Debut albums are a funny thing. Sometimes, a debut record is all it takes for a band or musician to catapult up the charts into immediate fame. For other bands, though, debut albums are simply a stepping stone towards even better (and more chart-successful) music. The following three rock bands had some success with their debut albums, but it seems to me that those stellar debuts have been forgotten in favor of their more successful, later-released albums. Let’s give these records the love they deserve, shall we?
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‘On Through The Night’ by Def Leppard
Def Leppard’s debut album introduced the heavy metal icons to the world, but the album itself doesn’t get as much love as their more successful works, like Hysteria and Adrenalize. On Through The Night was released in 1980 and made it pretty high on the UK Albums chart and the Billboard 200. However, the record is not nearly as popular as other Def Leppard classics. I get it, though. It’s rough around the edges and very much sounds like the band was in its infancy.
‘39/Smooth’ by Green Day
39/Smooth was released by punk rock band Green Day in 1990. The album definitely got them some attention, but that attention was mainly from their contemporaries. In fact, the album didn’t chart at all. The band wouldn’t enjoy substantial success until Dookie, their third album, hit the shelves in 1994. The often-confusing lyricism and muffled, poorly-recorded bits of 39/Smooth earned some negative reviews from critics at the time, but I happen to like those little rough details. It’s very punk rock.
‘Rush’ by Rush
Few albums that hard rock outfit Rush has released through the years could be considered “bad.” Everything they’ve produced has some interest and value; that’s simply what happens when some of the most talented musicians in the world form a band together. However, their self-titled debut in 1974 is an unfortunate entry on our list of forgotten debut albums by famous rock stars. The album made it to No. 86 in the native Canada, but Rush wouldn’t hit the Top 10 in Canada until a year later with the release of Fly By Night. By the late 1970s, they’d be a hit in the US, too.
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