Best hard rock albums, 1977-1979 pick 3

I always thought it was pretty crazy how many amazing live hard rock albums were released at the tail end of the '70s. And yes I am keeping it to just those three years, so sorry guys no Made in Japan as great as it is. Pick your three favorites!

These are the ones I'm aware of at the moment so instead of attacking me for not including one you may really like, just click "other" and discuss away

 

I won't call Jethto Tull 'Hard Rock', so I skip this one from being my number three on the pick list.
Instead of that one, AC/DC slips in behind my favorite two: Queen and Scorpions live are my greatest pleasure.

 

tough call!

 

Live and Dangerous is one of the greatest live albums of all-time, full stop. I also voted for Unleashed in the East. I do think that you want to take a look at No Sleep Till Hammersmith by Motörhead that is not listed in the poll. That would have been my third choice if listed.

 

That was 1981 though. I'm looking at just albums from '77 thru '79. Believe me, I'm aware of No Sleep

 

Oh, that's right! For some reason I thought it was made in 1978. Thanks for correcting me! Carry on...

 

Jethro Tull is my favorite here but I've never thought about it as hard rock. More like progressive folk rock or something.

 

Their early 70s stuff could be pretty heavy. Songs "Aqualung", "Son", "Teacher", "Minstrel in the Gallery" and "Locomotive Breath" are definitely hard rock. Of course, they mixed it in with their prog/folk pieces like "Mother Goose" etc.

 

Kiss
AC/DC
Judas Priest

 

KISS, not Kiss.

My picks:
AC/DC
Cheap Trick
Ramones

 

Some goodies and no mistake. Top of the tree, for me, would be 'Strangers In The Night'. Only one that I still play to this day (although I do remember being smitten by AC/DC's and 'Live And Dangerous' at the time).

 

KISS
RAMONES
QUEEN

 

Golden Earring Live is another great one

 

Cheap Trick
UFO (had to pick; I was at one of the concerts recorded for the album)
Thin Lizzy

 

UFO
Rainbow
Thin Lizzy

 

Impossible to pick just 3!

AC/DC
Scorpions
UFO

Had a hard time choosing between Judas Priest and Queen - Queen deserves to be there just for Brighton Rock alone.

 

UFO
Priest
Scorpions

 

All of these are fun

1976 seems to be when this particular Double live phenomenon began, with some singles, especially since Frampton's live album , just that one year would add:

Seger: Live Bullet
Skynyrd: One More FRom The Road
Purple: Made In Europe
Rush: All the World's A Stage
Zep: Song Remains The Same
Joe Walsh: Sick Mind
Allmans: Wipe the Windows
Johnny and Edgar Winter: Together
Johnny Winter: Captured Live
Roxy Music: Viva


1978
OUtlaws: Bring It Back Alive


Coming from left field Miles' Agartha (1976) lays down some live sonic wreckage that leaves most of these wanting.

 

AC / DC
Queen
KISS

 

kiss
Cheap Trick
AC/DC

 

KISS
Queen
Cheap Trick

 

Jethro Tull IS a Hard Rock band - at least in 1989, when they notoriously won The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental.
Their winning album was "Crest Of A Knave", and was a huge surprise, and was very controversial since most thought Metallica would easily win for their album "...And Justice For All".

That was the inaugural year for that category.
Since no one understood why Tull was nominated in that category, let alone win, this was used as a prime example that the Academy was extremely out of touch.

 

Heck, I cannot even choose 3 that I do NOT like! If any, Rainbow is my least favourite of them.

 

Cheap Trick Live at Budokan - although I never considered any of their albums as hard rock (except their first), this is The Classic for me.
Ramones It's Alive! - as always, their songs are fast, short, and sweet... The Ramones always hit the spot whether punk, pop, or hard rock.
Aerosmith Live! Bootleg - a good snapshot of their classic era.

 

Thin Lizzy
Rainbow
UFO