Freshman phenoms: The 25 best debut albums, ranked

Before the bouffant and the boozy ballads, Amy Winehouse crafted a different portrait of herself in her debut album, "Frank." Displaying a sound that was more funky neo-soul than her soon-to-be-trademark throwback style, Winehouse shone with a natural talent and lyrics that weren't afraid to be feisty and well...frank. The album's highlight, the wickedly honest "F--- Me Pumps" is a twist on a song you'd hear at the club that's super honest about club life. Irreverent and often self-referential, "Frank," as a debut, is a more a look at what could have been instead of what ended up being.

A triumph on a number of levels, Jill Scott's debut effort is all about shattering stereotypes while reveling in an orgasmic musical journey of love both lost and found. Scott was in love, and she wanted to share that emotion with the world with this collection of love songs that cover the gamut from poppy hip-hop to smoldering between-the-sheets fare. Scott may not have brought to the table the stereotypical looks of a chanteuse, but her voice and earnestness on "The Way" or "He Loves Me" make her more than accessible, but also infectious, as one listen makes us wish we had a love like Scott's or lets us praise the fact that we already do.

A seminal moment in southern hip-hop, the first effort from OutKast is a pastiche of funk, soul and modern beats, with a silky-smooth delivery from the duo of Andre (pre-3000) and Big Boi on tracks like "Player's Ball" and the title track. The album is notable in that despite its strength, this is still an early version of the group. Andre is still slightly restrained, not yet fully exposing himself as a funky psychedelic trickster, nor Big Boi as living blaxploitation-era hero. Despite not being in their final forms, the duo shows immediately who they are as a team and the promise of things to come.

Of the albums on our list, 1983's self-titled one from Wisconsin punk rockers the Violent Femmes is squarely in cult-classic territory. On its own, this album represents a response to the first wave of American punk, replacing the rage against power structures with rage borne from common teenage angst, giving it an innocuous vibe even as the album still takes the listener into semi-dangerous waters. A tragic sense of humor permeates on tracks like "Add It Up" and the hit-making weird anthem, "Blister in the Sun," but the earnest delivery is reminiscent of hanging out with your fellow loser friends and kicking ass on your own terms.

Once upon a time, a humble but immensely skilled beatmaker by the name of Kanye West was making a solid name for himself in the industry but always had larger dreams of being an MC. Thanks to Jay-Z, a beneficiary of Kanye's technical prowess, he finally got his big stage with debut album, "College Dropout." While immersed in the sort of materialism of post-coastal war hip-hop he became infamous for, Kanye delivers a raw honesty in his lyrics that convey an even larger, more humble message. In this earliest form, Kanye was still wildly self-aware and interested in dealing with his religious and familial struggles in an almost therapeutic fashion. From Day 1, Kanye delivered his heart and soul on wax, regardless of what he's become since.

To call Fiona Apple an affected torch song temptress would be a bit of an understatement and also a bit of a mouthful. That said, her 1996 debut, "Tidal" smolders in a way that few debuts manage to do. Only 20 when the album saw release, Apple sings like a seasoned pro, delivering softly defiant vocals that evoke rage and pain balanced with a sensual, methodical tone on cuts like "Shadowboxer," "Sleep to Dream" and "Criminal." But in addition, underrated tracks like "Carrion" and "Never Is a Promise" create a full experience that stands to date as Apple's best work.

Lead singer Zach de la Rocha once described the rap/metal fusion of Rage Against the Machine as "the gap between entertainment and activism," and the band's first self-titled album drives that point home sharply. Featuring blistering tracks like "Bullet in the Head" and the manic anthem "Killing in the Name," RATM takes a page from The Clash and turns it up to 11. And while de la Rocha's lyrical manifestos bring fans to the table, it's the guitar of Tom Morello that delivers an impressive mix of sounds from DJ scratches to an air raid, all indicating a band that lives to be louder than a bomb.

By 1993, hip-hop was still largely associated with the West Coast deluge of gangster rap. But in New York City, where hip-hop was born, a new movement was ready, and it brought with it Kung-Fu iconography and a griminess that seemed to compete with, if not top, the California glow of "bangin on wax." Led by producer RZA, the group members, like the cinematic Kung-Fu masters they emulate, each brings a different sound, cementing each of them, Method Man, GZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Inspectah Deck and the clown prince, Ol' Dirty Bastard, into legends.

