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| Articles: 1978 Articles |
100% Whole Wheat - 1978 Ice, Fire And Desire
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Very nice 70's AOR/country rock crossover from this band which released two albums in their brief history.
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1994 - 1978 1994
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Their sound was a fantastic mix of hard edged rock with Heart and fellow L.A rockers Storm being the main influences.
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AC/DC - 1978 Powerage
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AC/DC never played better and never had as much fun either, and you can hear it thirty years later.
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Aerial - 1978 In The Middle Of The Night
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'In The Middle of the Night' for a debut isn't bad, but it's really a mixed bag, covering too many styles and lacking direction.
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Airwaves - 1978 New Day
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'New Day' is a delightful record really, sort of like 10cc- lite and Klaatu without the progressive tendencies. Flyer, Lavender Hill Mob's outstanding debut and even some of George Harrison's more whimsical pieces could also be a reference point if you need any more convincing.
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Ambrosia - 1978 Life Beyond LA
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All of Ambrosia's five studio albums offer something unique and different. With this one however, the band decided to set sail for the mainstream by producing 'Life Beyond L.A' themselves alongside Freddie Piro, and dispensing with the services of Alan Parsons, who engineered the debut and produced the second 'Somewhere I've Never Travelled'. In essence, this was the album that transform Ambrosia from bit-players to superstars.
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Arc - 1978 Arc
 | | This is one kick ass little power pop record. Think early Cheap Trick, 'Attention Shoppers' era Starz and forgotten L.A. hopefuls Virgin in all their glory with a healthy dose of British glam rock for good measure. |
Armand, Renee - 1978 In Time
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This is a very soft west coast LP more along the lines of early Olivia Newton-John, Melissa Manchester and Carol Bayer Sager. Not the kind of record you pull out when you want to seriously rock, but one that would go over very well with your girlfriend or wife.
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Asia (USA) - 1978 Asia
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Before the guys from Yes formed the million selling band from the UK called Asia, there was already an American band of the same name in operation.. This version hails all the way from the unlikely breeding ground of Rapid City South Dakota.
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Aviator (UK) - 1978 Aviator
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Sorry mates, nothing to do with the 80's Aviator! What we have here is a minor 'super group' of sorts long before that term was coined. UK's Aviator was short-lived but their first album has a lot to recommend it. Those of our readers who appreciate early Charlie, A Band Called O, Jess Roden Band and Jim Capaldi's solo albums will find much to like in Aviator's sound and thier pop rock and jazz direction circa 1978.
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Axis - 1978 It's A Circus World
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Whether the band wanted to become another Cactus or Cream in the fuzz-bound power trio stakes remains an unanswered question: perhaps best answered by the trio themselves perhaps. Whatever the case, the album has been given much kudos by fans and critics since 1978.
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Baby Grand - 1978 Ancient Future
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'Ancient Medicine' is one of those albums that still give me the old warm and fuzzies every time I hear it. The second and better of two studio records released by this Philadelphia based band that despite positive press, never really took off.
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Babys, The - 1978 Head First
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'Head First' is without a doubt one of, it not the best album in the bands catalog.
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Bandit - 1978 Partners In Crime
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Despite the hackneyed album cover, this is seventies melodic radio rock from this British based four piece.
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Bastard - 1978 Tearing Nights
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Long forgotten and perhaps virtually unknown to most in 2006 are Bastard, a late 70's German rock act who recorded three albums and promptly diasppeared..
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Bay City Rollers - 1978 Strangers In The Wind
 | | Not one of BCR"s most endearing moments. 'Strangers In The Wind' took its share of critical pounding as 'MOR dreck', eventually finding its way into cut-out bins for years to come. |
Be Bop Deluxe - 1978 Drastic Plastic
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'Drastic Plastic' is one of my favorite Be Bop Deluxe albums. It's an important work as well as foreshadowing Bill Nelson's prolific experimental solo career.
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Beaugarde - 1978 Solo Mortale
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I came across Beaugarde several years ago in a brief blurb in Jerry Lucky's excellent 'Progressive Rock Files' book, a must have for any prog fan by the way - where he compares this lot to Supertramp and ELO, but I also hear traces of Queen and Kayak's 'Phantom Of The Night' album.
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Beaverteeth - 1978 Dam It
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Beaverteeth is much lighter Southern Rock than most, but don't let that deter you, as its extremely melodic in terms of AOR values while sticking to its ideals down in the swamp. And that's really what most of us here are looking for.
