Six incredibly fantastic debut albums from the 1970s

Debut albums are obviously a starting point for artists, many though need two or three albums before they make a serious breakthrough and reach anything close to the big time. Some artists can have enormous success from their very first album. There were plenty of those in the 1970s with many phenomenally successful and brilliant debut albums released.

It’s always debatable if you try and rank the best albums for a type or period. Everyone will have strong views and likely disagree with some choices. If you just rank albums based on sales, it becomes a rather obvious list, with no shocks or pleasant surprises in there.  It’s not all about the sales though, as this list will show.

That all applies to debut albums too. If you take the 1970s the top-selling debut albums include those from Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell, Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells, and self-titled albums from  Dire Straits and Van Halen. Sales of those totaled over 110 million worldwide, not bad at all for five albums from new and unknown artists!

Six of the best albums from the 1970s

At first, you might think there would be other huge names in there, but many of the top artists of the 1970s were formed in the 1960s and their debut albums were well behind them. The 1970s was a great time for music though, of many types and genres. Traditional rock, progressive, and punk all had a great time that decade.

There were also plenty of new artists kicking off their careers with outstanding debut albums. Sales may not have been at the atmospheric level of those top five above, but the albums were successful and full of great music. Here are six examples of exceptional debut albums from the 1970s.