Best Debut Albums of the Last 25 Years
 

I came across this hilariously bad list on Metalhammer.com, as voted on by its readerbase. Take a gander:

1. Slipknot – Slipknot (32.27%)
2. Korn – Korn (8.88%)
3. Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction (8.84%)
4. Rammstein – Herzeleid (6.92%)
5. Pantera – Cowboys From Hell (6.2%)
6. System Of A Down – System Of A Down (4.67%)
7. Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory (3.78%)
8. Machine Head – Burn My Eyes (3.35%)
9. Bullet For My Valentine – The Poison (3.01%)
10. Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine (2.78%)

Metal Hammer » Blog Archive » Slipknot Voted The Best Debut Album Of The Past 25 Years!

Anyway, now that you're done laughing, what do you think have been the best metal debuts since 1986?

Some nominees from yours truly:
Ulver - Bergtatt: Et eeventyr i 5 capitler
Kyuss - Wretch
Baroness - Red Album
Alcest - Souvenirs
Mastodon - Remission
Melvins - Gluey Porch Treatments
Down - Nola

My first impression : http://nooooooooooooooo.com/

Anyway, two I would include
Cathedral - Forest of Equilibrium
Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness

From that first list the Korn, SOD and Machine Head are great albums, the Pantera isn`t a debut but its kind of like one though and I can see why it was included.

Of the second list the Kyuss debut is nothing special, Mastodon is very overrated and thats nowhere near one of my fav Melvins albums and as for Down......now I know you`re struggling here:laughing:

I`ll put my thinking cap on and come back with what I think are the best ten a bit later.

Remission is a Hell of an album and quite frankly deserves to be nominated. I don't find Remission that overrated, latter Mastodon is.

But yeah, you're right with Down, I think that NOLA is a good album, but not a best debut by any chance.

In no particular order and from 1986 onwards. I think every one of these 25 albums is a great to classic debut metal album:

Acid Bath-When the Kite String Pops
Badlands-Badlands
Baroness-The Red Album
Brutality-Screams of Anguish
Candlemass-Epicus Doomicus Metallicus
Danzig-Danzig
Death-Scream Bloody Gore
Deftones-Adrenaline
Dismember-Like An Ever Flowing Stream
Entombed-Left Hand Path
Galactic Coboys-Galactic Cowboys
Gojira-Terra Incognita
Grave-Into the Grave
Immolation-Dawn of Possession
Katatonia-Dance of December Souls
Korn-Korn
Life of Agony-River Runs Red
Machine Head-Burn Your Eyes
Morbid Angel-Altars of Madness
Norma Jean-Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child
Superjoint Ritual-Use Once and Destroy
Sadus-Illusions
System of a Down-System of a Down
Type O Negative-Slow,Deep and Hard
Unleashed-Where No Life Dwells

Oh C'mon most lists are like this if they are voted by the populace and even if Metal Hammer represents a small market share and the list is only voted for by Metal fans, most who vote will be in the 16- 25 category and vote for albums that had an impact for them at that particular time. You could produce lists every five years previous, get a whole new bunch of albums and still find criticism (not you personally).

Personal lists or recommendations on Last Fm or RYM are a far better indicator of what was going on at the time and something I take more notice of.

Not really, in my neck of the woods i find em underrated. There's nothing wrong with their music, their skill is pretty impeccable without being pretentiously virtuoso-like. Their only weak point is their lyrics, and Remission is their most jamminest album, so that's not really a problem.

I'm sorry, but what? Nola is a fucking great album.

Well, bear in mind I'm just throwing up nominees. I won't pretend to have listened to every metal debut in the last 25 years, but from what I've heard these are what immediately come to mind

Damn... Hard pick because 99% of the time in metal, debut albums are weak.

I really don`t know how you reached that conclusion, the history of metal is littered with great debut albums. I just named 25 from 1986 onwards without too much difficulty.

No, the opposite is true. Generally metal bands get worse and weaker as they progress; how often do you, on this board, see people say something along the lines of "....but only their later material!" ****ing Deicide, Metallica, Slayer, In Flames, Carcass, Cryptopsy, etc. - all got worse with age, and how.

Anyways, best debuts since '86:

Repulsion - Horrified
Black Witchery - Desecration of the Holy Kingdom
Burzum - s/t
Carnivore - Retaliation
Cryptic Slaughter - Convicted
Havohej - Dethrone the Son of God
Incantation - Onward to Golgotha
Siege - Drop Dead
Unseen Terror - Human Error
Vio-lence - Eternal Nightmare

Most of these bands you list have their best album as their second, third, or even fourth.

That's a personal list, though. I don't know many examples but feel that metal bands tend to usually go the trend of putting out at least one weak/mediocre album before the meat of what they do comes into fruition. Suppose that's my tendency to prefer experimental metal, or developed metal to typical kind. Debut albums often feel sophomoric to me...

