Top 5 Debut Albums That Made Everyone Else Look Lazy

First records so complete you'd swear the band had been doing this for decades.

1. 1

   Illmatic — Nas

   Ten tracks, under forty minutes, no filler, and a 20-year-old writing like he'd already lived three lives.

2. 2

   The Velvet Underground & Nico — The Velvet Underground

   It barely sold at first, yet it sounds like it predicted every good band that came after it.

3. 3

   Horses — Patti Smith

   The opening line of 'Gloria' does more damage than most bands manage across a whole career.

4. 4

   Is This It — The Strokes

   Five guys in leather jackets made sounding effortless look easy, then spent a decade failing to do it again.

5. 5

   Funeral — Arcade Fire

   Overwrought, sincere and a little too loud, which is exactly why 'Wake Up' still makes grown adults shout along.