Real Life
Magazine
1978
Being in one seminal band wasn’t enough for Howard Devoto. After forming the Buzzcocks, Devoto realized he wanted to make much more experimental music, so he left the band and formed Magazine. Their first album was Real Life, a sinister slab of ominous keyboards and John McGeoch’s rabid guitar, far removed from the Buzzcocks’ adrenaline-fueled punk rock. With Devoto’s nasal, eerie vocals creeping over the top, Real Life is a strangely cinematic, dramatic album, which paved the way for most of the music that popped up in the wake of punk’s initial blast of fury.
#29
“Heroes”
David Bowie
1977
Still in a fit of creativity after recording his landmark Low album, Bowie continued his radical career reinvention with “Heroes” (complete with ironic quotation marks). The album was recorded within shooting distance of the Berlin Wall, with the East German guards practically breathing down Bowie’s neck. This danger and the thrills that come with it permeate the album, particularly on the stunning title track, which has a much deserved place in music lore. Bowie also continues Low’s trend of featuring a suite of instrumental tracks on the album’s second half. “Heroes” can’t compare to its predecessor, but Bowie is such a genius that even when he’s trying to copy one of his own albums, the end result is wonderful.
#28
The Cars
The Cars
1978
Ric Ocasek must be the most unlikely rock hero ever. Yet somehow, this gangly, gaunt man is a veritable bottomless pit of brilliant pop songs. The Cars, the band’s debut album, has enough of that New Wave edginess to keep things dangerous, but even from the beginning, Ocasek’s grasp of shiny, peerless pop songwriting was masterful. The album is virtually the band’s greatest hits collection, with songs like “Good Times Roll” and “You’re All That I’ve Got Tonight” practically barreling over each other in a race to prove which is more awesome. With Elliot Easton’s powerhouse guitar playing powering the whole thing, The Cars is nothing less than a pop-rock classic.
#27
Lust For Life
Iggy Pop
1977
After letting David Bowie steamroll his career in a new direction with the stark, downcast The Idiot, Iggy Pop decided it was time he took control of his music again. And, for perhaps the only time in his life, this didn’t prove to be a colossal mistake. Somehow, one of music’s great self-sabotagers managed to create a vibrant, exciting album that delivered on Iggy’s promise with the Stooges. With a terrific rhythm section and Bowie lurking in the background to make sure everyone actually got their shit done, Lust For Life ended up being exactly what it’s title implied: Iggy’s glorious celebration of being alive, after years of unending craziness.
#26
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
Devo
1978
Before “Whip It” became a mainstay on One-Hit Wonders Of The 80s compilations, Devo were nothing less than pop culture terrorists. Coming out of the unlikeliest of places (Akron, OH), Devo were determined to undermine every rock-and-roll trope from the inside out. Dressed in absurd outfits and playing screwy punk-influenced music with scientific precision, they took all the danger, sex and violence out of rock and replaced them with adorable red hats. Just listen to their positively sterile cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”. If there was any doubt left about Devo’s absurdity, Brian Eno demanded to produce them. You can’t get a better stamp of approval.
#25
Some Girls
The Rolling Stones
1978
Speaking of the Rolling Stones, they weren’t doing so well by the mid-70s. After the monolithic statement of Exile On Main Street, they released a series of middling albums that couldn’t hold a candle to their brilliant work of the past five years. Even worse, now they had punk rock to deal with, a genre that mocked old dinosaur bands like the Stones, with their languid blues rock riffs and posturing. So, the Stones decided to beat those young upstarts at their own game. Some Girls shows the Stones tapping into a new source of energy and becoming completely revitalized in the process. Finally, the Stones had come back around to recording exciting, dangerous music.
#24
Songs In The Key Of Life
Stevie Wonder
1976
Stevie Wonder spent two years ensconced in his studio, recording every minute detail of the songs that would eventually become Songs In The Key Of Life. For Stevie, two years seems like a very long period of time to write a new album. However, even one listen proves why this album took so damn long. First of all, the album is huge, clocking in at an unheard of hour-and-forty-five minutes! But the truly frightening aspect of the album is the extreme lushness of all the songs on here. Stevie played virtually every instrument himself, exercising an almost ridiculous level of creative control. As if all those flashy details weren’t enough, the songs themselves are brilliant. But, I mean, that shouldn’t be a surprise. This is Stevie Wonder we’re talking about here.
#23
Katy Lied
Steely Dan
1975
For all those people out there who think Steely Dan is music for rich people to awkwardly dance to on yachts, this is the album that proves you completely wrong. This is an album that starts off with a song about people throwing themselves out of windows because the stock market crashed, while the narrator laughs his head off in Australia. That’s not enough, you say? Well, how about the song about a lovable pedophile? Edgy enough for you yet?! With Steely Dan, all that pretty jazz-rock is just a cover for Donald Fagen’s sneering, provocative lyrics, lurking beneath the music, waiting for a chance to rip you apart. As Fagen himself says, “All night long, we would sing that stupid song and every word we sang I knew was true.” It’s time for hipsters like myself to reclaim Steely Dan from those goddamn dancing yuppies.
#22
This Year’s Model
Elvis Costello
1978
On his first album, Elvis Costello borrowed another band to back him up. However, by the time This Year’s Model was recorded, Costello had hunted down his own crack team of musical henchmen and it’s amazing how different his music starting sounding. With Bruce Thomas’ snarling bass and Steve Nieve working all kinds of magic on the keyboards, suddenly Costello had a musical background that matched the sneering attitude and bile in his songs. Thriving on bitterness and anger, This Year’s Model is not a gentle record. Costello tears into his songs with an energy and fury he was never able to rediscover.
#21
The Wall
Pink Floyd
1979
Virtually every concept album made in the 70s is a horrendous pile of pretention and unmitigated bullshit. The Wall is the glorious exception to this rule. Despite being burdened with a melodramatic story and being recorded by Pink Floyd, a band with a terrifying history of recording hopelessly wandering drivel, The Wall is a complete and utter masterpiece. The album succeeds on a couple different levels. For one, the band was tearing itself apart during the recording, which added a certain layer of emotional honesty to Roger Waters’ story of emotional isolation and alienation. But the key to the whole thing is the incredible music. Even on their own, without the context of the album’s story, the desolate “Hey You” or the furious “One Of My Turns” are remarkable songs. Pink Floyd completely dedicated themselves to their concept and thus avoided creating another ridiculous 70s progressive rock flop.
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