At the end of the year, it is usually customary for a critic to say what his favorites were for the previous year. So who am I to buck tradition? Here are my personal favorite albums of 1978 and a few other notes.
1) Bruce Springsteen — Darkness on the Edge of Town Springsteen shows what he's really made of by coming through three years of legal hassles and making an album this good.
2) Elvis Costello — This Year's Model. His aim is still true. He may be the most twisted rocker of the seventies, but I admire his vision. He is also one of the few new wave acts worth listening to.
3) The Who — Who Are You. Second place to Bruce Springsteen in the Comeback Category. It's been three years since By The Numbers, but four months since Keith Moon's death. It will be interesting to see what kind of comeback Entwistle, Daltrey, and Townsend can make now.
4) The Rolling Stones — Some Girls and it's about time. Their best album since Exile on Main Street, and if it weren't for the throwaway "Far Away Eyes" a perfect Stones album.
5) Bob Seger's Stranger in Town. A worthy successor to "Night Moves." Some good old-fashioned rock and roll with seventies emphasis. Sample lyric: "Don't take me to a Disco / You won't even get me on the floor."
6) Gerry Rafferty — City to City. This year's most melodic and best orchestrated album. The arrangements are majestic and pleasant, while at the same time, not boring.
7) Cheap Trick — Heaven Tonight. These guys are undoubtedly the best rock and roll band in America, yet they haven't broken gold sales. Watch for Cheap Trick to be the big breakout of 1979.
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