DEBUT ALBUMS
Debut albums are crucial, the first time that a band or performer can make themselves known in the mass public arena, establish a sound and identity, set up a trademark sound, a blueprint for the future. It’s been said that artists have 20 or so years to write their first album and from then on only a year or so for each subsequent album, so expectations for listener and performer can be high, the first recorded foray a chance to establish themselves and an audience. Of course the band may also have never been in the recording environment, after playing the songs live in rehearsal or in front of an audience it can seem alien and intimidating, a real test of music mettle and self belief. I have a lot of debut albums in my collection, there’s a freshness and vitality about them that captures a moment in time and space.
Here are a few of my enduring favourites, I know most of them are old but they have stood the test of time.
The Loved Ones / Magic Box
Seasoned musicians from the vital jazz club scene in Melbourne in the early 60s, with their hand clap double rhythm and Gerry Humphries’ unique soaring eccentric warble they had three national hits in a row, patched together their only album from those hits and extra stuff and broke up after only 2 years together. Their idiosyncratic spin on pop and rock created a naïve, unconventional, enduring legacy.
AC DC / High Voltage
The blueprint riffs and raunch that have since sold millions of albums were all in place, topped with Bon’s salacious leer; they got deserved instant success and created a record so primal that it remains timeless.
Rose Tattoo / Rose Tattoo
Wrong side of the tracks street blues rock punk, a genuinely intimidating walk on the wild side of town with a tough-as-nails gang of macho mean berserkers, the riffs and raw energy kicked the door open and cleaned out your fridge and stole your girlfriend.
The Dingoes / The Dingoes
A country rock classic, honed in live performance, the song writing and ensemble sound was imbued with an Australian sense of time and place, a sensibility that gives the record an honesty and integrity that makes the bad luck that followed, including their guitarist being shot in the stomach by Underbelly man Mark Moran, all the more heart breaking. They deserved more.
The Birthday Party / Prayers On Fire
Hard to believe that the same line-up that was Boys Next Door could explode with such a dangerous derangement of the musical senses; angular shards of guitar, primal pounding percussion, sheets of white noise and rumble with Nick’s lyrical and vocal explosions igniting the pyre. Bedlam.
Radio Birdman / Radios Appear
Guitar-fuelled Detroit-inspired pared-down rock songs with first-take energy and played with total commitment and visceral conviction, their us-vs-the-world attitude made it sound like a crusade against mediocrity.
The Saints / (I’m) Stranded
Recorded in two weeks in Bjelke’s Brisbane gulag; sneering, frenetic, punk rock rage distilled into three minute bursts of anger and frustration of non-poseur punk rock defined.
Died Pretty / Free Dirt
Raw, majestic psychedelic guitar and organ driven mini-epics of ecstatic surging energy with the most adventurous singer of the era dancing through the spacious architecture created. Breathtaking.
Beasts Of Bourbon / Axeman’s Jazz
Recorded in an afternoon, a garage swamp blues country stew cooked up by a bunch of seasoned musicians who drunkenly swaggered and never quite fell down as they brewed up some of the most entertaining and humourous musical sour-mash around. The singer wasn’t bad either.
The Avalanches / Since I Left You
An Antipodeans sample based groove masterwork that rivals Pauls Boutique for its impeccable technique, variety, eclectic sources, tripped-out tempo and sunny disposition. Intricately entertaining and endlessly fascinating. Magic.
While some performers get lucky with the first album and then face the curse of the second, for others their debut is a good toe in the water of the music pond but they don’t hit their creative stride until the follow up.
The Angels / Face To Face
Although their first record was no disgrace, their second was when they created the basic formula that would guide them for the next three decades including many songs that would be a live staple until the present day. It remained in the charts for 79 weeks and went four times platinum, selling over 280,000 copies sold.
The Go Betweens / Goodbye Hollywood
Their debut had a tentative sound like a good demo tape, but the second was far more intricate and relaxed, the vocals more confident and full bodied, the drums more integrated into the overall acoustic sound. Cattle And Cane remains one of the great timeless Australian classics.
The Reels / Quasimodo’s Dream
They got rid of the guitars and became, aside from the drums, totally synthetic but strangely more human with an affecting emotional vulnerability and melancholy heart. Slower songs and more texture created their finest moment.
X / At Home With You
Their debut was a first take recorded in five hours barroom brawl of a record, five years later for their second they got a new drummer who could swing not just thump, fully formed songs, an ambitious added horn section and a freshness of energy and focus. Brutal beauty.
You Am I / Hi Fi Way
After the promising debut they refreshed their line-up, toured nationally and America, re-united with Lee Renaldo as producer and assembled a set of incisive, melodic heartfelt rock songs that gave them a Number One debut on the mainstream charts and sold 35, 000 copies.
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