Top 100 Music Albums of 1979
by MadhattanJack

• Chart updated: 11/11/2025 02:45
• (Created: 08/31/2022 04:23).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

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1. (=)

Drums And Wires 

 XTC

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XTC was one of the first bands ever to adopt a logo that could be used to draw a human face, almost two years before Toto did the same thing on their "Turn Back" LP. Unfortunately, many buyers complained that they couldn't "unsee" the face while record-shopping, and XTC was forced to abandon it. For a while, copies of this album were fetching prices of over $1,000,000, but then the internet came along and ruined everything. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

272 charts

Rank Score:

1,322

Rank in 1979:

22

Rank in 1970s:

258

Overall Rank:

1,301

Average Rating:

 78 (323 votes)

Comments:

10

2. (=)

154 

 Wire

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The title "154" refers to the number of live shows Wire had played prior to recording the album. Wikipedia (currently) says "at the time of the album's release," but there's always a few weeks between artwork finalization and initial stock date, during which they could have played at least a dozen gigs, so I call shenanigans on that. Some people thought it was an oblique reference to Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451," only with the numbers in reverse order, but then the title would have actually been "154 Tiehnerhaf," which sounds more like a Lithuanian street address. Also, I'm not a big fan of Ray Bradbury. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

272 charts

Rank Score:

1,736

Rank in 1979:

18

Rank in 1970s:

207

Overall Rank:

999

Average Rating:

 79 (314 votes)

Comments:

12

3. (=)

A Different Kind Of Tension 

 Buzzcocks

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Science would suggest that there's only one form of tension, which is exemplified by applying energy to expand (or "load") a spring. But that's science - for everything else, the sky's the limit! There are many forms of *dramatic* tension in particular, including psychological, sexual, and comedic tension, and of course, suspense. There's also hypertension, which is what most of us who were around when this album was released have now. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

85 charts

Rank Score:

417

Rank in 1979:

63

Rank in 1970s:

613

Overall Rank:

3,516

Average Rating:

 73 (87 votes)

Comments:

4

4. (=)

Fear Of Music 

 Talking Heads

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They say this is a concept album covering various forms of everyday fear and paranoia involving common objects and what-not, but that's probably just what they WANT you to think. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

868 charts

Rank Score:

6,927

Rank in 1979:

4

Rank in 1970s:

55

Overall Rank:

232

Average Rating:

 84 (1,097 votes)

Comments:

50

5. (=)

The Very Dab 

 Fingerprintz

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The debut album from one of the most underrated bands of the early "New Wave," and maybe one of the most underrated bands ever. I've always wondered how much better things might have turned out for them if they'd chosen "The Very Doog" as the title instead of what they ended up going with. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

7 charts

Rank Score:

57

Rank in 1979:

226

Rank in 1970s:

2,367

Overall Rank:

18,582

Average Rating:

 71 (8 votes)

Comments:

0

6. (=)

A Can Of Bees 

 The Soft Boys

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Though it's overshadowed by their second album, "Underwater Moonlight," this one shouldn't be overlooked, since it has bees in it. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

36 charts

Rank Score:

117

Rank in 1979:

146

Rank in 1970s:

1,463

Overall Rank:

10,153

Average Rating:

 76 (40 votes)

Comments:

0

7. (=)

The Crack 

 The Ruts

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These guys were better than the Clash and the Sex Pistols, maybe even the Ramones and the Buzzcocks too, but their lead singer died of a drug overdose before they could even record a follow-up to this album. So this is almost all we have... What is it about drugs, anyway? I don't like them. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

48 charts

Rank Score:

174

Rank in 1979:

112

Rank in 1970s:

1,120

Overall Rank:

7,252

Average Rating:

 75 (33 votes)

Comments:

0

8. (=)

Secondhand Daylight 

 Magazine

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For a couple of weeks, the UK critics tried to label Magazine an "art punk" band, but nobody was buying it, so they started calling them a "post punk" band, and... hey, they bought it! We win again! Yay! [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

84 charts

Rank Score:

307

Rank in 1979:

76

Rank in 1970s:

760

Overall Rank:

4,562

Average Rating:

 76 (92 votes)

Comments:

7

9. (=)

Sound On Sound 

 Bill Nelson's Red Noise

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Most people probably know that Bill Nelson was the singer-guitarist who led Be Bop Deluxe, a fairly successful UK progressive-rock band with heavy glam overtones. My theory is that he heard some of the early XTC stuff and decided "this is the future!" and then dropped everything to form a new band and record this album. He's never been confronted with this theory though, but that's only because nobody respects me as a theoretician. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

14 charts

Rank Score:

49

Rank in 1979:

243

Rank in 1970s:

2,566

Overall Rank:

20,762

Average Rating:

 74 (8 votes)

Comments:

0

10. (=)

Singles Going Steady 
Compilation

 Buzzcocks

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Since this is a compilation album (of all their singles, as of the date of release), normally I'd rank this a bit lower. But of all the singles compilations ever compiled, by anyone before or since, this one is the best ever, in my opinion. Unfortunately, after this came out, everyone else wanted to do the same thing because this one was so great, but since none of theirs were as great as this one, there were accusations of fan-exploitation along with record-label greed and corruption. "Why buy all those singles when they're just going to compile them into one of these albums," all of the single-buyers asked. Nobody had an answer. At one point I said, "Maybe the singles will be collectible someday anyway," but everyone just laughed. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

276 charts

Rank Score:

1,631

Rank in 1979:

19

Rank in 1970s:

221

Overall Rank:

1,065

Average Rating:

 80 (344 votes)

Comments:

26

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Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 composition

Artist	Albums	%
The Dickies	2	2%
The Fall	2	2%
Joe Jackson	2	2%
Skids	2	2%
Simple Minds	2	2%
Buzzcocks	2	2%
Gang Of Four	1	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	64	64%
	26	26%
	4	4%
	1	1%
	1	1%
	1	1%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 chart changes

Biggest fallers
Down 1 from 95th to 96th Chance Meeting On A Dissecting Table Of A Sewing Machine And An Umbrella by Nurse With Wound
Down 1 from 96th to 97th Teenage Jesus And The Jerks by Teenage Jesus & The Jerks

New entries
Nosferatu by Hugh Cornwell & Robert Williams

Leavers
Soldier Talk by The Red Crayola

Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 similarity to your chart(s)

Other year charts by MadhattanJack

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
Top 100 Music Albums of 1979	MadhattanJack	1979 year chart	2025
Top 89 Music Albums of 1978	MadhattanJack	1978 year chart	2025
Top 77 Music Albums of 1977	MadhattanJack	1977 year chart	2022
Top 37 Music Albums of 1976	MadhattanJack	1976 year chart	2025
Top 45 Music Albums of 1975	MadhattanJack	1975 year chart	2025
Top 42 Music Albums of 1974	MadhattanJack	1974 year chart	2024
Top 87 Music Albums of 1973	MadhattanJack	1973 year chart	2025
Top 34 Music Albums of 1972	MadhattanJack	1972 year chart	2025
Top 49 Music Albums of 1971	MadhattanJack	1971 year chart	2025
Top 53 Music Albums of 1970	MadhattanJack	1970 year chart	2023

Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 ratings

Showing all 3 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
100/100	04/11/2023 21:05	Rhyner	1,454	99/100
80/100	03/25/2023 02:51	mickilennial	715	77/100
40/100	03/24/2023 10:09	Larcx13	1,144	86/100

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