Albums (or singles) that invented an entire genre

[Count Machuki]

Of course, it's not really possible, right? There are antecedents and influences and all that to uncover for almost anything and very little springs up from a void.

BUT...

There must be some albums that cast such a large shadow that it feels like they invented a whole new kind of music.

Any nominations? Everything I had in mind when I thought of this thread has flown out of my head.

[naughty boy]

Some say that Low invented electro-pop.

[Count Machuki]

Some say that Low invented electro-pop.

Is that credit or blame?

Some say Eno invented ambient music with Music for Airports. That's another mixed legacy right there.

[Darkness_Fish]

[harvey k-tel]

I think Talk Talk did something with 'Spirit of Eden' that's pretty special, but I don't know that they invented a whole genre. Maybe they did...I dunno.

Sorry, I'll try harder next time.

[naughty boy]

Probably easier to think of a specific genre - probably something relatively minor - and then work backwards.

[Rayge]

Some say Eno invented ambient music with Music for Airports.

Right artist, wrong album. Just because he subtitled it Ambient One doesn't mean it was his first album of the kind. That was Discreet Music, three years earlier.

[Rayge]

As a rider, it isn't generally records or artists that birth new genres, it's music journalists looking for an angle or territory they can call their own.

[Minnie the Minx]

I think Talk Talk did something with 'Spirit of Eden' that's pretty special, but I don't know that they invented a whole genre. Maybe they did...I dunno.

Sorry, I'll try harder next time.

I was listening to that just yesterday. It doesn’t sound like anything else,that’s for sure.

[Count Machuki]

Some say Eno invented ambient music with Music for Airports.

Right artist, wrong album. Just because he subtitled it Ambient One doesn't mean it was his first album of the kind. That was Discreet Music, three years earlier.

Ah, right! Had forgotten that.
'course, if Satie'd had the tech....

[Goat Boy]

I Feel Love

[TG]

Is this the first funk record? -

[the masked man]

Master of Reality is surely the first doom metal album.

[C]

.

[Count Machuki]

Is this the first funk record? -

Probably, and you can make a pretty good case for it, but 'Out of Sight' is right there, too.

[Count Machuki]

.

What did this invent?

[The Modernist]

I think Talk Talk did something with 'Spirit of Eden' that's pretty special, but I don't know that they invented a whole genre. Maybe they did...I dunno.

Sorry, I'll try harder next time.

I was listening to that just yesterday. It doesn’t sound like anything else,that’s for sure.

A lot of the feel and texture of it comes from Miles Davis In a Silent Way. That was probably the biggest influence.

[Count Machuki]

I think Talk Talk did something with 'Spirit of Eden' that's pretty special, but I don't know that they invented a whole genre. Maybe they did...I dunno.

Sorry, I'll try harder next time.

I was listening to that just yesterday. It doesn’t sound like anything else,that’s for sure.

A lot of the feel and texture of it comes from Miles Davis In a Silent Way. That was probably the biggest influence.

I can hear that.

Is it Earnest Post-Rock we're talking about it having invented? Mogwai, Godspeed, stuff like that? The very quiet to VERY LOUD thing?

[The Modernist]

Yeah I suppose, although it's more ambient and less rock based I'd say than those acts.

[GoogaMooga]

Both I Got You (I Feel Good) and Papa's Got a Brand New Bag could be regarded as early funk, along with Funky Broadway by Dyke and the Blazers. But Cold Sweat was still groundbreaking in that it did away with melody almost entirely.

Elsewhere:

The Damned - New Rose (UK punk)
The Monks - Black Monk Time (US punk)
Fats Domino - The Fat Man (R&B)
Jackie Brenston - Rocket 88 (rock'n'roll)
Elvis, Scotty, and Bill - That's Alright Mama (rockabilly)
Dick Dale & the Del-Tones - Let's Go Trippin' (surf)
Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues (heavy metal)
Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight (rap)
The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man (folk rock)
Ray Charles - I Got a Woman (soul)