1976: Year in Metal — 50 Years of Rock & Pre-Metal Glory
Metal Nerdery Podcast — Episode 372 | Published October 8, 2026 | metalnerdery.com | @metalnerderypodcast
"We're all about relaxers down here…" "It's ALL about drugs, man…" "That's metal before metal was metal…70's style…"
"If you put your '76 hat on, what's the top Billboard song?" "You can't listen to that and be sad…" "Are there ANY songs we've ever heard of? (Which is a really weird question coming from the world's biggest KISS fan.)"
About This Episode
1976. The year of the American Bicentennial. The year Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple Computer, Evel Knievel jumped seven Greyhound buses at the Kingdome in Seattle, and Bruce Jenner took gold in the decathlon at the Montreal Olympics.
It was also the year of being "on the train to Bangkok" and getting super Asian in your buddy's Trans Am before catching The Song Remains The Same at the midnight movies. The year Kansas dropped their progressive pre-metal breakthrough Leftoverture, the year KISS somehow released not one but TWO albums, and the year that gave us perhaps the strangest and most misunderstood Black Sabbath album of the 1970s.
Fast forward fifty years to 2026 — America's a quarter of a millennium old, and music has gone from albums to 8-tracks to cassettes to CDs to streaming and now back to albums, cassettes, and CDs again, with die-hard fans rediscovering the joy of physical media, lyric sheets, and album art. So we went back to the 70s for a full revisit of the hard rock and pre-metal glory days of the CLASS OF 1976 — thirteen songs, thirteen albums, one very weird KISS question, and a palette cleanser you will not see coming.
Episode: Metal Nerdery #372 — 1976: Year in Metal
Theme: A full "Year in Metal" dive into rock and pre-metal albums released in 1976
Albums covered: 13 — AC/DC, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Rainbow, Ramones, Ted Nugent, Rush, Judas Priest, Boston, Blue Öyster Cult, Thin Lizzy, KISS, and a Pantera "palette cleanser" bit
Anniversary: 50 years since 1976
🔈 The 1976 Rabbit Hole Goes Deeper: "If you want more 1976, go back and listen to the episode BEFORE this one… we did a whole ass 1976 album dive… which we didn't even mention on this one." That's a direct callback to our Black Sabbath — Technical Ecstasy episode (#371) — also a 1976 release, and somehow not mentioned once on this episode despite being recorded one week apart. Two 1976 episodes, zero overlap. That's dedication.
The Class of 1976 — Album by Album
#Aerosmith
Back in the Saddle
Rocks — 1976
"That's probably one of THE heaviest Aerosmith songs I think…" "This is Guns 'N' Roses before Guns 'N' Roses…" Testament would have killed this one.
#LedZeppelin
Achilles Last Stand
Presence — 1976
"What a way to open… ALL the cokelines, too…" "That climb is really cool, too… it's very prog rock." (Also: The Runaways' debut dropped in '76.)
#Rainbow
A Light in the Black
Rising — 1976
"Oh, that's metal as hell…" "That man's voice… is gold…" (RJD.) "That's metal before metal was metal…"
#Ramones
Beat on the Brat
Ramones — 1976
"14 songs… 29 minutes long…" "It's almost like Devo… kinda… it's like punk Devo…"
#TedNugent
Writing on the Wall (feat. Meatloaf)
Free For All — 1976
"If you look at Ted Nugent back then, tell me he does not look like (James) Hetfield… circa 1991ish…"
The James Hetfield long-lost-uncle theory, settled.
#RUSH
A Passage to Bangkok
2112 — 1976
"It's ALL about drugs, man…" "They're one of my project bands… all I listened to was RUSH…" #projectband
#JudasPriest
The Ripper
Sad Wings of Destiny — 1976
#usethoseheadphones — "They got the vocals right up front…" "So it IS about Jack the Ripper…"
#Boston
Rock and Roll Band
Boston — 1976
"Add a little more distortion and that's a Pantera riff…" "They all had afros…"
#BlueOysterCult
E.T.I. / (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Agents of Fortune — 1976
"Guys, I need a little bit of cowbell…" #cowbell #WillFerrell #SNL
#ThinLizzy
Emerald
Jailbreak — 1976
"I can see why Mastodon did this…" "It's got a Maiden vibe to it… I can definitely hear that Maiden was influenced by them…"
#KISS
Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
Rock and Roll Over — 1976
"That's a badass album cover… for 1976…" "Are there ANY songs we've ever heard of?" — asked by the world's biggest KISS fan.
