels
64. Neu! - Neu!
63. Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance
62. The Associates - The Affectionate Punch
61. Leonard Coen - The Songs Of Leonard Coen
60. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation
59. U2 - Boy
58. The Hardin - Tim Hardin 1
57. Pixies - Come On Pilgrim
56. Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan
55. Ian Dury - New Boots & Panties!!
54. Randy Newman - Randy Newman
53. De La Soul - 3 Feet High & Rising
52. ABC - The Lexican Of Love
51. Moby Grape - Moby Grape
50. Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy
49. Talking Heads - 77
48. The Pretenders - The Pretenders
47. NWA - Straight Outta Compton
46. The Slits - Cut
45. Jeff Buckley - Grace
44. Orange Juice - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever
43. Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Scream
42. The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers
41. Public Enemy - Yo! Bum Rush The Show
40. Wire - Pink Flag
39. Bruce Springsteen - Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ
38. Captain Beefheart - Safe As Milk
37. Magazine - Real Life
36. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am...
35. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
34. Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill
33. Gang Of 4 - Entertainment!
32. MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
31. Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
30. Oasis - Definitely Maybe
29. Nick Drake - 5 Leaves Left
28. The Doors - The Doors
27. My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
26. Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield
25. The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out!
24. Big Star - #1 Record
23. The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace Of Sin
22. R.E.M. - Murmur
21. The Smiths - The Smiths
20. The Specials - The Specials
19. The Sex Pistols - Never Min>d The Bollocks...
18. Patti Smith - Horses
17. The Beatles - Please Please Me
16. New York Dolls - New York Dolls
15. The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones
14. Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
13. The Byrds - Mr Tambourine Man
12. Ramones - Ramones
11. The Who - My Generation
10. The Stooges - The Stooges
9. Roxy Music - Roxy Music
8. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
7. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
6. The Clash - The Clash
5. The Band - Music From Big Pink
4. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
2. Televsion - Marquee Moon
1. The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico

The bookends>

What? People still idolize '& Nico'? It's a got a few good tracks but sheesh. I thought that as a culture we were past that sort of historical revisionism.

Arcade Fire is going to weave its way up these kinds of lists.

Neil Young, Steven Stills,Lou Reed, Tom Verlaine,and Ian Hunter's first solos were all great.

Arctic Monkeys at 36? Close to a year later now, I still don't get that album and in fact just traded it in a couple of days ago as one of many dead soldiers earning me credit to get the first season of Lost in Space on dvd at the used store. Either I'm stupid or it's just another example of the Brits loving them some hype. Because the only reaction I ever had to it was "eh, whatever."

CANNOT BELIEVE "Y Kant Tori Reed" didn't make it!!!!!!

In a couple of years when the rediscovery of Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople is in full swing, a new version of this list will come out with Hunter's debut replacing Vashti Bunyan.

Stone Roses at #4? Another band I never quite got....

I can at least understand why people like the Stone Roses, although #4 seems very bizarre to US eyes. The Arctic Monkeys, though, are about as thoroughly average a band as I can ever remember hearing. Hell, even someone like Good Charlotte actually bothers to write an actual tune every so often.

Lately when UK pubs have done lists like this I've felt like they were going out of their way to be hip by minimizing the Beatles, but this time I think they may have actually overrated them - for historical importance PLEASE PLEASE ME can't be overrated, but as far as the album itself, eh. Half brilliant, half forgettable. Belongs somewhere in the bottom 50.

And I wouldn't have been heartbroken to see these on the list:

Joe Jackson - Look Sharp!
Slowdive - Just For A Day
Lene Lovich - Stateless
Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool
The Adverts - Crossing the Red Sea with
Tears for Fears - The Hurting

but you can't have everything.

van morrison moondance
david ackles American Gothic
scott walker 3
joni ladies
leonard songs of love and hate
cale anthrax
rod every picture
faces long player
small faces s/t
move looking on

I'm a fan of the Arctic Monkeys - it's a terrific record as far as I'm concerned but........just for records from the same era , of a somewhat similar sound, it would rank significantly below The Strokes and Libertines debuts for me. I rank those 2 debuts as the top albums of this decade overall.

Agreed on Arcade Fire - time is going to be extremely kind to that record. It's one of those records that even if you don't like it , it earns your respect and that always bodes well for posterity.

Glad to see Oasis on there. They catch alot of flack but that's a great record and it indeed was an oasis in that miserable, glum decade of pop music. It's one of the few 90s albums I return to.

The Modern Lovers is one of the 20 greatest records ever made - maybe higher even, so it's rank is terribly low. As is "Psychocandy".

I love Big Star but they didn't get truly great until "Radio City" - so I'd drop their debut down a good bit.

Velvets W/Nico would rank awfully high for me - it's one of the few records that introduced an entire sensibility, although yes, I think you can argue about it's "songs". To me, it's a top 5 record of the 60s.

And lastly .......no "Howlin' Wind" , "L.A.M.F" or Mission of Burma's "Vs"?

Boo.

Hiss.

