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April 15, 2008

The A.V. Club's 20 Acts That Peaked With The Debut Album

thubmnail icon: The A.V. Club's 20 Acts That Peaked With The Debut Album

Here we are in the midst of '08, a year that will undoubtedly see debut albums by a few bands we won't know about next year. Or, on the other hand, bands we wish we'd stop hearing about next year. It's true: Sometimes a group crystallizes their finest moments the first time around, spends the rest of their career trying to somehow tap that early magic. The people at the A.V. Club are smart. They know this, too. In fact, they've given us a Top 20. Via A.V. Club:

20 Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
19 Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle
18 Supergrass - I Should Coco
17 The Sugarcubes - Life's Too Good
16 Wu-Tang clan - Enter The Wu-Tang
15 Boston - Boston
14 Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw
13 Black Flag - Damaged
12 The Sundays - Reading, Writing, And Arithmetic
11 Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends

10 Television - Marquee Moon
09 Kanye West - The College Dropout
08 John Prine - John Prine
07 The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die
06 Nas - Illmatic
05 The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers
04 The Strokes - Is This It
03 Richard Hell And The Voidoids - Blank Generation
02 50 Cent - Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
01 Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

Actually, the list is pretty tight. We're not entirely sure we agree with the inclusion of The College Dropout. Since the pointing out of the ones they missed is inevitable, we'll get it started with a pair of roses: Guns 'N Roses, Stone Roses. Your move.

Posted at 6:26 PM




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197 Comments

I don't entirely agree with the strokes and rage, but most are pretty accurate.
they're definitely missing bands like bloc party and clap your hands say yeah.
so disappointing.

Posted by: paolo at 04/15/08 6:43 PM | Reply
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Well I think Kanye is totally wrong for this list. It is very debatable which is his best album between his first two. Including the Strokes is a joke. I mean they only have two albums out. Artic Monkeys should be on there before the Strokes. If you just want groups that never matched their first album you could certainly include The Pixies. As for groups that peaked with their first album, number one should be The Sex Pistols. But, of course, they never realeased another album.

Posted by: Eron in reply to paolo's comment at 04/16/08 2:10 PM | Reply
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Well...lots of bands that peaked with their first album went on to do some pretty brilliant stuff later -- is this list emphasizing stratification between earlier and later material or just mentioning what bands' debuts were their best album? If it's the latter then add Pavement and The Velvet Underground to the list.

Lots of rappers.

Posted by: Ralf at 04/15/08 6:46 PM | Reply
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Rage did not spend the rest of their career trying to recapture the sound of their debut. Evil Empire is a great album.

Posted by: Theodore Roosevelt at 04/15/08 6:47 PM | Reply
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They forgot to include Arcade Fire.

Posted by: id at 04/15/08 6:50 PM | Reply
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The Violent Femmes. Duh.

Posted by: Ralf at 04/15/08 6:54 PM | Reply
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God am I the only one that thinks Evil Empire is vastly superior to Rage's debut? It's less "hard" or whatever but it just musically sounds better.

Posted by: zik at 04/15/08 6:54 PM | Reply
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i whole-heartedly agree with the kanye inclusion.

Posted by: jimmo at 04/15/08 6:56 PM | Reply
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interpol - turn on the bright lights

Posted by: wsl maxima profile link at 04/15/08 6:59 PM | Reply
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so agree!! i though i would love interpol forever when i heard that album...not so much in retrospect.

Posted by: Riccardo in reply to wsl maxima's comment at 04/17/08 4:16 PM | Reply
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Okay, first thing Bloc Party has only 2 albums out. little early there poalo. Also, Battle for Los Angeles was WAY better than their eponymous debut. Evil Empire was prolly better also.

Posted by: buns at 04/15/08 7:00 PM | Reply
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why include bands that are in the middle of their career?
i think the strokes have a lot left, and i guess same with kanye, though i'm not a huge fan. as for bloc party, clap your hands say yeah, and arcade fire.... only 2 albums out by each, but i have to agree on interpol.

