These are my two choices of hardrock albums of 1976:
An album I already own:
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Blue For You by Status Quo
Think of them what you want but Status Quo made three of the best hardrock albums of the seventies: Hello, On The Level and this one. There isn't any of my absolutely favorite Quo songs here but it's a very consistent album and of course Rain and especially the long version of Mystery Song are outstanding. And it rises from the 5th to the 4th spot of the year.
An album on my wishlist:
Calling Card by Rory Gallagher
Last week a saw a documentary about the career of this great Irish artist who has never compromised on his music. This is maybe not his hardest album and it's a bit more blues orientated than his more known albums but it's a very good one and even his softer songs like I'll admit You're Gone are outstanding. It immediately enters at the 11th rank of the year.
FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
One of their best albums with of course especially Easy Livin' but also Circle Of Hands, Rainbow Demon and All My Life deserve your attention. It's ranking doesn't change at 4th.
Don't forget the opener.... great song.... cool acoustic vibe.
Let There Be Rock by AC/DC
The best AC/DC albums and one of the best hardrock albums ever with two of my favorite tracks ever, the title track which exemplifies exactly why they (and I) love rock music and of course Whole Lotta Rosie which ones of my first hardrock faves and couldn't stop listening to at the time it was released. All other tracks are also amongst the best AC/DC tracks so rightly deserves the 3rd rank of the year.
An album on my wishlist:
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Bad Reputation by Thin Lizzy
I like some tracks of Thin Lizzy but in general I'm not a big fan and certainly not of this album. The first part is not bad but the second half is plainly boring.
Van Halen by Van Halen
The first two albums of Van Halen were really something new. The guitar style of Eddie Van Halen is recognizable anywhere and the singing of David Lee Roth is over the top but superb. And above all they knew how to make a good song even if it was a cover like You Really Got Me. But the absolute killer of the album is Run-in' With The Devil. I adore the intro and the track just keeps on pushing forward in a great way. Tbh not all tracks are top quality but enough to make me increase the ranking of this album from the 29th to 19th rank.
An album on my wishlist:
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Obsession by UFO
Finally another UFO album I hadn't listened to yet although it opens with one of its finest and most known tracks: Only You Can Rock Me: I just love that lyrical interlude "We Can't Wait From Day Yo Day/We Are Here And There's No End" which keeps on messing up in the finest way that otherwise hard rocker with also a real good guitar solo by the great Michael Schenker. Also Pack It Up (and Go) is good (although its sounds a lot like a Led Zep track) but after that the quality deteriorates with also some below average hardrock ballads, something they did well on other albums. All in all not a bad album but certainly not their best and it enters my 1978 chart at rank 35.
On Parole by Motörhead
This is again a strange one. In fact this album was due to be released in 1975 but it was shelved by the record company only to be re-released in 1979, the year also two of their best albums Bomber and Overkill were released. Four tracks of the album also appeared on the official self-titled Motörhead album in 1977 of which the infamous song...Motörhead which was also the last track on the last Hawkwind album Lemmy played on. In The version of that track on this album sounds very motorcycle and gritty and would be much more potent on the Motörhead album (and is still one of their best tracks) and also Iron Horse/Born To Loose nearly sounds like a muzak version of the one it would later become (see also the definitive version on that phenomenal live album No Sleep Till Hammersmith). It's clear that Lemmy still had to smoke some cigarettes and drink some more booze here but the big difference (and you can hear that if you compare the four tracks that also appeared on Motörhead) was that typical Motörhead base that wasn't just there yet on this album. But nevertheless a very good album that showed the potential of the larger than life band they would later become. And also: don't forget to listen to the title song and City Kids! The album goes from the 25th to 24th rank.
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Saxon by Saxon
It's always interesting to listen to the first album that is generally described as only a rough draft of what they would become on their later albums. And the thing is: this first album starts off in the greatest way possible with their Rainbow suite which is one of my favorite Saxon tracks (or better: two tracks). The voice pf Peter Byford is already in great shape and the guitars already sound like, well, real Saxon. After that however, you can hear that the band is still try to find their place and some of the tracks don't seem to go anywhere. But the whole album already showed what they would become so the album enters at the 26th rank of the year.
Last edited by dihansse on 06/24/2020 04:35; edited 1 time in total
Saxon by Saxon
It's always interesting to listen to the first album that is generally described as only a rough draft of what they would become on their later albums. And the thing is: this first album starts off in the greatest way possible with their Rainbow suite which is one of my favorite Saxon tracks (or better: two tracks). The voice pf Peter Byford is already in great shape and the guitars already sound like, well, real Saxon. After that however, you can hear that the band is still try to find their place and some of the tracks don't seem to go anywhere. But the whole album already showed what they would become so the album enters at the 26th rank of the year.