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Bethnal - 1978 Crash Landing
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Bethnal had changed musical styles on this their second album, moving sideways from their straight-ahead origins to a more melodic direction. My immediate comparison would be to the American band Private Lightning, playing a slightly unorthodox style of rock with the violin as a lead instrument.
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Bighorn - 1978 Bighorn
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The album stands alone as an interesting combination of pomp rock a la early Kansas and Starcastle, and harder guitar based heavy rock.
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Blend, The - 1978 The Blend
 | | The Blend were a 70's outfit who may have been somewhat misplaced musically. A Southern Rock outfit all the way up in the New England wilds of Maine! |
Bliss Band - 1978 Dinner With Raoul
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Somewhat of a minor AOR legend, journeyman Paul Bliss has made a career of producing some excellent melodic rock amongst his numerous gigs. 'Dinner With Raoul' is considered by some to be a West Coast classic, although whoever wrote the band's bio in the International Encyclopedia Of Hard Rock And Metal might care to disagree.
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Blue Oyster Cult - 1978 Some Enchanted Evening (Live)
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Probably not a compulsory addition to your collection, but if you wish to hear a band captured live during their heyday, then 'Some Enchanted Evening' is as good a representation of BOC from their classic rock era from 1976-1978.
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Bluebeard - 1978 Bluebeard
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Angel fans listen up.. This outfit Bluebeard should tickle your fancy big time. If you miss the Frank Dimino warbling or even the OTT keyboard work a la Gregg Giuffria then you need to be investigating this lot because this is so Angel sounding that they could be accused of being a tribute band!
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Boston - 1978 Don't Look Back
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Epic Records keen to capitalise on the huge success, wanted a follow-up in a shorter duration of time, something that did not sit comfortably with Tom Scholz. And as we saw with later releases, the two-year wait for 'Don't Look Back' was a mere blip on the time-line by comparison.
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Boyzz, The - 1978 Too Wild To Tame
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Originating from Illinois, these boyzz started life out in 1977 as a leather clad biker outfit. They intially ground out a living blasting southern flavored rock, following in the tire-tracks of seventies icons Black Oak Arkansas and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
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BTO - 1978 Street Action
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Really, 'Street Action' doesn't sound much different than any other BTO album. The same plodding blues based rock that made 'em famous can be found here.
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Buckacre - 1978 Buckacre
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Buckacre shake off their boots and the dusty Pure Prairie League and Poco countrified past, morphing into a MOR Southern rock band. There's not a whole lot of power here and they are more keyboard heavy than your average run-of-the-mill bluejeaned boogie merchants.
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Burns, Lisa - 1978 Lisa Burns
 | | 'Discovered' by Ramones producer Craig Leon, Lisa Burns came out of the mythical late 70's New York club scene.Clearly influenced by female singers and girl groups of the early 60's, this is music that sounds out of its time. |
Byron, David - 1978 Baby Faced Killer
 | | Wow, what a mixed bag, but you know what? I really enjoyed this, and despite its flaws, 'Baby Faced Killer' has that 70's pop thing down hat! |
Canned Rock - 1978 Kinetic Energy
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The material is a mixture of 'Levelheaded' and 'Cut above the Rest' era Sweet with a smattering of prog rock and Queen minus the talent. Really, some of this album is quite hard to listen to.
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Cano - 1978 Eclipse
 | | Stylistically, early Cano followed a folk music path, sung entirely in French while gradually developing a progressive rock sound. |
Cars, The - 1978 The Cars
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G-DAZE would be only half a site if no mention was ever made of this great band The Cars. Who could forget the storming debut of this Boston band back in 1978.
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Cassidy, Shaun - 1978 Under Wraps
 | | Left to his own devices Shaun Cassidy could have turned out a power pop classic but the powers that be were pulling him in a dozen different directions and 'Under Wraps' suffers for this. |
Centaurus - 1978 Centaurus
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Centaurus were a Los Angeles based quartet playing in a progressive near heavy pomp style, with definite Led Zeppelin and Touch influences.
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Champion (UK) - 1978 Champion
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Champion offer up a blues rock sound not far removed Bad Company or Paul Kossoff's Backstreet Crawler and really not that different than Rough Diamond.
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Charlie - 1978 Lines
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Charlie's third album 'Lines' was something of a breakthrough in the American market with the minor hit 'She Loves To Be In Love'. Despite their hard work, the previous album 'No Second Chance' failed to chart in a big way. 'Lines' changed all that and thirty years later the album still holds up as one of Charlie's best.
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Chicago - 1978 Hot Streets
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'Hot Streets' was the first studio album since the untimely and accidental death of Terry Kath..
