Top 39 Music Albums of 1979
by 
Romanelli 
- Chart updated: 3 days ago
- (Created: 04/11/2012 18:32).
- Chart size: 39 albums.
There are 2 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 39 Music Albums of 1979 has an average rating of 88 out of 100 (from 6 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Produced by Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, James Guthrie and Roger Waters. I went through a long period where I couldn't stand this album...probably because of the sound of Waters' ego growing with each song. But I can't deny that this is a great sounding and amazing piece of work. A real concept album, a trip down the road of madness and loaded with incredible moments. It isn't sprawling like Dark Side or Wish You Were Here, but that's part of it...they show that they could do it even in quick, short bursts as well. Well played!
[First added to this chart: 04/12/2012]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
25,131
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 04/13/2012]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Produced by Jimmy Iovine and Tom Petty. Tom Petty has made a career out of albums with a great track or two and a bunch of filler. The closest he ever got to making a truly great album from start to finish was Damn The Torpedoes. In fact, this album IS great. Petty and the band have the requisite hits in "Refugee", "Here Comes My Girl", "Even The Losers" and "Don't Do Me Like That"...but there's also great lesser known songs like "Louisiana Rain" and "Century City". TP&THB at their very best.
[First added to this chart: 04/11/2012]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,274
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
1979-EPIC
Produced By GUY STEVENS
1. London Calling
2. Brand New Cadillac
3. Jimmy Jazz
4. Hateful
5. Rudie Can't Fail
6. Spanish Bombs
7. The Right Profile
8. Lost In The Supermarket
9. Clampdown
10. The Guns Of Brixton
11. Wrong 'Em Boyo
12. Death Or Glory
13. Koka Kola
14. The Card Cheat
15. Lover's Rock
16. Four Horsemen
17. I'm Not Down
18. Revolution Rock
19. Train In Vain
The Clash were one of the leading lights of punk, thanks to their self titled debut album. What they had on the others (The Sex Pistols, The Ramones) was a keen political sense. And, it turned out, much more talent than their contemporaries. London Calling is a masterpiece. Diving head first into not only punk, but reggae, rock, and blues, The Clash makes this set of exceptional songs an album that still sounds great today, and that earned them (for a short time) the label of the Best Rock Band In The World. Punk would never be the same, as The Clash expanded the sound and made smart music. The title track remains a hit today, as does "Train In Vain"...a song the band disliked enough to not list on the album credits.
After this, the decline was slow, but they never reached this height again. But London Calling is their masterwork, a true classic album, and maybe the best punk album of all time. [First added to this chart: 07/22/2012]
Produced By GUY STEVENS
1. London Calling
2. Brand New Cadillac
3. Jimmy Jazz
4. Hateful
5. Rudie Can't Fail
6. Spanish Bombs
7. The Right Profile
8. Lost In The Supermarket
9. Clampdown
10. The Guns Of Brixton
11. Wrong 'Em Boyo
12. Death Or Glory
13. Koka Kola
14. The Card Cheat
15. Lover's Rock
16. Four Horsemen
17. I'm Not Down
18. Revolution Rock
19. Train In Vain
The Clash were one of the leading lights of punk, thanks to their self titled debut album. What they had on the others (The Sex Pistols, The Ramones) was a keen political sense. And, it turned out, much more talent than their contemporaries. London Calling is a masterpiece. Diving head first into not only punk, but reggae, rock, and blues, The Clash makes this set of exceptional songs an album that still sounds great today, and that earned them (for a short time) the label of the Best Rock Band In The World. Punk would never be the same, as The Clash expanded the sound and made smart music. The title track remains a hit today, as does "Train In Vain"...a song the band disliked enough to not list on the album credits.
After this, the decline was slow, but they never reached this height again. But London Calling is their masterwork, a true classic album, and maybe the best punk album of all time. [First added to this chart: 07/22/2012]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30,858
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Produced by Neil Young, David Briggs and Tim Mulligan. A strange sort of a live album. Most of the tracks were recorded live, with the audience noise mostly removed, and studio overdubs added. Two of the songs are new studio tracks ("Pocohantas" and "Sail Away") But the album works on the strength of the performances, and on the strength of the material. And because the concept of a working band on the road somehow overshadows the trickery. Somehow, a great album. But that's just what Neil has always been good at.
