Acts whose debut album is an afterthought in their overall discography

'Free Form Guitar' is the highpoint of their discography!

Rick Wakeman - Piano Vibrations. It's a covers album.

Miranda Sex Garden debut is all A Capella folk songs, poems. I'm not sure if they were originally going to stay in that mode. I think fans probably like it too much for it to be considered an afterthought though.

Dinosaur- ST

This one's weird, but I know a lot of people who think "Severed Lips" is Mascis' best song

Oh & Journey started out good as a non-latinate Santana offshoot playing good almost psychy jazz-rock.

I'd assume the first three records, made before Steve Perry joined, are pretty much written out of memory, but who knows, maybe they still play a song or two live.

Todd Rundgren is a weird one. His official solo debut is the great Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren but a year earlier he released a pretty much forgotten album also called Runt, which iirc was meant to be the debut of a new band called Runt, but which is now credited to Todd.

Dan Hartman's first couple of albums were more aligned to his Edgar Winter Group beginnings than his disco stuff from album three onwards.

"Chicago Transit Authority"

― Mark G, Tuesday, May 12, 2015 5:36 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

'Free Form Guitar' is the highpoint of their discography!

― sʌxihɔːl (Ward Fowler), Tuesday, May 12, 2015 5:41 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

And "Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?" and "Beginnings" are all over oldies radio.

Pete Townshend - Who Came First

― WilliamC, Monday, May 11, 2015 9:19 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Thought about posting this, though he's revisited the material live a few times, both solo and with the Who (even "Sheraton Gibson," played once on a 1996 Who show).

It's disregarded because its "Chicago Transit Authority" as a title, and the band has no name.

Well, that's what it sort-of says on my copy..

Sarah McLachlan - Touch

Ween - Synthetic Socks

Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat and Meetle Mice by Dan Deacon

I'm wondering how much these actually should count since they weren't really distributed nor were they intended to be; if we're counting stuff like this then I would think that all sorts of early demo-ish stuff would be in this thread as well

Giorgio Moroder's definitely fits the bill here:

That's Bubble Gum – That's Giorgio

Hell, his next five records are also just as obscure. Wouldn't most fans consider his Knights in White Satin LP to be his "debut"?

I always thought Son of my Father was his debut, and that one's pretty damn good really. Never heard this one, but judging by that comp of early tracks that came out a few years back I would bet it qualifies.

Todd Rundgren is a weird one. His official solo debut is the great Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren but a year earlier he released a pretty much forgotten album also called Runt, which iirc was meant to be the debut of a new band called Runt, but which is now credited to Todd.

Either way it's got "We Gotta Get You a Woman" which was his first solo hit

Tangerine Dream – Electronic Meditation

not that TD ever had hits exactly, but like the first three Kraftwerk albums, this one stands apart from the rest of their discography

"Some of my best friends are songs" - Richard D. James

oooh good one - Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler were on that one!!

Dinosaur- ST
This one's weird, but I know a lot of people who think "Severed Lips" is Mascis' best song

I always thought they went downhill off of the "Repulsion" 45 off this myself (and thought of nominating it yesterday anyway.)

"...went downhill after "Replusion"....I meant

"Some of my best friends are songs" - Richard D. James

What is this?

tiptoes away...

did someone already say Kraftwerk?

i always think of the first simple minds album. which, like the first japan album, has that glammy ultravox/roxy thing going on. it's good, but i never play it and i doubt many people remember it much. (needless to say, the 6 albums after that are some of my fave 80's records...)

(also weird is their second album came out the same year as their first album and the second album is way better...)

The Knife, self-titled

(some tracks, IIRC, are played live, albeit in heavily reworked form, that said I would be surprised if a lot of fans knew it existed)

I think Mark G meant to put that in the Syro thread

"Earth, Wind & Fire's 1st lp and maybe the next few."

there are tons of examples of pre-fame soul/r&b albums that fit this bill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VouLLPvoS3M

Adam And the Ants!