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Chorale - 1978 Chorale
 | | I don't think many are aware of this record or how good it is. Let's start here and spread the word on what is one of progressive pop's all-time classics. |
Clarke, Allan - 1978 I Wasn't Born Yesterday
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Despite being a full-fledged member of The Hollies, Allan Clarke continued to release solo albums of which 'I Wasn't Born Yesterday' is widely considered one of his best.
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Crack The Sky - 1978 Safety In Numbers
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West Virginia's best rock export - Crack The Sky, finally gets a mention here at G-DAZE.
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Crane - 1978 Crane
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Crane's one-off album for Capitol back in 1978 is a tale littered with Record Company hi-jinx, an oft-heard subject for many recording artists back in the day.
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Creed - 1978 Creed
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Lets not get this mob confused with that other popular outfit by the same name from the late 90's. This Creed go way back into time, and originate from Memphis Tennessee.
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Cryers, The - 1978 The Cryers
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Late 70's power pop was always a hit 'n miss proposition but The Cryers nailed the bulls eye with their debut and it's not a wonder this record is so highly prized by aficionados of guitar driven pop.
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DaShiell, Russell - 1978 Elevator
 | | Russell DaShiell's story begins with Crowfoot; a San Francisco based band that put out two mild-mannered west coast pop albums in the very early '70s. Released in 1978, DaShiell shed his flower power past and delivered a halfway decent rock album similar to other guitar player one-shots from Ray Gomez and Stu Daye. |
De Garmo And Key - 1978 This Time Thru
 | | Although DeGarmo & Key became wildly popular in the 1980's, including some hard-fought success on MTV; the duo's first two albums are where it's at for this scribe. |
Dodgers, The - 1978 Love On The Rebound
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Another band that factors into the history of Badfinger, The Dodgers released just one album, but not without some controversy.
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Dragon - 1978 O Zambezi
 | | 'O Zambezi' was the third release of four, during Dragon's second phase of their career, spanning the years 1975 to 1979. |
Eclipse (Canada) - 1978 Night And Day
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Originally released in Canada a year earlier with a black and white cover and alternate track listing, Casablanca picked up 'Night And Day', changed the art work to a horrendous disco-glam-alien image and one of the cheapest looking sleeves I have ever seen, and changed to a totally different and not entirely successful sound.
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Eden (Germany) - 1978 Erwartung
 | | 'Ewartung' (Expectation) is one of the most beautiful progressive rock albums I've had the pleasure to hear. Lazy comparisons to Kansas have often been made simply due to the use of violin, but the sound is far more European and classical in nature. |
Exile - 1978 Mixed Emotions
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Originally from the bluegrass territory of Kentucky, Exile (or The Exiles as they were known then) have been in operation for over 40 years - believe it or not! Of course, many will remember the band for their huge hit off this album called 'Kiss You All Over', but despite a reputation for being a one-hit wonder, the band had a career before and after this breakthrough record.
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Eyes (USA) - 1978 We're In It Together
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Formed from the ashes of prog rock outfit Jasper Wrath, this record will appeal to fans of Brother Bait, The Biz, and their ilk.
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Fabulous Poodles, The - 1978 Mirror Stars
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One of the best new wave releases of 1978, 'Mirror Stars' is a compilation of the first two Fabulous Poodles albums released in the UK..
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Fairchild - 1978 Fairchild
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Fairchild, like Chameleon, originated from Minnesota, and their debut has been hailed as something of a pomp rock classic amongst certain members of the AOR fraternity.
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Firefall - 1978 Elan
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This is Firefall's third album, which ultimately went platinum for the band, but it wasn't without its fair share of issues and problems.
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Flying Squad - 1978 Flying Squad
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For a debut this is remarkable quality and it helped having a seasoned pro like Francis Rossi to assist, capturing the essence of what makes true boogie so addictive.
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Fogelberg Weisberg - 1978 Twin Sons Of Different Mothers
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On paper this collaboration looks like a disaster in the making. Fogelberg a folkie turned rocker mixing it up with jazz flautist Tim Weisberg was not exactly the kind of thing anyone expected. But in 1978 outside the progressive scene, this was new territory. Guess what? It works.
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Foghat - 1978 Stone Blue
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Hard working rock band Foghat had up until this point, been an industrious lot, with numerous album releases since their inception in 1972.
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Foreigner - 1978 Double Vision
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How many times have we seen instances where the 'second album syndrome' has kicked in, and delivered a swift blow to aspiring hopes and ambitions? Not in the case of Foreigner. Despite the bland record cover, this album capitalised on the efforts of that great debut album the year before.
