Bands that peaked with their first album?

Submitted by GroguIsMyBrogu t3_126zpck in Music

Was thinking about this today. Doesn't have to be a band with just one good record, just has to be one who's first album is still their best in your opinion. I really love Weezer's whole discography, for instance, but their first album (Blue) is still my favorite. Other examples I thought of were Guns N Roses (can't get much better when you release Appetite for Destruction right out of the gate) and Violent Femmes (their first album is a classic, the other ones are very hit and miss). Thoughts?

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Bryanole27 t1_jebs54k wrote

While I personally disagree, I can see people saying Linkin Park. I can’t deny Hybrid Theory is fucking magical, but I do enjoy their later works just as much.

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WW_III_ANGRY t1_jebs9an wrote

Local h, The offspring, Bush, off the top of my head

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Trobus t1_jebstn8 wrote

Interpol, I still like them and think antics and our love to admire are great, but turn on the bright lights is phenomenal.

Also The Avalanches, Gang of Four, and Hot Hot Heat.

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Hobonics t1_jebt7g1 wrote

claps your hands say yeah, mgmt, youth lagoon, verve, strokes, dave matthews band, the black keys, epmd, de la soul, wu tang clan, uhh who else?

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craigechoes9501 t1_jebu0i5 wrote

Soul Coughing. Ruby Vroom

Irresistible Bliss is quite good, and El Oso is pretty good, but Ruby Vroom is fantastic

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Fear2010 t1_jebuktm wrote

Replying to Bryanole27 (#2,501,617)

Do enjoy a lot of stuff by LP as well. Boston is one band I could think of that peaked with their self-titled album. While I like the second and third, things went downhill for them after that.

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GroguIsMyBrogu OP t1_jebv9yn wrote

Replying to WW_III_ANGRY (#2,501,651)

I like Americana the most myself. It's the first Offspring album I listened to and it's got a special place in my heart because of it. Smash is an easy second, though, if you're considering that their first

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DJMoneybeats t1_jebz5uh wrote

The Cars

the Ramones

Gang of Four

MGMT

Television

Devo

B-52's

Psychedelic Furs

Elvis Costello

N.W.A.

All fantastic albums. Hard to Top

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DevinBelow t1_jec4xgk wrote

I could probably make some arguments that some of these aren't their very best work, but they are all incredible and vitally important debut albums, and are my personal favorites from all of them.

X - Los Angelas

The Cramps - Songs the Lord Taught Us

Big Star - #1 Record

Notrious B.I.G. - Ready to Die

Ween - GodWEENSatan: The Oneness

The Residents - Meet the Residents

Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

The Band - Music From Big Pink

David Crosby - ....If I Could Only Remember My Name

The Soft Boys - Underwater Moonlight

Propagandhi - How to Clean Everything

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shendey t1_jec66t5 wrote

Probably an unpopular opinion but Rage Against The Machine’s first album is their best.

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30andhurty t1_jecaxa8 wrote

Foster The People.

Torches was nothing but bangers - all good songs from start to finish and still in my top 5 favorite albums of all time. Supermodel had maybe 2 or 3 songs I listened to more than once. Sacred Hearts Club - one ok song.

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Airwolf_BDTW t1_jecbt24 wrote

AC/DC peaked with their first song on their first album, IMO.

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Going_for_the_One t1_jecfu9i wrote

There is a lot of bands that start out with a very strong debut album, but there are not so many as I would have thought where the debut remains the strongest album.

Here are some I can think of:

Family (Progressive rock/psychedelic rock)

Exodus (Thrash metal)

Blue Cheer (Heavy rock/proto-metal)

Iron Butterfly (Psychedelic rock/heavy rock)

Mayhem (Black metal)

There are other bands where the debut is my favorite album, but the quality of several of the other albums are comparable. I’m not including these.

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JackBox4 t1_jech1sa wrote

Boston

Their first album was the best one. It was also their biggest seller.

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maddmax_gt t1_jech24v wrote

Replying to FearTheOldBlood1 (#2,501,685)

Leave A Whisper is a GREAT album, don’t get me wrong. I am a sucker for all Shinedown but really? No Us and Them and REALLY not Sound of Madness? Sound of Madness has some of the best music they’ve ever put out.