Posted by: ben profile link at 04/15/08 7:03 PM | Reply
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Add: Dead Kennedys, Ryan Adams, and probably REM

Posted by: George at 04/15/08 7:06 PM | Reply
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That's the most random list I've ever seen.

But I agree with Ralf, there's no greater example of this phenomenon than Violent Femmes.

Maybe De La Soul comes in second.

The Shins.

And Blood Sweat and Tears, but that might be a little too random, although not as random as Marshall Crenshaw.

Posted by: bd at 04/15/08 7:07 PM | Reply
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De La Soul? That's a joke, right? "De La Soul is Dead" is tremendous ... and, hell, "Buhloone Mindstate" is equally amazing.

Totally disagree with Sunny Day's inclusion on this list. The pink album, for me, is tops.

Posted by: Kevin in reply to bd's comment at 04/15/08 8:14 PM | Reply
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the shins? definitely not chutes too narrow and wincing the night away are equal or better

Posted by: p in reply to bd's comment at 04/16/08 12:00 AM | Reply
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Counting Crows - August and Everything After

You can say they suck if you want, but there's no debate that was there best album by far.

Posted by: aardvark at 04/15/08 7:10 PM | Reply
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You can't be serious about Counting Crows! Recovering The Satellites was far superior to the debut. Even This Desert Life was great. They only lost it with Hard Candy. Amen to whoever said Ryan Adams. His solo career has been a steady downwards trajectory, similar to one of those vertical drop rollercoasters. It's also way too soon to judge The Strokes or CYHSY and anyway, Room On Fire was massively overlooked. And Mark BT deserves to be shot for including Big Star. Radio City is phenomenal. How about Son Volt, Fountains of Wayne or Ben Kweller? I know I automatically lose 3000 cool points for mentioning them but I think Third Eye Blind's first record was pretty great and they've been crap ever since.

Posted by: Mark in reply to aardvark's comment at 04/17/08 5:03 AM | Reply
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Does it really count as being a one album wonder if you die after your second? I Think Life After Death is an amazing album. Biggie definitely didn't peak after Ready to Die.

Posted by: AlexC at 04/15/08 7:12 PM | Reply
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Does Britney Spears fall into a special category for peaking with her debut single?

Posted by: Greg at 04/15/08 7:16 PM | Reply
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@ George:

REM? Are you kidding? Conventional critiques would probably assert that they peaked with Automatic for the People; being a fan, I believe Fables of the Reconstruction, Life's Rich Pageant, Document, AND Automatic are all on par with Murmur.

Posted by: Vinnie at 04/15/08 7:18 PM | Reply
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I've never cared for Automatic, but you may be right.

Posted by: George in reply to Vinnie's comment at 04/15/08 7:26 PM | Reply
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agreed, golden until Document--spotty after

Posted by: Rodger in reply to George's comment at 04/23/08 9:32 PM | Reply
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I'm not the biggest Strokes fan, but I figure it should be obvious to anyone with ears that Room On Fire is an IMPROVEMENT of Is This It? Shouldn't this be common knowledge by now?

Posted by: carson at 04/15/08 7:20 PM | Reply
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It should be! I agree wholeheartedly.

I also think they're wrong about John Prine, but I don't imagine screaming "WHAT ABOUT 'SWEET REVENGE'?" at the top of my longs will really spark much debate among stereogum readers.

As for the Modern Lovers, that's iffy. Yeah, The Modern Lovers were better than Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, but I don't know of anyone who thinks of them as the same entity. Maybe a second Modern Lovers album would have been just as good, but there wasn't one, so it's kind of stupid to have it on this list.
And naturally the Modern Lovers peaked with their first (only, if you ask me) album: it's only got the greatest rock 'n' roll song ever(!) on it.

Posted by: studly roberts in reply to carson's comment at 04/15/08 7:56 PM | Reply
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Room On Fire blew...

