Hello, everyone, it's Rob here. Again. I am very much a lover of all things music (mostly rock), and so today, I thought I would give you my top 10 favorite albums released in 1978 as my first full blog post on this page.
1978 was a year where music was doing pretty damned good. There is a huge wealth of music that came out of '78. Some of my favorite albums of all time, actually. I can't even tell you how many albums I'm going to miss. However, I have to choose the top ten, or we could be here all day. With each album I choose, I'll leave some notes, and my favorite track from the album. You know, to make this a bit more interesting. I'm sweet that way. I'll go from my #10 pick, to my #1. This should be a wild ride!
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| Peter Criss |
#10 - Peter Criss: 1978 Solo Album
To be at the bottom of this list is kinda sad, as I love the hell out of this album. However, it did finish much higher than Gene Simmons' solo album from the same year. An album that would probably sit fairly close to the bottom of all albums I enjoy from '78. Anyhow, Peter Criss stepped way out of the Kiss comfort zone for this album, and turned in something very jazzy, and completely unlike anything that Kiss had ever done. Peter may have taken a lot of crap for this album, but I love it. There is some tasty music woven through this album, and it's one I also enjoy whenever I come back to it. My favorite track from this album is closer "I Can't Stop the Rain", with quite possibly my favorite Peter Criss vocal performance of all time.
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| ELP: Love Beach |
By the time ELP got to 1978, they were done being a band. From what I've read, they didn't even want to make this album. They were sort of forced. And while the album cover is absolutely atrocious, and not all of the music contained within' its grooves were up to par with the previous ELP studio work, there is a lot of great music on this sadly passed over album. For fans that don't know this album, I do believe you are missing out on some great music. In fact, I believe "Memoirs of AN Officer And A Gentleman" to be up to par with a lot of the band's previous work. I guess that's why it's my favorite track on this album. Still, that doesn't mean there are other great tracks. Cheesy although it may be, the title track is pretty good, as is album opener "All I Want Is You", and "For You".
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| Jethro Tull: Heavy Horses |
#08 - Jethro Tull: Heavy Horses
The middle of the folk rock trio of albums from Jethro Tull, this album is a wonderful platter of music. Lyrically, the album doesn't quite hold up to the previous album (a favorite Tull album of mine, "Songs From the Wood"), but there is some great stuff on the album. "No Lullaby" is just absolutely essential Tull, as is the title-track, which is my favorite on this album. This disc may not be as heavy, or quite as proggy as some of the other material in Jethro Tull's vast catalog of classic music, but that doesn't make this disc one you should pass over. In fact, I suggest you shell out a few extra bucks and get the "New Shoes" deluxe edition, that adds so much greatness, that you'll find yourself returning to this album many times, and still finding something you missed over the years.
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| Yes: Tormato |
#07 - Yes: Tormato
#03 - Styx: Pieces of Eight
1978 wasn't exactly the heyday of some of the bands on this list. In fact, by the time we get to 1978, Yes had seen several major line-up changes. But for the second album in a row, the "classic line-up" crafted some pretty fantastic music here. And though "Tormato" may not be quite as good as its predecessor, it's still an album I come back to fairly often. From songs like "On the Silent Wings of Freedom", "Release, Release", and "Arriving UFO", there is much to like here. However it's album opener "Future Times / Rejoice" that is my favorite track on the album. Maybe the excess of the 70's were coming to end, but somebody forgot to tell Yes that fact.
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| REO Speedwagon: You Can Tune A Piano... |
#06 - REO Speedwagon: You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish
Okay, I know that this isn't the most metal choice, or even the most proggy choice for a favorite album from 1978, but I have always loved this album, from start to finish. This album was before the band started to try and churn out ballad after ballad. In fact, I think it was because of the mega-hit "Time For Me To Fly" that the band tried to turn to that ballad-type formula. Either way, this is just essential 70's rock here. There is so much to enjoy on this album, like "Blazin' Your Own Trail Again", "Do You Know Where Your Woman Is Tonight", the instrumental power house of "The Unidentified Flying Tuna Trot", and album closer, "Say You Love Me Or Say Goodnight." However, I'm gonna play it very safe and choose album opener, and one of the greatest rock songs ever written, as my favorite from the album, "Roll With the Changes". That instrumental section is worth the price of admission on this album alone. Like I said, essential!