#Pantera
The Palette Cleanser
Reinventing the Vulgar Display of Power Metal Projects, Far Beyond the Southern Steel Trendkill Jungle from Hell
"We can't play 2 KISS songs in a row… alright, palette cleanser…" The winner of 1976. Cannot EVER be loud enough.
Buy the Class of 1976
⚔ The Verdict
"The winner… the winner of 1976…" is the palette cleanser itself.
"Cannot EVER be loud enough." — Can't Be Loud Enough, settling it since Episode 008.
Episode Timestamps
00:01"And we're back… the biggest bailout in all of Metal Nerdery history…" / "So, we just found out a neat little bit of history here…" / The mystery regarding the back album cover of AC/DC's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (the people are redacted on the back cover, but the eyeball redaction black bars from the front cover are still in the same place the people were on the front) / NOTE: Technical Ecstasy is the 7th Black Sabbath album, NOT their 6th — their sixth is Sabotage / #listenerdiscretionisadvised / "Everything is different than everything…" / ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST LOCATED IN THE BUNKERPOON CENTER FOR METAL EXCELLENCE!!!*** / ***PATREON US at patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast*** / "Who's Lee?"
08:02***METAL NERDERY PODCAST PRESENTS: 1976 – YEAR IN METAL*** / "It's ½ a century of metal… and rock (pre-metal)… metal wasn't really a thing in 1976… not like it was in the 80's…" / "During the year of America's bicentennial… now we're a quarter of a millennium years old…" / "It's kind of a rewind episode…" / "I'm googling, I'm not looking at porn on my phone…" / "If you put your '76 hat on, what's the top Billboard (song)… the Billboard Top 100?" #Billboard / "Wait… did you say Eric Cartman?" #allbymyself / "You've gotta admit, Slow Ride is a bad ass song!" / "That's kinda pretty close to what I said…"
14:25"What about Wheeler's song?" / #ACDC SQUEALER (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – 1976) / "This sounds like stripper music to me..." / "Sorry, I had to swallow… I love this part…" / "She said she'd never been… never been balled before… and I don't think… she'll ever ball no more… fixed her good…" / "You can't listen to that and be sad…"
18:42"That's probably one of THE heaviest Aerosmith songs I think…" / "Testament would have KILLED Back In The Saddle…" / #Aerosmith BACK IN THE SADDLE (Rocks – 1976) / "That just sounds kind of ominous… this might be one of my favorite Aerosmith songs…" / "Listen to that bass, dude… that's gnarly!" / "Suki…" / "It's the chorus and that bass for me, that's what gets it…" / "This is Guns 'N' Roses before Guns 'N' Roses…" / "Southern metal is the next iteration of your Molly Hatchets and your Lynyrd Skynyrd… it's just heavier…"
23:05"Hot take: off of Presence, what's your fave tune?" / "Achilles Last Stand is the most metal thing on there…" / #LedZeppelin ACHILLES LAST STAND (Presence – 1976) / "What a way to open… ALL the cokelines, too…" / "That is such a wild little fill… that riff is kinda crazy…" / "That climb is really cool, too… it's very prog rock." / "The Runaways (debut album) came out in '76…" #LitaFord / "She was not from Lebanon… or Libya… or Lisbon, Portugal…"
27:15"How about a little Rainbow?" / #Rainbow A LIGHT IN THE BLACK (Rising – 1976) / "Oh, that's metal as hell…" / "That man's voice… is gold…" #RJD / "That's metal before metal was metal… 70's style… that's definitely more metal than rock, for sure…"
29:30"How about a little punk? How about some Ramones first album?" / "14 songs… 29 minutes long…" / #Ramones BEAT ON THE BRAT (Ramones – 1976) / "It's almost like Devo… kinda… it's like punk Devo…"
