1979’s Best Classic Rock Albums list wraps up our 1970s yearly top albums articles series. The classic rock and roll landscape changed dramatically over the past ten years. Political, economic, technological, and cultural changes throughout the 1970s played a crucial role in shaping the decade’s music. The chaos of the nineteen sixties bathed in protest, psychedelia, peace, love, and drugs spilled into the early years of the decade. Still, it was quickly filtered out with the end of the Vietnam War and the resignation of an American President. Awareness that record companies and their stable of rock stars could make fortunes if marketed correctly began to change the rock and roll being written and recorded by those very artists. It would be hard to argue that the majority of artists did not have their eyes focused on the prize of the big hit single.

Not all genres of music in the 1970s were focused on hit singles. The progressive rock format emerged from the psychedelic movement of the 1960s. It would be pretty tough to edit the eighteen-minute track “Close to the Edge” by Yes for hit single status. The popularity of Punk music was fueled by a need for rebellion similar to that of the 1960s protest music. The difference was that it began in the U.K. with the Sex Pistols in the late 1970s, as opposed to the Dylan era of the 1960s. Many artists were inspired by punk, leading to the new wave genre that lasted only a few years.

The 1979 list reflects the punk and new wave movements of the late 1970s. Basic rock albums were still being released that outsold most of the punk records, but there was definitely a unique sound to the last year of the 1970s.

This article is split into three sections. There is the top 50 in which we have listed albums in random order from 50 to 10. There is the top 10 in which we have listed what we believe were the most important and greatest records of the year. Finally, a supplemental section lists more of 1979’s best classic rock albums. It does not include all albums released in 1979, but rather just a list of some more favorites.

Here we go for one last round…………

1979’s Best Classic Rock Albums

# 50 – Flirtin’ with Disaster – Molly Hatchet

# 49 – Night in the Ruts – Aerosmith

# 48 – Discovery – Electric Light Orchestra

# 47 – Dynasty – Kiss

# 46 – Prince – Prince

# 45 – Wave – Patti Smith

# 44 – One Step Beyond… Madness

# 43 – Fear of Music – Talking Heads

# 42 – The Undertones – The Undertones

# 41 – Remote Control – The Tubes

# 40 – Into The Music – Van Morrison

# 39 – Black Rose: A Rock Legend  – Thin Lizzy

# 38 – Street Machine – Sammy Hagar

# 37 – Get the Knack – The Knack

# 36 – It’s Alive – The Ramones

# 35 – Head Games – Foreigner

# 34 – Armed Forces – Elvis Costello & The Attractions

# 33 – Overkill – Motorhead

# 32 – Communiqué – Dire Straits

# 31 – Eat To The Beat – Blondie

# 30 – Danger Money – U.K.

# 29 – You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic – Ian Hunter

# 28 – Low Budget – The Kinks

# 27 –Tusk – Fleetwood Mac

# 26 – The Long Run – The Eagles

# 25 – Mingus – Joni Mitchell

# 24 – Enlightened Rogues – The Allman Brothers Band

# 23 – Cheap Trick at Budokan – Cheap Trick

# 22 – In The Heat Of The Night – Pat Benatar

# 21 – George Harrison – George Harrison

# 20 – Dream Police – Cheap Trick

# 19 – Evolution – Journey

# 18 – The B-52’s – The B-52’s

# 17 – Rust Never Sleeps – Neil Young

# 16 – Highway To Hell – AC/DC

# 15 – Lodger – David Bowie

# 14 – Sheik Yerbouti  – Frank Zappa

# 13 – Candy-O – The Cars

# 12 – Desolation Angels – Bad Company

# 11 – Rickie Lee Jones – Rickie Lee Jones

#  10 – Look Sharp! – Joe Jackson

#  9 – In Through The Out Door – Led Zeppelin

#  8 – Reggatta de Blanc – The Police

#  7 – Breakfast in America – Supertramp

#  6 – Live Rust – Neil Young

#  5 – Damn the Torpedoes – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

#  4 – Van Halen II – Van Halen

#  3 – Joe’s Garage, Acts I, II & III – Frank Zappa

#  2 – The Wall – Pink Floyd

# 1 – London Calling – The Clash

Additional Selected Classic Rock Albums Released in 1979

These are listed in chronological order, as they were released throughout the year.

