I was mostly thinking of it in terms of musical impact, which I think is increased by widespread acceptance. Appetite was definitely a punch in the face to a lot of the bullshit pop-metal that was out. At the time, I would've scoffed at comparing GNR to any punk bands, but in retrospect, it's a pretty fitting comparison when you look at attitude and ferocity.
The only think that stops Nirvana is that Nevermind wasn't a debut, and although I can see letting pre-Licensed to Ill Beasties slide, it came out a year before Appetite, which definitely doesn't make it the last great debut
Originally posted by Shadrach:
Are we talking about the impact on the music scene as a whole? Society? You personally? The album charts?
Not that either band had any real continued success, but both The Counting Crows and Hootie & The Blowfish had enormous debut albums with multiple smash hits on each one. It wouldn't be too hard to name a half dozen other debut albums that came close to, or surpassed G'n'R both in popularity and album sales.
For me personally though I'd have to go with Beastie Boys - License To Ill. That album came out over 20 years ago and when they played Brass Monkey and No Sleep Till Brooklyn at Virgin Fest the crowd went absolutely nuts.
Of course you could make a very strong argument for Nirvana - Nevermind as well.