Also maybe Human League? (Scott should know.)

Gary Numan/Tubeway Army

No, no and no!

feel like these post-punk debuts by acts that became early 80s pop stars are generally too popular with fans/music nerds to really count as afterthoughts anymore.

A Product Of... (Participation) by Thompson Twins is another one of these that still maybe seems kind of forgotten?

take away the song "tell me" and the rolling stones' debut would come damn close to qualifying.

yeah, i was just gonna say that first thompson twins record....nobody listens to that one. midnight oil would be another one. unless you are australian.

xxpost:

Not so much that, but none of those artists have really had a bad word to say about any of those albums. Even though the first Ants album is a different line up to the Kings Of The Wild Frontier version of the Ants, and The Human League is a different line up to the Dare line up, and Tubeway Army's debut is more guitar heavy, I don't think any of those artists have ever written off those albums, and fans generally cherish 'em.

Japan and Simple Minds have definitely had some unkind words to say about their debuts, though.

"Also maybe Human League? (Scott should know.)"

it gets different love though. hepcat post-punk people love early human league.

What Scott said, although fans of the early Human League generally love Dare as well, but go no further than that.

take away the song "tell me" and the rolling stones' debut would come damn close to qualifying.

ditto The Kinks and "You Really Got Me"

Ultravox are a weird one, because it depends on who you speak to.

midnight oil would be another one. unless you are australian.

The debut wasn't released outside of Australia until years later (didn't come out in the US until 1990), so yeah, it's far more likely that Australians had heard/heard of it.

i always think of the first simple minds album. which, like the first japan album, has that glammy ultravox/roxy thing going on. it's good, but i never play it and i doubt many people remember it much. (needless to say, the 6 albums after that are some of my fave 80's records...)

(also weird is their second album came out the same year as their first album and the second album is way better...)

― scott seward, Tuesday, May 12, 2015 5:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Scott OTM about their second album being streets ahead of the debut. Some days I think it's my favourite Simple Minds record overall.

Scritti Politti even less eligible than Human League, since their Wanna Buy A Bridgey stuff was pre-album, right?(Just making sure.)

I'm not so sure "bands writing the album off" should be a requirement either way, though.

i bought songs to remember by scritti politti because i liked cupid & psyche - so around 1985 - and boy was i in for a surprise.

Also, don't the Shoes have a couple albums pre-Black Vinyl Shoes that were self-released in the mid '70s with only copies for their immediate families or something? Remember reading that in a Trouser Press guide once. Think one was called One In Versailles or something; not sure about the other(s) (though it'd be easy enough to check.)

Okay, yeah -- Wiki is listing 3 "private releases" (one cassette only, one only 4 acetate copies!)

Mew's pre-Frengers albums did quite well in Denmark, but people outside of DK don't care.

country has it's fair share of forgotten first records.

https://jensenbrazil.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/frontblog681.jpg

haha, i don't even know why i thought of reba. sometimes i just see records around the store and they look forgotten.

never forget...

http://www.rockofages.uk.com/stock/14502.jpg

http://cdn.discogs.com/l8FASc3zEfxxKDHyXu8wj36Y-aE=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb()/discogs-images/R-2588694-1291932830.jpeg.jpg

the first two jennifer warnes albums are my faves by her and mostly forgotten.

http://eil.com/images/main/Jennifer-Warnes-I-Can-Remember-Ev-488458.jpg

http://www.bsnpubs.com/london/parrot/34.jpg

Didn't Chris Gaines release a couple of things using another name?

eurythmics

Was gonna suggest Sigur Ros's Von, but it looks like they still play Hafsól live.

There's an interesting divide in this thread between bands with strange/obscure/uncharacteristic/unsuccessful debuts, and bands who had two distinct career phases (Human League, Journey) where the second one far exceeds the other in popularity.