Posted by: Nickelass profile link in reply to carson's comment at 04/15/08 9:49 PM | Reply
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the alarm

Posted by: javier buchananeversonia at 04/15/08 7:36 PM | Reply
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BLOC PARTY.
and crappy bands like paramore and the academy is... great debut albums, bad,overhyped follow ups.

Posted by: gaby profile link at 04/15/08 7:48 PM | Reply
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The Evens.

Not like Ian Mackaye really needs to vindicate himself any further....

Posted by: scary profile link at 04/15/08 7:57 PM | Reply
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vampire weekend.

Posted by: bloodsuck at 04/15/08 8:00 PM | Reply
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VIOLENT FEMMES AND WEEZER OBVIOUSLY

Posted by: the dog at 04/15/08 8:05 PM | Reply
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VIOLENT FEMMES AND WEEZER OBVIOUSLY

Posted by: the dog at 04/15/08 8:08 PM | Reply
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steve

Pinkerton is so much better than the Blue album

Posted by: steve profile link in reply to the dog's comment at 04/15/08 9:09 PM | Reply
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@ paolo
Pavement? Grow some taste: CR and Wowee were both incredible
also, an artist should have a minimum of 2 albums after their first to be included in this discussion, so guys like clap your hands say yeah are out

this list isnt terrible, but it's mostly a bunch of huge names...they didnt really go out on a limb or anything here. I agree with Nas, but only because illmatic is the best rap album ever made, and no one can be expected to top that

my two cents: clinic
i win

Posted by: Kevin at 04/15/08 8:11 PM | Reply
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do the Sex Pitsols count?

Posted by: eldibs at 04/15/08 8:12 PM | Reply
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do the Sex Pistols count?

Posted by: eldibs at 04/15/08 8:13 PM | Reply
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I gotta call shenanigans on the Wu too

Posted by: barry at 04/15/08 8:13 PM | Reply
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Definately don't agree with Kanye West. Graduation is a great cd, equally as good as college dropout for different reasons. He's developed a new style and its a great album all the way through, I can recall a few songs that I skip over when listening to College Dropout.

Posted by: Zach profile link at 04/15/08 8:14 PM | Reply
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i agree. i think its awesome that kanye is doing what he is doing. Aside from maybe timbaland no other mainstream rapper is putting that much emphasis on musical experimentation and all that sonic bullshit...


Posted by: machu in reply to Zach's comment at 04/22/08 1:56 AM | Reply
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Haha fuckkk, that wasnt @ paolo, it was Ralf
and you didnt exactly nominate pavement for the list, either, i read that too fast.
sorry for the rant :p

Posted by: Kevin at 04/15/08 8:14 PM | Reply
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Foo Fighters--by far--should be number one. Badass debut, okay to mediocre albums since.

Posted by: kidacomputerok at 04/15/08 8:18 PM | Reply
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id...do you really want to include arcade fire into the sophomore slump category? i actually thought funeral was a pretty damn amazing album...

...yes, there was an album before funeral with a better version of no cars go.

Posted by: games at 04/15/08 8:35 PM | Reply
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that was an ep. doesn't actually count. or at least not in my book. which we all know is definitive. this list is all relative anyway.

Posted by: pearl in reply to games's comment at 04/15/08 8:43 PM | Reply
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that wasn't a proper album. it was an EP, wiz kid.

Posted by: wsl maxima profile link in reply to games's comment at 04/15/08 9:55 PM | Reply
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Neon Bible fucking blew, and if we're talking about debut ALBUMS, Arcade Fire EP does not count.

Posted by: id in reply to games's comment at 04/16/08 4:49 AM | Reply
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SERIOUSLY...what about Clap Your Hands Say Yeah?

Posted by: clap at 04/15/08 8:36 PM | Reply
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I don't think it counts when the debut sucks.

Posted by: Johnnyboy in reply to clap's comment at 04/15/08 10:55 PM | Reply
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They only have one record out after the first!
relax

Posted by: Kevin in reply to clap's comment at 04/16/08 12:35 AM | Reply
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Black Flag Damaged? I guess technically their third album, but they had enough recorded output with multiple singers before Rollins to make 2 albums worth of music.