[First added to this chart: 04/11/2012]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,249
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
1979-EMERGO
Produced By ROGER ARMSTRONG & THE DAMNED
1. Love Song
2. Machine Gun Etiquette
3. I Just Can't Be Happy Today
4. Melody Lee
5. Anti-Pope
6. These Hands
7. Plan 9 Channel 7
8. Noise, Noise, Noise
9. Looking At You
10. Liar
11. Smash It Up (Part I)
12. Smash It Up (Part II)
13. Ballroom Blitz
14. Suicide
15. Rabid (Over You)
16. White Rabbit (Extended Version)
In the beginning of punk there was The Sex Pistols. And The Damned. The Damned outlasted the Pistols by one album...the Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) produced record that caused their fiery breakup (they have never played a track from that album since). The breakup was over guitarist Brian James' desire to be a dictator. It was thought that The Damned was over for good.
Which is why this album is so surprising. Regrouping without James, the remaining members,singer Dave Vanian (who just might really believe he's a vampire), drummer Rat Scabies, and guitarist Captain Sensible started writing together and came up with a classic. "Love Song" was their official comeback, and the band rocks throughout. Punks originals were back! The album is a lot of fun, and even contains 3 nice covers..."Looking At You" from the MC5, Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" and "Ballroom Blitz" from Sweet...featuring Lemmy Kilmister on bass! Overall, a punk classic. The Damned were a lot of fun. Somewhat forgotten, they do deserve to be heard. [First added to this chart: 04/11/2012]
Produced By ROGER ARMSTRONG & THE DAMNED
1. Love Song
2. Machine Gun Etiquette
3. I Just Can't Be Happy Today
4. Melody Lee
5. Anti-Pope
6. These Hands
7. Plan 9 Channel 7
8. Noise, Noise, Noise
9. Looking At You
10. Liar
11. Smash It Up (Part I)
12. Smash It Up (Part II)
13. Ballroom Blitz
14. Suicide
15. Rabid (Over You)
16. White Rabbit (Extended Version)
In the beginning of punk there was The Sex Pistols. And The Damned. The Damned outlasted the Pistols by one album...the Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) produced record that caused their fiery breakup (they have never played a track from that album since). The breakup was over guitarist Brian James' desire to be a dictator. It was thought that The Damned was over for good.
Which is why this album is so surprising. Regrouping without James, the remaining members,singer Dave Vanian (who just might really believe he's a vampire), drummer Rat Scabies, and guitarist Captain Sensible started writing together and came up with a classic. "Love Song" was their official comeback, and the band rocks throughout. Punks originals were back! The album is a lot of fun, and even contains 3 nice covers..."Looking At You" from the MC5, Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" and "Ballroom Blitz" from Sweet...featuring Lemmy Kilmister on bass! Overall, a punk classic. The Damned were a lot of fun. Somewhat forgotten, they do deserve to be heard. [First added to this chart: 04/11/2012]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
785
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 08/12/2012]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
861
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
1979-EPIC
Produced By QUINCY JONES
1. Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
2. Rock With You
3. Working Day And Night
4. Get On The Floor
5. Off The Wall
6. Girlfriend
7. She’s Out Of My Life
8. I Can’t Help It
9. It’s The Falling In Love
10. Burn This Disco Out
Hard to believe that Off The Wall was Michael Jackson’s fifth solo album. And his first in four years following 1975’s Forever, Michael. Easy to forget that Off The Wall still stands just as strong alongside the ridiculously massively successful follow up, Thriller. But it does. Off The Wall is to disco what Appetitie For Destruction is to hair metal: it was so good that no one was going to be able to make a better disco album, and it was all downhill for the genre afterward.
Wait…just as good as Thriller? Yep. Off The Wall is loaded with everything Jackson did best: great dance floor numbers with high solid vocals, a good time vibe that rivals he best of Funkadelic, and yes…songs by both Stevie Wonder (“I Can’t Help It”) and Paul McCartney (“Girlfriend”), along with a breathy and over emotional ballad (“She’s Out Of My Life”). But it’s tracks like “Working Day And Night”, “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”, and “Off The Wall” that make this album great. This is pre-lost his mind Michael, and may be his best work. [First added to this chart: 09/08/2012]
Produced By QUINCY JONES
1. Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
2. Rock With You
3. Working Day And Night
4. Get On The Floor
5. Off The Wall
6. Girlfriend
7. She’s Out Of My Life
8. I Can’t Help It
9. It’s The Falling In Love
10. Burn This Disco Out
Hard to believe that Off The Wall was Michael Jackson’s fifth solo album. And his first in four years following 1975’s Forever, Michael. Easy to forget that Off The Wall still stands just as strong alongside the ridiculously massively successful follow up, Thriller. But it does. Off The Wall is to disco what Appetitie For Destruction is to hair metal: it was so good that no one was going to be able to make a better disco album, and it was all downhill for the genre afterward.
