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Song of the Day #6,571: ‘To Zion’ – Lauryn Hill

Continuing my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…

Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)

By far the most successful debut album that ended up being the only studio album released by its artist, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a unique and transcendent work of personal art. Winner of five Grammys, including Album of the Year, the album sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and achieved Diamond status (10 million sales) in the U.S.

The album was conceived by Hill after her band the Fugees broke up, and its songs chronicle her relationships with her former bandmates as well as her childhood, love life, and motherhood.

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Song of the Day #6,570: ‘Gone Daddy Gone’ – Violent Femmes

Continuing my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…

Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes (1983)

The debut album by the Milwaukee-based folk-punk trio Violent Femmes is one of the record industry’s greatest slow-burning success stories.

Released in 1983, the album failed to make a splash commercially, but it was a college radio success that picked up steam over the years. Buoyed by a compact disc release, it finally reached the Billboard 200 chart in 1991 and to date has sold more than 3 million copies.

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Song of the Day #6,569: ‘Morningside’ – Sara Bareilles

Continuing my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…

Sara Bareilles – Little Voice (2007)

This selection is a bit of a cheat, but it’s also one of the reasons I wanted to do this theme week in the first place, so I’m keeping it in.

Funnily enough, I wrote about the debut album theme idea more than five years ago when a song from Sara Bareilles’ Little Voice popped up on Random Weekends. But then I discovered Bareilles had independently released a record called Careful Confessions three years earlier.

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Song of the Day #6,568: ‘Goodbye’ – Hootie and the Blowfish

Continuing my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…

Hootie and the Blowfish – Cracked Rear View (1994)

I couldn’t resist listing the best-selling debut album in U.S. history, especially when it’s one I really loved back in the day. I haven’t returned to Hootie and the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View much since my early 20s, but it has the same comfortable power when I do.

This album received a modest rollout, aimed at boosting the profile of a hard-working bar band. It ended up catching fire, selling more than 20 million copies in the U.S. alone, buoyed by the top ten hits ‘Hold Her Hand,’ ‘Let Her Cry,’ and ‘Only Wanna Be with You.’

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Song of the Day #6,567: ‘Your Love is King’ – Sade

For awhile now, I’ve had “Best Debut Albums” written in my notes as a potential theme week. I’ve come close to compiling my list of favorites a couple of times.

But I put the brakes on it because I knew I’d end up with a roster of my usual suspects: Ben Folds Five, R.E.M., Miranda Lambert, The Smiths, Lana Del Rey, The Beatles, Talking Heads, etc., etc. All of those acts have amazing debut albums, sure, but it’s not exactly illuminating for me to trot them out one more time.

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