Best of each artist · One record per artist
Best debut
The first album, and often the hungriest. The best debut albums in the collection.
All 34Rock 11Pop 1Soul, funk and R&B 2Hip hop 7Electronic 4Folk, country and song 3Hard rock and metal 6
- 1 The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground & Nico It sold almost nothing on release, but is said to have inspired everyone who bought it to start a band. Timeless classic
- 2 The Strokes Is This It Eleven short songs that made guitar rock feel new again in 2001. Modern classic
- 3 Joy Division Unknown Pleasures A band who could barely play, a producer who turned the room into an instrument – and a debut that still sounds like nothing else. Timeless classic
- 4 Patti Smith Horses Poetry and garage rock on the same record. Patti Smith opened with “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine”. Timeless classic
- 5 The Stone Roses The Stone Roses Self-assured from the first note to the last. “I Wanna Be Adored” is one of the best opening tracks on any debut. Timeless classic
- 6 Television Marquee Moon Two guitars talking to each other, and a ten-minute title track. Punk with the freedom of jazz. Timeless classic
- 7 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin In a day and a half of studio time the band found everything they would become: heavy riffs, blues and acoustic detours. Timeless classic
- 8 Arcade Fire Funeral Written in the shadow of several deaths in the band members’ families, yet it sounds like life itself. Modern classic
- 9 Oasis Definitely Maybe A band who believed they were the best in the world – and for thirty minutes they were. Timeless classic
- 10 Pixies Surfer Rosa Quiet, loud, quiet – the template Nirvana said they borrowed. Raw and full of humour. Timeless classic
- 11 Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not The fastest-selling debut in British history when it came out. Alex Turner writes about weekend nights in Sheffield with a novelist’s eye. Modern classic
34 artists in the list.