The Very Best From 40 Years Ago

40 years ago if you had bought $10,000 in any tech or communications stock, you would be so rich you probably have retired a long time ago. Four decades ago, the best album to have invested in also appears to be our favorite LPs today. Surprisingly here are the albums that turn 40 years old this year…

Fleetwood Mac and ‘Rumours’ gave us so many hit singles it’s hard to keep track. Years later we read that the band was barely on speaking terms, laying down their tracks independently, leaving the producers to finalize the tracks. If you were to put a list together of the top five most influential and bellwether albums of all time, this LP would certainly be on everyone’s list.

‘The Clash,’ the debut album from the UK’s The Clash, exploded onto the music scene proving to be the most successful punk album of all time, in spite of the fact that no one can remember a single from the LP.

Styx gave us ‘The Grand Illusion,’ their concept LP, releasing the chart busting singles “Come Sail Away” and “Fooling Yourself.” Although it was the band’s sixth album, most critics refer to this LP as the beginning and the end of Styx.

Steely Dan’s ‘Aja’ gave us “Peg,” “Deacon Blues” and “Josie” making Steely Dan a favorite of pop and jazz fans across the world. ‘The Stranger’ from Billy Joel, the incredible ‘Bat Out of Hell’ from Meat Loaf, and ELO’s ‘Out of the Blue’ are all 40 this year as well.

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