Heralding the departure of Adrian Smith and the arrival of Janick Gers, Iron Maiden's No Prayer For The Dying also saw the arrival of very mixed reviews

Inspired by a panic attack, The Groundhog's four-part suite Split soundtracked a psychotic reaction

In the wake of Dark Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here, Animals saw Pink Floyd show their disgust with humanity

The self-titled debut album by the original Queen Of Noise, Suzi Quatro, strives to prove she was more than a singles act

Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus was the album that put Spirit at the forefront of conceptual psych-rock

Honeyed harmonies, subversively witty lyrics and superb musicianship? It can only be Jellyfish's Bellybutton

Touched by tragedy, T. Rex's Dandy in the Underworld was seen as a return to form by many

Cheap Trick's debut album had a rougher edge than in later years, but the songwriting and sense of humour were already in place

With Magnum on the verge of falling apart, everything came together with On A Storyteller's Night, an album that offered the perfect coalescing of music, themes and imagery

An album that split Rush's following clean down the middle, Signals saw the Canadian trio beginning to experiment with keyboards

In which Black Sabbath decamp to LA to work on an album, and somehow make Vol. 4

Uriah Heep's debut album was hated by Rolling Stone but paved the way for a a career that's still going half a century later

It's 1978. Journey are going nowhere, but they have a plan. His name is Steve Perry, and Infinity is the result

Eric Clapton's Cream were a year away from extinction, Jimmy Page was commandeering his own juggernaut, and Jeff Beck was determined not to be left out of the race

Strange Days was The Doors' second record, spawning the hit singles People Are Strange and Love Me Two Times