Race for the Prize by The Flaming Lips.
Well it's one of the best "heavily compressed drum sounds" opening an album, and a pretty good song as well ("They're just humans, with wives and children.")
London Calling (off, er, London Calling) is quite an opening statement.
Another cracking eponymous opener is The Queen Is Dead.
Singing in a minority language will naturally limit your audience, but I regard
Moelyci by Steve Eaves up there with the best of Neil Young or Springsteen, and it starts off with a stormer.