In the old days, so many bands didn’t hit it “big” until their third album – one could think of Springsteen, U2 or the Police – that debut albums were seen as a mere beachhead towards bigger and better things. There’s an old saying in rock n roll, that you get your whole life to write your first album and only a matter of months to write your second. Occasionally the first record a band puts out is so big and popular they struggle to ever do anything that big again. Many of those debut albums that were ignored get some retrospective appreciation and in some cases belated commercial success. In some cases they’re widely ignored except for a few hard core fans and the critics. For most bands they’re the blueprint for everything that comes after. As Will Rogers used to say, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Although perhaps Kafka said it better, “First impressions are always unreliable.” Kafka must have dated as much as I did, trust me Kafka knew what he was talking about… If we look at the rock and roll “first impressions,” they range in as many categories as you can imagine. The debut album is a band or artist’s chance to make that very important first impression. Don’t get me wrong, there were great debut albums that came out before my rock n roll “awakening” that I went out and purchased as well, and you’ll see some of those on here a well. If it’s a band whose career I’ve followed since their first album they tend to stick with me longer. More recently I picked up Starcrawler’s eponymously titled debut. Later it was Pearl Jam’s Ten that I bought as it came out. Like Van Halen… I was in junior high school when Van Halen came out and I jumped on that bandwagon early. I especially love the debut album when it was a record I picked up when it actually, well, debuted. I have an old college roommate who is referred to in these pages as Drew who shares my love of the debut album. For some reason I’ve always had a soft spot or call it a fondness for an artist’s first album. When I sat gazing out in my mind’s eye on the new possibilities held in January’s frosty greeting, I couldn’t help but start pondering rock n roll’s great “greetings.” By “greetings,” I mean the great debut albums that have been released over the years. January always feels like its greeting me with opportunity and possibility.Īs usual, when contemplating anything, my thoughts quickly turned to rock and roll. During this stretch I began to contemplate the meaning of the new year and all it could become. Maybe it’s my insistence on doing dry January every year that leads to my navel gazing. This year 2021 sort of started off with a bang, and not in a good way, but the second half of the month has been a bit of a slow slog. The new year always greets us with a fresh set of months, or if I may lapse into a sports/football analogy, January is like a new set of downs…first and ten to go. I’m not talking about the New Year’s Eve party here, I’m always a sucker for a good party… I mean the whole resolutions and goal setting that goes on. Maybe it’s the way the cold, grey winter settles in on the midwestern plains, but I’ve always perceived January as a long continuation of that whole New Year’s Eve period of self contemplation. Even though his stage name is un-Googleable, you won't be forgetting about Dave anytime soon.*Picture of assorted debut LPs by the intrepid Rock Chick, who has an eye for this sort of thing… These unrepentant confessionals have struck a chord with divided Britons, which is part of the reason why at 21 years old, he won the prestigious Mercury Music Prize against heavyweights like The 1975 on his first go. "You ever fall 'sleep ''cos you don't wanna be awake?" he asks during the brutal, shifting opener "Psycho," and the line proves to be as palpable as it is downright chilling. What many people weren't anticipating, however, was an album as layered, cutting and honest as "Psychodrama." Using clips of his actual therapist as segues between movements, Dave postures like a street-hardened badass one moment before admitting to crippling bouts with depression on the next. His approach was mannered and measured, so by the time "Psychodrama" dropped, anticipation was at a fever-pitch. The Streatham, London-born rapper and son of Nigerian parents worked the mixtape circuit gradually, building his way up to tours, Drake co-signs, and even a chart-topping single in the U.K. Dave's debut album "Psychodrama" didn't come out of nowhere.
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