crap debut, went on to greatness!

In the response to the Tori vote..I thought that was the only good one!

Also, Guided By Voices had like three or four bad first albums.

Mind you, I've never actually heard it. Has anyone?

Not a terrible start, but very derivative of other New York no-wave and nowhere near as great as (insert your favorite Sonic Youth album here).

Ministry

Big Black

I think Yo La Tengo's debut is a bit crap. I also vote for Flaming Lips.

Thompson Twins were genius. :-)

...which makes "A Product Of" from 1981 a contender btw....

The latter two are controversial picks, I know... :-)

Well, personally I don't consider that 1985 U2-wannabe EP an "album". :-)

You mean "Strange, I" or "Jesus Urge Overkill"? Both those records, while containing some filler, are pretty damn relentless.

Rush and Radiohead are the only examples I can think of where I think the artist has done great work and I also see virtually no value in their debut. On a tangential note, The Bends has been growing on me in a weird way in that I keep hearing it places and liking it.

lz and frogs = you need new speakers.

(Sundar, there are 8 good-great songs on The Bends, and 4 fairly mediocre ones, and the album is best listened to with that in mind)

Common Sense... "Can I Borrow a Dollar" = awful too.

Geir: I like the first Genesis album! The box-set versions of songs, without the string arrangements, sound much better to me, though. In comparison, the strings added to the LP versions seem to sap the energy of the performances.

"The Frogs" as well. Doesn't hold a candle to "It's Only Right And Natural".

I'm finding it very hard to come up with a true example of the
above. Most bad bands were bad from day one, and most good bands
released debut albums that are only "crap" in comparison to their
future accomplishments.

Hmm.
I'll bet that if all 50 million _The Wall_ and
_Dark Side Of the Moon_ buyers heard _Piper At The Gates Of
Dawn_, most of them would find it unlistenable.

my pick would be Flaming Lips

Yeah! Anything who thinks Dubnobasswithmyheadman is their crap album has obviously never heard Underneath the Radar.

Listen to any early to mid-period Madness song, watch its video. Then listen to "Country House" and look at the video for it.

Then...

Listen to the "More Specials" album, particularly "Stereotype". Then, listen to "Fade Away".

Then...

Listen to any Fun Boy Three single
Then, listen to "T.O.P. M.A.N."

Surely Prince is the best example of this? The guy would later make records like Chaos and Disorder, which although not an essential Prince LP is still fairly enjoyable and has its highlights. For You provides little indication of the brilliant music that was to follow, and is probably one of his least enjoyable LP's.

or the 1975?

Hawkwind. The debut album is not good. In Search of Space through Warrior on the Edge of Time, though...

some of these may just be me:

japan
nomeansno
cop shoot cop
bad religion
the waterboys
coil (Transparent)
swans (s/t EP, not Filth obv.)
kraftwerk (sorry, just don't like the traffic cones)

David Sylvian dismisses the first Japan LP and reckons the second album should have been their debut, but I disagree... I think that the first album is great and the second LP not so much.

or the 1975?

― joshywinty (josh), Sunday, July 2, 2017 12:30 AM (eleven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nah, they don't count because they never went onto greatness and they're crap full stop.

The Divine Comedy

These New Puritans's debut is rubbish, Hidden is interesting but flawed, but they definitely achieved greatness with Field of Reeds

I will rep for the Prince debut...haven't got the time now... but I WILL rep for it...also the 'Adolescent Sex' is genius...they just can't see it

Motorpsycho is kind of the quintessential example of this, if we're including stuff like Prince that is. Who could have known...

first Afghan Whigs is pretty terrible.

Bob Dylan

I like all of Japan's albums.

I like 'em all too, but think the second one is the weakest.

Since the thread includes some of the greatest artists of contemporary music with a huge catalogue, obviously there will always be someone who loves the more obscure stuff.
It's the distance and evolution between the debut - no matter how good it is - and the peak of the artist in question that seems more interesting to me.
In that regard, Dylan, the Stones or Prince would be perfect examples. Stevie Wonder even more imo : I mean, from "The Jazz Soul Of Little Stevie" to "Songs In The Key Of Life" !

The first Prince album is underrated if anything.

Yeah listening now this is fantastic r&b

Title track opens the album a lot like "Our Prayer/Gee" does Smile by the Beach Boys, like the doo wop/gospel version

Judas Priest.

arguably : M. Jackson - from Got To Be There to OFW/Thriller.
GTBT is good though so again, it's not so much about the debut being crap but about it being far from the following peak.

I guess there's a few examples of artists on Motown coming into their own when they've been allowed to express themselves creatively.

Does anyone stan for Springsteen's debut? I adore the man, hate that debut album, though.

Carly Rae Jepsen

xpost yep hi I love the debut

spirit of the night, blinded by the light, lost in the flood, hard to be a saint in the city... besides the highlight tracks, just the general folky Bruce, yknow, the Van Morrison/Bob Dylan idol worship & megawordy young & antsy vibe is really enjoyable for me

i'll stan for it forever

Same. Lots of good to be found on the first Springsteen album.

^yeah, figured I was in the minority about The Boss. I much prefer his economy-of-words approach to his latter-day lyric writing.

Simple Minds (before becoming crap again)

warren zevon wanted dead or alive

(UK) Squeeze

Yo la Tengo

Chairlift, who went crap again

I love the Latin Van Morrison feel of Greetings From Astbury Park. & the amount of words adds to the cadence.

a lot of people (not necessarily me) would classify Lana Del Rey here