Wait…just as good as Thriller? Yep. Off The Wall is loaded with everything Jackson did best: great dance floor numbers with high solid vocals, a good time vibe that rivals he best of Funkadelic, and yes…songs by both Stevie Wonder (“I Can’t Help It”) and Paul McCartney (“Girlfriend”), along with a breathy and over emotional ballad (“She’s Out Of My Life”). But it’s tracks like “Working Day And Night”, “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”, and “Off The Wall” that make this album great. This is pre-lost his mind Michael, and may be his best work. [First added to this chart: 09/08/2012]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,026
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
1979-REPRISE
Produced By DAVID BRIGGS, TIM MULLIGAN & BERNARD SHAKEY (NEIL YOUNG)
1. Sugar Mountain
2. I Am A Child
3. Comes A Time
4. After The Gold Rush
5. My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)
6. When You Dance I Can Really Love
7. The Loner
8. The Needle And The Damage Done
9. Lotta Love
10. Sedan Delivery
11. Powderfinger
12. Cortez The Killer
13. Cinnamon Girl
14. Like A Hurricane
15. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
16. Tonight's The Night
Released 5 months after Rust Never Sleeps, an almost live album with studio overdubs and removed crowd noise, Young released the fully live Live Rust. Starting off with Young playing solo, he is joined by Carzy Horse and turns in a rocking performance. The song selection is key, and it's mostly great here (although "Lotta Love" sounds out of place). From "Sedan Delivery" on, it's all rock. "Powderfinger" (maybe Neil's best song) is awesome as always, and following that with "Cortez The Killer", Cinnamon Girl", and "Like A Hurricane"...how could you not enjoy this album? Even asking for the crowds help to stop a rainstorm at the end of "The Loner" is priceless.
There is a concert film of this somewhere, directed by Young under the name Bernard Shakey. Also of note...the guitar solo on "Cortez The Killer" was cut short because of time limitations for CD. [First added to this chart: 04/11/2012]
Produced By DAVID BRIGGS, TIM MULLIGAN & BERNARD SHAKEY (NEIL YOUNG)
1. Sugar Mountain
2. I Am A Child
3. Comes A Time
4. After The Gold Rush
5. My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)
6. When You Dance I Can Really Love
7. The Loner
8. The Needle And The Damage Done
9. Lotta Love
10. Sedan Delivery
11. Powderfinger
12. Cortez The Killer
13. Cinnamon Girl
14. Like A Hurricane
15. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
16. Tonight's The Night
Released 5 months after Rust Never Sleeps, an almost live album with studio overdubs and removed crowd noise, Young released the fully live Live Rust. Starting off with Young playing solo, he is joined by Carzy Horse and turns in a rocking performance. The song selection is key, and it's mostly great here (although "Lotta Love" sounds out of place). From "Sedan Delivery" on, it's all rock. "Powderfinger" (maybe Neil's best song) is awesome as always, and following that with "Cortez The Killer", Cinnamon Girl", and "Like A Hurricane"...how could you not enjoy this album? Even asking for the crowds help to stop a rainstorm at the end of "The Loner" is priceless.
There is a concert film of this somewhere, directed by Young under the name Bernard Shakey. Also of note...the guitar solo on "Cortez The Killer" was cut short because of time limitations for CD. [First added to this chart: 04/11/2012]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,258
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
1979-ASYLUM
Produced By BILL SZYMCZYK
1. The Long Run
2. I Can’t Tell You Why
3. In The City
4. The Disco Strangler
5. King of Hollywood
6. Heartache Tonight
7. Those Shoes
8. Teenage Jail
9. The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks
10. The Sad Café
For the Eagles, following up their hugely successful album Hotel California wasn’t the problem. The problem was how to keep from killing each other in the process. They got The Long Run done without either Don Henley, Don Felder or Glenn Frey dying in the process, but they were famously done by the end of the tour that followed. As for the album itself, it’s been able to stand up on its own, although it’s not as consistent as Hotel California. It has great highs, terrible lows, and enough hits to keep the band on the charts for the sixth straight album. The Long Run is the first without Randy Meisner on bass…his replacement, Timothy B. Schmitt from Poco contributes one song…and it may be the best in the Eagles catalog. “I Can’t Tell You Why” is a stunningly beautiful song, sung to perfection by Schmitt and containing Frey’s best guitar work. For this song alone, the album is worthwhile.
