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The 100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time

Our editors put their stamp of approval on the 100 best-ever first full-length efforts.

Prefer CDs? Find the list on shiny disc here.

The 100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time

Boy
Birth Of The Cool (Rudy Van Gelder Edition)
The Velvet Underground & Nico
Led Zeppelin
Unknown Pleasures [Collector's Edition]
The Piper At The Gates of Dawn (Stereo Version)
Bleach
Bob Dylan
Kill 'Em All
Funeral
Reasonable Doubt
The Smiths
Grace
My Aim Is True
Horses
Here Come The Warm Jets
Elvis Presley
Appetite For Destruction [Explicit]
 1.  Boy by U2
 2.  Birth Of The Cool (Rudy Van Geld... by Miles Davis
 3.  The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground
 4.  Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin
 5.  Unknown Pleasures [Collector's E... by Joy Division
 6.  The Piper At The Gates of Dawn (... by Pink Floyd
 7.  Bleach by Nirvana
 8.  Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan
 9.  Kill 'Em All by Metallica
10.  Funeral by Arcade Fire
11.  Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z
12.  The Smiths by The Smiths
13.  Grace by Jeff Buckley
14.  My Aim Is True by Elvis Costello
15.  Horses by Patti Smith
16.  Here Come The Warm Jets by Brian Eno
17.  Elvis Presley by Elvis Presley
18.  Appetite For Destruction [Explicit] by Guns N' Roses
19.  The Who Sings My Generation by The Who
20.  Movement [Collector's Edition] by New Order
21.  Slanted & Enchanted (Remastered) by Pavement
22.  Catch A Fire by Bob Marley
23.  The College Dropout [Explicit] by Kanye West
24.  Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. by Bruce Springsteen
25.  England's Newest Hitmakers by The Rolling Stones
26.  Pablo Honey [Explicit] by Radiohead
27.  Murmur by R.E.M.
28.  Talking Heads 77 by Talking Heads
29.  Coltrane by John Coltrane
30.  Ten by Pearl Jam
31.  Paid In Full by Eric B. & Rakim
32.  The Doors (40th Anniversary Mixes) by The Doors
33.  Are You Experienced by Jimi Hendrix
34.  Ready To Die The Remaster [Expli... by Notorious B.I.G.
35.  The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill
36.  Van Halen (Reissue) by Van Halen
37.  The Chirping Crickets by Buddy Holly
38.  The Clash (UK Version) by The Clash
39.  Enter The Wu-Tang [Explicit] by Wu-Tang Clan
40.  Licensed To Ill by The Beastie Boys
41.  Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's ... by Sex Pistols
42.  Madonna (Reissue) by Madonna
43.  The Chronic [Explicit] by Dr. Dre
44.  Doggystyle [Explicit] by Snoop Doggy Dogg
45.  A Pesar De Todo by Vicente Fernández
46.  Peoples' Instinctive Travels & t... by A Tribe Called Quest
47.  Illmatic [Explicit] by Nas
48.  Marquee Moon by Television
49.  Pink Flag by Wire
50.  Exile In Guyville by Liz Phair
51.  The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers
52.  Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake
53.  Parachutes by Coldplay
54.  Entertainment! (Expanded & Remas... by Gang Of Four
55.  Come Away With Me by Norah Jones
56.  Dummy by Portishead
57.  Gish by Smashing Pumpkins
58.  Music From Big Pink by The Band
59.  The Stooges [Deluxe Edition] by The Stooges
60.  Pretenders [Reissue] by The Pretenders
61.  Santana by Santana
62.  Creedence Clearwater Revival by Creedence Clearwater Revival
63.  Dreamboat Annie by Heart
64.  New York Dolls by New York Dolls
65.  Outlandos D'Amour by The Police
66.  Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers by Tom Petty & The Heart Breakers
67.  Rage Against The Machine [Explicit] by Rage Against The Machine
68.  Brown Sugar [Explicit] by D'angelo
69.  Funkadelic by Funkadelic
70.  RUN-DMC by RUN-DMC
71.  Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes
72.  Give Up by The Postal Service
73.  Incognegro [Explicit] by Ludacris
74.  Calle 13 (Explicit Version) by Calle 13
75.  Alejandro Fernandez by Alejandro Fernández
76.  Get Rich Or Die Tryin (Edited Ve... by 50 Cent
77.  Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. by Dwight Yoakam
78.  Superfuzz Bigmuff: Deluxe Edition by Mudhoney
79.  Falta amor by Maná
80.  Lee Ann Womack by Lee Ann Womack
81.  Takin' Off (Rudy Van Gelder Edit... by Herbie Hancock
82.  Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
83.  Is This It by The Strokes
84.  Weezer by Weezer
85.  Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos
86.  Violent Femmes: Deluxe Edition by Violent Femmes
87.  Blue Lines by Massive Attack
88.  The B-52's by The B-52's
89.  Monster Movie by Can
90.  Confusion Is Sex by Sonic Youth
91.  Debut by Bjork
92.  Storms Of Life by Randy Travis
93.  Viva Hate by Morrissey
94.  (Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd) by Lynyrd Skynyrd
95.  Oh, Inverted World by The Shins
96.  Roxy Music by Roxy Music
97.  Homework by Daft Punk
98.  Diamond Life by Sade
99.  CooleyHighHarmony by Boyz II Men
100.  #1 Record/Radio City by Big Star

Featured Artists
 1.  U2
 2.  Miles Davis
 3.  The Velvet Underg...
 4.  Led Zeppelin
 5.  Joy Division
 6.  Pink Floyd
 7.  Nirvana
 8.  Bob Dylan
 9.  Metallica
10.  Arcade Fire
11.  Jay-Z
12.  The Smiths
13.  Jeff Buckley
14.  Elvis Costello
15.  Patti Smith
16.  Brian Eno
17.  Elvis Presley
18.  Guns N' Roses
19.  The Who
20.  New Order
21.  Pavement
22.  Bob Marley
23.  Kanye West
24.  Bruce Springsteen
25.  The Rolling Stones
26.  Radiohead
27.  R.E.M.
28.  Talking Heads
29.  John Coltrane
30.  Pearl Jam
31.  Eric B. & Rakim
32.  The Doors
33.  Jimi Hendrix
34.  Notorious B.I.G.
35.  Lauryn Hill
36.  Van Halen
37.  Buddy Holly
38.  The Clash
39.  Wu-Tang Clan
40.  The Beastie Boys
41.  Sex Pistols
42.  Madonna
43.  Dr. Dre
44.  Snoop Doggy Dogg
45.  Vicente Fernandez
46.  A Tribe Called Quest
47.  Nas
48.  Television
49.  Wire
50.  Liz Phair
51.  The Modern Lovers
52.  Nick Drake
53.  Coldplay
54.  Gang Of Four
55.  Norah Jones
56.  Portishead
57.  Smashing Pumpkins
58.  The Band
59.  The Stooges
60.  The Pretenders
61.  Santana
62.  Creedence Clearwa...
63.  Heart
64.  New York Dolls
65.  The Police
66.  Tom Petty
67.  Rage Against The ...
68.  D'angelo
69.  Funkadelic
70.  RUN-DMC
71.  Fleet Foxes
72.  The Postal Service
73.  Ludacris
74.  Calle 13
75.  Alejandro Fernandez
76.  50 Cent
77.  Dwight Yoakam
78.  Mudhoney
79.  Maná
80.  Lee Ann Womack
81.  Herbie Hancock
82.  Art Blakey & The ...
83.  The Strokes
84.  Weezer
85.  Tori Amos
86.  Violent Femmes
87.  Massive Attack
88.  The B-52's
89.  Can
90.  Sonic Youth
91.  Bjork
92.  Randy Travis
93.  Morrissey
94.  Lynyrd Skynyrd
95.  The Shins
96.  Roxy Music
97.  Daft Punk
98.  Sade
99.  Boyz II Men
100.  Big Star

Customer Discussions: 100 Greatest Albums
Discussion Replies Latest Post
The Cars 1 Mar 31, 2013
Counting Crows? 0 Mar 11, 2013
Ramones 0 Feb 19, 2013
what about gaga? 2 Jul 3, 2012
Terrible list! Some suggestions... 32 Dec 2, 2010
Instantly Invalidated by having U2 as #1 3 Nov 29, 2010
Not a bad starting point but quite a few are missing... 0 Nov 10, 2010
Folk /Americana 3 Sep 10, 2010
Mana's Falta Amor is not a Debut Album 0 Jun 1, 2010
HELLO! No Terrence Trent D'arby... Wishing Well, Sing Your Name... 0 May 23, 2010
What's the 411??? 0 Apr 24, 2010
Editors??? 0 Apr 24, 2010
› See all 129 discussions...   › Start a new discussion

Browse More of the Greatest

Explore more definitive 100 Greatest of All Time album lists in a variety of categories, including:
• 100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time
• 100 Greatest Romantic Albums of All Time
• 100 Greatest Singer-Songwriter Albums of All Time
• 100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of All Time
• 100 Greatest Jazz Albums of All Time
• 100 Greatest World Music Albums of All Time
• 100 Greatest Live Albums of All Time

Selection Criteria

In order to qualify for this list, a title must meet the following criteria:
• It must be the artist's first full-length album widely commercially available in the United States (i.e. previously released mixtapes or projects only released exclusively abroad wouldn't be grounds for disqualification)
• Debut albums by solo artists who previously released music with a group count
• Likewise, debut albums from groups containing members who have recorded solo also count
• Of course, our editors exercise their judgment regarding quality and/or historical significance. If you disagree with our choices (and there's a good chance you will), let us know in the customer discussions at the bottom of the page.
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