DIY - The 100 Greatest THIRD albums (I'm only doing 50 off the top of my head, everyone else can add any I've forgotten and rejigger the order to your hearts' content)

1. The Clash - London Calling
2. Wire - 154
3. Replacements - Let It Be
4. The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
5. Bob Dylan - The Times, They Are A-Changin'
6. Can - Tago Mago
7. Prince - Dirty Mind
8. Radiohead - OK Computer
9. Blondie - Parallel Lines
10. Big Star - Third
11. The Who - Sell Out
12. The Jam - All Mod Cons
13. Ramones - Rocket to Russia
14. Elvis Costello - Armed Forces
15. Bob Marley - Catch a Fire
16. Husker Du - Zen Arcade
17. Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
18. Sparks - Kimono My House
19. The Buzzcocks - A Different Kind of Tension
20. Eno - Another Green World
21. Talking Heads - Fear of Music
22. The Velvet Underground - S/T
23. Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
24. Sam & Dave - Soul Men
25. The Minutemen - What Makes a Man Start Fires?
26. Love - Forever Changes
27. Janet Jackson - Control
28, Run DMC - Raising Hell
29. Ultravox - Systems of Romance
30. Steve Earle - Copperhead Road
31. Cornershop - When I Was Born for the 7th Time
32. The Triffids - Born Sandy Devotional
33. Echo & the Bunnymen - Porcupine
34. Cheap Trick - Heaven Tonight
35. The Byrds - Fifth Dimension
36. The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
37. OMD - Architecture & Morality
38. Neko Case - Blacklisted
39. Lou Reed - Berlin
40. Tom Petty - Damn the Torpedos
41. Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
42. Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
43. Stereolab - Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements
44. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel 3
45. Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
46. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
47. XTC - Drums & Wires
48. Chic - Risque
49. The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
50. Wilco - Summerteeth

hey you forgot all the good ones




fairport unhalfbricking
stooges funhouse
fred neil bleeker and mcdougal
tim hardin tim hardin 2 (i know...
sly life
al green gets next to you
pere uby new picnic
twilley twilley
cheap trick heaven tonight
badfinger staright up
shoes present tense
raspberries side 3



Post Edited (09-15-06 12:15)

Hey, I thought Funhouse was the Stooges' second album. On that note I wonder if someone will do a list of the 50-100 best second albums ever (it seems very hard for acts to do a good second album; it's very easy to do a list of crappy second albums).

Agree on Modern Lovers 1st album, which is amazing since it was basically a collection of demos (I've been on a early Modern Lovers/Real Kids kick lately; even though I appreciate all of Jonathan Richman's work, it would have been nice to have more from the first Modern Lovers lineup)

I would add the first album by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages to the best debut lists (think of early Ramones colliding w/vintage R&

RAW POWER is the Stooges third. And it definitely belongs.

And no DJ Shadow - Endtroducing.

hoodoo gurus - stoneage romeos

all the stooges belong, respectively (and respectfully) as greatest debut, 2nd, third

re my oops the earl grey had kicked in slower than usual this AM

i saw the raw power tour three straight performances; i skipped slade coz


1. had tons of 11th grade AP euro homework
2. i was picking up the percodans from iggy's comatose body
3. NO ONE FOLLOWS IGGY!!!!!


NP
Billy Childish
orig hatham jack



Post Edited (09-15-06 13:42)

Major credit to Uncut for selecting The VU & Nico as the greatest debut album ever. Although debating the merits of the songs contained on the album is subjective and ultimately boils down to taste (personally the entire record is still enthralling to me) there is nothing revisionist about the fact that it remains one of a handful of the most important Rock records ever recorded.

Early bluesman like Robert Johnson, Son House, Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, etc. and original rockers Berry, Elvis, Cochran, Richard, Vincent, etc. certainly laid the foundation and provided the blueprint that enabled the Beatles, Stones and Dylan to revolutionize Rock. However, for my money there is no single album that knocked down walls, completely eradicated boundaries or is as responsible for allowing rock n' roll to truly progress, flourish and go forward in a provocative and meaningful way as The VU & Nico. The VU & Nico held the promise of what Rock music could one day be.

If that album had never come along, I'm pretty sure the TP guides and anything akin to it would be a whole heck of a lot slimmer. And that would be a shame because it would have been a travesty to never hear some of the greatest alternative/punk rock acts that followed in its wake. Yes, you could certainly make the argument that if The VU & Nico hadn't blazed the trail that another album would have but that would be pure conjecture and speculation. Who knows on what level or to what extent subsequent records would have impacted Rock music the way that album did. Especially without having that album's stunning originality and sensibility to serve as a seemingly endless template and inspiration as it ultimately wound up providing. What is not conjecture or speculation is the countless number of artists who have and continue to cite that album as a major influence in their work.

As far as the Arctic Monkeys record goes, I could see it on maybe a best albums of the year or even decade list but I'm surprised to see it on such an exalted list at all (the subject not the source). Nevertheless, for those of us who like our rock n' roll, it's a solid albeit unspectacular effort.

The Ruts
The Newtown Neurotics

the english beat's first album