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Fotomaker - 1978 Fotomaker
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Fotomaker had all the ingredients necessary to make a good pop record and more, but despite heavy air play on FM radio, the band's singles never charted significantly, and without a hit single, well you know the rest...
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Fotomaker - 1978 Vis-A-Vis
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All ten tracks on the album were as solid as they can be and Fotomaker were poised for great things, yet the public at large were apathetic..
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Gentle Giant - 1978 Giant For A Day!
 | | 'Giant For A Day!' with its gimmicky cover and stronger, straighter rock songs was their first LP I had ever wrapped my ears around and I'm still nostalgic for the set, firmly believing it's the best of their later output. |
Gibb, Andy - 1978 Shadow Dancing
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With his sophomore album 'Shadow Dancing', Andy Gibb's career had become a pop music supernova spiraling to the top, while his personal life was slowly starting to implode..
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Glad - 1978 Glad
 | | Glad started out as a Christian progressive rock band and some of that influence can be heard here amidst superb west coast influenced pop. Steely Dan is a good point of reference, but it's Ambrosia and their first three albums that Glad seem to have an unspoken kinship. |
Godz, The - 1978 The Godz
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Straight out of the biker/gonzo heavy rock brigade are this mob from Columbus Ohio called The Godz. Their music is excellent despite the biker image.
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Groundstar - 1978 Forced Landing
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Probably the most mysterious band in all of AOR-dom. What do we know about these guys and gals? Not a lot, apart from the fact they were from Fresno, CA, and played a most compelling brand of pomp rock.
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Harlequin Mass - 1978 Harlequin Mass
 | | Harlequin Mass is a pleasant, if somewhat average album. Vocalist Nancy Kaye has a sweet voice comparable to Karen Carpenter while both late period Renaissance and Genesis are links to Harlequin Mass instrumentally but nowhere as complex. |
Hatcher, George - 1978 Rich Girl
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In much the same way that Canadian blues guitarist Pat Travers did his OE and apprenticeship in Britain during the 70's, so too did blues/southern rock singer George Hatcher. The southern rock inspired sound continues pretty much onward for Hatcher, and for fans of the Confederate South, and perhaps a dash of Crawler for good measure, well.. you'll get some change outta this one.
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Heart - 1978 Magazine
 | | Cobbled together, 'Magazine' is by no means Heart's strongest effort although it's not bad either. Full disclosure, aside from a few clips on You Tube I've never owned or heard the original version.. |
Heaters, The - 1978 The Heaters
 | | With three girls up front, The Heaters were aiming at the late 70's power pop with a hint of Suzie Quatro and The Runaways, but they failed to hit the wow-o-meter. |
Hellfield - 1978 Hellfield
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A good band, and for those of you into the likes of Bluebeard, Angel, Lynx and Zon, then Hellfield are well worth checking out.
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Hero - 1978 Boys Will Be Boys
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Despite what you read about the band in certain publications - being described as bland radio rock, this is far from the truth. 'Boys Will Be Boys' is an undiscovered classic in the 70's pop rock genre. This album has a heap of keyboards, great guitarwork (from an acknowledged guitar great in Citron), fun rockin' tunes, and a happy go lucky sort of vibe.
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Hoehn, Tommy - 1978 Losing You To Sleep
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'Losing You To Sleep' is without a doubt his best album that apparently got lost in the shuffle at London Records and went out of print all too soon.
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Hott Roxx - 1978 Rock N Roll's Gone Hollywood
 | | Heavily cemented in the mild and unassuming British 70's pop/rock era, you won't get much change unless you enjoy outings by Shabby Tiger, Blackfoot Sue and bands of that persuasion. |
Hounds, The - 1978 Unleashed
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With a name like The Hounds, you'd be thinking this lot were as rabid musically as the name would suggest. Well that's not entirely true. From Chicago, these boys certainly know how to rock, but it is with a bit of panache that they do so.
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Hush (USA) - 1978 Hush
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When it comes to pomp rock, the Hush debut is one of my favorite albums. For those who like their progressive rock on the more commercial side - the Hush debut is a clear winner.
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Jefferson Starship - 1978 Earth
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The original cover of 'Earth' featured movie poster lettering in silver foil inspired by the film 'Star Wars' which looked impressive, but for many fans who longed for the days of the groups earlier albums 'Red Octopus' and 'Dragonfly', this record was considered weak and in many ways a complete sellout.
