Top 10 for 1976

TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10

David Bowie
Station To Station

Classic Rock | Album | 23 January 1976

Thin Lizzy
Jailbreak

Classic Rock | Album | 26 March 1976

Rainbow
Rainbow Rising

Classic Rock | Album | 17 May 1976

Richie Blackmore, having been the axeman for Deep Purple for close to a decade, had already cemented himself as a rock legend when he formed Rainbow. His vocalist on the other hand, a fresh-faced American named Ronnie James Dio, hadn't yet broken the big time. Whilst 1975's debut album showed promise, this is the album where both vocalist and guitarist really locked together to bring out each other's best. With proto-metal in abundance here, songs like 'Tarot Woman' and 'Starstruck' really shine, and Blackmore's solos feel like he really is invested in this music. The vinyl side B opened with the orchestrated monster 'Stargazer', setting alight the minds of heavy music fans everywhere, and showcasing Dio's amazing soulfully powerful vocals like no other track. Rainbow slowly became mostly 'commercial' after this release, with Dio unfortunately only hanging around for one more album, but there was little chance of them ever besting this masterpiece anyway.

Alice Cooper
Goes To Hell

Classic Rock | Album | 25 June 1976

KISS
Destroyer

Hard Rock | Album | 15 March 1976

Blue Oyster Cult
Agents Of Fortune

Hard Rock | Album | ?? May 1976

Led Zeppelin
Presence

Classic Rock | Album | 31 March 1976

AC/DC
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap [A.U. Edition]

Hard Rock | Album | 20 September 1976

Bob Dylan
Desire

Classic Rock | Album | 16 January 1976

TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions

Led Zeppelin
The Soundtrack From The Film 'The Song Remains The Same'

Classic Rock | Album | 28 September 1976

TheBigBlack's Metal Top 10

Black Sabbath
Technical Ecstasy

Heavy Metal | Album | 26 September 1976

Judas Priest
Sad Wings Of Destiny

Heavy Metal | Album | 23 March 1976