“Definitive Gaze” from Magazine’s Real Llfe.
1978. What was to be the future sound after the short burst “no Future” of punk? Rebuilding from three chords up. Where to go now?
White Bird - It’s a beautiful day - eponymously titled
War Pigs - Black Sabbath - Paranoid - A better description of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and co. could not be found
Jailbeak - Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak -turn this up very loud
Spirit of radio - Rush - Permanent waves
Band on the run - Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the run
Only the first of these counts, per the OP (“debut albums”).
I’ll chip in with “Son of A Gun” by The La’s. It took them less than 2 minutes to establish the mood for that whole album (and unfortunately only about 30 more to wrap things up).
Permanent Waves was Rush’s 7th album, not their debut.
Edit: Beaten by sco3tt.
And I was going to go was going to go with “Clash City Rockers” since that was the first song on the US release, which is the only one I’m familiar with. But then again if you go with US version ('79) it technically wasn’t their first album.
This was the first song I thought of.
Second was Running with the Devil by Van Halen (1978)
“School Days” by Loudon Wainwright III
“Hey, St. Peter” by Flash and the Pan
“With My Face on the Floor” by Emitt Rhodes
“Kings and Queens” by Renaissance
“Harvard Fight Song” by Tom Lehrer
Technically it kind of is.Give 'Em Enough Rope was the first Clash album to be released in the US. The Clash( UK version, first track “Janie Jones”) was only available as an import album, which I believe held the record for best selling import album. CBS then released The Clash in the states with different tracks on it than the UK version, in 1979.(first track is “Clash City Rockers”)
So I guess take your pick.
Good one. I’m not a big fan, but the first three songs on that album (Gish) are the best they ever recorded, imo.
“Ashes” by Five Finger Death Punch
“Good Times Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin
Blister in the Sun on Violent Femmes.
I always thought that Your Time is Gonna Come off of Led Zeppelin 1 was a great entry in this category until I learned the track order was changed for the cassette tape.
Pretty, semipsychedelic keyboard comes it at a low volume, and continues long enough to think you just set the volume too low. Then…CRASH!
Time Will Show the Wiser, Fairport Convention, Fairport Convention (caveat: cover song).
My Sunday Feeling, This Was Jethro Tull
How about AC/DC’s High Voltage which opens with It’s a Long way to the top (if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll).
“I Saw Her Standing There” - The Beatles (UK Debut “Please Please Me” and technical first US album “Introducing The Beatles”, but not first US Capital album “Meet The Beatles”)
“Cherry Bomb” - The Runaways
“Running With The Devil” - Van Halen
Do it Again from Steely Dan’s ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill’. I don’t know about breathtaking, knock your socks off impact, but it certainly showed in 5:56 that this was not going to be a ‘typical’ band…
There should be another thread for bands whose best song is the first song on their first album 
Speaking of which – Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath. (Although Warning from the same album is slightly better, so while it is a great opening song it isn’t quite their best.)
“Next to You” by The Police