I agree with you in the context that (more than likely) the majority of debut albums are immature recordings, maybe finding their true sound and personality musically later on with their 2nd or 3rd album, instead of their debut.

A good example of that would be with Bleach and Nevermind by Nirvana. (Understanding that you^ are speaking mainly about metal bands).

A good example of having a good debut album, is a band/bands like "Boston" for example.

But it would seem to me that there should be a lot of new metal bands that have ass-kicking debuts as well. I'm just suggesting that the majority of bands don't "all" have great debut albums.

25 years just isn't a long enough span

it's difficult to rank but i will say System of a Down is a best album produced by American Havey Metal band "System of Dawn".

am i trolling by saying Fleet Foxes' debut is the best debut album to come out in the last 25 years?

http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/e...gif?1304553236

I would say so

Only in this sub-forum :D

I would say it's the ideal span for picking the best debut album of the past 25 years.

jesus and mary chain or stone roses or the sundays

Even though the thread title doesn`say it, its just for metal albums.

In all fairness, Psychocandy is probably more metal than Hybrid Theory or The Poison.

i thought this thread was rock and metal

In KC's defense, I often use the 'new posts' function to check out new posts, and there's no way on a click glance the thread title gives the indication it's only for metal.

There is no indication that its only for metal, but the OP on his first post references Metalhammer.com to start the thread.

It's a good point, but if this goes on say 5 pages, and somebody clicks on the last page, might get some off replies.

It's like the 'what's your first album' in the reggae forums. Almost caught me a few times.

I hate you so much. : ))))))))))))))))))

Sadly, Iron Maiden's debut is far too old for consideration. Korn's debut, although i shun the band now in embarrassment, was alright if i remember correctly.

Boston
 

Boston, album; Boston. (1976) Thirty five years ago, so I'm off by ten years, sorry:). I just think this album deserves recognition as one of the best rock debuts.

Every single on the album received air-play.

Side one
1. "More Than a Feeling"
2. "Peace of Mind"
3. "Foreplay/Long Time"

Side two
1. "Rock and Roll Band"
2. "Smokin'"
3. "Hitch a Ride"
4. "Something About You"
5. "Let Me Take You Home Tonight"

Without doubt one of the best debuts ever, only the Cars and Devo debuts were better.............oh! but didn`t we have this conversation before? Many moons ago!

Good Lord!.. Ive never heard anyone suggest Devo or the Cars over Boston. :eek: I know that your a Devo and Cars fan, but to suggest they're better than Boston?

You have to be joking Bro? I seriously wouldn't even consider either of those bands half of what Boston is/was to the rock genre.

But you know I respect your personal preference Mate. No matter how incorrect or abstract it may be.:laughing:

I thought I`d get your knickers in a twist on a Friday evening.

There you go..messing with my emotions again.:laughing:

the cars debut is better than boston's. but not devo

I'd take Boston's debut over Television's debut any day

For the record and citing an acclaimed music mag "Rolling Stone" The Cars debut, the Devo debut and the Television debut all feature in their "500 Greatest Albums Ever List" Surprisingly the Boston debut is not in the list, despite being such a revered rock album. But in many ways style wise Boston shouldn`t be compared with the other three anyway, different type of music and different type of fanbase in general (unless you happen to be a music geek)

New-Wave: Cars, Devo, Television
Soft Rock/AOR: Boston

But I`d list them like so:
1) Cars
2) Devo
3) Boston
4) Television

I guess it all depends on personal preference more so than what Rolling Stone magazine says anyway. They rank the Cars debut at #279 in its top 500.

I agree, The Cars and Devo are more New Wave/Rock and experimental bands than Boston. Where Boston was more rock/hard rock.

Here is the songs listed on the Cars debut, and I personally don't see how anyone can suggest the the Cars debut album is a more complete, with better written songs than Boston's debut.

Side one
1. Good Times Roll"
2. "My Best Friend's Girl"
3. "Just What I Needed"
4. "I'm in Touch with Your World"
5. "Don't Cha Stop"

Side two
1."You're All I've Got Tonight"
2. "Bye Bye Love"
3. "Moving in Stereo"
4. "All Mixed Up"

Besides the first three songs listed on side one, I don't see anything that compares to the Boston album. Every song on Bostons debut received a lot of air-play back in the day.

Quote:The Boston debut peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified as selling 17x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2003.
The album is the second best-selling debut album of all-time in the United States, after Guns N' Roses's Appetite for Destruction.

My list would be.
1.Boston
2.Cars
3.Devo

I wouldn't even bother with the other one.

'Marquee Moon' is by far the better debut album of the ones mentioned on this page.

The strength of the Cars debut IS the B-side, imo probably one of the best B-sides I`ve ever heard. A lot of people who love that album, often say that is its main strength as well.

In no way would I say it's the best of the last 25 years, but the Slipknot debut is, in my opinion, a really good album. I enjoy it a lot.