Description: These essays bring together the stories of 23 debut albums over a nearly fifty year span, ranging from Buddy Holly and the Crickets in 1957 to The Go! Team in 2004. In addition to biographical background and a wealth of historical information about the genesis of each album, essayists look back at the albums and place them within multiple contexts, particularly the artist's career development. In this way, the book will be of as much interest to sociologists and historians as to culture critics and musicologists.
Review Quotes: '...A book for music enthusiasts, including those with some musical background, and record collectors and aficionados...Recommended.' Choice 'This volume is the first sustained critical discussion of the general nature and significance of debut albums. All are original essays, written exclusively for the collection, with their authors bringing a diverse range of critical and creative perspectives to their selected debut. In addition to accessible musical analyses of the 23 albums included, each is placed within a wider production context, including the role of the music industry, and considered in relation to time and place, genre, and the artists' subsequent work. This is a sometimes surprising but always instructive and thought provoking selection of essays, which will encourage greater attention to an important but previously largely neglected topic.' Roy Shuker, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and author of Wax Trash and Vinyl Treasures: Record Collecting as a Social Practice (Ashgate 2010)