Acts whose debut album is an afterthought in their overall discography

"...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.

blasters' debut didn't get out to too many people.

true about the blasters, but it included two signature songs, and eventually got a wider release.

Wait, are you guys talking their actual debut American Music (which I've never seen, and which I think perfectly fits this thread) or The Blasters (which repeated a couple songs from the previous, really obscure one)?

Before Runt, Rundgren was in a 60s blooze band, Woody's Truck Stop, and then Nazz, who made three albums, incl. the original version of "Hello, It's Me" and psych-pop "Open My Eyes." Dunno how those albums are, but "Open My Eyes" was always cool--with phasing, that "psychedelic Bromo-Seltzer," as Beefheart called it. (The Bangles did a killer cover a few years ago.) The re-recorded version of "Hello, It's Me" sounded Carole King as hell, although not as good as her best, but he did that in her heyday, so smart move, I guess.
A power-pop collector told me that the Shoes may have done as many as five albums before Black Vinyl Shoes, but I haven't tried to verify. Think some of those songs turned up on later, non-self-released albums.

re the Shoes, afaik there were 3 albums before Black Vinyl Shoes - Head or Tails, One in Versailles and Bazooka. The last 2 have been reissued on CD & vinyl over the years. I only know of the 1st one because it's listed on discogs, that's the only place I've seen mention of it.

i was talking about american music. i think it's readily available these days though.

those early Nazz albums are pretty good, though I'd argue that the third one doesn't really count, it's more a pile of leftovers released after Todd's solo career got off the ground. don't sleep on the opener of Nazz II, "Forget All About It", which is about as perfect as "Open My Eyes" was

"Dunno how those albums are, but "Open My Eyes" was always cool"

wow, really, you've never heard the nazz records? you really should.

i was talking about american music. i think it's readily available these days though.

as was i. uber obscure for a long time, but now available indeed. it's even on spotify.

So did anybody mention Robin Scott of M "Pop Muzik" fame's 1969 singer songwriter album yet?

http://www.discogs.com/Robin-Scott-Woman-From-The-Warm-Grass/master/313526

Or Pete Shelley's first album (recorded in 1974, self-released in 1980 -- then reissued a couple years back, which might disqualify for some folks)?

http://www.discogs.com/artist/28754-Pete-Shelley

Oops, for Shelley this one obviously.

http://www.discogs.com/Pete-Shelley-Sky-Yen/master/393053

Also the first two Quiet Riot albums w/ Randy Rhoads that only came out in Japan?

99% of bands fit into one of three categories:

1. Debut album is the best.
2. Debut album is overlooked/non-canonical/crap.
3. They only made one album.

I guess there's Milkwood (Rick Ocasek and Ben Orr), though I don't know if it's fair to count other bands, even if it is the two main guys. How they got from that to The Cars is a mystery though.