And Modern Lovers.. that's ridiculous. All the Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers albums are AMAZING.

Posted by: Ben G at 04/15/08 8:43 PM | Reply
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Honestly though, what the FUCK was going on with that Snoop Dogg cover art?

Posted by: Greg at 04/15/08 8:54 PM | Reply
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Clap Your Hand Say Yeah does not belong on this list. They aren't important enough.

Posted by: anonymous at 04/15/08 8:57 PM | Reply
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minus rage, john prine and television, this is just a list of shitty bands/rappers.

i think AIR should be on here.

Posted by: jenbamin profile link at 04/15/08 9:03 PM | Reply
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Supergrass' debut album was great, but most of their other albums (bar their brand new album) have been pretty great too. They definitely don't belong on this list. Personally I thought that Bloc Party's second album was superior to their first. But every Strokes album has sucked! The Stone Roses definitely belong on the list. What about Elastica?

Posted by: Mark at 04/15/08 9:07 PM | Reply
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Supergrass has been putting out consistently excellent albums for ten years man. That's a totally unfair and uneducated addition to the list.

Posted by: brian in reply to Mark's comment at 04/17/08 2:01 PM | Reply
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Jesus & Mary Chain

Posted by: Jeff K at 04/15/08 9:07 PM | Reply
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uh, the title of the avclub's list specified rock/rap. I agree that bands with only one or two albums shouldn't be included, unless there's no chance of them releasing more material. Thus, we can include The Unicorns and The Libertines.

Posted by: mattcandy at 04/15/08 9:11 PM | Reply
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Weezer for sure should be on there.

Posted by: tyler at 04/15/08 9:13 PM | Reply
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Are you kidding? Pinkerton? Weezer definitely peaked on their second album.

Completely agree with the TBS, Strokes, RATM and SDRE, though.

Posted by: Sam profile link in reply to tyler's comment at 04/15/08 11:15 PM | Reply
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kidacomputerok I totally agree with you about the Foo Fighters! Glad to see some other people calling BS on naming Supergrass on this list.

Posted by: Mo at 04/15/08 9:15 PM | Reply
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Supergrass's 2nd album "In It For the Money" is vastly superior to their debut ...

Posted by: T.S.A. GANGSTAZ at 04/15/08 9:21 PM | Reply
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What about RADIOHEAD?!?!

.... (kidding)

Posted by: YO at 04/15/08 9:23 PM | Reply
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Biggie only released "Ready to Die" while he was living, any other album came out after he died, of course none of them were any good!

Posted by: thad at 04/15/08 9:31 PM | Reply
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Weezer did not peak with the blue album. Even if you like it more, they obviously peaked with Pinkerton and it was down hill after that. I think they tried not to include bands that only had 2 albums to their credit, hence the absence of Bloc Party.

Posted by: Stephen B at 04/15/08 9:39 PM | Reply
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Arctic Monkeys

Yeah Yeah Yeah's

Amy Winehouse (and i stand by my prediction)

Band of Horses

Hot Hot Heat

Jack Johnson

Kings of Leon

Neutral Milk Hotel

some of these bands have had only 1 or 2 albums out but it's obvious that they're done

Posted by: mark at 04/15/08 9:48 PM | Reply
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Hot Hot Heat is definitely a good one to include. Their major label signing pretty much put them into the "Whatever Happenned To..." pile and watered their sound down to par with Strokes B-Sides.

Posted by: Michael in reply to mark's comment at 04/16/08 8:58 AM | Reply
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Right on, Mike. "Knock Knock Knock," the first E.P. they released (after acquiring their poodle-headed singer), is by far the best thing they've ever done. It's darker, heavier and has more of a Clash/ Punk sound. Dante De Caro's departure hammered the final nail in their coffin. I saw them in Toronto just before their first full-length came out; everyone left immediately after opening band "Pilate" performed (which made no sense because they sounded like Coldplay being raped)

Posted by: John in reply to Michael's comment at 04/16/08 11:51 AM | Reply
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So you're saying that Neutral Milk Hotel peaked with On Avery Island instead of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea? Or are you not counting On Avery Island since it was prety much just a Jeff Mangum solo album with a band name on it?

