![]() As a rock album, In the Court of the Crimson King is dynamic and majestic – even when it gets a bit weird – but as a genre piece, it set the stage for decades of albums. From the anthemic The Court of the Crimson King to the straight-up prog rock of 21st Century Schizoid Man, the album captures the movement and the band as it went on to far more experimental pastures. While most progressive rock outfits saw themselves starting with something more mundane, King Crimson solidified their position on the rock landscape with this powerful debut. This album is a great introduction to the weird world of Devo, featuring the best pop song to have prominent sections in 7/8, a song which refers to the average 9-5 worker as a mongoloid, and their dramatically re-imagined version of the Stones’ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. For Devo have always been about more than the music: their theory of de-evolution, their cynical social commentary, their bizarre stage shows, their distinctive aesthetic. What they did manage to achieve, however, was to carve a strange, idiosyncratic niche for themselves, gathering a rabid cult fanbase in the process. This never really happened, and they were dropped from Warner Bros after a few albums (despite producing the top 40 hit Whip It). (Craig Stevens)Ĭhampioned by Brian Eno and David Bowie before they even released their debut, Devo seemed destined to achieve pop superstardom. Drawing heavily on disco and punk influences, it's a groundbreaking, experimental tour de force a complex, yet remarkably accessible piece of music. Their 2005 self-titled début, which appeared seventh in No Ripcord's albums for that year, produced no fewer than seven singles and clocks in at over one hours and forty minutes long. All three of their albums greatly divided opinion, leading some to proclaim the band amongst the greatest artists of our time, while others freely admitted that couldn’t understand their appeal. LCD Soundsystem are (were) a real ‘love it or hate it’ affair. With the passing of the great man last December, Safe As Milk is a powerful reminder of the magnificence and depth that consisted during the birth of Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. The beauty of Safe As Milk is the variation what could be a derivative blues record is completely tipped on its head by moments such as the weird and wonderful Electricity and the painfully tender I’m Glad, the latter of which could take on anything The Zombies produced. It’s an electrifying expulsion of a record and succeeds in capturing an energy, intensity and rabid passion that you would expect and hope from all debut albums. A record rooted deep in the delta blues, it also has a rugged charm that creates an almost garage-like quality that would have slotted perfectly onto the first Nuggets record. While Captain Beefheart may now be known the for the odd-ball extremities and outright weirdness of records such as Trout Mask Replica, this debut finds him and his Magic Band in extremely accessible form. The real star instrumentally is drummer Robert Ellis, whose playing has an understated fluidity that compliments Harvey’s songs – the final track, Water, is one of the best rock songs in 5/4 of all time. Harvey’s guitar playing is often overlooked, but on tracks like Sheela-Na-Gig or Joe it flows like a swollen river. The music was sinuous and sensual, while still retaining enough grit and dirt to keep the grungers happy. This was serious rock music made by a woman who sang like her life depended on it. The impact of Dry was like a seismic shift in the consciousness of indie-kids. ( Saviours like Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine were rare beasts, seldom seen.) The media-created Britpop ‘phenomenon’ was still two more years away. The euphoria of the Madchester scene had waned and the sorrowful likes of Flowered Up and Cud populated the weeklies. In 1992, British Indie rock was in a parlous state indeed. The Who might have been just another exceptionally energetic R&B combo circa 1965, but for the inclusion of several sharp and pop-errific Townshend originals that elevate the band’s first album to next level. Pete would only get better, but My Generation and The Kids Are Alright already show him at the top of his game, and right out of the gate they make you wonder how only three instrumentalists could make such a big sound. (Alan Shulman) Please note: parts 4 and 5 will be published on Thursday and Friday. Please use the links below to discover the rest of the feature. Welcome to the third part of our Top 100 Debut Albums feature. ![]()
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