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1978 The Jam - All Mod Cons (this very talented band just kept improving) zxyxz 77: Their best album. A basic pop line up where all players are given equal room for expression, and Bruce Foxton's excellent bass playing makes "Down in a Tube Station at Midnight" the highlight. "Mr. Clean" "In the Crowd" and "Fly" display a maturity and sophistication their prior output didn't anticipate. Rick James - Come Get It! ("Mary Jane," "You and I") Japan - Adolescent Sex (debut LP by one of the most underrated bands) zxyxz 77: Excellent Punk/ Disco fusion, exhuberant songs. Buzzcocks/ Stranglers guitars and Lydon/ Ferry vocals cruise alongside Eno cum Moroder keys and an Earth, Wind, and Fire-esque rythm section. Their second, Obscure Alternatives, came out later the same year. Jefferson Starship - Earth ("Count on Me," "Runaway") (just about the moment that this once legendary band was beginning to turn mushy and substanceless) Jethro Tull - Heavy Horses zxyxz 77: Fantastic rustic rock. Billy Joel - 52nd Street ("Honesty," "My Life") zxyxz 77: "Big Shot" and "Zanzibar" are great. David Johansen - David Johansen ("Funky But Chic, "Frenchette") (excellent post NY Dolls debut solo record, with great songs and performances) Linton Kwesi Johnson - Dread Beat an' Blood (the debut of the greatest political poet Reggae has ever produced) Journey - Infinity ("Wheel in the Sky") (with apologies to those who dig them, to me they epitomize that slick, boring late 70s generic rock sound) zxyxz 77: Don't know much of this one, but I do enjoy Escape. They had some fine prog fusion stuff before this. Joy Division - An Ideal For Living EP (the earliest recordings of a tragic genius band) zxyxz 77: Never much taken to them myself, though everyone else I know loves them. Judas Priest - Stained Class zxyxz 77: This band has usually been an exception to my general indifference towards Metal. The Kinks - Misfits ("Rock and Roll Fantasy") zxyxz 77: Another I need to pick up; the only album of theirs from the 70's I haven't heard. Kiss - Double Platinum note: this was also the year the four solo LPs came out; of these, Ace Frehley's was the best (and contained the minor hit "New York Groove") Kraftwerk - The Man Machine ("We are the Robots") (another excellent Kraftwerk record) zxyxz 77: I love the cover, but I find the music to be getting too clinical by this point. Gary Numan, John Foxx, and Bill Nelson would make better use of these ideas in the next two years. Nick Lowe - Pure Pop for Now People (UK title: Jesus of Cool) ("So It Goes," "Heart of the City," "They Called it Rock," "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass") (one of the best LPs of the year, which lives up to its US title) zxyxz 77: Terrific "greatest hits" package. Magazine - Real Life zxyxz 77: ONE OF THE 5 BEST LPS OF THE YEAR! Criminally underated, this record presents the most fascinating example of Post Punk/ New Wave/ Symphonic Progressive fusion ever, and that's an approach that has been waistfully neglected by others. Bob Marley - Kaya ("Is This Love") Bob Marley - Babylon by Bus (live) Marshall Tucker Band - Together Forever Midnight Oil - Midnight Oil (debut of the political Australian rockers) zxyxz 77: I'd like to hear it. Mink DeVille - Return To Magenta zxyxz 77: This just hasn't struck a chord with me. Too tradition minded. Molly Hatchet - Molly Hatchet Tiny Dancer: Could be a 1976 release. The Motors - Approved By The Motors Van Morrison - Wavelength 999 - 999 (This is the band that I think of when I hear Green Day) zxyxz 77: Another of the year's best dressed bands (love all the colour!) but one of the only New Wave long runners I haven't really heard. Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo (90 minutes of guitar mania) The Only Ones - The Only Ones ("Another Girl, Another Planet") zxyxz 77: I need to get this. I only got their live LP. I'm sure I'd like this better. Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance (an amazing record by avante garde Cleveland new wavers) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - You're Gonna Get It ("I Need to Know") (not quite as good as the previous year's debut, but still quite good) Player - Player ("Baby Come Back") The Police - Outlandos d'Amour ("Roxanne," "Can't Stand Losing You") zxyxz 77: Good songs, distinctive sound, but what on Earth made them, of all the British New Wave bands, the only one to break in the States in this banner year of New Wave music (the year it was supposed to take over the World?) Prince - For You (the debut of the artist who would later be known as the artist formerly known as Prince and then even later would once again be known as Prince) Public Image - Public Image (Johnny Lydon's project after the Sex Pistols broke up; whereas the Pistols were more of a rock band, PIL were more avante garde, influenced by experimentalists like Can and dub rockers like Lee "Scratch" Perry) zxyxz 77: An exciting debut. Amazing he pulled this off within the same year as his last band's implosion. Queen - Jazz ("Fat Bottom Girls") zxyxz 77: Ironic. Though the singles here are not amongst their best, this LP overall is one of their strongest amongst the usually patchy catalogue of this mostly singles oriented band. Go to the next page for the rest of the list. Choose a year or click on Next 1970/ 1971/ 1972/ 1973/ 1974 1975/ 1976/ 1977/ 1978/ 1979 
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