so i was sitting around thinking about bands that had great debuts, bands that had it right from the beginning, for whatever reason. but then i started to think about sophomore albums which, if the debut generated a lot of buzz, are inferior to the debut (sophomore slump, whatever). so now i want to pose a question to you guys. what do you think is

1) the greatest debut of all time

2) the greatest sophomore album of all time

3) the greatest debut/sophomore combo


personally, i go with

1) Velvet Underground and Nico (honorable mentions to Funeral and Dummy)

2) Loveless

3) this one is hard... it comes down to MBV, the Velvets, and Arcade Fire, they're all so close. but i'll go with:

Isn't Anything/Loveless

because MBV got better with their second album...which now that i think of it doesn't make sense as a judgement, all that should matter is quality but it stands there for me as well.

1. Are You Experienced - Perhaps my favorite album of all time. To think that this was created by a backing guitarist who had never written music previously is simply mind-blowing.

2. Nevermind - A little over-acclaimed, it's nonetheless one of the greatest albums of all time, and it's importance for it's music genre can not be overstated.

Edit: 3. Unknown Pleasures + Closer - These two narrowly beat out the VU's albums. Both of these two sets are incredibly powerful and influential, but I have to give it to Joy Division

1. Jeff Buckley - Grace
2. Joy Division - Closer
3. hmmm...Belle & Sebastian or Joy Division maybe?

1. My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
2. The Band - The Band.
3. Music From Big Pink/The Band - The Band (2nd place to Elvis Costello's first two records in a close contest).

1. The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground

2. (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?- Oasis

3. Either Oasis or Joy Division


take that Oasis haters.

Forgot about Marquee Moon. That's another great debut.

1. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen
2. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
3. The Band - Music from Big Pink/The Band

1. Leonard Cohen: Songs of Leonard Cohen
2. Van Morrison: Astral Weeks
3. Tom Waits: Closing Time / The Heart of Saturday Night

1.Marquee Moon - Television
2.Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
3.Favourite is Big Star's but the best is probably Joy Division...

1. Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
2. Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
3. Kanye West - The College Dropout; Late Registration. Elvis Costello second.

1. I'd have to go with ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? There have been many, many great debut albums (the AM 3000 is packed with 'em), but very few that you could say changed the course of music. This is one of them.

2. I'm surprised no one's mentioned THE BENDS yet. That's probably the sophomore album making the greatest -leap- from the quality of the debut. But my favorite in this category is probably THIS YEAR'S MODEL, with THE BAND a close second.

3. No, I'm not voting for the New York Dolls here - although they'd come close. Costello and The Band would be contenders, too, but I'm going to have to say Big Star takes this one.

1. Pink Floyd- Piper at the Gates of Dawn
2. Elliott Smith- Elliott Smith
3. Weezer- Blue Album + Pinkerton

1. The Velvet Underground & Nico
2. Steve McQueen
3. Sufer Rosa + Doolittle

1. R.E.M - Murmur
2. Public Enemy - Nation of Millions
3. Lots of contenders. Pixies, Oasis, Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, Kanye, R.E.M., Coldplay, Beastie Boys, The Beatles...I think I'll go with Arcade Fire.

I'm gonna take a different tack and choose albums that no one else has chosen. Yet.

1. Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols
2. Assuming you don't count Stereopathic Soul Manure or One Foot in the Grave (which I sure as hell don't), I'm going with Odelay. But if that doesn't count, then Tapestry.
3. No one went with Hendrix here? Surprising. I guess I just like Axis more than the average AM-er.

1. GNARLS BARKLEY-St. Elsewhere ('06). Favorite album of the 00s.
2. GENE VINCENT-Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps ('57). Best 50s non-compilation album, also a huge influence on guys like Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck.
3. 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS-The Psychedelic sounds of... ('66) & Easter everywhere ('67).

PS: If I'm not mistaken is My Bloody Valentine's 'Isn't anything' not their first album. MBV's debut was released as early as 1985, called 'This is My bloody valentine', a Doors/60s inspired ditty that doesn't sound at all like their later work.

1. I would say it's Georges Brassens' first album in 1953, but it's totally alien to everybody here, so my Acclaimedmusic friendly answer would be .... Fleet Foxes last year. Brilliant debut.

2. Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom (but he'd been around for almost 10 years with Soft Machine and Matching Mole)
"Real" best second : Divine Comedy - Promenade

3.The Divine Comedy

1. s/t- the Stone Roses
2. Underachievers Please Try Harder-Camera Obscura
3. Lost Souls and the Last Broadcast by Doves

ARTHUR VEROCAI ~ ARTHUR VEROCAI

I don't know if I can call these 2nd albums
SCOTT WALKER ~ SCOTT 2
VAN MORRISON ~ ASTRAL WEEKS
THE ZOMBIES ~ ODESSEY & ORACLE

NICK DRAKE ~ FIVE LEAVES LEFT & BRYTER LAYTER

1. Portishead - Dummy
2. T. Rex - Electric Warrior
3. Massive Attack - Blue Lines & Protection

Also, I just found out that my favorite 19th album by an artist is Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions"...