1977

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[Album 946/1001]

Of the ‘1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,’ 26 are from the year 1977.

I’ve reviewed all but one of them so far.

The last non-reviewed album from 1977: Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks.

Which 1977 albums are the most essential to hear again?

Ranked by their essential-ness, here’s how I’d prioritize revisiting these 26 albums, enjoy!

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26. Suicide – Suicide.

I stand by my assessment of this album: there’s nothing halfway about it.

This is either among the most brilliant albums on the list or…at the other extreme.

I thought by this point in the project I’d have a definitive answer but alas, I’m still uncertain (apart from the absolute certainty that it’s one or the other).

And since I know it’s also not the #1 album from 1977 that I’m most likely to revisit, to borrow the Ricky Bobby-ism, at least in terms of % chance of re-listening soon, if Suicide’s not first, they’re last!

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25. Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus.

24. Wire – Pink Flag

23. Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols.

I find most of the late-70s punk albums from the list do a great job of meeting my expectations. Which isn’t really a complaint but also doesn’t generally lead to a burning desire to revisit.

Always better than Bollocks (the nonsense/disaster/failure definition of the term), maybe not quite as up my street as Nevermind.

22. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Exodus. I’m more likely to gravitate to Natty Dread or Catch a Fire.

21. Weather Report – Heavy Weather. According to Back To The Future II, The Weather Reports in the future (or I suppose, now the past) are absolutely amazing. This Weather Report from the past is pretty reliable as well.

20. The Clash – The Clash. London Calling will be considerably higher in 1979.

19. John Martyn – One World. An ideal soundtrack for a potentially stressful drive through Toronto.

18. Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue. Sounds a bit like a bunch of other artists & it sounds good to me!

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17. Brian Eno – Before & After Science. Before a few of his producer/collaboration appearances & After a few of his Roxy Music/solo appearances on the list.

16. Talking Heads – 77. Qu’est-ce que c’est?!

15. Muddy Waters – Hard Again. His 2nd of 2 appearances.

14. Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express. Their 2nd of 3.

13. Ian Dury – New Boot & Panties!!. The benchmark for most exclamation marks on the back side of an album cover (23!)

12. Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue. Even at the time, I knew I’d be revisiting it soon enough.

11. Elvis Costello – My Aim is True. His 1st of 6(!) appearances on the list.

10. Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell. In the Top 10, ahead of approximately 2/3 of the rest of the 1977 albums, that ain’t bad.

9. Steely Dan – Aja. The album where I finally understood their appeal & attempted to document my Lightbulb / A-ha / Aja moment accordingly!

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8. Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel. Moribund the Burgermeister, maybe the most head-turning album-opening track name on the 1001 list.

7. Television – Marquee Moon. What a title track.

6. Iggy Pop – The Idiot.

5. Iggy Pop – Lust for Life.

4. David Bowie – Low.

3. David Bowie – Heroes.

Yeah, I suppose Bowie had a reasonably productive 1977.

2. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours. A Murray Hewitt once said, they did make some of their best music back then, all true.

1. Billy Joel – The Stranger. It’s no Glass Houses, but it’s still never that far from the turntable.

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Verbalize the Positive

Billy Joel’s 1976-1983, not bad at all!