Name a band/performer that had it ALL...image, material, performance...coming out of the GATE.

[Miles Archer]

I wouldn't include Elvis in this because he had the image, he had the performance, but did NOT write the material.

I'm trying to think of performers who wrote their own songs, played the hell out of them, and had a fitting look / vibe...on the first album, not performers who "grew into greatness" later.

[Tobin S.]

1. Boston, Smashing Pumpkins, Alt-J, Van Halen

[Codeine]

7. Alt-J are amazing.

They remind me of Battles.

[Tobin S.]

9. I've got both of their albums. One of the best new alt rock bands out there.

The new album was a little quiet for my tastes, initially, but it has really grown on me.

[NaturalHigh]

14. I was just listening to Alt-J.

Smashing Pumpkins are number three on my list. Billy Corgan's still going strong.

[Populist_Prole]

27. Yes....but

In the case of Van Halen and Boston, they both began VERY strong, but quickly fizzled:

Boston for lack of later material and apparently hitting a creative brick wall

Van Halen for going from a great hard rock sound to a stupid hard-rock-ish "lets party" band. I have no use for all but a mere handful of tracks from them after 1980.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. arcade fire

[shenmue]

3. The Smiths

[Codeine]

6. Yup. nt

[Coventina]

36. Yeppers. Other excellent examples on this thread. Here are some more of mine:

They Might Be Giants
B-52's
Ramones
Bauhaus
Echo & the Bunnymen

Honorable recent phenom mention:

Vampire Weekend

I don't rank them up there in quality with some of the others, but they came out of the box with a whole package that works really well.

[Codeine]

40. Oooh, Bauhaus. Good example.

From nowhere to having their first single becoming the anthemic and defining song of an entire genre. And look at these boys;



They had it going on.

[Teamster Jeff]

4. The Doors nm

[Codeine]

5. Don't laugh -- Duran Duran.

Far better musicians and songwriters than they were ever given credit for being, and nobody looked cooler back then.

I also agree with the above-mentioned Smiths. Flat-out perfect from Day One. Arctic Monkeys too.

Oh shit, how about Franz Ferdinand?

[Coventina]

37. Agree with you on Duran Duran and Franz Ferdinand.

Duran Duran got saddled with the teeny-bopper label and were never able to shake it.

Franz Ferdinand is just, well, you know...practically perfect in every way.....

[Initech]

8. Iron Maiden

Watch their lives performances from the early 80s and today - they haven't changed a whole lot, and are still selling out arenas around the planet.

[Tobin S.]

10. Early Metallica while we're talking metal

Of course, their reputation has since become tarnished. I still like them, though. I agree with you about Iron Maiden. They were making classic songs from the get-go.

[Populist_Prole]

25. +1

They always had their very own sound and excellent song structure and muscianship.

They were always somewhat of an underground attraction ( even the rock media seemed to not take them seriously )

They never "sold out": That is; changed their sound to be more accepted by a broader audience.

I listen to their stuff now and like it as much as I ever did back as a 20 year old in the early 80s.

[Lochloosa]

11. Madonna. Hands Down.

[Avalux]

12. The Police.

Not one of my favorites, but they did have the whole package from Day 1.

[NaturalHigh]

13. I'm a Nirvana guy.

Kurt Cobain was the best front man ever in my opinion.

[NRaleighLiberal]

15. Portishead

[greendog]

16. Leonard Cohen

For one of his early live sets check out Isle of Wight 1970 when he followed Hendrix in front of 600,000 people.

[NNadir]

17. Joni Mitchell.

[OrwellwasRight]

18. Tom Petty.

Breakdown, American Girl, and Rockin' Around (With You) all on his first album. Woot woot!

[OrwellwasRight]

19. Elvis Costello

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

20. That would be Mr. James Marshall Hendrix

His first Album Are You Experienced has been ranked 15th greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. One of his earliest filmed performances with The Experience:

[panader0]

21. Stevie Ray Vaughn

[lame54]

22. Aerosmith

[malthaussen]

23. The Beatles?

Much attention is given to their dues-paying days in Hamburg, but from their first album to their last they certainly had the complete package. It is fashionable among music snobs to disparage their early material when compared to their later work. but music snobs don't much appreciate rock and roll (which is a style that differs from rock). Most of the Motown groups were also packaged and perfect, but they rarely wrote their own material.

-- Mal

[riderinthestorm]

24. I'll add Adele and Amy Winehouse to the already excellent list nt

[Hoyt]

26. Woody Guthrie . . . . . .Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle.

All You Fascists Bound To Lose

This Land Is Your Land

#t=25


Pretty Boy Floyd -- "Some will rob you with a six gun, some with a fountain pen" (version by the Byrds, it's better)

[LeftInTX]

28. Led Zeppelin

I assume they wrote their own music.
The first time I heard them it was just WOW.

[hifiguy]

31. + a brazillion

[sendero]

41. Well they kinda stole...

... a lot of stuff from early American blues men, but they at least put an original spin on it all. I think they deserve their place in this category

[Xipe Totec]

29. Mozart. nt

[Nedsdag]

30. Prince n/t

[onecent]

32. garth brooks and possibly

allen Jackson

[yuiyoshida]

33. Boston was the first band I thought of.

for sure... As for Japanese bands... I would have to say An Cafe!

And LM.C also ...

Girls band ZONE was red hot off the charts when they came out :

[Mr.Bill]

34. Stevie Wonder n/t

[lpbk2713]

35. Emmylou Harris

She's been around for years but she's still a class act.

[Tom Ripley]

38. Jimi Hendrix Experience and Patti Smith Group

[Lochloosa]

44. Patti Smith is a genius.

[easychoice]

39. Cream,top drawer

also see Jack Bruce.

[fishwax]

42. The Clash

[orleans]

43. zappa -- here's a few fun songs!