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BlunderFunk t1_jechngg wrote

yeah yeah yeahs, second one is alright but after that is literally a synthpop band, and the last album was a total snooze, nostalgia is the only factor this band is relevant. The punk moshing crowd is no more at their shows nowadays :(

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LostprophetFLCL t1_jecjm2p wrote

Static-X. Band has been pretty consistently good but Wisconsin Death Trip will likely always be their magnum opus especially without Wayne Static around R.I.P.

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ilikepacificdaydream t1_jecq3jm wrote

The Killers

Also. I think some of Weezer's best work is post 2014. So gonna disagree with OP there. But ye Olde Blue debate rages on.

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zyglack t1_jecqg8m wrote

Ned's Atomic Dustbin.

Belly.

AwolNation

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ycckk t1_jecqu2y wrote

Deftones and Static-x

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Sir_Poofs_Alot t1_jecr5lc wrote

Bro Weezer didn’t even START until Scott Shriner joined the band

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jessann71 t1_jecrtpt wrote

I'd have to say Guns and Roses. While Use Your Illusions 1 and 2 were pretty good, the didn't come close to matching the the raw energy of Appetite For Destruction.

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obik501 t1_jecv5c9 wrote

As much as I love the entire Testament catalog, pound for pound, I think The Legacy beats them all.

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redditjam645 t1_jecwgo1 wrote

Snoop Dogg! Nothing he has done has ever come close to Doggystyle. If you count The Chronic (by Dr. Dre) as his debut, then nothing comes close to The Chronic lol.

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Counting-Trains t1_jed074n wrote

Replying to DetectiveLinden (#2,508,794)

even if one were to argue that august and everything after is Counting Crows’ best album, which i’d personally have to say it’s not —their second album recovering the satellites is musically, lyrically, and vocally more impressive than the former, the band has three other nearly perfect records after august; recovering the satellites, this desert life, and hard candy. as it stands for all great artists, the “best” record they output doesn’t necessarily standalone as their “peak” if it is that they continue to produce music at a high level afterwards; ie. counting crows. if august is your pick for their best album, that’s perfectly understandable, but if recovering the satellites, this desert life, and hard candy are like marginally 3-7% less convincing than AAEA as an album at worst, it can’t be that such consistent quality would lend their peak to being defined by their efforts in 1993 alone.

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Not_Like_The_Movie t1_jed2lvp wrote

Audioslave

While they did have some great songs on their second and third albums, every song on the first one was absolutely amazing. "Like a Stone" is probably their most well known song, but even stuff that didn't really play on the radio like "I Am The Highway" and "Last Remaining Light" were great. The first album was probably when Chris Cornell's vocals were at their best during his time with the band too.

I don't think saying they peaked with their first album is necessarily an insult to the rest of their work so much as it is a testament to just how good the first album was.

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Ethan_Skywalker4 t1_jed2u0l wrote

As much as I love all of their later albums, I still have to admit that Is This It is definitely still the best Strokes album.

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dawglb20 t1_jed79c7 wrote

Replying to RenegadeMaster- (#2,502,711)

Definitely Maybe is pretty amazing, but (What's the Story)Morning Glory? is a classic record. Of course there's Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova but Roll with It, Don't look back in anger, some might say and morning glory are all great songs

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dogsledonice t1_jed8yi6 wrote

Lots from the early punk/postpunk era:

I'd say B-52s, Devo, Gang of Four, (English) Beat, Specials, Madness, Sex Pistols, Television, Pretenders, UB40 and the Cars

Also Tracy Chapman and Stone Roses

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Blundell1992 t1_jed9lqd wrote

Replying to TwistingSerpent93 (#2,512,696)

Battle of L.A. is awesome. But if I'm ranking RATM by the album, I'll choose self titled 8 days a week. Fuckin incredible first showing, and even though LA has some of my favorite RATM songs, as a cohesive album, I think "Rage Against the Machine" takes it.

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Hobonics t1_jed9os3 wrote

Replying to dogsledonice (#2,515,286)

haha yes A Storm in Heaven is in this man's opinion a perfect album. I'm not a huge fan of Richard's ballads and prefer the music lead by Nick and Simon. Their EP is probably my 2nd favorite release of theirs. And I love So it Goes and Life's An Ocean & Stormy Clouds, but if i had to take one album with me it's ASIH. 92-95 they were incredible imo ;)

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dogsledonice t1_jed9u6i wrote

Am I the only one who loves The Blind Leading the Naked?

