1979
The biggest rock and metal albums of 1979: The Wall, Highway to Hell and In Through the Out Door and 5 more.
In 1979 the Iranian Revolution ended the Pahlavi dynasty, with Ayatollah Khomeini returning to Tehran after nearly 15 years in exile. Vietnam's army took Phnom Penh and toppled the Pol Pot regime, and China invaded northern Vietnam. Philips, meanwhile, showed off the compact disc in public, which would matter rather a lot to record collectors later on.
Rock and metal were changing shape. In May, Sounds magazine ran Geoff Barton's piece on the scene at the Bandwagon Rock Club in Kingsbury, North London, and the phrase "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" entered the language. Iron Maiden's The Soundhouse Tapes came out in November, while Motörhead had a busy year with Overkill, Bomber and On Parole all arriving. AC/DC delivered Highway to Hell in July, Led Zeppelin offered In Through the Out Door in August, and Queen put out the live set Live Killers in June. The year closed with Pink Floyd's The Wall on 30 November, a double act of grand ambition that would shape the decade ahead. Among the new bands were Saint Vitus, Trouble, Exodus, Killing Joke and Michael Schenker's own group.
The cast list kept shifting. Black Sabbath parted with Ozzy Osbourne over his drug problems and brought in Ronnie James Dio. Joe Perry left Aerosmith after a row with Steven Tyler in Cleveland, and Michael Schenker left Scorpions, with Matthias Jabs stepping in. Iron Maiden added Dennis Stratton and Clive Burr, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer called it a day. Sid Vicious died of an overdose on 2 February, aged 21.
