Like the opening of a book, fiction or non-, the first cut on an album can, and often does, set the tone for the entire auditory experience ahead. The importance of the first track on an artist's debut album is of even greater significance (certainly more so in the pre-internet days), as it may represent one's first full exposure to that artist. So enjoy these, some of my favorite SOTOs.
"All this happened, more or less."

"The poles of the earth have wandered."

"The stoplight changed to green. Szilard stepped off the curb. As he crossed the street time cracked open before him and he saw a way to the future, death into the world and all our woe, the shape of things to come."

30 tracks