Turn on your stereos and crank the volume to 11. Today we go back in time to 1977! Even though punk and disco took centerstage in the public eye, there was still plenty of hard and heavy music to be heard. Many of the bands on this list were full blown headliners by now. Others would achieve such status in the following decade. No matter what the case may be, the class of ’77 was unrelenting. Here’s the 10 finest from that glorious year.
10. Motörhead – Motörhead
Motörhead’s self titled debut is far from their strongest release. Half of the album is methed out renditions of songs from Lemmy’s previous band, Hawkwind. The other half introduces us to the lyrical tropes that would become synonymous with this legendary outfit: sex (“Vibrator”), drugs (“White Line Fever”), travel (“Keep Us on the Road”), and motorcycles (“Iron Horse / Born to Lose”). But what it lacks in cohesiveness, it makes up for in musical influence. At the time, this was the rawest, dirtiest, most extreme album ever recorded. It’s also the first known crossover of metal and punk. Motörhead walked so Venom, Discharge, and the entire thrash metal movement could run.
9. Aerosmith – Draw the Line
Draw the Line regularly gets crapped upon as “the beginning of the end” for Aerosmith. Granted, following an album as perfect as Rocks is no easy task. That said, I’m in the minority who not only finds this to be a fitting successor, but the best thing they ever did next to Rocks. The songs are just as sleazy and drugged out as Rocks. Like its predecessor, its imperfections are what makes it perfect. Steven Tyler shrieks his heart out from beginning to end, while I can almost feel the sweat dripping from Perry and Whitford’s guitars. Draw the Line also features the undisputed greatest Aerosmith song of all time, “Kings and Queens”. With its dark atmosphere, medieval themed lyrics, and doom laden riffs, it’s proof that for as great of a hard rock band Aerosmith was, they could’ve been an even greater metal band.
8. AC/DC – Let There Be Rock
Rock n roll was more than just music for AC/DC. It was even more than a way of life. No, for these Aussie bad boys, rock n roll was a religion. Let There Be Rock was their way of spreading the good news to all the youth who felt the same, but couldn’t vocalize it. Leave it to the snarl of Bon Scott to do so for you. Let There Be Rock is big, bold, brash, and ballsy from beginning to end. While the band’s spirit was carefree as ever, the riff factory that was Angus and Malcolm Young took on a new sense of responsibility with this record. Cranking out simple three chord party riffs wasn’t enough anymore. It was time to assault the listener with a six string barrage. In the words of a certain song they’d release a few years later, “Fire!”
7. Thin Lizzy – Bad Reputation
If you asked me to name my favorite Thin Lizzy, there’s three possible answers I could give you: Thunder and Lightning, Black Rose: A Rock Legend, and Bad Reputation. Keeping up with the unpopular opinions, Bad Reputation has always come off as more versatile, more compelling, and just all around stronger than Jailbreak. That isn’t a knock at the ’76 classic, which is still a 10/10 masterpiece. It’s just that even in the short timespan of a year, the band matured as musicians and Phil Lynott matured as a songwriter. The melodramatic western tinge of “Southbound” and gentle acoustic breeze of “Downtown Sundown” is as convincing as the twin lead onslaught of “Opium Trail” and the freshly ferocious funk of the title track. With his bass and pen as his sword and shield, Lynott was unstoppable.
6. Judas Priest – Sin After Sin
How on earth could Judas Priest follow Sad Wings of Destiny, the darkest metal album ever recorded up until that point? Why with an album even darker of course! Sin After Sin bridges the gap between Priest’s progressive past and the precise metallic assault of their future. Both elements are utilized to full effect on classic cuts like “Sinner”, “Here Come the Tears”, and “Dissident Aggressor”. Sin After Sin also contains the first of many allegories to Rob Halford’s sexuality, “Raw Deal”. That said, with lyrics like “Sex was like a hurricane, it ravaged and it shattered. I was barely holding on to his flying body symphony.”, it’s remarkable it took another 2 decades for people to put 1 and 1 together.
