First time

The debut, it's a that can carry a lot of weight for a band. They want to impress people from the start. A lot of times a band will get the response "they have potential" which translates to "pretty good, but hopefully you'll get even better". However on occasion a band steps up on their debut and it's so good that no only does it make people take notice, but it turns out that their first ends up being better than anything else they do in their career. This of course depends on which album you prefer by said artist. Black Sabbath and Van Halen are well known artists who plenty of fans point to as bands whose debut was their best work. I don't agree on those, but can certainly how a case can be made for both.  Here are some for me where the debut is my favorite.

Metal Church-s/t
Despite a mostly solid career after this they never quite came close to touching their debut.

Flotsam and Jetsam-Doomsday for the deceiver
One of the best albums of 1986. Their career after this was very hit and miss, but they had it all together on this one.

Cirith Ungol-Frost and fire
They were raw and rough on their debut. They ironed out some of the edges on the next two albums, but I prefer the mix of 70's and 80's metal on this album.

Overkill-Feel the fire
That's right I said it. Despite playing forever I don't think they ever matched the fury of this album. They have had a lot of drummers and guitarists over the years, but their best ones were on this album.

Motley Crue-Too fast for love
Yes, I know most people prefer their sophomore album. For me this one was a combination of 70's glam and 80's hard rock. They lost that feel to their music after this album.

There's more, but I'll let you chime in now.


***What debuts do you love?