Wow, this has been a rough month! I wanted to get some articles out before now, but I guess life had other plans. Still, I am determined to do these Anniversary Articles, as they provide a fun summary to write up. As it turns out, 1979 is a pretty solid year. Melodic rock was really starting to take off, and we have the early signs of NWOBHM movement. Let's get into it!
The year starts off strong with a lot of big names. Scorpions was "Loving You Sunday Morning," Journey gave us some "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," Van Halen wanted to "Dance the Night Away," and Supertramp was having Breakfast in America. That album was a big one for them, as the title track, "The Logical Song," "Goodbye Stranger," and "Take the Long Way Home" would be big hits for them.Heavy metal gets some interesting releases this year, featuring the debut albums of both Accept and Saxon, as well as Motorhead's iconic double-bass kicking on Overkill. Judas Priest released a classic live album with Unleashed in the East, Iron Maiden was working on their Soundhouse Tapes, and Motorhead would return later in the year with Bomber. While I do think the next year would be where metal really takes off, this year was certainly a sign of things to come.
Meanwhile, the summer really heated up with a lot of massive hits. The Electric Light Orchestra released "Don't Bring Me Down," Foreigner sang about "Head Games," Rainbow switched out Dio for Graham Bonnet to get Down to Earth, the Eagles went for The Long Run, and AC/DC drove down the Highway to Hell, which is easily the best album they did with Bon Scott.
As the year winded down, some of the high points included Styx's ballad "Babe," Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' with Disaster," ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses," and .38 Special's "Rockin' Into the Night." However, the big album that would cap the year off is Pink Floyd's The Wall. Powered by iconic hits like "Another Brick in the Wall Part Two," "Run Like Hell," and "Comfortably Numb," this psychological rock opera would put Pink Floyd back on top of the world, despite the band falling apart inside.
That wraps up another year. Check out the playlist below for more tracks, and let me know in the comments below if you think I've missed something. I'll certainly do better next month for articles, as I've slowly been pulling some things together. Until then, rock on! \m/