The debut album from Biggie Smalls (professionally known as Notorious B.I.G. due to a copyright issue from another unknown rapper) is the source of much controversy among hip-hop heads, old and young. Some will say that Biggie establishes himself as the best of the best with this album, while others say he is only following in the footsteps of those like Jay-Z. Regardless of your position, "Ready to Die" is, along with Nas' "Illmatic," an instant star-making classic and one that touches off a coastal war with a West Coast scene that isn't quite ready to give up its crown.

Jay-Z (formerly of the umlaut) cements iconic status from his very first album, featuring tracks from the memorable "22 Twos" all the way to the legendary "Brooklyn's Finest." "Reasonable Doubt" leaves no doubt as to whom the new King of New York was at the time. Jay takes supreme lyrical dexterity to another level, as the crown of hip-hop was returned from California to what some feel was its rightful home in NYC.

Let's go music snob fanboy for two seconds and just say that the self-titled debut from working-class English rockers The Clash is just a great, great album. With its machine-gun-like delivery of punk and reggae, the album takes a frank look at social issues such as poverty, unemployment and racism, things almost universal for U.S. and U.K. audiences. Joe Strummer maintained a punk work ethic throughout the album, and for every bit of its radicalism, it boasted equal parts infectious melodies.

When you cross a debut album with a greatest hits album from a virtual one-hit wonder, you get 1976's "Boston," the debut from Boston-area band Boston. This album is so Boston that it's "More Than a Feeling," it's a reality. Aside from the previously mentioned classic rock anthem, the album also features "Something About You" and "Peace of Mind," solidifying it as a pillar of '70s' classic rock and making the band far too amazing in small doses to ever outgrow the legend of its debut — a gift and a curse that few bands would turn down.

In hip-hop, there is legendary, and there is Rakim. Still the greatest of all rappers, regardless of what the Biggie, Nas, Tupac or Jay-Z stans try to tell you, Rakim, with the help of partner and producer, Eric B., created a lyrical conclave of midnight jazz and razor-sharp delivery that comes together in the form of "Paid in Full." The album is a landmark in that for the first time, we see how sampling could be used to create a new sound that quickly caught fire in the still-young industry, which, in turn, revitalized interest in a number of almost-forgotten artists. That was great, of course, until those almost-forgotten artists wanted producers to remember how to pay royalties.

Although it's not the lowest-ranked debut on our list, it was one of the hardest to include, as Madonna's true success would come one year later with her sophomore album, "Like a Virgin." That said, Madonna's self-titled debut is an undeniable classic with dance pop standards "Lucky Star" and "Borderline," carrying with them infectious synth production along with fiesta-in-a-can "Holiday." Madonna creates an instant sex symbol persona, leaving no one really prepared for her meteoric rise to the top just one year later.

Jim Morrison. With the release of "The Doors" self-titled debut, the world bore witness to a true golden god of rock. Morrison, supported by John Densmore, Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek, tightly wove hypnotic melodies underneath psychedelic poetry that delivered a punch that many bands of the time would imitate but few would ever match. Whether it was radio friendly "Light My Fire" or the rebellious bacchanalian-like "Break On Through (to the Other Side)," this album was a silver bullet of sound that delivered a band unlike any other into the collective consciousness that lingers to this day.

How does a debut album feel like a victory lap? The band formerly known as Mookie Blaylock pulled it off with the album that not only solidified Pearl Jam as rock star legends, but along with Nirvana's "Nevermind," also ushered in a new phase of rock altogether, Known as Alternative, it was limiting as a term since what PJ was doing with postmodern anthem rock like "Alive" and "Jeremy" was miles away from the postpunk three-chord thrashabouts Nirvana specialized in. "Ten" is a studio album with a live album vibe — an 11-song set that feels almost cinematic if not autobiographical.

The myth of the White Boy Rapper came to an end with the debut album from the New York City trio, if not the rarity. Mikey D, MCA and DJ Ad-Rock didn't perform a reverse minstrel show; they weren't interested in aping a culture that wasn't theirs. Rather, they conveyed their lives using their language via rap. Part of that included misogyny that doesn't survive the scrutiny from looking backward. The result is a fixed moment in time, the last in which the Beasties embraced hip-hop in the same way for better or worse. For a debut album, it's one of the best.

