These are the 100 best debut albums of all time

A debut has no past and doesn’t care about the future. A debut is present, and it is therefore not surprising that the best works of contemporary pop music are first albums. An approach to the debut album phenomenon in list form.

100
Lady Gaga
THE FAME
2008

“Just Dance”, “Poker Face”, “Love Game”, “Paparazzi”: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta aka Madonna 2.0 brought 90s-inspired EDM from the bumper car runway to clubs all over the world. (Stefan Hochgesand)

What happened next: The outstanding hit single “Bad Romance” actually only came out a year later with the additional EP “The Fame Monster” (2009) – as did “Telephone”, the duet with Beyoncé.

99
Maximo Park
A CERTAIN TRIGGER
2005

This band from Newcastle seemed to have been conceived on the drawing board. The Warp label, which is otherwise more versed in electronic music, wanted to really show off the retro guitar zeitgeist. But the catchy, cool uptempo wave rock defied all criticism. (Linus Volkmann)

What happened next: Still delivering today, but the debut is unmatched.

98
Wire
PINK FLAG
1977

21 pieces, many under two minutes: The urgency of punk meets the art school boys’ understanding of art. Between the deconstructions lies the brilliant pop of “Mannequin” and “Ex Lion Tamer”. (André Boße)

What happened next: Over two LPs, Wire perfect the formula, followed by a break with electronic reinvention.

97
The Gun Club
FIRE OF LOVE
1981

Archaically earthy cross between post-punk and Mississippi Delta blues. Always in focus: vocalist, guitarist and composer Jeffrey Lee Pierce, who sublimated euphoria, addiction to life, drug addiction, mental anguish and heartbreak into excellent songs. (Mike Köhler)

What happened next: Pierce died in 1996 as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage.

96
Courtney Barnett
SOMETIMES I SIT AND THINK, AND SOMETIMES I JUST SIT
2015

The Australian manages to express her astute everyday observations in a completely unimpressed voice under a straightforward silty skirt and blow us away with them. (Hella Wittenberg)

What happened next: Slacker’s dream come true: the album with Kurt Vile 2017, LOTTA SEA LICE.

95
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
FEVER TO TELL
2003

New Yorkers don’t want to introduce themselves here – they want to hunt us down. Karen O achieves this with a manic mix of lyrics and voices, while Nick Zinner and Brian Chase slap their bass and guitar waves at us. (Hella Wittenberg)

What happened next: Three albums by 2013, suggested comeback in 2020.

94
The B-52’s
THE B-52’S
1979

Bright and ingenious – the debut of the bomber hairstyles from Athens, Georgia, as the holy grail of post-punk modernity, as danceable as it is quirky, all killer, no filler: “Planet Claire”, “52 Girls”, “Rock Lobster”. (Ingo Scheel)

What happened next: The same thing again in red: WILD PLANET appears a year later.

93
Pixies
SURFERS PINK
1988

The impressive ending of the film “Fight Club” accompanied by Pixie’s “Where Is My Mind?” represents only a fraction of the iconic power of this record. Various guitar generations took their cue from SURFER ROSA. (Linus Volkmann)

What happened next: From the noughties onwards, there were mostly half-awesome reunions.

92
Burial
BURIAL
2006

Will Bevan poured the rainy streets of London nights into a dark dubstep and garage sound that was followed by countless epigones, but they never reached his class. (Christopher Hunold)

What happened next: Just one year later, UNTRUE, the genre masterpiece par excellence, was released.

91
Tori Amos
LITTLE EARTHQUAKES
1991

The album breathes glam à la Queen and Elton John. In the center, Amos’ haunting voice moans and curses, flanked by piano. The lyrics that pour out menstrual blood also provide a ballad-like euphony. (Stefan Hochgesand)

What happened next: On UNDER THE PINK, Amos uses the Bösendofer grand piano, her trademark, for the first time.

90
Hot chip
COMING ON STRONG
2004

Eleven songs with the aura of introverted indie, but which is strangely electronic. Everything is already laid out here, Hot Chip is becoming more than just an insider tip. (Linus Volkmann)

What happened next: Two years later, THE WARNING pushed things a lot more towards the dance floor – and turned them into nerd superstars.

89
Nick Drake
FIVE LEAVES LEFT
1969

Five years later, Drake dies of an overdose of antidepressants, largely overlooked, out of time, soon to be a near-icon. The string arrangements that he flies through with his voice owe more to the baroque composer Handel than to the music of the 60s. (Frank Sawatzki)
What happened next: The opener “Time Has Told Me” sets the tone for this visionary journey into the dark, mild and thoughtful.

88
MGMT
ORACULAR SPECTACULAR
2007

Produced by Dave Fridmann, the New York duo presents top-quality neo-psychedelia. At the time it was a revelation, at best comparable to the rise of Vampire Weekend at roughly the same time. (Stefan Hochgesand)

What happened next: The first half of the album is dominated by dance-pop hits like “Kids”. The second half points more towards the psychological future.

86
Jeff Buckley
GRACE
1994

The first and only album by Tim Buckley’s son, who died three years later, pushes the boundaries of rock, folk and grunge, only to lull us back to safety with ethereal singing and epic ballads. (Hella Wittenberg)

What happened next: His Leonard Cohen cover of “Hallelujah” is probably the most popular version of the song to date.

86
The Darkness
PERMISSION TO LAND
2003

Masterful hard rock parody that spawned masterful hard rock. Freddie Mercury would have returned from the dead for “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”. (Stephan Rehm Rozanes)

What happened next: Briefly “The nation’s leading rock combo”, then a flop LP, split, reunion. Today with Queen drummer’s son on drums.

85
Kanye West
THE COLLEGE DROPOUT
2004

Because he wasn’t a gangster, he rapped about college, religion and family. Curtis and Marvin resonate, but the later megalomania is also present in the demanding lyrics and the fat gospel choirs. “Jesus Walks” and “Never Let Me Down” are unbeatable. (David Numberger)

What happened next: Everyone knows that.

84
The Go-Go’s
BEAUTY AND THE BEAT
1981

Historical: The Californians are the first all-female band to reach number 1 in the USA with self-composed songs. Power Pop, with an emphasis on power and pop. (André Boße)

What happened next: In 1987, singer Belinda Carlisle achieved a global hit with “Heaven Is A Place On Earth”.

83
Vampire Weekend
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
2008

With his polyrhythmic swings, he was largely responsible for the introduction of Afrobeat into indie pop. Fresh blood for a genre that was already very pale at the time. (Stephan Rehm Rozanes)
What happened next: The band follows in the deep footsteps of Simon & Garfunkel to reach number 1 in the USA.

82
Sophia
OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES
2018

The hyperpop of the Scottish artist from the PC Music environment took a look into the distant future of electronic music and its possibilities and set new pop standards. Retromania was literally yesterday. (Christopher Hunold)

What happened next: At the beginning of 2021 she tragically had an accident in a fall in Athens. “It’s Okay To Cry.” The asteroid Sophiexeon was named after her.

81
Norah Jones
COME AWAY WITH ME
2002

This debut was far too folky for the jazz police. To this day it is unfairly scorned as macchiato bar pop. But if every coffee shop in the world played this album, we would have a better life. (Stefan Hochgesand)

What happened next: Ravi Shankar’s daughter never sounded as intense as she did on her debut when she was just 22.