In 1963, The Beatles released Please Please Me, their debut album. Please Please Me was recorded in an incredible, day-long, £400 studio session — and topped the U.K. charts for 30 weeks. Please Please Me is still a highly regarded record, landing at #39 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
And Please Please Me is not the best Beatles album — in fact, it’s not even close to being the best. Rubber Soul, Revolver, Abbey Road and the iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (which tops Rolling Stone’s list) are all indisputable masterpieces that overshadow Please Please Me, a great album.
The Beatles are not unique in this sense — lots of artists have released excellent debut records, only to later release even better albums. For example, Bruce Springsteen’s Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. is a fine record, but it fades in comparison to such albums as Born to Run and The River.
In more recent memory, Vampire Weekend’s self-titled 2008 debut is a groovy and fun album that secretes the sounds of a preppy New England summer. Vampire Weekend may be my personal favorite, but it cannot match the artistic achievement of 2013’s incredible Modern Vampires of the City.
But some artists have never quite surpassed their own debuts — because the albums are just that good. Here are 7 artists whose best album (so far) are their debuts.
Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill (1986)
The Beastie Boys were originally a hardcore punk band — their bizarre 1982 quasi-debut, Polly Wog Stew, features eight tracks and a total runtime of 10:42. It’s a good thing that never panned out, because four years later, their debut studio album, Licensed to Ill, was released. The first rap album to ever top the Billboard charts, Licensed to Ill is perhaps the most cohesive Beastie Boys album while still featuring two of the group’s biggest hits, “Fight for Your Right” and “No Sleep till Brooklyn.”
The reception to release of Licensed to Ill was swift — it was certified platinum within four months.” Legendary singles like “Intergalactic” and “Sabotage” would come later in the Beastie Boys’ reign, but Licensed to Ill made Michael Diamond, Adam Yauch and Adam Horovitz the kings of alternative hip-hop in a day.
The Cars - The Cars (1978)
The Cars is a new wave classic — and it was The Cars’ debut. The album is filled to the brim with first-rate songs. Hell, the album’s first three songs are “Good Times Roll,” “My Best Friend’s Girl” and “Just What I Needed,” three iconic songs that are widely known, even by non-Cars fans. Lead guitarist Elliot Easton once said of the album, “We used to joke that the first album should be called The Cars Greatest Hits.” Maybe he was right.
Foster The People - Torches (2011)
Foster The People’s 2014 sophomore record, Supermodel, is a great album. It features a more guitar-based sound that I quite enjoy, but it continues to display frontman Mark Foster’s singing and songwriting talents. But Supermodel is not as good as Torches. Not even close.
Torches has no bad songs — zero. The controversial and über-popular lead single “Pumped Up Kicks” might have overshadowed hidden gems, like “Helena Beat,” Foster’s autobiography of his drug use, and “Warrant,” which looks into the psyche of a criminal on the run. All ten songs are distinctly different from each other, but are similar enough to flow perfectly, creating a modern masterpiece.
The Killers - Hot Fuss (2004)
Another modern masterpiece, Hot Fuss is one of the most iconic records of the 2000s. Its post-punk revival sound drew on new wave and classic rock influences and wound up influencing much of the rock music of the mid-2000s.
The four singles from Hot Fuss are perhaps the four best songs of The Killers. “Somebody Told Me” deals with both love and the recording industry, while the gospel-laced “All These Things That I've Done” features a man coming to terms with himself. “Smile Like You Mean It” is a little more downtempo but remains a Killers classic. And “Mr. Brightside” needs no introduction — it may be the song of the Millennial generation.
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (2007)
Two stoners formed a band and recorded an album — and it turned out to be a hit. Oracular Spectacular became the epitome of psychedelic electronica, featuring hits like “Kids” and “Time to Pretend” and under appreciated deep cuts like “Of Moons, Birds & Monsters.”
Since Oracular Spectacular, MGMT has been unable to equal that success. 2010’s Congratulations mainly set aside the characteristic synths for progressive guitar, and 2013’s MGMT was flat-out confusing. Oracular Spectacular stands as MGMT’s magnum opus.
Nas - Illmatic (1994)
I first heard Nas while playing the skateboarding video game Tony Hawk’s Underground as a child. “The World is Yours” was, and still is, one of the best hip-hop tracks I had ever listened to, and it was released three years on prior to my birth on Illmatic.
Releasing a great debut album is an achievement, but releasing a masterpiece — one of the defining albums of the genre — is a rare distinction. Nas’ Illmatic sits at the pinnacle of East Coast hip-hop in both lyricism and production while contributing to the rebirth of New York’s rap scene. Nas — at 20 years old, no less — delves into uneasy waters by rapping about poverty and gang violence, but maintains an braggadocious attitude through it all.
The Strokes - Is This It (2001)
Much in the way that Illmatic shaped ‘90s hip-hop, Is This It is responsible for much of the indie rock resurgence of the 2000s and today. The Strokes’ raw and fresh sound, and the band’s diligence to maintain it, led to a revolutionary album. Julian Casablancas’ lyrics, like Nas’, discuss the true stories of life in New York City. Finally, by taking plays from the books of such legendary bands as The Velvet Underground and The Ramones, Is This It is crafted to perfection.