This is not a complete list of albums released in 1979. It’s a selected list of great albums that should be in any rock fan’s classic rock collection

Best Rock Albums – January 1979

Lovedrive – The Scorpions

Accept – Accept

Sleep Dirt – Frank Zappa

Valley of the Dolls – Generation X

Head First – The Babys

Life for the Taking – Eddie Money

No Mean City – Nazareth

Best Rock Albums – February 1979

Inflammable Material – Stiff Little Fingers

Frenzy – Split Enz

Scared to Dance – The Skids

Thanks, I’ll Eat It Here – Lowell George

Manifesto – Roxy Music

American Boy & Girl – Garland Jeffreys

Best Rock Albums – March 1979

Just a Game – Triumph

Rock n’ Roll Nights – Bachman Turner Overdrive

No. 1 in Heaven – Sparks

Squeezing Out Sparks – Graham Parker and The Rumour

Gimme Some Neck – Ron Wood

Million Mile Reflections – The Charlie Daniels Band

Best Rock Albums – April 1979

More Miles Per Hour – John Miles

The Bells – Lou Reed

Cool for Cats – Squeeze

New Values – Iggy Pop

Strikes – Blackfoot

Best Rock Albums – May 1979

Orchestral Favorites – Frank Zappa

Three Imaginary Boys – The Cure (U.K. only)

Shades in Bed – The Records

Do It Yourself – Ian Dury & The Blockheads

Where I Should Be – Peter Frampton

Flag – James Taylor

In The Skies – Peter Green

Monolith – Kansas

Rhapsodies – Rick Wakeman

Spectral Mornings – Steve Hackett

State of Shock – Ted Nugent

Best Rock Albums – June 1979

Labour of Lust – Nick Lowe

Repeat When Necessary – Dave Edmunds

Silent Letter – America

Unknown Pleasures – Joy Division

Mirrors – Blue Öyster Cult

Live Killers – Queen

Best Rock Albums – July 1979

Nine Lives – REO Speedwagon

John Cougar – John Cougar

Down to Earth – Rainbow

Airwaves – Badfinger

Best Rock Albums – August 1979

Ghostown – The Radiators

Chicago 13 – Chicago

Drums and Wires – XTC

Slow Train Coming – Bob Dylan

Eve – The Alan Parsons Project

5 – J.J. Cale

Born Again –Randy Newman

Volcano – Jimmy Buffett

Best Rock Albums – September 1979

Join Hands – Siouxsie and the Banshees

The Pleasure Principle – Gary Numan

Stormwatch – Jethro Tull

Top Priority – Rory Gallagher

Boogie Motel – Foghat

The Raven – The Stranglers

Entertainment! – Gang Of Four

London Town – Paul McCartney

Recent Songs – Leonard Cohen

Legends of the Lost and Found – Harry Chapin

A Different Kind of Tension – Buzzcocks

Marathon – Santana

Best Rock Albums – October 1979

Survival – Bob Marley & The Wailers

I’m the Man – Joe Jackson

Partners in Crime – Rupert Holmes

The Fine Art of Surfacing – The Boomtown Rats

Victim of Love – Elton John

Cornerstone – Styx

Bomber – Motorhead

Hydra – Toto

Keep The Fire – Kenny Loggins

Lovehunter – Whitesnake

Best Rock Albums – November 1979

Freedom at Point Zero – Jefferson Starship

Down on the Farm – Little Feat

Phoenix – Dan Fogelberg

Degüello – ZZ Top

Best Rock Albums – December 1979

Adventures in Utopia – Utopia

Feature Photo Credits 

Jimmy Page – Heinrich Klaffs [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

David Gilmour – Capitol Records [Public domain] Via Creative Commons

David Lee Roth – Photo: Carl Lender [CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Frank Zappa = Photo: Helge Øverås [CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]

Pat Benatar – Photo: Heidy Escobar from VALPARAISO; LAGUNA VERDE, CHILE [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

Supertramp – Photo: Ueli Frey [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Joe Jackson – Photo: Jean-Luc [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

Updated September 24, 2025

1979’s Best Rock Albums article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2025