Or did you just not know that album existed?

Posted by: AstronautDinosaurFiretruck in reply to mark's comment at 04/16/08 1:17 PM | Reply
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Neutral Milk Hotel was a typo. I forgot at the time that Avery Island was first.

Posted by: mark in reply to AstronautDinosaurFiretruck's comment at 04/17/08 3:35 PM | Reply
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Jesus and Mary Chain were always spotty, but Stoned and Dethroned is a great fucking album.

Posted by: bd at 04/15/08 9:48 PM | Reply
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Wait. Scratch Neutral Milk Hotel. I take that one back

Posted by: mark at 04/15/08 9:51 PM | Reply
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How about Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ... Not that their first album is all that good, but better than the crap they've served up since

Posted by: T.S.A. GANGSTAZ at 04/15/08 10:03 PM | Reply
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Howl was an incredible album.

Posted by: peabody in reply to T.S.A. GANGSTAZ's comment at 04/15/08 10:42 PM | Reply
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radiohead - pablo honey

Posted by: YOU at 04/15/08 10:14 PM | Reply
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Anyone who says Weezer or Pavement is fucking idiot/joke

Posted by: L-Train at 04/15/08 10:17 PM | Reply
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Slanted and Enchanted is Pavement's best album. It's debatable whether or not the Blue Album is Weezer's.

Posted by: Fred in reply to L-Train's comment at 04/15/08 11:02 PM | Reply
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Yeah, but this is more a list of artists who had a great first album and went on to disappointing careers, i think. Pavement made at least two more incredible albums, and were still great even after wowee, though they werent the same

Posted by: Kevin in reply to Fred's comment at 04/16/08 12:39 AM | Reply
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i fucking disagree with the richard hell inclusion. destiny street was amazing. it had 'staring in her eyes'. his stuff with the dim stars was awesome.

Posted by: om at 04/15/08 10:28 PM | Reply
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Only one thats debatable at all is damaged, my war is great and black flag had tons of other material before damaged.

Posted by: Kevin at 04/15/08 10:28 PM | Reply
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I agree with whoever said Weezer.

Posted by: blub at 04/15/08 10:29 PM | Reply
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People - give "Hallowed Ground" a chance. It is a true original and has some great ass songs on it.

sincerely, Mrs. Ground

Posted by: jps at 04/15/08 10:35 PM | Reply
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Thank you for saying that jps! Hallowed Ground is one of my favorite records and I've loved it more than the debut....

Posted by: john in reply to jps's comment at 04/18/08 2:56 PM | Reply
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badly drawn boy. he blows ass now, but that first album was pretty great.

Posted by: kevin at 04/15/08 11:00 PM | Reply
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agreed, kevin.

Posted by: jenbamin profile link in reply to kevin's comment at 04/15/08 11:19 PM | Reply
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the beatles

Posted by: rgr_moore at 04/15/08 11:20 PM | Reply
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Ha - on the flip side of this, it would be interesting to make a list of the bands who have aged the best over time, or improved like fine wines...

Posted by: Frank T in reply to rgr_moore's comment at 04/15/08 11:26 PM | Reply
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Murmur is the best thing REM did. One of the best albums anyone did. Thats not disrespecting the great REM albums that came after it.

Posted by: cb at 04/15/08 11:24 PM | Reply
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YOUR OPINIONS ARE WRONG! MY OPINIONS ARE RIGHT!

Posted by: jimsy at 04/15/08 11:40 PM | Reply
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Radiohead. Nuff said.

Posted by: Rye at 04/15/08 11:49 PM | Reply
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what about the killers? i kinda dug their first album, but everything else has been shite.

Posted by: kyle profile link at 04/16/08 12:16 AM | Reply
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