5. Blue Öyster Cult – Spectres
There are many parallels that can be drawn between Blue Öyster Cult and Black Sabbath. Both bands began their careers making dark, menacing, pseudo-occult music that laid down the groundwork for what would become known as metal. As the 70s went on, both would incorporate pop elements into their sound. Whether this was an effort at creative evolution, shameless commercialism, or both, is up to you. This new musical chapter marked the beginning of the end for the Sabs. For BÖC, it was the end of the beginning. Buck Dharma, Eric Bloom, Allan Lanier, and the brothers Bouchard (Joe and Albert) continued their reign as the high priests of pop metal with Spectres. Songs on this album range from the colossally heavy riffage of “Godzilla” and dark romantic laments of “Nosferatu”, to the ethereal dreampop of “Celestial the Queen” and sugary power pop of “Goin’ Thru the Motions”, the latter co-written by Mott the Hoople mastermind, Ian Hutner.
4. Scorpions – Taken by Force
For a small handful of narrowminded 70s snobs, Taken by Force is where the Scorpions saga ends. Having a deep affection for the four albums that were to follow (particularly Lovedrive and Animal Magnetism), I can’t say I agree with this hot take. However, there’s no denying that Scorpions became a completely different band after the departure of Uli Jon Roth. The guitar wizard makes his final appearance on this album and boy does he go out with a bang. Taken by Force features what many consider to be Roth’s finest performances: the proto-power metal epic “The Sails of Charon” and the earthshattering power ballad “We’ll Burn the Sky”. Both are constantly namedropped by fans as the “best Scorpions song” and for good reason.
3. KISS – Love Gun
The KISSteria that ensued in ’76 only grew in ’77 with the release of Love Gun. For a band who was touring like dogs, playing hundreds of shows a year, you’d think they’d be creatively spent. Yet miraculously, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were able to produce another collection of hooky and hit ready hard rock songs. Even Peter Criss and Ace Frehley stepped up to the plate with “Hooligan” and “Shock Me” respectively. The unforeseen success of the latter paved the way for Ace to step out solo, but more on that when we cover 1978. Like Destroyer and Rock and Roll Over before it, Love Gun is as memorable today as it was back then.
2. UFO – Lights Out
Strings? Acoustic guitars? Ballads? If you had told UFO a couple years earlier amidst the recording of “Let It Roll” that this is the road they’d go down, at best, you’d get laughed at. At worst, you’d get Pete Way’s fist square in your face. Yet this indeed the road UFO embarked upon for their 1977 magnum opus, Lights Out. There were still some hard and heavy moments throughout. “Too Hot to Handle”, “Electric Phase”, and the title track recalled the classic Schenker driven sound that put the band on the map. But it was ambitious ballads like “Try Me” and “Love to Love” that cemented the band as a creative force to be reckoned with. There with nothing UFO couldn’t do. That’s why it’s remarkable they never ascended to arena headliner status outside of “Sweet Home Chicago”.
- Rush – A Farewell to Kings
A Farewell to Kings is prog metal perfection. It also happens to be the first heavy album I ever listened to. The lyrical themes of personal freedom (“A Farewell to Kings”), fantasy (“Xanadu”), and sci-fi (“Cygnus X-1 Book 1: The Voyage”) that were explored on 2112 are taken to dazzling new heights. So are the band’s playing skills. This unparalleled talent would become the ire of loser music critics at rags like Rolling Stone. These days, that same talent can’t be ignored.
Rolling Stone recently did a cover story commemorating the one year anniversary of Neil Peart’s passing. And while the piece was poignant, particularly because of contributions from Peart’s widow and former bandmates, I couldn’t help but read it with tongue in cheek. Here was the very publication that spent decades mocking this man’s work while he was alive, only to put him on a pedestal in death. These are the very hypocrites Peart wrote about on the album’s title track: “The hypocrites are slandering the sacred halls of truth. Ancient nobles showering their bitterness on youth.” This is why, while Neil may no longer be with us, Rush will never die. So long as people like Jann Wenner walk the earth, A Farewell to Kings will remain musically and lyrically relevant.
Honorable Mentions
- Angel – On Earth as It Is in Heaven
- Riot – Rock City
- Starz – Violation
- Ted Nugent – Cat Scratch Fever
- Uriah Heep – Firefly