Some artists spend decades searching for their sound. Others arrive fully formed. Which is exactly the case with the crown jewels in Rolling Stone’s comprehensive list of the “100 Best Debut Albums of All Time.”
From Alanis Morissette, Patti Smith, and Taylor Swift, to Run-DMC, Guns N’ Roses, and The Beatles, the magazine hits just about every genre, voice, and beat. For our purposes here, we’re going to focus on the top five — starting with the cream of Rolling Stone’s crop: the Ramones’ eponymous 1976 debut.
Released on April 23, 1976 by Sire Records, the seminal record is widely considered the very first entry in to the canon of punk rock music. Played in full, the 14-track album clocks in at a swift 29 minutes, with each bop channeling the signature kinetic energy and rebellious nature of the movement it served.
“Our early songs came out of our real feelings of alienation, isolation, frustration — the feelings everybody feels between seventeen and seventy-five,” singer Joey Ramone said, per Rolling Stone.
Though arguments could be made for every track on the album being a hit, standout songs include “Beat on the Brat,” ”Blitzkrieg Bop,” and ”Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.” Played on repeat today, that wasn’t the case back in the ’70s. It actually took a hot second for the Ramones to catch on.
According to American Songwriter, critical reception for Ramones was universally praised; commercially, however, it kind of bombed. It wasn’t until 2014, nearly four decades later, that the record finally hit gold status.
“Guitarist Johnny Ramone refused to play solos,” Rolling Stone writes, “his jackhammer chords became the lingua franca of punk — and the whole record cost just over $6,000 to make. But Joey’s leather-tender plea ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’ showed that even punks need love.”
Formed in Forest Hills, Queens, in New York City, in 1974 year, the original Ramones included members Jeffrey Hyman (Joey Ramone), Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee Ramone), John Cummings (Johnny Ramone), and Thomas Erdelyi (Tommy Ramone). Tragically, by 2014, all four had passed away, but not without leaving an indelible mark on rock music.
Rounding out the top five on Rolling Stone‘s list are The Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die(1994), The Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967), Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)(1993), and Patti Smith’s Horses (1975), in that order.
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