453. The Specials - The Specials

Release Date: 1979
Label: Two Tone

We have reached the end of  the 1970s, and we sign off with Coventry's finest. We began in November last year with Creedence Clearwater Revival and now we end with The Specials. And it's a great way to conclude the decade, as every song is brilliant.

Rating: 10/10

452. Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle

Release Date: 1979
Label: Beggars Banquet

Gary Numan is possibly a robot. I think he is anyway. Embracing the glamour of Roxy Music and the functionality of Kraftwerk, Numan creates as fascinating (if not fulfilling) synth-pop album. 'Cars' is perhaps the most well known song, but fans of Basement Jaxx will recognise M.E.

Rating: 7/10

451. The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette

Release Date: 1979
Label: Chiswick

By the time we get to the end of the 1970s, we are surely down to final dregs on UK punk. The Sex Pistols have disintegrated, the Clash have embraced other genres such as reggae and the Jam were never really into it in the first place. The Damned present their third album here and, as with many artists they have realised that there is more to life than shouting for two minutes over a three chord progression. It's a good album, but that's all it is.

Rating: 7/10

450. Michael Jackson - Off The Wall

Release Date: 1979
Label: Epic

This was the fifth studio album released by Michael Jackson, but the first important one - the first four having been released during his years as a prodigiously talented child in the Jackson 5. There is an innocence to the record which is perhaps lost by the time 'Thriller' and especially 'Bad' are released during the 1980s. At this point, Jackson is just a very talented young man.

Rating: 9/10

449. Public Image Ltd - Metal Box

Release Date: 1979
Label: Virgin

I'm not going to buy this album, but there were times during the hour where I thought the music was gorgeous. The band are continuing the natural progression from their debut album, and they are clearly getting better at what they do.

Rating: 7/10

448. Pink Floyd - The Wall

Release Date: 1979
Label: Harvest

This is the last Pink Floyd album on the list (I imagine) and it's the last of theirs I already own. It is also one that I can never decide how I feel about it. It has some of their best material, but it is also bloated in various places. Mind you, I like the idea that the final notes of the last song match perfectly to the opening notes of the first track.

Rating: 8/10

447. Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

Release Date: 1979
Label: Warner Bros

Considering I'm such a fan of 'Rumours' is a wonder why I've never really considered buying another Fleetwood Mac album. This is going to change.

Rating: 9/10

446. Cheap Trick - At Budokan

Release Date: 1979
Label: Epic

I've never been a huge fan of live albums, and though I have admitted to liking some in the past (and there are some I've bought because of this book, such as The Who's 'Live at Leeds') this is another offering which makes me want to put 'live albums' into Room 101.

Rating: 4/10

445. Gang of Four - Entertainment

Release Date: 1979
Label: EMI

If Gang of Four were to have released this album and then split up a week later, they'd still be one of the most important bands to come from Leeds. Second to only The Pigeon Detectives. Entertainment! is their debut album, and if the rest of their back catalogue is this good, then they have another fan.

Rating: 10/10

444. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps

Release Date: 1979
Label: Reprise

Neil Young's reaction to the punk movement was to release this definitive statement. It can't really be called a comeback album, but even at the age of 34 Neil Young was consisdered yesterday's man. 'Rust Never Sleeps' is a welcome reminded that rock 'n' roll will never die.

Rating: 9/10

443. Elvis Costello - Armed Forces

 

Release Date: 1979
Label: Radar

Once again Elvis Costello gives us another stellar album full off great music and fantastic lyrics. This is another one of his albums I already own - having bought it in Sheffield - so I'll not bother listening to it again.

Rating: 10/10

442. The Slits - Cut

Release Date: 1979
Label: Island

The one thing that you'll notice with punk, compared to earlier musical fashions, is the prominence of females alongside males. For every Johnny Rotten, there is a Siouxsie Sioux. For every Billy Idol there's a Poly Styrene. The Slits were a group who sound like they'd never picked up an instrument until they went into the recording studio. But you know what? It fucking works.

Rating: 9/10

441. Marianne Faithfull - Broken English

Release Date: 1979
Label: Island

Forget mars bars, Marianne Faithfull needs a bar of soap to suck on. This is not an album you'll want to play in front of your children, or Mary Whitehouse. It is strange listening to an album where she can actually sing a bit; these days cigarettes etc have done for her voice what the Manchester Ship Canal did for employment in Liverpool. It's a good album, but not essential in my book.

Rating: 6/10

440. Japan - Quiet Life

Release Date: 1979
Label: Hansa

This is the sound of the New Romantic movement before the scene began. Japan (not the country) were a new-wave ban led by silver-haired David Sylvian and 'Quiet Life' is their third release. I love how synthesizers are now coming to the fore and how innovative this album must've sounded when it was first released. As ever though, the first example are rarely the best and this album isn't as good as it could've been.

Rating: 6/10

439. The Clash - London Calling

Release Date: 1979
Label: CBS

The Clash were always the band who were most likely to win the war. And they did it by branching away from punk better than anyone except, arguably, the Jam. 'London Calling', their magnus opus is a double-album full of fantastic riffs, basslines, lyrics and some mumbled vocals.

Rating: 10/10

438. The Undertones - The Undertones

 

Release Date: 1979
Label: Sire

This was a fine, fine album - probably one of the best punk ones I've heard so far. Every song could've been a possible single, and it's perhaps ironic that their biggest hit, 'Teenage Kicks' wasn't included on the original release. Having said that I'm not sure if I need to get this as I have every song already (though 1 or 2 are different versions) on a two-disc compilation set.

Rating: 9/10

437. Chic - Risque

Release Date: 1979
Label: Atlantic

I criticised their last album for lacking 'pizzazz' and they seem to have listened to me. This is a much better collection of songs and there is no doubt you will have a good time listening to this album. Is it worth listening to over and over though? Yes

Rating: 8/10

436. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

Release Date: 1979
Label: Factory

This is an album I've had for a good fifteen years (or whenever 'Control' came out).

Rating: 9/10

435. Talking Heads - Fear of Music

Release Date: 1979
Label: Sire

Following on from their first two records, 'Fear of Music' is a slight disappointment by the band's high standards. It is still an album worth listening to, but its quality doesn't seem to be as apparent as, say, their debut.

Rating: 7/10

434. The Fall - Live at the Witch Trials

Release Date: 1979
Label: Step-Forward

Vocalist and autocratic leader of the Fall, Mark E. Smith was like Marmite. He too was a by-product of beer brewing. The Fall are well known over here for being John Peel's favourite band (allegedly - he also had a soft spot for Peter, Paul and Mary). He was occasionally a twat, sometimes a genius; but always a great lyricist. I don't mind the band but this doesn't convince me.

Rating: 6/10