Wednesday, January 3, 2001

McQ's Favorite Albums Of 1977

Highest Recommends

1. Saturday Night Fever - Original Soundtrack: Truth be told, I view albums 1-7 on this list as being in a near dead heat for best album of 1977.  If the American version of the Clash's self-titled debut had been released in 1977 instead of 1979, it would have taken the #1 spot, but it is significantly better than the original '77 version here. So with no clear personal front-runner, I ultimately chose incorporate cultural impact as a ranking factor as well, and while Bullock's and Rumours are arguably one of the two or three best albums in the punk and soft rock genres ever, no album in existence completely encapsulates an entire genre the way The Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack does disco.  Hence, though not my favorite '77 listen, and more of a grand final statement for a definitive period of a genre as opposed to a profound influencer like Bullocks, Heroes or Low, it retains my number one ranking for 1977. 


2. Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols: 

3. Rumours - Fleetwood Mac:

4. Marquee Moon - Television:

5. The Clash: 

6. My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello:

7. Pink Flag - Wire:

8. Rocket To Russia - Ramones:

9. Heroes - David Bowie:

10. Exodus - Bob Marley & The Wailers:

11. Rough Mix - Pete Townshend And Ronnie Lane:

12. Trans Europe Express - Kraftwerk:


Strong Recommends

13. Talking Heads 77: Though probably not the Talking Heads best album, their '77 debut belongs in that conversation, as almost everything that would make the Heads such a unique force in the new wave music arrives fully formed here. My only real criticism is the record's sequencing, which places the album's four weakest numbers first.  Of course, the flip side to this is that the final two thirds of the album is consistently great listen. Overall an easy Strong Recommend with a High Intangibles rating.  Cherry Picker's Best Bets: No Compassion, First Week... Last Week, Psycho Killer, Pulled Up.

14. Animals - Pink Floyd

15. (I'm) Stranded - The Saints

16. Low - David Bowie

17. Aja - Steely Dan

18. Lust For Life - Iggy Pop

19. Before And After Science - Brian Eno

20. Street Survivors - Lynyrd Skynyrd

21. Dark Magus - Miles Davis

22. Let There Be Rock - AC/DC

23. Bat Out Of Hell - Meat Loaf

24. Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome - Parliament

25. Hard Again - Muddy Waters

26. Two Sevens Clash - Culture

27. Party Time - The Heptones

28. Oxygene - Jean-Michel Jarre

29. The Heart Of The Congos - The Congos

30. Motorhead

31. Sorrow, Tears And Blood - Fela Kuti

Solid Recommends

32. Young, Loud And Snotty - The Dead Boys

33. The Idiot - Iggy Pop

34. In Color - Cheap Trick

35. Suicide

36. Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids

37. Damned, Damned, Damned - The Damned

38. Slowhand - Eric Clapton

39. New Boots And Panties - Ian Dury & The Blockheads

40. Rattus Norvegicus - The Stranglers

41. From Here To Eternity - Giorgio Moroder

42. The Second Annual Report - Throbbing Gristle

43. Chic

44. Radio Appears - Radio Birdman

45. All 'n' All - Earth, Wind & Fire

46. Twilley Don't Mind - Dwight Twilley Band

47. Commodores

48. Cabretta - Mink DeVille

49. Shuffering And Shmiling - Fela Kuti

50. In The City - The Jam

51. No More Heroes - The Stranglers

52. The Stranger - Billy Joel

53. Cheap Trick

54. Little Criminals - Randy Newman

55. Equal Rights - Peter Tosh

56. Book Of Dreams - Steve Miller Band

57. Foreigner

58. Let It Flow - Dave Mason

59. Cluster & Eno

60. L.A.M.F. - Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers

61. Lights Out - UFO

62. JT - James Taylor

63. Leave Home - The Ramones

64. Monkey Island - J. Giels Band

65. Running On Empty - Jackson Browne

66. Bad Reputation - Thin Lizzy

67. Heavy Weather  - Weather Report

68. In The Light - Horace Andy

69. The Belle Album - Al Green

Mild Recommends
70. This Is The Modern World - The Jam
71. Love Gun - Kiss
72. Peter Gabriel I
73. The Grand Illusion - Styx
74. I'm In You - Peter Frampton
75. Out Of The Blue - ELO
76. Point Of Know Return - Kansas

77 Solids and Milds I haven't heard enough to rank but worth checking out
A Diamond Is A Hard
A Farewell To Kings - Rush
Alive II - Kiss
American Stars 'N' Bars - Neil Young
Amorosa - Joao Gilberto
Cat Scratch Fever - Ted Nugent
CSN - Crowby, Stills & Nash 
Dancer With Bruise Knee - Kate And Anna McGariggle
Dancing In Your Head - Ornette Coleman
Delusions - First Choice
Draw The Line
Dry And Heavy - Burning Spear
East Of The Nile River - Augustus Pablo
Eddie Money
Even In the Quietest Moments - Supertramp
Get It - Dave Edmunds
Ghost Writer - Garland Jeffreys
Going For The One - Yes
I Robot - The Allan Parsons Projects
King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown - Augustus Pablo
Legs Diamond
Les Marquises - Jacques Brel
Little Queen - Heart
Live At The London Palladium - Marvin Gaye
Live At The Old Quarter, Houston, Texas - Townes Van Zandt
Luxury Liner -  Emmylou Harris
News Of The World - Queen
Once Upon A Time - Donna Summer
One World - John Martin
Pacific Ocean Blue - Dennis Wilson
Plastic Letters - Blondie
Police And Thieves - Junior Murvin
Portfolio - Grace Jones
Pure Mania - The Vibrators
Queens Of Noise - The Runaways
Rain Dances - Camel
Rejoice - The Emotions
Riot City - Riot
Seconds Out - Genesis
Send It - Ashford & Simpsons
Sin After Sin - Judas Priest
So So Satisfied - Ashford & Simpson
Songs For The Woods - Jethro Tull
Spectres - Blue Oyster Cult
Stick To me - Graham Parker
Supernature - Cerrone
The Album - ABBA
Time Loves A Hero - Little Feat
Time's Up - The Buzzcocks
To Lefty From Willie - Willie Nelson
Travelin' At The Speed Of Thought - The O'Jays
Waiting' For The Night - The Runaways
Wolf & Leopards - Dennis Brown
Works Vol 2 & 2 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Veneno
Village People
V.S.O.P - Herbie Hancock



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