1978: An effervescent year to dive into!
Here’s my selection – 10 superb ones!
1/ ‘All Mod Cons’ by THE JAM
NME wrote: “Not only several light years ahead of anything they’ve done before but also the album that’s going to catapult ‘The Jam’ right into the front rank of international rock and roll.”
Released: 3 November 1978 – their outstanding 3rd LP
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2/ ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ by BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Rolling Stone wrote: “It poses once more the question that rock & roll’s epiphanic moments always raise: Do you believe in magic? And once again, the answer is yes. Absolutely.”
Released: 2 June 1978 – passionate 4th longplayer
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3/ ‘This Year’s Model’ by ELVIS COSTELLO
All Music wrote: “The songs on This Year’s Model are typically catchy and help the vicious sentiments sink into your skin, but the most remarkable thing about the album is the sound. Costello and the Attractions never rocked this hard, or this vengefully, ever again.”
Released: 17 March 1978 – sparkling second LP
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4/ ‘Another Music in a Different Kitchen’ by THE BUZZCOCKS
All Music wrote: “The big secret is Shelley’s worship of Krautrock’s obsessive focus on
repetition and rhythm, which transforms what would be “simply” basic punk songs into
at-times monstrous epics.”
Released: 10 March 1978 – their thunderous debut LP
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5/ ‘The Modern Dance’ by PERE UBU
All Music wrote: “The Modern Dance is the signature sound of the avant-garage:
art rock, punk rock, and garage rock mixing together joyously and fearlessly.”
Released: January 1978 – fascinating debut album
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6/ ‘Real Life’ by MAGAZINE
Melody Maker wrote: “No one that has the slightest interest in the present
and future of rock ‘n’ roll should rest until they’ve heard Real Life”
Released: June 1978 – their gloomy debut LP
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7/ ‘More Songs About Buildings And Food’ by TALKING HEADS
Rolling Stone wrote: “The eclecticism of ‘More Songs about Buildings and Food’, its witty distillations of disco and reggae rhythms, its reconciliation of ‘art’ and punk rock is masterful, The music represents a triumph over diversity.”
Released: 7 July 1978 – their funky second album
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8/ ‘Germ Free Adolescents’ by X-RAY SPEX
All Music wrote: “Poly Styrene’s frantic claustrophobia permeates the record. It’s full of kick-out-the-jams rockers, with a few up-tempo thrashers and surprisingly atmospheric pieces with
a raw, wailing saxophone.”
Released: 10 November 1978 – smashing debut
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9/ ‘The Scream’ by SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES
Melody Maker wrote: “Strong, abrasive, visceral and constantly inventive,
with a thrust that makes the spaces equal partners to the notes”
Released: 13 November 1978 – black pitch debut longplayer
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10/ ‘Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!’ by DEVO
Rolling Stone wrote: “It’s a brittle, small masterpiece of Seventies pop irony, but its shriveling, ice-cold absurdism might not define the Seventies as much as jump the gun on the Eighties.”
Released: 28 August 1978 – mental debut LP
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