Hard n' Heavy 1978

Another great year for heavy metal and hard rock! Which do you think is the heaviest or hardest rocking of the year!

AC/DC - Powerage
AC/DC - If You Want Blood You've Got It
Aerosmith - Live! Bootleg
Alice Cooper - From the Inside
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die!
Judas Priest - Stained Class
KISS - Ace Frehley
KISS - Gene Simmons
KISS - Paul Stanley
KISS - Peter Criss
Nazareth - No Mean City
Queen - Jazz
Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Rush - Hemispheres
Scorpions - Taken by Force
Scorpions - Tokyo Tapes
Nazareth - No Mean City
Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo!
Ted Nugent - Weekend Warriors
UFO - Obsession
Van Halen - Van Halen
Whitesnake - Snakebite
Whitesnake - Trouble


I removed the KISS solo albums and the all the live albums from the poll due to the fact that I had too many options for the poll. Nugent's Double Live Gonzo might be one of the meanest, hardest rocking CDs of '78 that's for sure. Scorpions Taken by Force and Nazareth - No Mean City is pretty darned heavy as well. However, Judas Priest take the cake this year! No doubt about it, "Stained Class" was in a class of it's own in 1978.

Easy one this time - STAINED CLASS. My fave of the '70s Priests, and quite possibly my fave Priest overall.

What a year!!!! Have to go with KISS - Ace Frehely. But, on the poll choices I went with Van Halen. I could have easily chosen Priest from that list, but I have listened to VH's debut more than any one the poll list.

I voted for 'Powerage' being a Bon Scott/AC/DC fanboy but it could have easily gone to Van Halen or Scorpions or etc.


Love also Alice Cooper's From the Inside a great album with some of his best and personal lyrics he has ever written.

Van Halen was the album from 1978 that definitely changed the face of hard rock and heavy metal. Eddie's guitar pyrotechnics left many people with their jaws on the floor.

manny wrote:

Love also Alice Cooper's From the Inside a great album with some of his best and personal lyrics he has ever written.

One of my favorites as well.

ultmetal wrote:

Van Halen was the album from 1978 that definitely changed the face of hard rock and heavy metal. Eddie's guitar pyrotechnics left many people with their jaws on the floor.

100% agree and revolutioned rock/metal guitar who's impact rivaled Hendrix 11 years earlier, still love the debut but I had to go with Bon Scott and the boys for my vote.

You listed Nazareth twice, great lp by the way. Again my favorite isn't the heaviest. I might have chose the UFO or Thin LIzzy live lps if they'd been included ? The guitar tone on Paul Stanley's solo lp is a bit heavier than most KISS lps. I too am a big Bon Scott fan but in the end from Scott's choices, it is a toss up between Scorp's and Priest. I chose Priest

AC/DC - Powerage

I could have easily picked Priest,Scorpions or Alice Cooper my vote went to Van Halen.

What I found amazing about this list, this is when magazines like Creem and Rolling Stone where declaring that metal was dead and look the list of classic metal albums released between 1977 and 1978

manny wrote:

What I found amazing about this list, this is when magazines like Creem and Rolling Stone where declaring that metal was dead and look the list of classic metal albums released between 1977 and 1978

What I find amazing is that Heart (!) was once considered a Heavy Metal band.

But hey, I don't wanna start that whole Chinese fire drill again.

once again, put me down for Judas Priest. however all of those albums, with exception of Nugent & UFO, are quite good imo.

Fat Freddy wrote:

manny wrote:

What I found amazing about this list, this is when magazines like Creem and Rolling Stone where declaring that metal was dead and look the list of classic metal albums released between 1977 and 1978

What I find amazing is that Heart (!) was once considered a Heavy Metal band.

But hey, I don't wanna start that whole Chinese fire drill again.

Believe or not they were considered a metal band, but almost did not post that cover due to not wanting to start that argument again

manny wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

manny wrote:

What I found amazing about this list, this is when magazines like Creem and Rolling Stone where declaring that metal was dead and look the list of classic metal albums released between 1977 and 1978

What I find amazing is that Heart (!) was once considered a Heavy Metal band.

But hey, I don't wanna start that whole Chinese fire drill again.

Believe or not they were considered a metal band, but almost did not post that cover due to not wanting to start that argument again

It's all good. Hell, I can remember reading stuff from that time period that lumped ZZ Top (!) in with Heavy Metal as well.

mc666 wrote:

once again, put me down for Judas Priest. however all of those albums, with exception of Nugent & UFO, are quite good imo.

I am not surprised you are not fan of Nugent, but I am that you are not of UFO, is it the band or that LP you do not care for , just curious.

Powerage

tohostudios wrote:

Powerage

Yes, I remember people lumping Heart and Boston into the heavy metal lot in the 70's. Foreigner were another band that some back then lumped into the heavy metal tag. Even back then I can remember my friends and I disagreeing with that. Though I liked all those bands, none were very heavy, even for 70's standards. Heart were far more acoustic and folk based than bands like Aerosmith, Priest, Sabbath, etc.

Yes, by 1978, heavy metal/hard rock was getting a bit watered down for sure. Disco was the rage at the time and record labels just didn't know what to do with heavy metal bands anymore. Many bands started experimenting with different sounds at the time. It was an identity crisis for sure. Thankfully Priest, Aerosmith, Sabbath, Nugent and a handful of others never jumped ship.

Thrash metal went through a similar identity crisis in the mid-90's with many band abandoning the sound and experimenting with all sorts of styles to stay relevant. Many bands fell apart at the time. Of course now that thrash has become somewhat popular again, many of those band either resurrected or returned to their thrash metal sounds.

Van Halen. It's been on my playlist the longest. AC/DC, Priest, Rainbow, etc. wouldn't be introduced to me till much later.

Judas Priest, none of those other records even come close in heaviness. Though most are good

JP is probably the heaviest but I voted VH. Love so many of those albums.

I voted for Stained Class.

BTW, Taken by Force was a 1977 release, not 1978.

Required Fields wrote:

BTW, Taken by Force was a 1977 release, not 1978.

Depends where you live.

Sort of like the last Raven album, it was released in 2009 in Japan, but 2010 in the U.S. and Europe. Taken by Force was released in Europe & Japan first, then the U.S. later. (at least that's what I read.)

Van Halen

Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll