This was my first thought as well. Expecially now that Meatloaf has been disqualified.
+1. Highest selling rock debut album of all time with sales in excess of 28 million worldwide.
Another band that I don’t think should really count, as most members had extensive recording experience with Mother Love Bone and Temple of the Dog prior to forming Pearl Jam.
Actually, Smash was their 4th or 5th album.
Ten Pearl Jam…
“Alive”… 'Evenflow"… and damn… the video for 'jeremy"…jut kicks ass…
Ohh yeah.. forgot bout Vivid.. man.. Vernon kills small animals on Middle Man..
My own personal favorite debut album may be One Step Beyond… by Madness.
Well, is it any different than Led Zeppelin (Yardbirds) and Guns N Roses (Hollywood Roses and L.A. Guns)?
I would have no problem disregarding Led Zeppelin’s first album, since half the band had recording experience prior to LZ’s formation.
Guns N’ Roses, tho, is a different thing, since neither Hollywood Rose or L.A. Guns had recorded and released an album prior to GnR’s debut.
I mean, if we can count any first album, regardless of prior experience, then I pick Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats as the best debut album, since this was his first release under his own name and not under the Mothers of Invention moniker.
Steel Panther - Feel The Steel
Frank Zappa’s first solo album was Lumpy Gravy. Hot Rats was the second.
Oasis - Definitely Maybe is definitely maybe my choice.
Some other great albums were mentioned, though: Boston, Marquee Moon, Stone Roses.
We’re not talking about hard rock/metal though. This is straight up rock bands. I wouldn’t classify GnR as metal that’s for sure. There are many other debuts that are better to ME but the megaton that is AfD is indisputable. It is THE hugest most explosive debut of a rock band in history.
What’s with all the lists in this thread? There was a pit thread a while back about people who come into threads asking for THE BEST of something and list 10 different things.
I also think the definition of “rock band” is being stretched pretty thin here.
AfD sold like 30M copies or something insane like that. How can any one dispute this album?
I didn’t realize sales define what is “best.” Listen, I agree that AfD was a great album. It’d make my top 10 of best rock debuts. But not my top 5. Sorry.
I came in to vote for that one too.
Your daddy works in porno now that mommies not around.
CMON MAN!
'Cause I don’t think it’s that good? Fairly standard hard rock. And pretty misogynistic, too.
Of course it’s standard hard rock dude. Everyone copied them.
No, I mean “standard hard rock” of the type I’d been hearing since the '70s.
See, that’s the thing I don’t quite get about Appetite. A few people upthread seemed to allude to it being some sort of ground-breaking change in the face of music in the late 80s. I was around when it was really popular, but I don’t remember it that way. I remember it being really cool, and great, and a nice break from the typical girls-and-booze-feel-good hair-metal, but not so incredible that it ushered in a whole new wave of music.
Perhaps I’m remembering the era wrong. Let me reiterate that I think it is a fantastic and solid album. I just don’t get how people say it was hugely influential or groundbreaking. It sounds like a retread/update of 70s classic rock to me.