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photog_in_nc t1_jedb2s7 wrote

Van Halen made some great records, but that first one was never really surpassed in many ways

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patronsaintpizza t1_jedfip1 wrote

Owl City’s first album Ocean Eyes is far superior than anything else he’s put out

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latinoresiste t1_jedg4cx wrote

The streets... Original pirate material slays!!! On heavier territories: Bloodbath, Metallica, Cradle of Filth, Hypocrisy, Korn .. they all had strong first albums. And for many people their best/realest sound.

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harryhood78 t1_jedgl9k wrote

I mean, does it ever get better than Van Halen I🔥🤟🏻🎸

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CoercedCoexistence22 t1_jedlq9h wrote

Ride. I like nearly everything they've done barring Carnival of shite and Tarantula but Nowhere is unbeatable

Starflyer 59. Gold and Talking voice get very close, but Silver is still probably their best album

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Spruce-Moose t1_jednsm4 wrote

I'd go with Arcade Fire. I adore their second album but the first is their peak.

Also I'd say The Doors.

Also American Football.

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terryjuicelawson t1_jedusep wrote

Replying to Small_Listen2083 (#2,504,691)

It was far too overblown, if they had reigned in the excess and probably held some songs back that went out as b-sides it would have been much better. Noel was believing his own hype too much - we did not need All Around the World to be that long and have a reprise! They lost their soul after this album for sure (and founding members), none is worth bothering with. But their first album is at their raw best.

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fairnuff77 t1_jedyos5 wrote

Tom Petty said something along the lines of You get 10 years to come up with your first album but only a year to come up with your second one.

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Ormidale t1_jee4xrw wrote

I can't support this objectively, but Song to a Seagull is the Joni Mitchell album that I happen to enjoy the most.

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ricketychairs t1_jeeepnr wrote

Replying to DJMoneybeats (#2,503,269)

B-52s is a tough call IMO. I love Wild Planet as much as their first album.

This said, their first album had some pretty clever shit going on, particularly with the lead guitar. I don’t remember if Wild Planet lived up to.

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bottle-of-smoke t1_jeehvfe wrote

Will I be downvoted into oblivion if I say Led Zeppelin’s first album was the best they ever sounded? It’s certainly my favorite.

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MrObviousChild t1_jeeihyh wrote

Bloc Party. Silent Alarm is a masterpiece. I tried so hard to like more of their music and struggled.

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ivanvector t1_jeejw8b wrote

Boston.

To be fair their second and third are still decent albums, but when your debut is one of the best rock albums ever recorded there's really nowhere to go but down.

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ProseBeforeSnows t1_jeeklxj wrote

Thomas Dolby. His 2nd and 3rd albums (The Flat Earth, Aliens Ate My Buick) are really good, but he never quite got back to the level of The Golden Age of Wireless. It’s a goddamn masterpiece.

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CharlieH786 t1_jeel69y wrote

rainbow kitten surprise. I live all of their albums, but their first, Seven + Mary, is my all time favorite

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mekonsrevenge t1_jeemshc wrote

Kiss. It was actually listenable compared to the comic book crap that followed.

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KhelbenB t1_jeep6ju wrote

Replying to JackBox4 (#2,507,707)

I remember talking to a friend while a Boston song was playing in a pub we were at, and he said something about them being so great while having only released one album. I did not know anything about them at the time so I assumed it to be true, but looking back I don't know if he actually believed that or if it was some kind of "There are only 3 Die Hard movies" statement.

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Throwaway2471127 t1_jeewq1e wrote

They say you have 10 years to make your first record and 3 months to make your second

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HeywoodPeace t1_jef0xv9 wrote

Cinderella

Alan Parsons Project

Lady Gaga

Lindsey Buckingham

Stevie Nicks

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Hayseed Dixie

Sinead O'Connor

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Counting-Trains t1_jefiu3q wrote

Replying to DetectiveLinden (#2,537,184)

it is truly that good. i’m glad that you still appreciate the other records too, however —even if that means placing them a little lower in comparison with AAEA. counting crows are a great band; i think that’s the common perspective here at least.

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