I'm gonna linger a bit more in that first half of the eighties just because there are so many hard albums I want to listen to and for 1980 I maybe even exaggerated a bit (although I even don't cover the entire universe of especially NWOBHM like Quartz and Tygers Of Pan Tang):
First an album I already own:
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Iron Maiden by Iron Maiden
This is the first album from one of the greatest metal bands ever. I have previously said that I like their latter albums more than their first but I cannot say otherwise than that also this album is a killer. While there are already a few hints like Phanton Of The Opera at the epics they would make later in the Bruce Dickinson years, this is also a more harder edged album with more pointy tracks like the title track. This album is like most of their others a pleasure to listen to and it rises from the 28th to the 12th rank of the year.
And then a whole range of albums on my wishlist with first of all the two best Saxon albums both released in 1980, but which one is the best:
I will start with the winner: Strong Arm Of the Law is clearly the winner and this mainly because of the fact that it is consistently great while Wheels Of Steel (just listen to that title track and especially 747 (Strangers In The Night)) is equally good but has some flaws (although only Stand Up And Be Counted is really below par). But Strong Arm Of The Law is where they really rock with another song in which they reference Kennedy, Dallas, 1pm, but here directly. But the number of other excellent tracks is overwhelming with of course the title track and especially Heavy Metal Thunder which is one of the best metal tracks ever. So finally Wheels Of Steel goes to the 13th rank of the year and Strong Arm Of the Law to the 5th just behing Ace Of Spades which of course remains the best metal album of the year (in a year which was also blessed with many non metal classics with Remain In Light at the first rank, Making Movies at the second and Emotional Rescue at the third).
Then an album which Lemmy liked very much:
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Demolition by Girlschool
Girlschool is maybe best known because of the tracks they recorded together with Motörhead under the Headgirl name: their version of Bomber, Motörhead's version of their Emergency (one of the best tracks on Demolition) and especially their common version of the fantastic Please Don't touch. But this also is a fine album and I have always very much loved Race With The Devil. This is maybe their only good album but what an album it is and it finishes ate the 27th rank of this wonderful year where Hardrock turned into metal (but not yet really extreme metal).
Then a few albums which are widely recognized to be essential metal albums but of which I think haven't aged very well (although they end up in my year chart):
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Angel Witch by Angel Witch
I only knew Sweet Danger from them (because it was included on a hardrock compilation I used to own on cassette in my youth) and this is a good track and there are other good ones on here but finally I do think this album sounds a bit dated and the album ends up at the 46th rank of the year.
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Lightning To The Nations by Diamond Head
I mainly knew the of course great Am I Evil from that same hardrock compilation and of course also from Metallica's version which also covered a few other tracks of this album. Again: also this album is by no means a bad one and apart from Am I Evil, also The Prince and some other tracks sound good and the album finishes at the 35th track.
And then a number albums with, how will I call it, Schenker links:
First an album of UFO where Michael Schenker has just left the band leaving a bit of a gap:
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No Place To Run by UFO
When the best track on the album is an Elvis cover (Mystery Train), that is saying a lot. Not a bad album but they had clearly passed their great seventies period here and the album ends up at the 48th rank of the year.
Then the first album of Michael Schenker's new band after being kicked out of UFO and having left with the Scorpions as well.
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Michael Schenker Group by Michael Schenker Group
Armed And Ready is a stadion rock track, something that normally is not really my thing, but this track shines and is finally not as standard as it originally sounds with many twists and turns. 40th rank of the year.
And then finally an album were Michael Schenker had just left the band for a second time and also Uli Jon Roth called it quits; but Rudolf Schenker, Michael's brother, was still there:
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Animal Magnetism by Scorpions
This album is certainly not their best but features however good tracks like The Zoo and the title track. It finally ends up at the 45th rank of the year.
And the thing is in fact I saw them on their Animal Magnetism tour in Deinze on 14 September 1980 (together with Def Leppard, a band I don't really like) on which they played a lot of the songs also on one of the best live album every made, Tokyo Tapes, which was recorded on their Tokyo tour on 24 April 1978. And as I'm writing this I'm listening for the first time to the remastered version of this album of 2015 which not only features much clearer sounding remastering of this wonderful concert but also 7 additional tracks which were played on a second Tokyo concert on 27 April 1978 with three new tracks (of which a very good version of Hell Cat) but also four tracks in much longer versions than on the first concert and which showed that their shows hadn't turned into a routine (yet). What a feast!!! He-eeeee is a Woman, She-eeee is aaaa man!!!!
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