The 100 Greatest Debut Albums: Wait! There’s more
Yesterday WXPN wrapped up its summer Throwback Thursday series – #tbtXPN – with a countdown of the 100 greatest albums. We hope you enjoyed listening to the countdown and joining in on the conversation on Twitter here, and on Facebook.
Some folks have asked how what criteria we used to make the list. Here’s how XPN’s Dan Reed answered this:
@Club443 Importance. Greatness. Influence. Of course these lists are highly subjective so you may agree or disagree with the choices.
— Dan Reed (@WXPNDanReed) September 1, 2016
I weighed in with this:
@gwold Singular. Influential. Excellent songs. Standing the test of time. Well crafted. Popular appeal. These are some of the factors.
— wxpnfm (@wxpnfm) September 1, 2016
We think many of the albums that made the final cut fit all these criteria. Where they placed is another story. As Dan said, it’s all subjective. Perhaps if we’d had done the 123 Greatest Debut Albums, some other “great” records would have made the cut.
That being said, we wanted to recognize some of great debut albums that didn’t make the list, yet fit all the criteria for “greatness.”
Crosby, Stills & Nash – self-titled (1969)
Tracy Chapman – self-titled (1988)
Alanis Morisette – Jagged Little Pill (1955)
The Monkees – self-titled (1966)
Wire – Pink Flag (1977)
Lady Gaga – The Fame (2008)
DJ Shadow – Endtroducing…. (1996)
Yaz – Upstairs At Eric’s (1982)
The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready To Die (1994)
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions – Rattlesnakes (1984)
Whitney Houston – self-titled (1985)
Crowded House – self-titled (1986)
The Mothers of Invention (Frank Zappa) – Freak Out! (1966)
Run D.M.C. – self-titled (1984)
Rage Against The Machine – self-titled (1992)
Paul McCartney – McCartney (1970)
De La Soul – 3 Feet High And Rising (1989)
Massive Attack – Blue Lines (1991)
Marshall Crenshaw – self-titled (1982)
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)