Episode 53 - 1977 (Ft. Yes, Queen & Blue Öyster Cult

The Seventies are often lampooned as the decade that fashion and music forgot. Admittedly, it was rich on Gilbert O'Sullivan The Carpenters and The New Seekers, but it also brought us Sabbath and the golden eras of both Zeppelin and Purple, so it wasn't all bad.

in fact, as the snot-nosed belligerence of punk prepared to make its invective-rich entrance, the world of rock music - and especially progressive rock music - was an interesting one to inhabit.

This episode features three albums from 1977 - all, coincidentally, marking each band's second appearance on the podcast - but given the releases the lads chose the theme might just as well have been Prog Bands, because all three are high on eclectic experimentation.

First up was the unapologetic tilt at commercial acceptance from Yes, with their chart-bothering 5-tracker Going For The One marking a distinct departure from its often-impenetrable though never mediocre predecessors like Fragile, Tales From Topographic Oceans and Relayer.

Next comes Queen's News Of The World which is notable for many things, not least the realisation that there was a time in history when the world had never heard of either We Will Rock You or We Are The Champions.

And finally, but by no means least, comes Blue Öyster Cult with Spectres, which gave fans the track that has become their second most-played concert tune of all time (behind ... Reaper, obviously) - Godzilla.

Make way for mellotrons, more pianos than you can shake a stick at, and a glut of cowbell.