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| Ace Frehley |
#05 - Ace Frehley: 1978 Solo Album
For me to pick a favorite of the 1978 solo albums, it's a very difficult task. My top two are just so damned close to each other, that I often go back and forth between the two. Today, Ace finishes just a tiny bit below Paul's. And when I say "tiny bit", I really mean it. This album is absolute perfection in every way. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Gene and Paul first heard this album. I bet they didn't know that the Space-Man had it in him. But here is proof... Nine tracks that have been so expertly crafted that nobody could deny Ace Frehley is, and always has been one hell of a songwriter. Even the fact that the biggest hit from the four solo albums was written by someone else, does not diminish the fact that Ace did one hell of a great job covering it. "New York Groove" is such an essential track. And while my favorite song on the album is an instrumental ("Fractured Mirror"), I can assure you that Ace sings his heart out on the entire album. Perfection!
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| Paul Stanley |
#04 - Paul Stanley: 1978 Solo Album
Since writing my last review those many seconds ago, I'm wondering if I chose the correct order. That's how hard it is for me to pick between Ace and Paul's albums. However, if Ace was the band's best kept secret, Paul Stanley was, and always has been the real heart of Kiss. Of the four solo albums, Paul's is the one that could have been a full blown Kiss of the 70's album. It's got all of the elements of a perfect Kiss album. I guess that's why it comes as no surprise that Paul pretty much carried Kiss through many of the band's following albums. There are some of Paul's greatest vocal melodies on this album ("Tonight You Belong To Me", "Take Me Away (Together As One)", and "Goodbye".), as well as some of his best hard rocking tunes ("Move On", "Love In Chains"). If I had to pick a favorite from this album, I would have to go with "Take Me Away". It's just such a magical piece of Kisstory.
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| Styx: Pieces of Eight |
If I had to pick a favorite Styx album, it would come down to "Grand Illusion", and this platter of perfection, "Pieces of Eight". This album was at the peak of Styx's creative period, and contains some of the biggest hits of the bands career within' its grooves ("Blue Collar Man", "Renegade"). But it's the songs that have been "forgotten" that really hit me. Tracks like "Great White Hope", Queen of Spades", and the title track should have never found their way out of a Styx setlist. Each track is somehow better than the last. This was back when the band were all in total sync, and churning out some of rock's greatest music. And while we'll never get an album like this from Styx again, they are still creating some damned fine music, by using the template of this amazing release, from 1978.
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| Jeff Wayne's "War of the Worlds" |
#02 - Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of "War of the Worlds".
I remember way back in my childhood, when my dad brought this album home one day. I can remember staring at the artwork (both the cover, and the huge, expansive insert), and being mesmerized at the presentation of the album. The entire package left its mark on me, and is the presentation that has been the benchmark against any well presented album for my entire life. The artwork, and the way it was done was just so amazing. Then of course, there's the music. This album is symphonic, hard rock, and just about one of the best albums ever written. The story, delivered in both narration, and vocals, is just an incredible ride, and great interpretation of the original HG Wells masterpiece. I'm not going to pick a favorite song for this one, but rather a favorite album. This is a two album set, and the first album is just flawless from start to finish. Like I said, it's a masterpiece from start to finish. No music fan should live their life without hearing this one!
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| Rush: Hemispheres |
#01 - Rush: Hemispheres
Anyone that knows me, knows that this was going to be my number one favorite album of 1978. In addition to being my favorite album from '78, this one is damned near my favorite album from Rush. If I were pressed to choose right now, I'd say it comes second only to 1993's "Counterparts" album. The entire album is only four songs. Side A is the most epic, and arguably ambitious side long piece that Rush had ever written. "Cygnus X-1: Book Two - Hemispheres" is such a lyrical, and musical feast, that it's easy to see why it's my favorite track on the disc. Side B is pretty amazing too. Of course, everyone knows "The Trees", and "La Villa Strangiato" (possibly the greatest instrumental ever written), but "Circumstances is one of those Rush songs that should have never fallen through the cracks. It's a good thing the band dusted it off after nearly thirty years, and played it for crowds everywhere, on their "Snakes & Arrows" tour. A definite highlight of the show for me.
And there you have it, kiddies, my top ten favorite albums from the year I was conceived. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, as far as albums released in '78 is concerned. The 70's were a great damn time for music. And though I existed for less than five months of it, I can still appreciate the genius of the time. Maybe it was the fact that there were less chemicals in our food then, or maybe it's because people had more time, and money, or maybe it could even be the fact that the internet gave birth to Napster, and ruined music as a business, who knows? But either way, I don't think we'll ever have years like this again. At least, not many.
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