What are your picks for the best debut albums of all-time? This has to be at the very top of my list.

Honorable mention: Guns N’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction

Major label debut anyway.

The obvious choice is the Doors.

My 21st Century choice :

Appetite for Destruction
Surfa Rosa
Weezer
Run the Jewels

I can't think of anything that beats Appetite for Destruction IMO. A near perfect album.

Of the albums that I own ...

The Cars (self titled)
Darkroom* - San Paku
Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles
The Knack - Get The Knack
National Velvet* (self titled)
The Psychedelic Furs (self titled)
The Pursuit Of Happiness* - Love Junk
Sixto Rodriguez - Cold Fact
Tears For Fears - The Hurting
Van Halen (self titled)

All of these are excellent debut albums, IMO.

* Canadian band

I'd say The Doors debut album. Includes their biggest hit, and is solid from start to finish.

Nas - Illmatic (best debut album and also best hip-hop album of all time)

A couple that come to mind right away.

Foo Fighters (Self Titled) - really strong debut coming shortly after the passing of Cobain. Could have been a desperate attempt at a side project after Cobain passed and Nirvana in turn ended, but Grohl and company debuted strong and maintains that to this day.

Weezer (Self Titled/aka The Blue Album) - Weezer may have gotten more hit and miss over the years (I still somewhat enjoy them), but their debut is still one of my all time favorites.

Another solid classic debut :

Alanis Morrissette had 2 albums released before Jagged Little Pill.

Also why Nevermind by Nirvana doesn't count.

Surprised no one has mentioned Pearl Jam Ten yet that would probably be my vote. At least it was the first album debut album that came to mind.

Seven Churches

Yep, to us Canadians, Jagged Little Pill was not her first album.


That was a good one, but no Appetite by a long shot. And for 80s thrash debuts, I'd probably go with Death Angel's The Ultra Violence, that one was a monster (Testament's The Legacy was no slouch either).