Self-Titled Debut Albums That Encapsulate An Entire Career

Friday is fun because it’s music, so playlists and links abound. Today, those classic self-titled debut albums that are such a business card for the artist they are their own greatest hits collection.

Last week I bought the self-titled album by Penguin Cafe Orchestra. I’ve loved this band since I first heard Telephone And Rubber Band (in the movie Talk Radio) when I was a whole lot younger. That music has stayed with me. I used to think that Penguin Cafe Orchestra was the debut album. Makes sense right, self-titled and all. But this album actually arrived a full five years after the debut, Music From The Penguin Cafe. I had a live album (When In Rome…) and a compilation, and I’ve carried on listening to the recent music created now under the name Penguin Cafe - by the son of the band’s original leader.

But really, all I need is that one album.

And all of this got me to thinking about the self-titled albums, usually debuts, where the band puts it all out there. There’s some clue in the title really. It can be read one of two ways - is it a grand statement, bordering on arrogance: This is all you need/this is who we are! Or is it, sometimes, a little bit coy, a nervous poke in the direction of the stage, more a question-mark: Is this who we are? Either way, it can result in a career-defining masterwork. Which is not to say that the artist in question didn’t go on to make other great songs, maybe even other great albums - just that the self-titled debut is the defining one.

Best example of that I reckon is Violent Femmes by Violent Femmes. Catch me on another day and I’ll tell you their sophomore, Hallowed Ground is actually better. I’m such a fan of their simple, brilliant sound, that I couldn’t be without the career-comeback record of the 90s, Why Do Birds Sing? But if I’m packing for the apocalypse, Violent Femmes by Violent Femmes is the one. It’s a hell of a business card for that band, coincidentally celebrating its 40th anniversary last year. I might want to hear a few more things from the Femmes, sure, but everything they do is on that debut. And it still sounds great.

So, with that as the benchmark, I wanted to share a few more of my favourite self-titled debut albums. The Business Card Albums. That’s maybe the way to think about it.

So, I’ve written about this album already in a bit more detail, and will link to it below, but the other great example to me is Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman. I love her first four albums - after that it’s really diminishing returns, but there’s something of value on all of her first four. Really though, if you’re introducing someone to Chapman’s music you play them Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman. Right?

So, those are my two most obvious examples I reckon. Below I’m gonna add a few more to make a list. Would love to know what you think of these selections, and what ones you might add. Maybe you disagree with some of these too, maybe you think the Femmes and Chapman have whole catalogues worthy of discovery. Keen to hear any thoughts you have. But what about these further examples?

Ramones by Ramones

Hey-ho, Let’s Go! Like AC/DC and Motorhead, and Ozzy-era Sabbath, Ramones kept releasing the same album over and again, unlike those bands they offered no real refinements whatsoever, and it’s not that they got worse, it’s just that they said all they really needed to say right here. It can work as a Ramones Greatest Hits Sampler.

The xx by The xx

There were a lot of bands from this era (mid-00s) where the second, and third albums were inferior duplicates of the debut, and seemed to be missing any songs that truly hit deep. But I feel like The xx is the key example. This wasn’t exactly anything super new and amazing but it was moving and just really, really cool; nice even. I’d go so far as to say the finest thing they did - the business card for everything amazing about their sound - was the two minute intro track (called, um Intro). I sometimes listen to the one hour stretched version of that on YouTube and call it an album!

Rage Against The Machine by Rage Against The Machine

I almost don’t quite agree with myself here, because the second album had some bangers, and with time I’ve come to hear their third album as their actual best. But this is the reason the band matters - at all and ever. And this is the snapshot of their sound. And it is by far their best full collection of songs, it has the anger and energy of a moment in time and a movement against it to drive the sound and shape of the album.

Gorillaz by Gorillaz

Gorillaz was a concept more than it was a band, so this self-titled debut was the selling of the concept. And yeah, albums two and three have some gems, and I’m glad I saw them in that original farewell tour where the songs from the first three albums were all presented in a huge festival of sound. But the new wave of Gorillaz albums arrive like the comeback specials of Arrested Development, promising a whole lot but signifying nothing. For me the band started and ended here.

Crosby, Stills & Nash by Crosby, Stills & Nash

I am a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fan way more than I’m a Crosby, Stills & Nash fan but CSNY couldn’t make a killer complete album; that special ingredient that was the best thing about the group (Neil Young) was also the thing that toppled them over into an ego-fest and a collection of in-fighting fuckwads. So, this, a gentle, glorious debut was the sound of three people creating a sound that none of them could achieve on their own, whilst still showcasing their individual strengths. Neil Young might have made CSN more exciting, but he was able to largely take the things he offered them and put them across his own records too. Only the Y could do that. The C, the S, and the N were never as good on their own.

The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses

Possibly the most deliriously overrated band of all time. But hey, if I didn’t include this, someone would bore me in the comments with a message about how they couldn’t take me seriously. So here it is. Also, yeah, I’ll bite - I do kinda like some of this and I did at the time. And I get what it created, and what it meant - and it was certainly the only thing anyone ever needed by this crew.

New York Dolls by New York Dolls

See entry about Ramones but in place of Hey Ho, Let’s Go sub in “When I say I'm in love/You best believe I'm in love, LUV”

Modern Lovers by Modern Lovers

Released the same year as Ramones but recorded just before New York Dolls, this too sits with both of those, and is the best business card for a band that was really only ever a vehicle for the songs of Jonathan Richman, but by default also created a first working environment for one of the members of Talking Heads. You don’t need anything else by Modern Lovers, and I say that as a fan of everything Richman has ever done. It’s all here. All of it. And it’s one of the greatest and best debuts by anyone ever.

So that’s my list, but a few Honourable mentions: 

B-52s - their self-titled debut is phenomenal, and their best thing in so many ways, and the cartoon-announcement of a fresh, vital voice. But each album is interesting and bright, and dynamically shifts. So I can’t quite just sum them up by this album, but it’s close. Someone else would easily make that call. For sure.

Kris Kristofferson - technically not quite self-titled (Kristofferson) otherwise it’s in. And what a collection of songs. Anyone ever see this as a nice pairing with Cohen’s Songs of Leonard Cohen ? (Also nearly a self-titled debut but not quite).

Boston - I don’t care enough about Boston to have to name this - but it’s obvious. This should be on the list. Boston by Boston is the band’s greatest hit/s.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - with Tuesday’s Gone and Free Bird on their debut this is basically all anyone needs to know about the band. But the band is more about its backstory, which required another album at least. Also, not quite a self-titled album, but kinda, the record is called “(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)” and I somewhat rate that.

Pretenders - A fine debut, the best debut album by a former rock critic ever? Easily, right? But to suggest that Hynde (and crew) said all they needed to say with one album wouldn’t quite be fair at all eh.

Cheap Trick - See Boston and Skynyrd entries. But also not quite right? This is a band defined, if anything, by a classic live album and anyway, 2024 is the year I finally give Cheap Trick more of an ear. So I’m keeping them off the list. For now.

So there you go. Any you disagree with most fervently? Any albums you’d add to the list?

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It’s Friday of course, so that also means our regular weekly playlist. This one is vol. 151. I hope you enjoy it, or find something on here that’s new to you, or new in this way.

Happy listening. And as always thanks for reading.