Largely known as the best-selling debut album of the '80s, "Appetite for Destruction" delivered with a hybrid of blues, metal and punk by California-by-way-of-Indiana rock quartet Guns n' Roses. It feels like an antidote to hair band rock, serving as a bridge of sorts to the grungy Alternative era that was to follow at the start of the '90s. At times sobering in tracks like "Mr. Brownstone," an ode to heroin addiction, or the soaring heights of the anthem "Paradise City," and the urban metal soundtrack "Welcome to the Jungle," G-n-R delivers an album that shakes up the landscape while staying true to the foundations of rock that preceded it.

Largely on our list because of its ahead-of-its-time delivery that gave audiences a glimpse at the cocaine and sex-fueled scene rejected early on by the love children of the '60s but embraced by the urban lizards of the "70s, "The Velvet Underground and Nico" could pass for an entire scene rather than simply a debut album. Lou Reed deftly melds poppy optimism as a sheen over drug addiction, giving listeners something new that is every bit as addictive as it is slightly frightening but absolutely mesmerizing. Managed early on by pop artist Andy Warhol, it was his idea to include Nico, an awkward temptress whose style clashed as it melded with Reed's melodies, creating one of the greatest albums of the late '60s.

Bruce Springsteen’s "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." signaled the creation of a unique blue-collar sound delivering the honesty of singer-songwriter lyrics, alongside a rhythm section driven by "Big Man" Clarence Clemons' powerful sax in songs like "Spirit in the Night." It’s impressive enough that a debut would reshape the landscape of rock, but Springsteen created an indelible vision of musical work ethic tied to imagery of the struggles of the working man as well as children who strive to break out of their small town enclaves into the uncertainty of the '70s.

While groups like Wu-Tang Clan flashed onto the scene to bring the hip-hop crown home to New York, on another level, artists were coming onto the scene to change the game completely, and Nasir Jones was one of them. "Illmatic," on its surface is not a flashy affair of any sort. It succeeds in its simplicity, focusing on the lyrical genius of Nas without the ostentatiousness that comes from overproducing beats meant for the club. Nas delivered the essential rage and hopelessness captured in West Coast gangster rap and married them to a smoother, sharper delivery in the same way that triple distilling cheap vodka is the difference between Kamchatka and Grey Goose.

Make no mistake: Jimi Hendrix was a guitar god, and he laid that out for all to see on his debut album, "Are You Experienced." Smack dab in the middle of British rock and southern blues with a heavy dose (pun intended) of pure psychedelia, Hendrix uses his guitar to weave impressive sounds on now-classics like "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Manic Depression." From the album's release, it quickly became the standard for a generation fully enraptured with tuning in and dropping out.

If Girl Power had an origin story, it would find itself within the sounds and lyrics of West Coast new wave wonders The Go-Go's. Their debut, "Beauty and the Beat" is a flawless marriage of punk and pop that opens up an entirely new sound that would mostly dominate the '80s. The Go-Go's never seemed to get their proper due because instant classics like "We Got the Beat" and "Our Lips Are Sealed" overshadow underrated tracks like "This Town" and "Can't Stop the World." But they all come together to deliver a defining album that an entire era in music owes a debt to.

While 1987's "N.W.A. and the Posse" may have been the first time audiences heard from the combination of Dr. Dre, MC Ren, Ice Cube, Eazy-E and DJ Yella, "Straight Outta Compton" is the group's true debut, and it hit with all the force of a megaton bomb. Rap as we know it was barely a decade old, and this window into the turbulent life of young black men served as a global wake-up call in the guise of infectious beats and clever lyricism. Gangsta Rap, beloved by the young and reviled by the old, found its genesis in this album, and of all the debuts on our list, it could be the most important if not powerful.

While Jim Morrison embodied the golden god mystique of a leading man for the late '60s and early '70s in a way even Mick Jagger couldn't, so was it that 1978 would bring the human explosion of Diamond David Lee Roth, who, paired with fret-tapping guitar wizard virtuoso Eddie Van Halen, would create a rock nuclear bomb with their debut album. The self-titled effort features delights in every track, from the nerve-shredding "Ain't Talkin 'Bout Love" to the blues-soaked "Runnin' With the Devil" to Eddie's solo magnum opus, "Eruption," leading into a Kinks cover "You Really Got Me," the band throws a mighty spear onto the battlefield of rock, blowing all competition off the stage with each drop of the needle.