JEFF WAYNE / Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (1978)

While I don't personally regard every song on Jeff Wayne's début concept album to be perfect, when considered as a whole it's a masterpiece of adaptation, design (inc. artwork) and aural joy that I never tire of experiencing.
Richard Burton narrates the story, based on H. G. Wells' famous 1898 novel, the actor's euphonious baritones perfectly suited to the work. Completing the magic, a string and prog rock accompaniment create a sweeping aura that carries the listener on a stirring, emotional journey. The changes in tone and dramatic intensity move it seamlessly from ominous to propitious, from elation to woe, all the while able to satisfy people in search of storytelling just as much as people in search of music. It's a work of art that's rich in imagery, content and style.

Songs of Note: Forever Autumn; Thunder Child

5 plans against us out of 5

RICHARD WRIGHT / Wet Dream [1978]

With Pink Floyd well on it's way into complete self-destruction after 1977's Animals, the band went on a brief  hiatus to gather their bearings and possibly release a solo record or two.
1978's Wet Dream was keyboardist Richard Wright's leisurely offering.
It's a serene dreamlike trip with contemplative soothing vocals gently layered over smooth jazzy keyboards and lite-bluesy guitar riffs.  Like Wright, it's fairly inoffensive, peaceful and almost buries itself in the background making sure it never wears out it's welcome.  To sum it up, it sounds like Dark Side outtakes without the passion of David Gilmour's guitar playing and that's just fine with me.  I just simply enjoy it as a calming ambience every once in a blue moon.

3 pleas for time to breathe out of 5

Songs of Note: Summer Elegy; Drop In From The Top

DAVID GILMOUR / David Gilmour [1978]

After dealing with the nightmare that was Roger Waters & Pink Floyd's Animals, guitarist David Gilmour stepped away to release his first solo album in 1978.
The self-titled effort is a bluesy straight-up prog-rock album without all the sound effects & cold disant emotions of the Floyd of that time.  In fact it's more of a melancholy album, filled with notions of loneliness, exhaustion and questions of one's own worth.  He's never been the imaginative one in Floyd and that lack of sticks out like a sore thumb here.  There's nothing really too special on the table but Gilmour's ear for beauty and his soothing voice is what carries the whole record which is something Waters' solo efforts are missing.

3 Joker's Wild reunions out of 5

Songs Of Note: Cry From The Street;  Short And Sweet

THE RESIDENTS / Not Available [1978]

Released in 1978, avant-garde multimedia artists The Residents' Not Available is a surreal 4 part "rock opera" with a history that's surrounded in bizarre mystery.  

It's a swirling, spooky musical trip that only Tom Waits and Frank Zappa would find on the worst of acid trips.  Through all the haunted jazz, piano pounding and delightfully unpleasant synth plodding, there's moments of musical coherency to go with a lyrical narrative that makes sense in the kind of way that doesn't.  Most folks will brush it off as pure nonsensical noise but with each listen you begin to piece things together making the purpose all the more clearer and brilliant.  Whether or not that's a good thing is for you to decide.

4 theories of obscurity out of 5

Songs Of Note: Part 1: Edweena; Part 2: The Making Of A Soul   

KATE BUSH / Lionheart (1978)

Pressured into releasing a second album in the same year as her début, Kate had only a few months to work on Lionheart. As a result, it lacks the same time-necessary experimental nature of The Kick Inside. It's made up of more relaxed Folksy Pop songs that didn't catch hold of me as quickly or as tightly as before. There are still moments where her voice soars and her piano soothes, but it's hard to shake the feeling that more time would've allowed the often safe compositions to blossom further. It's still GREAT, but it could've been even better.

Songs of Note: Wow; Hammer Horror

4 skidding wheels out of 5

KATE BUSH / The Kick Inside (1978)

When I'm unhappy, Kate makes me happy again. She's one of the most dynamic, talented, and certainly kookiest female vocalists of all time. Her début is a good example of her working method: deeply poignant ballads mixed with insightful Pop tunes (no, it's not an oxymoron after all). Reliant on piano much of the time, she still finds time to fit in the occasional Reggae or Jazz moment. Kate doesn't follow trends; her eccentricity makes her incapable of doing so, and while many have tried to replicate her genius, they rarely come even close. It's Pop music for the intellectual. Sincerely, Kate's music makes my life better, and The Kick Inside is one of the ten best albums that I own.

Songs of Note: Wuthering Heights; The Man With the Child in His Eyes

5 beautiful literary hauntings out of 5

THE RESIDENTS / Duck Stab - Buster & Glen [1978]

The Residents aren't for everybody. Or many people at all really. You might find Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa tapping their feet to them though.
The multimedia fuckered art collective known as The Residents have been baffling listeners for years, so it's difficult to convince folks that their 1978 album Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen is their most easily accessible record.
It plays like a children's album for funerals gone terribly wrong in the most perverse and cringe worthy ways possible. The distorted synthesizers and nasally vocals sound hilarious at first but with repeated listens it only becomes more disturbing and creepy.

3½ KD ditties out of 5

Songs Of Note: Birthday Boy; Hello Skinny

CRASS / The Feeding of the 5000 (1978)

British punk. The real deal, uncompromising both lyrically and musically. It's percussion heavy with twangy distorted guitars and screamed vocals that at times can't even be clearly discerned. They arguably can't play for shit but that's not the point, it's a statement, a musical expression of what it meant to be working class in late 70s Britain. If you've occasional anger issues and hate your government and everything they stand for, then it's the perfect music to make you feel less alone. Crass were too short lived but the music they gifted us is ever-relevant.

Songs of Note: Asylum; Do They Owe Us a Living?

4 sounds of free speech out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / First Issue (1978)

Public Image Ltd was a highly stylised percussion based band that was both experimental and challenging. Aided by a prominent bass sound from the wonderfully named Jah Wobble, the music was the perfect fit for front-man John Lydon's unusual voice. It's the musical equivalent of an art student with a paintbrush and clinical ADHD. It's not passive listening, you have to engage with it to appreciate it. The first album, First Issue, is considered a classic by many folks, and looking back now it's clear that PiL was years ahead of its time.

Songs of Note: Public Image; Annalisa

4 bibles full of libel out of 5