10 Bad Debut Albums From Great Bands

David Bowie has been known as rock and roll's most inventive chameleons. Throughout most of his career, Bowie created a myriad of different identities and went down many different sonic avenues from space rock to glam to experimental to industrial. Many may consider the man's first hit "Space Oddity" as the world's introduction to Bowie, but his initial first release would leave die hard fans shellshocked.

Recorded just before the Summer of Love, Bowie's self-titled debut was far removed from his more adventurous later recordings, with songs that dealt with more infantile topics like on "Rubber Band" and "Sell Me a Coat." Whereas Bowie's later work opened your mind up to different musical possibilities, these tracks are so cheesy they sound more like a late 60's vaudeville show than a rock and roll album.

Unsurprisingly, Bowie ended up feeling the same way about the album and even released his second album eponymously to try to differentiate his new identity from what he considered an embarrassing beginning. Even in interviews, Bowie has said how he wishes "Space Oddity" was his first artistic statement rather than this off-kilter pop sound. With a string of great albums to his name afterward, Bowie didn't have to live in the shadow of this record for much longer.