Four on the Floor – 1977.

I picked a year at random as well as four albums from that year, this was the year I became self-aware of what I liked or what I didn’t, I was still heavily influenced by what my brother introduced me to, but my nose was sniffing out stuff I loved and he didn’t, I probably didn’t get all of the nuances at the time, but I have continually played these albums since release so they must mean something to me.

 

Meatloaf – Bat out of Hell – 1977 43 million copies. 8/10.

I can vividly remember when Anthony Lee brought this into school and said “you have to play this” I took it home that night and played it on my one speaker record player and was blown away by this turbo charged album, of the four albums it is probably the least played of the four, yes I still like it but I like to think that I have matured, it’s a tad sexist, an album of its time, the production still stands the test of time, but it’s the spoken word bit by Steinman that knocks the shine off for me, I enjoyed it then and I enjoy it now, it’s a very nostalgic album for me, turbo charged to the max, would it sell now I doubt it, but every time I hear tracks from this, it takes me right back to the dawn of me becoming a teenager, and I thought it rocked!

Fleetwood Mac – Rumours – 1977 40 million copies. 8/10.

This was a time when radio stations played a full side of an album played an advert then played the second side, I didn’t understand why I liked this, but there was something alluring, it was different for me, I cant remember listening to female singers until I heard this, my perspective changed very quickly, the songs are emotional, something I wasn’t used to, the production quite sparse which I loved, listening to tis late on a summers evening it felt like that I was in the studio sharing these very private moments with the band, I recently played  the ”new” version and its so atmospheric, it hasn’t lost its gloss, why the score, sometimes the production is a little bit light and at that age I was starting to want a little bit of grit, however it was the start of me looking for more female artists, these days I have more than I  wanted, I have this album to thank for that!

Queen – News of the World – 1977 6 million copies 8.5/10.

The first Queen album that I heard on the day of release and we probably played it around ten times before we were chased out of the house, there’s some great tracks on this but there is one dud, even live I never took to it, more than likely its was an age thing at the time, however I still think as a song (Get Down Make Love) I get the distinct feeling that it simply wasn’t completed, maybe a producer would have made it work if  they had tried a little a little harder  to complete it, as for the rest of the album, it’s awesome, however the opening double A side single, if I never ever here again I would be happy, simply because I have heard both tracks so many bloody times, even John deacon gave us two songs and they were simply fab! but every other song is also  first rate, and it was recorded at the same time as the Sex Pistols!

Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks – 1977 2 million copies 9.5/10.

When I heard this album it simply blew my mind, it was just about everything I wanted in an album, short sharp shocks screaming guitars, snarling vocals, just about the complete opposite to everything else that was going on at that moment, I have done research into the sales and there a popular misconception that the sales were underreported so as not to give the band more royalties, but the numbers are consistent in all of the sources that are available, why the score, simply because they never did another album you can’t count the great rock and roll swindle simply because that’s exactly what it was, when you consider The Stranglers three awesome albums literally in 18 months, well the Pistols output could have been a little better! Having said that this album was ground breaking, very British and exactly what the population (well us kids) Craved for in 1977.

And that s my thoughts on 1977, I could have done Kansas Point of Know return (4 million) or Kiss Love Gun (4 million) Ted Nugent Cat Scratch Fever (3 million) well the list goes ever on, its simply a small sample of thoughts regarding 1977!