Great Rock Albums of 1978: Queen- New of the World

Yes, this is another abum, which was actually released in 1977, but "News of theWorld" by Queen was one of the albums that made my spring in 1978. The hit singles "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions" spear headed Queen's push for rock and roll dominance in the early months of that year. Both songs were used as a motivation for my high school basketball team when it want to the South Jersey final. Unfortunately, they lost that game, but those songs still were true rock anthems.

I have always liked the sound of Queen and this album was one of the reasons. The operatic harmonies were groundbreaking at the time and I'm not just talking about "Bohemian Rhapsody." Furthermore, as I said before, Brian May is truly up their with the guitar playing elite. However, the problem I had with Queen back in 78 and 79 was Freddie Mercury and my own homophobic views. The fact that I know I wasn't the only one who had them doesn't justify it at all. My fears of being branded gay kept me from openly saying that I liked Queen's music. I'm just glad I have become much more open minded in my adult years and can truly appreciate what a great band Queen are and what a great album "News of the World" was. In the spring of 1978, Queen surely were the champions of the rock world.

Track Listing:

1. We Will Rock You

2. We Are the Champions

3. Sheer Heart Attack

4. All Dead All Dead

5. Spread Your Wings

6. Fight From the Inside

7. Get Down Make Love

8. Sleeping on the Sidewalk

9 Who Needs You

10. It's Late

11. My Melancholy Blues

Queen

Freddie Mercury- lead vocals, piano, percussion, cowbell

Brian May- electric and accoustic guitars, lead vocals on "All Dead All Dead" and "Sleeping on the Sidewalk," backing vocals

Roger Taylor- durms, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Sheer Heart Attack" and "Fight From the Inside"

John Deacon- bass, accoustic guitar, Spanish guitar

The best thing to say about this album is that it triumphed in spite of homophobia. Not only the hits, but other great tracks like "Get Down, Make Love" and "Sheer Heart Attack" make this album such a great classic. Queen are another act that has stood the test of time and have given us great rock memories.

To prove I'm completely over my homophobia, here's a picture of Freddie Mercury in his body stocking, which in 1978, I thought was very gay.

 Next post: Frank Zappa- Zappa in New York

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Great Rock Albums of 1978: Styx- Pieces of Eight

It is not very common that when an artist puts out a great album, they follow it up with another great album. There are many examples where this has come close, but usually one album is usually slightly better than the other. But this is exactly what Styx accomplished in 1977 and 78. In 1977, they put out the iconic album "The Grand Illusion," which I talked about a couple of months ago in a previous post. A year later, they followed it up with the release of "Pieces of Eight," which is another iconic album equally as brilliant as the first.

Like its predecessor, "Pieces of Eight" has some great hard rocking tunes like "Renegade" and "Great White Hope" as well as some more progressive rock tracks like "I'm OK," "Sing for the Day" and "The Message" and then combine both elements in tracks like "Blue Collar Man." Of course the other tracks are strong too and takes this album out of the shadow of "The Grand Illusion" and put it on an equal standing with it.

Track Listing:

1. Great White Hope

2. I'm OK

3.Sing for the Day

4. The Message

5. Lords of the Ring

6. Blue Collar Man

7. Queen of Spades

8. Renegade

9 Pieces of Eight

10. Aku Aku

Styx:

Dennis DeYoung- keyboads, synthesisers, pipe organ, vocals

James Young- guitars, vocals

Tommy Shaw- guitars, mandolin, vocals

Chuck Panozzo- bass, vocals

John Panozzo- drums, vocals

With "Pieces of Eight," Styx accomplished what many acts have never been able to do. That is follow a great album up with another. It all takes me back to the time when this album defied the disco craze and gave us some great music to listen to.

Next post: Queen- News of the World

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Great Rock Albums of 1978: Heart- Dog and Butterfly

"Dog and Butterfly" was the late 1978 follow up to "Magazine" which Heart re-released earlier that year and in my opinion was better than the earlier album. In fact, many people cite this album as their favourite Heart album, although I, personally, am not so sure. It would be a tough choice between "Dog and Butterfly" and "Dreamboat Annie." Needless to say, it is an album that shows Heart at their best.

This album is classic Heart through and through. Classic rocking tracks like the single "Straight On" form the foundation. Then there's the soft ballad and title track, "Dog and Butterfly" with its mesmerising accoustic guitar. I was convinced that back in 1978, only Heart could make a ballad sound this good. To final it out, there's the track "Mistral Wind," which begins like a ballad with accoustic guitars, only to come in with some very good rock.

Track Listing:

1. Cook With Fire

2. High Time

3. Hijinx

4. Straight On

5. Dog and Butterfly

6. Lighter Touch

7. Nada One

8. Mistral Wind

Heart

Ann Wilson- lead vocals, violin, guitar

Nancy Wilson- guitar, piano, vocals

Michael DeRosier- drums

Howard Leese- guitar, keyboards

Roger Fisher- guitar, steel guitar

Steve Fossen- bass

Rich Keefer- synthesiser, vocals

Heart were one of the most commercially successful hard rock bands back in the late 70s. Albums like "Dog and Butterfly" bear testimony to this.

Next post: Styx- Pieces of Eight

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

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