Great Rock Albums of 1979: Led Zeppelin- In Through the Out Door

If a metalhead who had been one since the 1980s or later was to listen to "In Through the Outdoor" by Led Zeppelin, they would have serious doubts about the band being one of the founding fathers of heavy metal. This album is a far cry from their earlier and much heavier material. There are no songs with that heavy rocking sound such as "Whole Lotta Love," "Communication Breakdown," "Rock and Roll" and my personal favourite, "Black Dog." Two reasons are cited for this: i) After the death of Robert Plant's son in 1977, he no longer was in the mood to sing, "It's been a long time since I rocked and rolled." I can't in any way blame him for that. ii) Led Zeppelin stated that they were looking to achieve some sort of musical integrity. 

Saying all of that, this is still a great album containing the high quality work one would have expected from Led Zeppelin. There is a little bit of humour to the album in my mind with songs like "Fool in the Rain" and "Hot Dog." The other tracks carry a more defined sound and the ten minute plus long "Carouselambra" is a classic trademark of the talented people that Led Zeppelin were. One minor note, if I was in any way producing the album, I would have put the excellent track, "All of My Love" at the very end. This would have been a great way to end the album and when I listen to it in its full, after hearing the aforementioned track, I don't really want to listen to the concluding track, "I'm Gonna Crawl" and that's not fair to it. 

Track Listing:

1. In the Evening

2. South Bend Suarez

3. Fool in the Rain

4. Hot Dog

5. Carouselambra

6. All of My Love

7. I'm Gonna Crawl

Led Zeppelin

Robert Plant- vocals

Jimmy Page- guitars

John Paul Jones- bass, keyboards

John Bonham- drums

This would be the last studio album made before the tragic death of drummer John Bonham in 1980 and for most people would spell the end of the band. Like so many, I associate "In Through the Outdoor" as their last hurrah but it is still a great one to finish off with and to me, they definitely achieve their musical integrity. 

Next post: Soundtrack- The Rose

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Great Rock Albums of 1979: Little River Band- First Under the Wire

This has always been my impression of the Little River Band and this album. It was the album you play on your car cassette deck, (remember they didn't have CD's back in 1979) on you way home from a good night out. You have a lady in the car with you, could be your girlfriend or maybe you got lucky with that girl at the end of the bar, no matter. Anyway, you put this album on because it's a good mood enhancer. The soft rock tones won't scare the lady off but it has enough of a hard edge to let you know that you're not selling out and going to buy an Air Supply album next time you're at the stores.

One of the ironic things about "First Under the Wire" is that one of the hardest tracks on the album, "Lonesome Loser" is probably one of their most successful singles. I won't go as far as to say that it's a headbanger, but there are some pretty impressive guitar licks in the song. This is the other thing about the Little River Band, although they are classed as soft rock, there are some impressive guitar solos in a good number of songs. This is true with the other hard(ish) song, "Hard Life." The rest of the album has that late night mellow out feel with a little bit of a jazzy rock vibe. The other single, "Cool Change" is an example and is a good song if you ever find yourself out to sea in a small boat.

Track Listing:

1. Lonesome Loser

2. The Rumour

3. By My Side

4. Cool Change

5. It's Not a Wonder

6. Hard Life (prelude)

7. Hard Life

8. Middle Man

9. Man on the Run

10. Mistress of Mine

Little River Band

Glenn Shorrock- vocals

David Briggs- lead guitar

Greaham Goble- guitar

Beeb Birtles- guitar

Barry Sullivan- bass

Derek Pellici- drums

Mal Logan- keyboards

So if you want something to either mellow out to or to get your partner in the mood, then album might just do the trick. It is a soft rock album but there are moments of hardness to it. An enjoyable album.

Next post: Led Zepplin- In Through the Out Door

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Great Rock Albums of 1979: Journey- Infinity

It has been said and I won't debate it, that the hit single from this album, "Lovin' , Touchin', Squeezin'" is one of the soppiest love songs of all time. Maybe so, but trust me on this, back in late 1979 and early 80, if you wanted to get a girl out on the dance floor on a couples skate, then this was the song that would do it. Yes, this song was big with a lot of females at the time, my then disco loving little sister included. (She saw the error of her ways about a year later.) Saying that, it wasn't a bad song and I did like it. The correction I would have made to it was when the song was fading out at the end with the "Na na na na na's," I would have increased the volume of the lead guitar that was playing in the background.

As I always said, one song does not an album make. There are a lot of good tracks on here as I remembered when I refamiliarised myself with it the other night. It took me back to the memories of my old friend from New Jersey who played the track "City of the Angels" half to death. That is also a very good song and shows that the "Evolution" album is not a one track wonder. The songs after "City of the Angels" are some good blues based hard rock tunes with some good all around musicianship, especially the guitar talents of Schon,  to go with the unique vocals of Steve Perry.

