Willie Colón & Rubén Blades - Siembra (1978)

I don't know anymore if I should look up the album before I listen to it or not. On the one hand it's nice to be surprised by what the album might have in store. I also don't want my preconceived notions about a genre to taint my listening experience. On the other hand if I don't know what the album is supposed to be, particularly if it's a genre I don't recognize, I won't be able to effectively comment on what the artist is trying to do.

Eh, whatever.

Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978)

Shalimar film soundtrack - Music by Rahul Dev Burman (1978)

I might be a little out of my league with this one. I'm never sure how to rate music that is so far outside of my culture, and Bollywood is about as far from my culture as I can imagine. Even genres like rap or country that I didn't grow up with at least tend to be in my native language. Music like afrobeat or samba are typically in other languages but usually follow similar musical structures I'm used to. But music from eastern cultures like India or China are much different beasts, and I just might not have the ear to really understand the difference between the good and the bad.

Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (1978)

Thus far this has been the hardest album for me to locate. It's not available on any streaming service. Amazon has no new or used CDs for me to buy. Even my new best friend Murfie, which has thankfully helped be find other people who are willing to sell me their copies of obscure or hard-to-obtain used versions, lets me down when it comes to this album. Why doesn't Funkadelic want me to listen to One Nation Under A Groove? Are they being lazy about reissuing their back catalog? Are they trying to drum up the legendary status of their most popular work? Or do they think this album is so atrocious they're essentially trying to delete it?

Siouxsie And The Banshees - The Scream (1978)

Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (1978)

I didn't have a great response to The Wall, which was the first Pink Floyd album I've ever listened to in its entirety. Two words from that review that really stick out for me are obtuse and whiny. That was a shame, because I had previously heard some of the music from that album and liked it. Same is true with today's subject, a predecesor of The Wall, which I am reviewing now. Hopefully I won't have as sour an experience this time.