Cast your vote! What is the best debut album of all time?
CBC On the Coast listeners have selected five finalists — which one will you choose?
CBC listeners made the nominations, now it's time to crown a winner: What is the best debut album ever recorded?
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's first studio-recorded album, Are You Experienced, CBC's On the Coast began profiling some of music's most popular and influential debuts.
From rock pioneers to folk legends, listeners put forward their favourites, and over the last three weeks audience polling has narrowed it down to five finalists:
- Ten: Pearl Jam
- Closing Time: Tom Waits
- Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin
- Music from Big Pink: The Band
- My Aim Is True: Elvis Costello
What is the best debut album of all time? Cast your vote here.
Voting will close Monday, June 5 at 12 p.m. PT and the winner will be announced on On the Coast starting at 3:00 p.m. PT.
If you need help deciding, here are a few words of praise for each album from the people who helped push them into the final poll, as well as from On the Coast's resident CBC music buff Lisa Christiansen:
My Aim Is True: Elvis Costello
From a CBC Radio listener:
"Clearly one of the original and prolific, cutting-edge lyricists and songsmiths is Elvis Costello, who has a way of tying up the bitterness and heartache of misplaced affection in the most attractive package.
"Costello elegantly profiles the pain of a former, cuckolded lover who carries the burden of his wounded love like a cudgel, not for himself but for the lover who jilted him. Still one of the greats."
Closing Time: Tom Waits
From a CBC Radio listener:
"So many great, great songs came out of Tom Waits' debut album, Closing Time. He was only 24 at the time, but you'd never know it from the soulfulness of the music."
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin
From Lisa Christiansen:
"Recorded in a staggering 36 hours of total studio time, Led Zeppelin showcases the immense talent of the band. For something that was essentially recorded 'live in studio,' it's an incredible piece of work.
"Altogether a stunning album, by a band that would redefine music in so many ways in the years to come."
Music from Big Pink: The Band
From a CBC Radio listener:
"It is The Band. It is Canadian content. It incorporates the writing and vocal talents of Rick Danko, Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm and Richard Manuel. How can it not be great? Many of the songs on it persisted to their final concert.
"There has never been another group quite like the Band. Their unique blend of rock, country and folk, often within the same song, gives them an enduring and endearing quality that remains unsurpassed."
Ten: Pearl Jam
From Lisa Christiansen:
"10 wasn't an immediate success. When it came out in 1991, grunge was still just a word that meant dirty. It was a long shot for guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament.
But the first single had an iconic opening riff for the ages. And by 1992, 10 was a hit, eventually topping the charts in the U.S. and Poland. It was in the top 10 around the world.