Underrated debut albums

One Touch - Sugababes.

Nobody has written about the reality of teen runaways and what happens to them like Courtney et al did on this album. Her vocals are the best acting she ever did. They are torn up.

Patti Smith - Horses

Sadly she never reached that height again.

R3, there is no way Horses is underrated. It is still on countless "Greatest albums of all time" lists.

"We are Maggie and Terre and Suzzy..." The Roches (1979)

New York Rock & Roll Ensemble

The United States of America

....Baby One More Time

Boys for Pele - Amos peppers her classical and ethereal sonic sensibilities with swathes of the baroque, dashes of grunge, and a soupçon of vaudeville - a mixture that adds up to her most dense, piercing, moving, and timeless album. Quite frankly, it’s her best.

Fuck. You asked for the most underrated debut. Sorry, op.

My choices:

Little Earthquakes- Tori Amos (Though it is included in a lot of top 25-100 lists)

The Kick Inside - Kate Bush

R9, is that really her debut album?

R11 See R10.

Olivia Newton-John's debut album is lovely, and pretty much unknown.

Madonna, Madonna (her other 80s albums are overrated by comparison)

Catherine Wheel, Ferment (easily one of the best rock albums of the 90s)

Whtiney Houston, Whitney Houston (much better than Whitney)

Duran Duran's debut album is fantastic with its original track listing including To the Shore. The American version with Is There Something I Should Know replacing that song is not nearly as good.

Diana Ross by Diana Ross (much better than Diana!, Diana Ross, Ross, Diana, and Ross).

Also, Milla Jovovich's Divine Comedy was much better than anyone had a right to expect from what was viewed as a vanity project by a model.

She eschewed dance pop like others had done, and focused on European folk influences, including a cover of the traditional Ukranian folk song In a Glade.

I think the wrong song was chosen as a single, and she never followed up with another full release (an unauthorized People Tree Sessions release is radically different in style.)

Agreed, R2. I don't know if it's true or not, but I once read that Love gargled whiskey and chain-smoked during the recording of that album to roughen her voice even more, which wouldn't surprise me. The rage and vulnerability she emitted on that record is gobsmacking, and the lyrics alternate between utter frankness and complete abstractness. I consider it a raw, uncompromising masterwork, thought it's certainly not for the faint of heart.

[R3] & [R4], the only Patti Smith album I own is 'Easter.' The sequencing alone is brilliant. I would like to hear a remastered version because either the production is sub-par, or the technology doesn't capture the wall of sound they were presenting. The title track, after 44 years, never gets old.

Every single album by Elliott Smith.

How can every album of Smith's be a debut album?

Because I can't read, R22.

Hole is just loud noise from an insane drug addict

R24 that may ring true for their early work, but even still, it's pretty elevated as far as raw, nasty noise rock goes. They really glammed it up with "Celebrity Skin," which is a bonafide power pop album, and quite refined compared to their earlier, more abrasive material.

R25 Celebrity Skin was a success because of Billy Corgan's touches more than anything.

R26 sure, but a great album is a great album. I think Celebrity Skin and Pretty on the Inside are fantastic records for different reasons.