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Jiva - 1978 Still Life
 | | Originally signed to George Harrison's Dark Horse label, Jiva was an American band living the rock and roll dream, and mingling with the high-end musicians of the day and touring with both Donovan and Fleetwood Mac. |
Journey - 1978 Infinity
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This is the album which turned the band Journey from a semi-progressive rock band, into a fully fledged commercial success, with a change of recipe and ingredients to make it all happen.
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Judas Priest - 1978 Killing Machine
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'Killing Machine' was released at the tailend of 1978 (Nov), and was a quick-fire follow-up to the 'Stained Class' effort released in February that year.
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Judas Priest - 1978 Stained Class
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Judas Priest's coming of age truly began with 'Stained Class' despite three timeless previous releases.
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Kerr, Richard - 1978 Welcome To The Club
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'Welcome To The Club' is a wonderful album drawing big parallels to Montreal's Gino Vannelli not only vocally, but musically with plenty of well placed orchestration and Kerr's dramatic but tasteful piano embellishments, yet the record is not as MOR as you would imagine.
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Key - 1978 Fit Me In
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Key's only album is a beautifully crafted work of Beatles influenced pop psychedelia that has to heard to be believed.
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Kingfish - 1978 Trident
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For Kingfish, things started looking up with their third release: 'Trident', taking on a decidedly radio friendly sound.
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Knighton, Reggie (Band) - 1978 Reggie Knighton Band
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RKB is truly an engaging listen. Described by many as an album that sits very high in their all time favorites list.
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Lambert, Dave - 1978 Framed
 | | Dave Lambert was (and is) a member of The Strawbs. 'Framed' was his first solo outing back in 1978. Bands like 10cc, Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Spooky Tooth are obvious influences. |
Liar - 1978 Set The World On Fire
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Round two of the Liar story sees them release an underrated but quite beautiful album for 1978. Kept in the context of that timeframe, 'Set The World On Fire' sits quite comfortably among your Styx and Peter Frampton albums!
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Little River Band (LRB) - 1978 Sleepercatcher
 | | 'Sleeper Catcher' in my opinion was LRB's strongest release since their 1975 debut. It was also their first to go platinum album. |
Loudspeakers - 1978 Loudspeakers
 | | The Loudpseakers were a British band, considered to be commercial and pop/rock oriented. Released in 1978 on the Ebony label, this is a pretty hard LP to track down now.. |
Lucifers Friend - 1978 Good Time Warrior
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For the late 70's period, the band moved into a commercial environment, mixing radio rock, AOR and pop - perhaps similar to what Uriah Heep were trying to achieve. Radio was an interesting beast back in the era, with bands changing tack to sail upon the winds of the AM/FM frequency.
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Lynx - 1978 Sneak Attack
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Keyboard player Tony Caputo was persuaded by their label to get a new line up together for a second Lynx album, and it's a good thing he did, otherwise we would've been deprived of some towering late 70's pomp AOR.
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Magnum - 1978 Kingdom Of Madness
 | | 'Kingdom of Madness', as an album, may be 'of its time', but it's still a good album in my view. A more than creditable debut from a band which would go on to forge themselves a long and successful career. |
Medusa - 1978 Medusa
 | | Where Medusa excel are in the heavier tracks, and though the material may vary from one end of the spectrum to the other, this is certainly worth investigating for the handful of tracks that stand out a mile. |
Molly Hatchet - 1978 Molly Hatchet
 | | The Molly Hatchet debut, released in late 1978 was, in my opinion, a game-changer for the whole southern rock music industry. It saw the combination of traditional southern rock, boogie, blues and 70's classic rock all rolled into one. |
Money, Eddie - 1978 Life For The Taking
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'Life For The Taking' is Eddie Money's second album and arguably his best..
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Morningstar - 1978 Morningstar
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For the most part a powerful blend of Midwestern pomp and late 70's AOR. Closest relatives would be Boston, Roadmaster and possibly Styx with much more power.
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Mose Jones - 1978 Blackbird
 | | Signed to RCA, the resulting 'Blackbird' was the kind of record pasty-faced critics loved to hate; a Doobieish, Pablo Cruising blend of good time rock with a mild undercurrent of late in the game southernisms and never pretending to be anything else. |
Moxy - 1978 Under The Lights
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Overall 'Under the Lights' is decent listen although there are a couple negatives. But ignoring the first three classic albums 'Under the Lights' really isn't that bad. I think this is prime time '70s hard rock in line with Starz, Rex and Legs Diamond..
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Nantucket - 1978 Nantucket
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Now then, this is the 1978 debut that yielded a hit single and almost earned gold album status. A very promising start, and they were keeping top class company on stage as well - opening for Boston, Cheap Trick and Foreigner during this period.
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