But there are nine other tracks. “Heartache Tonight” (co-written by Bob Seger) and “The Long Run” were big hits: both very good songs. “The Sad Café” is a touching ode to the Troubadour in Los Angeles, and “Those Shoes” is the bands best rocker. And the only Joe Walsh entry, “In The City”, is a well done re-recording. But there’s also the awful “The Disco Strangler”, the mediocre “King Of Hollywood”, the dull “Teenage Jail” and the downright stupidity of “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks”, which actually contains a line about “barfing all over your boyfriend’s shoes”. In all, The Long Run is a series of highs and lows. It’s good…especially with the ability to skip tracks. It’s not amazing, and it’s also a further departure from the bands California country roots…it would have been interesting to hear what the follow up to this one would have sounded like. We’ll never know. [First added to this chart: 04/13/2012]
Produced By BILL SZYMCZYK
1. The Long Run
2. I Can’t Tell You Why
3. In The City
4. The Disco Strangler
5. King of Hollywood
6. Heartache Tonight
7. Those Shoes
8. Teenage Jail
9. The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks
10. The Sad Café
For the Eagles, following up their hugely successful album Hotel California wasn’t the problem. The problem was how to keep from killing each other in the process. They got The Long Run done without either Don Henley, Don Felder or Glenn Frey dying in the process, but they were famously done by the end of the tour that followed. As for the album itself, it’s been able to stand up on its own, although it’s not as consistent as Hotel California. It has great highs, terrible lows, and enough hits to keep the band on the charts for the sixth straight album. The Long Run is the first without Randy Meisner on bass…his replacement, Timothy B. Schmitt from Poco contributes one song…and it may be the best in the Eagles catalog. “I Can’t Tell You Why” is a stunningly beautiful song, sung to perfection by Schmitt and containing Frey’s best guitar work. For this song alone, the album is worthwhile.
But there are nine other tracks. “Heartache Tonight” (co-written by Bob Seger) and “The Long Run” were big hits: both very good songs. “The Sad Café” is a touching ode to the Troubadour in Los Angeles, and “Those Shoes” is the bands best rocker. And the only Joe Walsh entry, “In The City”, is a well done re-recording. But there’s also the awful “The Disco Strangler”, the mediocre “King Of Hollywood”, the dull “Teenage Jail” and the downright stupidity of “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks”, which actually contains a line about “barfing all over your boyfriend’s shoes”. In all, The Long Run is a series of highs and lows. It’s good…especially with the ability to skip tracks. It’s not amazing, and it’s also a further departure from the bands California country roots…it would have been interesting to hear what the follow up to this one would have sounded like. We’ll never know. [First added to this chart: 04/13/2012]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
462
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 39. Page 1 of 4
Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!
Top 39 Music Albums of 1979 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Neil Young & Crazy Horse | 2 | 5% | |
| Jefferson Starship | 1 | 3% | |
| George Harrison | 1 | 3% | |
| Joe Jackson | 1 | 3% | |
| Pink Floyd | 1 | 3% | |
| Stiff Little Fingers | 1 | 3% | |
| Dire Straits | 1 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 39 Music Albums of 1979 chart changes
There have been no changes to this chart.Top 39 Music Albums of 1979 similarity to your chart(s)
Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!
Why register?
- Join a passionate community of over 50,000 music fans.
- Create & share your own charts.
- Have your say in the overall rankings.
- Post comments in the forums and vote on polls.
- Comment on or rate any album, artist, track or chart.
- Discover new music & improve your music collection.
- Customise the overall chart using a variety of different filters & metrics.
- Create a wishlist of albums.
- Help maintain the BEA database.
- Earn member points and gain access to increasing levels of functionality!
- ... And lots more!
Register now - it only takes a moment!
Romanelli has created 71 other 1979 year charts - click here to explore them all.
Top 39 Music Albums of 1979 ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
N.B. The average rating for this chart will not be reliable as it has been rated very few times.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 6 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 12/23/2020 15:51 |  imimesis | 54 | 83/100 |
| ! | 08/22/2014 14:41 |  thedistantship | 162 | 84/100 |
| ! | 03/26/2014 23:17 |  sssvnnn | 2,865 | 83/100 |
| ! | 02/28/2013 20:13 |  Cymro2011 | 328 | 84/100 |
| ! | 11/02/2012 12:18 | ecwashere | 157 | 83/100 |
Top 39 Music Albums of 1979 favourites
Top 39 Music Albums of 1979 comments
Showing all 2 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
From thedistantship 08/22/2014 14:42 | #120103
thedistantship 08/22/2014 14:42 | #120103
Another good chart, browsing your 70's charts, you really seem to embrace live albums more than most, which is a great thing
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From ecwashere 11/02/2012 12:18 | #54011
Very good
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Your feedback for Top 39 Music Albums of 1979
Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
