The 25 best albums of 1978

24 May 2024, 19:00

Let's turn back the clock to the year of Kate Bush, Buzzcocks, Bruce Springsteen, Kraftwerk and War Of The Worlds...

By Radio X

@RadioX

1. Kate Bush - The Kick Inside: released 17th February 1978

   The debut album from the legendary singer-songwriter included her No 1 Wuthering Heights, The Man With The Child In His Eyes and Them Heavy People.

   

2. Patti Smith Group - Easter: release date 3rd March 1978

   Smith's third album included the huge hit Because The Night, co-written with Bruce Springsteen.

   

3. Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen: release date 10th March 1978)

   The debut album from the pioneering Manchester punks included the single I Don't Mind.

   

4. Elvis Costello - This Year's Model: release date 17th March 1978

   Costello's second album - the follow-up to My Aim Is True from the previous year - included the hits Pump It Up and (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea.

   

5. Wings - London Town: release date 31st March 1978

   Paul McCartney's sixth album with the supergroup that featured wife Linda and former Moody Blues man Denny Laine didn't include the massive-selling Mull Of Kintyre, but did feature the single With A Little Luck.

   

6. The Stranglers - Black And White: release date 12th May 1978

   The third album from the Guildford punks included the single Nice 'N' Sleazy.

   

7. Kraftwerk - The Man Machine: release date 19th May 1978

   The seventh album from the German electronica pioneers included the song The Model, which topped the UK charts a whopping three years later. It also includes the live favourite The Robots.

   

8. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town: release date 2nd June 1978

   The Boss's fourth studio album included the singles Badlands, Promised Land and Prove It All Night.

   

9. Thin Lizzy - Live And Dangerous: release date 2nd June 1978

   Phil Lynott and co presented one of the greatest live albums of all time, recorded on tour in London, Philadelphia and Toronto over the previous eighteen months. The hits Jailbreak, Don't Believe A Word and The Boys Are Back In Town are all present and correct.

   

10. The Cars - The Cars (released 6th June 1978)

    The Boston new wave band's debut include the classics My Best Friend's Girl and Just What I Needed.

    

11. The Rolling Stones - Some Girls: released 9th June 1978

    The Stones' fourteenth album saw them "go disco" with the hit Miss You, but there was still room for a classic ballad in Beast Of Burden.

    

12. Boomtown Rats - A Tonic For The Troops: released 9th June 1978

    The second album from Bob Geldof and co included a string of hits: She's So Modern, Like Clockwork and the No 1 Rat Trap.

    

13. Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of War Of The World: released 9th June 1978

    "No one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space... and yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly, and surely, they drew their plans against us." Ambitious musical retelling of the HG Wells story, featuring David Essex, Phil Lynott and Richard Burton, which sold tons of copies.

    

14. Magazine - Real Life: released 16th June 1978

    Howard Devoto formed Magazine after he left Buzzcocks and their debut album included the amazing tracks Shot By Both Sides and The Light Pours Out Of Me.

    

15. Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings And Food: released 14th July 1978

    The NYC art rockers' second album includes the band's cover of Al Green's Take Me To The River.

    

16. The Who - Who Are You: released 18th August 1978

    The final Who album to feature drummer Keith Moon, who died three weeks after its release. The title track has gone on to be a radio classic.

    

17. Ramones - Road To Ruin: released 22nd September 1978

    The fourth album from the pioneering punks included I Just Want To Have Something To Do and I Wanna Be Sedated.

    

18. Blondie - Parallel Lines: released 22nd September 1978

    The all-time classic Blondie album was actually their third outing, but it spawned the hits Heart Of Glass, Hanging On The Telephone, One Way Or Another, Picture This and Sunday Girl.

    

19. David Bowie - Stage: released 29th September 1978

    After issuing Low and "Heroes" in '77, Bowie took a breather and issued this live double album of classic glam hits and the newer, more challenging "Berlin" material.

    

20. The Police - Outlandos D'Amour: released 3rd November 1978

    The debut album from Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland included Roxanne, Can't Stand Losing You and So Lonely.

    

21. The Jam - All Mod Cons: released 3rd November 1978

    The third album from Weller, Foxton and Buckler included the legendary Down In The Tube Station At Midnight.

    

22. The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope: released 10th November 1978

    The second album from Joe Strummer's punks included the hit Tommy Gun.

    

23. Queen - Jazz: released 10th November 1978

    Queen's seventh studio album included the double 'A' side Fat Bottomed Girls/Bicycle Race and the evergreen Don't Stop Me Now.

    

24. Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Scream: released 13th November 1978

    This hugely-influential slab of post-punk was the band's debut album and included Overground and Metal Postcard.

    

25. Public Image Ltd - First Issue: released 8th December 1978

    A year after the Sex Pistols crashed and burned following the release of their only album Never Mind The Bollocks... frontman John Lydon returned with this uncompromising response. It included some songs originally intended for the Pistols and the single Public Image.