Hootie and the Blowfish "Cracked Rear View" had a lot of hit songs, got a lot of play and sold a lot of copies. Nothing they ever did after that approached that level of success.

Van Halen's debut was huge for guitar players, but I don't think it had the gravitas as Ten or Appetite.

Also, what does "best" mean? most albums sold?

Jagged Little Pill isn't even on this list...

https://www.therichest.com/entertainmen ... s-history/

Norah Jones' Come Away with Me has to get a mention.

Bat out of Hell is at 21.7M but nobody considers that a "best" album on any list.

No, it doesn't.

The album won 8 Grammy Awards and is the 3rd best-selling debut album of all time.

The album won 8 Grammy Awards and is the 3rd best-selling debut album of all time.

Really surprised how much I considered "License to Ill," probably because of how much Paul's Boutique eclipses it, but I'd go with the Violent Femmes debut.

That's a great choice.

Great album for the suburban white woman crowd. My ex was totally into that album. I couldn't stay awake when listening to it. Solid Lilith Fair contribution, though.

Award shows are stupid. See: Awards, Peabody

As far as the sales thing goes, it's hard to say that sales = quality...I mean, there is a lot of shit out there (Backstreet Boys, that Bieber kid, etc) that sell a lot of records, but are also complete shit.

Really surprised how much I considered "License to Ill," probably because of how much Paul's Boutique eclipses it, but I'd go with the Violent Femmes debut.

I remember an interview with the Beastie Boys a long time ago where they said they found it amusing how many people would tell them Paul’s Boutique was the best record they ever made, since it was their worst-selling album.

Licensed To Ill has not aged well for me. No Sleep 'til Brooklyn and Paul Revere are about the only ones I can stomach. The rest is absolute garbage.

I didn't realize that was his debut.

I completely understand Norah Jones putting you to sleep. Bill Evans puts some people to sleep but I fucking love the guy. I hang on every note.

Look, Norah Jones definitely hits white women a certain way but plenty of men listen to her as well. Just like plenty of men listen to Alanis Morissette or Lauren HIll.

Jones really knows how to play the piano and she's got a beautiful voice. Come Away with Me sold 27 million copies. That's the 3rd best-selling debut album in the history of the world. To say it's a solid Lilith Fair contribution is bizarre.

We used to call her Snore-a Jones

you have your entire life up to that point to write and record your 1st album. this is why we have sophomore slumps.

My list:
1. The Cars
2. Ten
3. Ramones
4. Licensed to Ill
5. Black Sabbath

Really surprised how much I considered "License to Ill," probably because of how much Paul's Boutique eclipses it, but I'd go with the Violent Femmes debut.