It's not uncommon for an artist's debut album to be its best work, but some artists have debut singles that are so unequivocally excellent that they never again write anything that good. Here are six artists who's debut song was their best.
1. Roxy Music - "Virginia Plain" (1972)
Roxy Music was one of the most important bands of the British art rock scene, releasing a string of classic albums in the '70s and even managing to transition into the '80s gracefully with the Avalon LP. However, the greatest representation of Roxy Music's experimental pop aesthetic came right at the start of its career with the single "Virginia Plain," three minutes of crunchy guitars, flamboyant vocals, and avant-garde production.
2. Black Flag - "Nervous Breakdown" (1978)
Black Flag has alienated and divided its fans more times than most other punk bands, whether it was due to its constantly rotating line-up, its stylistic shift to sludge metal, or even its recent dueling reunion tours. Seemingly the only time in Black Flag's history when it wasn't testing the patience of its fans was with its debut release, the classic Nervous Breakdown EP featuring original vocalist Keith Morris. Black Flag wrote plenty of excellent songs afterwards, but the sucker punch of "Nervous Breakdown" is the band's greatest two minutes.
3. Mudhoney - "Touch Me I'm Sick" (1988)
If you ever need to show somebody what grunge sounds like, don't play "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or "Even Flow," but "Touch Me I'm Sick," the debut single from Seattle's Mudhoney. The guitars for the song are so dirty and distorted that even producer Jack Endino, who practically invented the grunge sound, was unsure if he should keep them that way. The single is by far Mudhoney's most popular song, and one of the defining songs of the Seattle scene.
4. The B-52's - "Rock Lobster" (1978)
Before the B-52's delved into shiny '80s pop with songs like "Love Shack" and "Roam," they were a borderline punk band, heavily inspired by surf rock and '50s dance music. This is most evident in one of the band's best-known songs, their debut single "Rock Lobster," with its stripped down instrumentation and minor key guitar riffs. The B-52's would write more concise and even punkier songs for their first two albums, but "Rock Lobster" is still the band's crowning achievement.
5. Dio - "Holy Diver" (1983)
Though Dio released its debut album in 1983, this wasn't exactly the first time the world had heard the voice of Ronnie James Dio. He fronted the band Rainbow from 1974-1979, and replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath for two excellent albums from 1979-1982, before finally starting his own band. The first single Dio released was "Holy Diver," an unimpeachable heavy metal classic that would serve at the title track to the band's debut LP, and be the greatest song the band ever wrote.
6. Nico - "I'm Not Sayin'" (1965)
Though 1967's The Velvet Underground & Nico is most people's introduction to German singer/model Nico, the album wasn't actually her debut release. This would come two years earlier with the single "I'm Not Sayin'," written by Gordon Lightfoot, produced by the Rolling Stones' Brian Jones, and featuring Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page on guitar. Most Nico fans probably prefer her later work such as Chelsea Girl and Desertshore, but "I'm Not Sayin'" is an unfortunately overlooked pop classic.
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