100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time

THE 100 MOTHERFUCKIN' BEST ALBUMS EVER!!!, DEBUT ALBUMS RATHER, AND THEY MAY NOT ACTUALLY BE THE BEST! LET'S AT LEAST CALL THIS A LIST OF STUFF TO LOOK AT.

This is possibly one of the more pathetic attempts at a list I've seen a blog put out, aside from that crap LTME does every now and again, laughable.

Some obvious selections make the cut, Velvet Underground, GNR, Pearl Jam, Talking Heads etc. But many baffle me. Miles Davis had accomplished recordings prior to the release of Birth of Cool, and despite my endless love of Led Zeppelin, the first album was more of a blues to rock standards album, some of which was arranged by Columbia records. Interesting to see Arcade Fire's Funeral so high, seems that should take a few more years to sink in, afterall the Fire hardly ahs the career that it's company has at their high spot.

The Band, Creedence, The Strokes...all grossly underrated. Perhaps the biggest WTF? moment happens at #71 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes. It's a damn good album, but please, let's not mark it as one of the most important albums of all time just yet.

What are some others they left off?

The Albums that let these ears see; Chp. 6

The Live Album, a look at the two that set the stage

Hampton Comes Alive - Phish

In all accurate measures, my first truly experienced live album is Hot August Night by none other than Neil Diamond, and there are countless others that I have heard bits and pieces from over the years and I owned and listened to many great ones all the same. There are two that changed the way that I listened to live albums however.

One comes from the legendary jam band with a penchant for breathtaking live shows that infused the jazz improve and funky rhythms that allows every rendition to vary as well as allows the listener to never grow tired during the set for the anticipation of what may unfold. This comes by way of Hampton Comes Alive, Phish. I’d say roughly 80% of the Phish I have listened to has come via live recordings and there as endless collections of bootlegs as well as official releases, but this was a packaged Live recording and marketed as such. It’s difficult to define the ‘best’ when it comes to live music as everyone has a different opinion and often a connection to a certain show or period of a band. This marks the band at my personal favorite.

I almost wrote that I have “moved on from Phish,” but that would negate my entire reason for entry in this study. It’s true that I indulged in a strong study of this band in college. I was intrigued by their endless energy, the ceaseless renditions of their standards, the rarities, the classic moments captured deep within a jam that only those willing to give themselves would ever discover. I become more a fan of the way this band forced me to listen to their music than I ever did a fan of the actual band.

That says a lot. To spend so much devoted energy with a band with the sole purpose of seeing just how intricately involved I could become now shows me that they are among the strongest of influences in my musical world, and I really don’t think they are all that great.

But what does stand out to me was that I could listen to a bootleg from some show in New Hampshire in ’89 and catch a early version of a song played mostly on piano, that would sound robust and guitar driven on ’93 recordings and then would receive the full brass support on the ’95 tour and then be stripped down to a crisp, tight cut by ’97.

I respect the shit out of this band and I thank them for being so overtly cliché amongst the college crowd as it forced me to tune my ears to something unexpected. Oddly enough, had it not been for Phish I likely would have never liked The Velvet underground, Bowie, MMJ, Spoon etc. the way I do now. It’s a gateway drug.

THE GREATEST LIVE ALBUM LTME HAS EVER OWNED

Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads

To be as steeped in the essential post-punk new wave of my generation as I was it never truly hit me just how much of a fan of Talking Heads I was until I heard this album.

I grew up on the sounds of post punk and pop radio and I never really knew that what I loved about them was contained in one band. I have always loved the talking Heads songs that play on the radio; they are irresistible, as far I as I am concerned the Heads are in the league of Elvis and Bob Marley, everyone knows it and everyone agrees that it just sounds good. But a chance encounter with the album Stop Making Sense my senior year of HS and then a reaffirmation my sophomore year of college set Talking Heads atop my list of bands I want to see live (luckily I would have the good fortune of catching David Byrne at the Georgia Theatre before graduating, it remains a highlight of my Athens nights and one of the finest lives shows I have ever been a part of).

SMS is almost too good of an album. It was recorded as part of Director Jonathan Hemme’s film on the band over a three night stand on the Speaking in Tongues tour of ’83. What unfolds is well documented and has been viewed multiple times by any serious music fan as well as numerous fans of having a good time, dancing and great tunes.

It’s the evolution of the show/album that allows it to stand apart from all other live albums. Bare and essential from the opening with only Byrne, acoustic guitar and a backing beat track the show and the sounds grows until they are bulging at the seams by the time the curtain drops.

The entire Heads back soon takes the stage and is joined piece by piece by female backing vocals, more percussion and Bernie Worrell on keys. It’s an unreal stage performance by all involved. The way in which the show develops and grows serves as a metaphor not only for the evolution of the band but for performing arts as a whole as well as modern culture and expression…this is Byrne we are dealing with so the metaphors are always heavy.

I have no idea how many times I have heard the Heads standards, nor can I count the number of spins this album has taken for me (I’ve owned three DVD’s, purchased the album twice and currently have one burnt copy in my house and one in my car, so yeah I am obsessed). I don’t listen to it like I once did, that happens with everything, but when I do myself that favor every now and then I am always reminded of what the perfect live album is and how most every other live album cowers in its presence, save maybe Kicking Television.

The perfect collection of songs, the performance of a lifetime and the encapsulating aura of one of rock-pop music’s most acclaimed and important artists; it doesn’t get much better than that.

How These Eyes Learned to Hear

The Twelve Essential Albums in my collection.

Over the next couple of weeks I will analyze the 12 albums that redefined the way I listen to music and experience a band. They are not all LP's, as one is a soundtrack of sorts and another is a greatest hits collection. The albums are not among the elite ever recorded, but they are unique and they developed a music sense in my makeup. They vary in genre and relavence, but all are crucial to how I got to where I am today.

In no set order, here are my 12 Essential Albums:

The Moon and Antartica - Modest Mouse
Check Your Head - Beastie Boys
Graceland - Paul Simon
Superunknown - Soundgarden
II - Led Zeppelin
Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads
Hampton Comes Alive - Phish
Full Moon Fever - Tom Petty
Red Medicine - Fugazi
Odelay - Beck
Chronicles I - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine

So reader, what are some of your Essential Albums?

CBGB Founder Passes Away

CBGB was more than a venue, it was more than the bands that played there and the fans who saw them. It was an institution and the birthplace of Punk Rock. The irony of the little club created to host various Country Bluegrass and Blues acts becoming a focal point for art rock and punkers adds to the legend and mystique of the home to Patti Smith, Television, The Ramones, Talking Heads, and NY Dolls. Later the likes of Bad Brains and Guns N' Roses would make their mark on the stage.

Today the founder passed away and I felt I'd pay tribute with these:

Warning Sign - Talking Heads

Judy Is A Punk - The Ramones

Crazy - Guns N' Roses

Bad Brains

Longview - Green Day