Sometimes an artist really does something special with their debut. It's not uncommon for debuts to be the best of an artist's career. It is less common, but given the right moment in musical history a debut album can be the pioneering work of a young genre or advance an existing genre to new heights.... Continue Reading →

One of the most fun things about debut albums is listening back to them years later with the knowledge of what the artist would go on to do later on. With today's album, we can't do that. Released in 2019, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is the debut album of up... Continue Reading →

Many debut albums are much rougher and rawer than their subsequent works, but that's just the nature of the thing. Often times debut albums are filled with the same wide-eyed naivete that their inexperienced creators are bursting with, but they also tend to have a youthful energy and exuberance to go along with it. When... Continue Reading →

“Where does it all lead? What will become of us? These were our young questions, and young answers were revealed. It leads to each other. We become ourselves.”-Patti Smith Sometimes the best kind of success is unexpected success. I can only speculate, but I'd imagine that this is the brand of success that accidental rock-legend,... Continue Reading →

One of the things that makes debut albums so interesting to me is that they provide a first impression, a firm starting point for a career, and when put into the context of an entire career are extremely informational and extra interesting in hindsight. Some artists will spend their first album or two wearing their... Continue Reading →

Just because an album is a debut does not mean that the people behind it are inexperienced. In the case of Lynyrd Skynyrd, as we will explore today, the 6 man band had been together for at least 5 years with the founding members having played together for as many as 9. Having written songs... Continue Reading →

Like it or not, country music isn't what it used to be. Long gone are the days of simple acoustic arrangements coloring gunslinger ballads and truthful lyricism. Country music as it is commonly found in the mainstream today has taken on an affinity for loud electric instruments, pop-esque structures, and is built to played on... Continue Reading →

They say that lightning never strikes the same place twice, but I'm no meteorologist, and this theme just has too many great albums to choose from, so here we are again. Just like the first Great Debuts theme a few months ago, this week is going to be dedicated to the first album released by... Continue Reading →

Dedicated readers of my MTP blogs may recall the final day of the "Girl Power" theme, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. In that blog I mention the Harvard Library's hip hop archive and the 4 album founding class which producer 9th wonder described as being "standard of the culture." Today's album, the sophomore effort of... Continue Reading →

So far we've explored a number of duos with a real chemistry and collaborative power when it comes to making music, and while the duo featured today certainly have that they also possess the magic of comedic chemistry. The band featured today, of course, is the comedy-rock duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, better... Continue Reading →