Track Listing:

1. Majestic

2. Too Late

3. Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'

4. City of the Angels

5. When You're Alone (It ain't easy)

6. Sweet and Simple

7. Lovin' You is Easy

8. Just the Same Way

9. Do You Recall

10. Daydream

11. Lady Luck

Journey

Steve Perry- lead vocals

Neil Schon- guitars, vocals

Greg Rollie- keyboards, vocals

Steve Smith- drums, vocals

Ross Valory- bass, vocals

Some would say that this was the last good rock album before Journey would make the descent into sounding commercial. I'm not sure about that one but it will be interesting to see as we continue the journey through time. In the mean time, enjoy this great classic album from a class rock band.

Next post: Little River Band- First Under the Wire

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Great Rock Albums of 1979: Supertramp- Breakfast in America

Supertramp's "Crime of the Century" album was another of those classic albums that I missed way back when I was featuring the Great Rock Albums of the 70s, pre-1978. Therefore, I thought I would include it here because it is a very good progressive rock album. It features two of their most noted songs, "Bloody Well Right" and "Dreamer" although I also really like the theatrics behind the track, "If the Audience Were Listening." It is a very good album indeed.

So without further ramblings, on with the first album of 2013, Supertramp's brilliant 1979 album "Breakfast in America." This album came out in the very tail end of that pivotal year in my life and I can say that it ushered out the 70s for me. The biggest song from the album, "Take the Long Way Home" spoke to me directly. I'm sounding a bit hippy here aren't I? Even if it hadn't I still would have thought it was an excellent song and still would have bought the 45, some of you might remember those. In fact, I think I still have it somewhere up in the attic.

The rest of the album is also very good and told me at the time that there was still room in 1979 for some good hands on progressive rock. Hits like "The Logical Song" and others make this album the classic that it is. Supertramp use their trademark musicianship and show that keyboard centred rock can work. Unfortunately and I'll be ranting more about this when I eventually get to the mid 80s, many bands would completely take the use of synthesisers out of proportion. Still, that is why I enjoy the album so much because it doesn't, it's just a good listening album.

Track Listing:

1. Gone Hollywood

2. The Logical Song

3. Goodbye Stranger

4. Breakfast in America

5. Oh Darling

6. Take the Long Way Home

7. Lord Is It Mine

8. Just Another Wreck

9. Casual Conversations

10. Child of Visions

Supertramp

Rick Davies- keyboards, vocals, harmonica

John Helliwell- saxophone, vocals, woodwinds

Roger Hogeson- guitars, keyboards, vocals

Bob Siebenberg- drums

Dougie Thompson- bass

So for the new year, why not enjoy an album that for many like me, closed out a decade. Listening to "Breakfast in America" will make you feel good and perhaps get over the over doings of New Year's Eve. Now that I have been looking at the famous album cover, I kind of fancy some pancakes.

 Next post: To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1979: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers- Damn the Torpedoes

When I first heard the first single from this great album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Don't Do Me Like That," I was convinced that whoever called this band "punk" back in 1978 was a complete and utter moron whose idea of hard rock was probably Hall and Oates. "Damn the Torpedoes" proved to me that they were a good tight rocking outfit, not that there's anything wrong with punk because there isn't. I just found the album very enjoyable.

It is true that "Don't Do Me Like That" was the song that first properly turned my head to this band and this album but "Damn the Torpedoes" does contain my all time favourite song by these guys, "Refugee." As always, the album isn't just down to the singles although I do like their third single from this album, "Here Comes My Girl." There some killer tracks on here as well like "Century City" and "What You Doin' In My Life" to name just two. All of them have that trademark that made Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers famous.

Track Listing:

1. Refugee

2. Here Comes My Girl

3. Even the Losers

4. Shadow of a Doubt

5. Century City

6. Don't Do Me Like That

7. You Tell Me

8. What You Doin' In My Life

9. Louisiana

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty- guitar, lead vocals, harmonica

Mike Campbell- lead and slide guitars, keyboards, accordion

Benmont Tench- piano, organ, harmonium, vocals

Ron Blair- bass

Stan Lynch- drums, vocals

I have always been of the mind that as a unit, the Heartbreakers have been severely underrated as a band. It is true that Tom Petty is the front man and you can't take anything away from his talents, but the rest of the band seems to have been largely ignored and that to me is a shame. Have a listen to this classic album and you'll see what I mean. 

Next post: My favourite Christmas album

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

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London