It’s nearly September 2014 – so now is the perfect time to look back at the last decades best debut albums.
There has been outstanding albums from a variety of artists from Dizzy Rascal’s Boy In Da Corner, Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights and Burial’s self titled release.
The 00’s will be mostly famous for the mash up. Where all genres collided nu-metal, nu-rave, nu-new wave and my favourite grave (a mash up of rave and goth, which may have not actually existed, until now). The blues exploded, with The White Stripes and Jon Bonamassa, indie returned with The Strokes and Bloc Party and dance music went from strength to strength with Chase n Status and LCD Soundsystem.
But which artists cut through the crap and recharged our ears, by releasing an exciting debut album that brought new hope that music was indeed, much alive.
Here are some of Hit The Floor’s staffs finest 00’s debut moments.
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As one of the most critically praised albums of the decade- Funeral should in theory be ripe for a back-lash. But this has never actually happened. As we near ten years since it was released, the album sounds as fresh and innovative as any album from the last decade.
After being ordered to listen to the album daily by the store drunk at the Virgin Megastore that I worked for at the time. I was apprehensive as he had previously told me that The Vine’s second album would be bigger than Nevermind. So I begrudgingly put on Funeral whilst I cashed up the tills. From the opening track of ‘Tunnels’ I was shocked, never had the tills been counted as slowly as I did that night and by the time the final notes of ‘Power Out‘ had ended , the till was left with only a hastily written I owe you and Arcade Fire was my date for the night (the stores only copy). From then until the end of the year Funeral would be played in its entirety every day until we sold out and had to order another dozen copies. A mixture of elements from all my favourite bands, Bowie, New Order, Kate Bush and Talking Heads all crafted so beautifully into one ten track album. It is an instant classic and has been in my all time top ten albums ever since. The only album from the 00’s to do so. Just buy it, well buy two actually as the cardboard sleeve tends to need replacing every few years. Canada’s greatest band ever?
Albums greatest moment: ‘Rebellion’
Fran Jolley
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After much deliberation, my favourite debut album is without a doubt Alexisonfire’s intense, self-titled first record. This post-hardcore masterpiece with the controversial Catholic school girl cover was released in 2002, when 50% of the band were just 17. This album is undeniably some of the band’s best and emotionally raw work, and that’s saying something considering their extensive back catalogue.
Dallas Green’s spine tingling melodic vocals and George Petit’s guttural, heartfelt screams coupled with straight-up lyrical clout completely blew apart the hardcore genre. From the screeching instrumental opening of ‘.44 Caliber Love Letter’ to the hefty rollercoaster of emotions showcased in the standout track ‘Pulmonary Archery’, this is a record that demonstrated serious musicianship, a master class in the interplay between screams and clean vocals and an undeniable helping of heart and raw passion. On top of that, I still consider this beauty to showcase some of the best guitar riffs and song writing that I’ve heard on any hardcore album before or since. Alexisonfire’s ability to write music that makes you feel utterly desolate and then want to mosh as hard as humanly possible twenty seconds later is especially apparent on this album and one of the things that hooked me from the very first listen.
This debut is coming up for twelve years old now, but with every play it still manages to get me excited about music. An utter game changer and a true classic that has been a blueprint for hardcore bands the world over.
Albums greatest moment: Pulmonary Archery
Sammie Steward
