This first list is hopefully a preview of what is to come and seems an appropriate first blog post as it is my debut, so here are my Top 10 debut (DeButt?) albums of all time. For any Godsmack fans out there, this may disappoint and I'm not sorry for that. Top 10 debut albums in my opinion (last time I make that disclaimer) are...

10. Fleet Foxes-Fleet Foxes
 

These suburban Seattlers got it right the first time with their self-titled debut album. Though they have only released two albums, this one is on here for bringing the late 2000's some folk resurgence with harmonious tunes, people-focused lyrics and Robin Pecknold's vocals so crisp you feel the need to put on a jacket as you listen; a great winter album.

Best track-"Blue Ridge Mountains"

9.Sigh No More-Mumford and Sons
 
I know their debut album is their only album, but does it even matter? Mumford and Sons released Sigh No More in 2009 and their popularity exploded almost immediately. The three tracks at the heart of the album, "White Blank Page", "I Gave You All", and "Little Lion Man" all speak about deep relational anguish experienced by Marcus Mumford, the bands lead man. As my brother-in-law Jason put it, "Little Lion Man" has the most redemptive use of the f-word he's ever heard, which I thought funny but true. Sigh No More piggybacked on The Avett Brothers and made the banjo more appealing and badass than it has ever been. It also did something else rare, especially for a debut album, and made an album without a weak song, which only heightens the anticipation of their sophomore album.

Best track-"The Cave"

8.The College Dropout-Kanye West
 
West has done what few on this list have and gotten better with each successive album. The crazy thing is that he started off so strong with "Dropout" that it has made his album repertoire one of the most impressive over the last 10 years. The pop culture comparisons are abundant and the metaphors aplenty. "They thought I was burnt up, like Pepsi did Michael", he raps in "Through The Wire". The Kanye swag and egoism start to show immediately in the opening track "We Don't Care" and have grown with each album. While his arrogance and self-absorption make me want to dislike him, I can't deny my fondness for the college dropout.

Best track-"All Falls Down"

7. Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar-Johnny Cash

 The Man in Black had music released music for over half a century, even posthumously, and it all began with this 1957 album that included many of Cash's most popular hits he ever recorded. "I Walk the Line" was foundational for the album and somewhat of a storyline through his life. The ever popular and sorrowful "Folsom Prison Blues" was almost always his opener in shows. A sad and turbulent life was mirrored by his lyrics as were the redemptive ones. What's more impressive is that his debut album might be the best of a whopping 55 studio albums.


Best track-"Folsom Prison Blues"

6.Parachutes-Coldplay

"Don't Panic" might be the best opening song on any of these albums. Parachutes is a great album because frontman Chris Martin fits perfectly with what the rest of the band does instrumentally and rhythmically. If Martin was in most other bands, he wouldn't work. His fluctuating falsettos in "Shiver" and "We Never Change" display his wide ranging but imperfect vocals. Who can deny the cheesy sincerity of his request in "Yellow" when he shrills "Look at the stars, look how they shine for you". Coldplay certainly struck gold (or maybe yellow?) with their debut.

Best track-"Sparks"
 

5. Please Please Me-The Beatles

Is this any surprise? The only reason they are not higher is because I am personally not an avid Beatles listener. Please Please Me is the easiest Beatles album to boogie to with the grooviest tunes coming at the beginning ("I Saw Her Standing There") and end ("Twist and Shout") of the album. The fact that Please Please Me is probably their sixth best album does not diminish the accomplishment of this revolutionary band. They were one of the best ever at evolving their sound, so their debut still sounds as innovative and fresh as it did in 1963. 

Best track-"Please Please Me"

4. Is This It-The Strokes 

The fact that these guys are not higher shows what I think of the top three because The Strokes debut album is as exciting and novel an album as there has been recently. It's chock full of Garage Rock aggression and frenetic guitar riffs and jam packed into 36 minutes. Much of that time, lead singer Julian Casablancas gives his take on relationships and mostly ones that aren't worth anything. "See, alone we stand, together we fall apart" he shouts in "Someday". The Strokes gave New York its first great rock band since Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, and Casablancas has even drawn comparisons to Reed. Even with some similarities, I would take The Strokes and especially Is This It because it's Reed-esque punk with a new taste.

Best track-"Last Nite"

3.Funeral-Arcade Fire

I don't know if Funeral or The Suburbs is the better album, but I think there are too many people who have listened to The Suburbs and not Funeral. "Wake Up" was well known and epic enough to be used at the beginning of every show on U2's Vertigo Tour, but there is so much more goodness that deserved all of the awards The Suburbs got. This album was so named because of the several deaths that surrounded the band members during recording. Singer Win Butler and his wife Regine Chassagne co-lead with quivery voices and overtones of sorrow that burst in stadium rock fashion on songs like "Wake Up" and "Rebellion (Lies)". You want a good summer album? Ironically, these Canadian elegists emit a vibe that is perfect for warm weather car rides.

Best track-"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"

2.Led Zeppelin-Led Zeppelin

 Have you gotten the Led out recently? Well, neither had I until I started this list. Led Zeppelin has a legacy of rock that probably no one has really matched. Talk to any grown-up who was a teenager or young adult during Zeppelin's time. They were a force and a defining band for Rock 'n' Roll. Listening to the album for the first time and hearing the intro to "Good Times Bad Times" to begin it had to be like putting on glasses after you've been walking around seeing blurs for a few months. They were fresh, talented, and did whatever they wanted to do, which in the late 60's and early 70's was the best way to appeal to the baby boomers and company.

Best track-"Dazed and Confused"
 
1.Grace-Jeff Buckley

There is something backwards about the fact that Soulja Boy has been able to release four albums (yes, I looked that up) while Buckley was only able to release one before his untimely death. I'm not saying I want Soulja Boy to die...but you get my point. Grace was his first and only complete album and if you haven't listened to this album, then do it. Stop reading this and go. It really is a phenomenal collection of 10 songs that begs the ultimate question: "What could have been?" (He drowned somewhat mysteriously in 1997 at the age of 30). His voice is flawless and heartbreaking, but he "sang the hell out of those songs" as one Pitchfork reviewer says. Buckley takes his time with only one song under four minutes but keeps you spellbound with the sadness in his tone. Even the fast and easy "Last Goodbye" sounds like a suicide letter. His voice pierces and chills with angelic quality on "Corpus Christi Carol" and exudes with urgency on "Lover, You Should've Come Over". If he had written "Hallelujah", this might be one of the greatest albums ever. Still, Buckley's rendition might as well be the original because it moves better that any seven minute song you'll ever hear and as soon as it's over, you want to hear it again. This album stands alone; as Buckley's lone album, as a debut album, and as an album in general. It's pure, meaningful, and original and is near the top of my favorite albums of all time and certainly deserving of best debut album of all time.

Best track-"Lover, You Should've Come Over"

Honorable Mention

The Civil Wars-The Civil Wars

Boy-U2

Heartbreaker-Ryan Adams

Appetite For Destruction-Guns n Roses

Weezer-Weezer