31:30"How about Billy engages with a little MC Tentacle…?" / "Not a black horse, a dark horse…" #ohyeah / "If you look at Ted Nugent back then, tell me he does not look like (James) Hetfield… circa 1991ish…" / #TedNugent WRITING ON THE WALL (feat. Meatloaf) (Free For All – 1976) / "Cat Scratch Free For All?" / "Stranglehold… all day long…"
34:06"How about some RUSH?" / "We're all about relaxers down here…" / #RUSH A PASSAGE TO BANGKOK (2112 – 1976) / "It's ALL about drugs, man…" / "That makes me wanna smoke opium… I've never smoked opium…" / "They're one of my project bands… all I listened to was RUSH…" #projectband / "For a long time it was DOWN… I could not listen to anything but DOWN…" / "I just call that 'Project Band'… normally if I get into a mood to listen to one band and one band only, it'll be Led Zeppelin…" #TheSongRemainsTheSame / "I have memories of being super Asian at Billiam's house watching that movie…"
39:11"Speaking of California…" / "Is there something better (else) on that album than THAT song?" / "This will be the song that gets us kicked off the podcast…"
40:09"How about a little Priest? Some Sad Wings (of Destiny)?" / #JudasPriest THE RIPPER (Sad Wings of Destiny – 1976) #usethoseheadphones / "Stranglehold again…" / "They got the vocals right up front…" / "So it IS about Jack the Ripper…"
42:33"You know what… I've gotta tell y'all… what did you think about the first Boston record?" / #Boston ROCK AND ROLL BAND (Boston – 1976) / "Add a little more distortion and that's a Pantera riff…" / "They all had afros…"
45:10#BlueOysterCult E.T.I. (EXTRA TERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE) / (DON'T FEAR) THE REAPER (Agents of Fortune – 1976) / "Guys, I need a little bit of cowbell…" / "It's 70's all day…" #cowbell #WillFerrell #BruceDickinson #ChristopherWalken #SNL
46:55"Alright, what else…?" / "We can do a Chronicles Death Match for (bands releasing two albums in) the same year?" / "How about Emerald? Mastodon actually covered (Thin Lizzy) a while back…" / #ThinLizzy EMERALD (Jailbreak – 1976) / "I can see why Mastodon did this…" / "It's got a Maiden vibe to it…" / "I can definitely hear that Maiden was influenced by them…"
51:03"Here's a KISS song, off of Rock and Roll Over… it's a Gene song obviously because it's all about sex…" / "That's a badass album cover… for 1976…" / "Are there ANY songs we've ever heard of? (Which is a really weird question coming from the world's biggest KISS fan.)" / #KISS LOVE 'EM AND LEAVE 'EM (Rock And Roll Over – 1976) / "As a kid I loved this song, but this may not translate well to 54-year-old me…"
53:33"We don't have to end on that… I fully understand your need to palette cleanse after that… we can't play 2 KISS songs in a row… alright, palette cleanser…" / #Pantera PALETTE CLEANSER (Reinventing the Vulgar Display of Power Metal Projects, Far Beyond the Southern Steel Trendkill Jungle from Hell) / "The winner… the winner of 1976…" / "Cannot EVER be loud enough…" #CantBeLoudEnough / "If you want more 1976, go back and listen to the episode BEFORE this one… we did a whole ass 1976 album dive… which we didn't even mention on this one…" / ***THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!!*** #untilthenext #outroreel
- Episode: Metal Nerdery #372 — 1976: Year in Metal
- Albums covered: 13 — AC/DC, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Rainbow, Ramones, Ted Nugent, Rush, Judas Priest, Boston, Blue Öyster Cult, Thin Lizzy, and KISS (plus one Pantera palette cleanser)
- Also turning 50 in 1976: Kansas' Leftoverture, two KISS albums in the same calendar year, and Black Sabbath's Technical Ecstasy
- The direct callback: Our previous episode, #371 — Black Sabbath: Technical Ecstasy — was also a 1976 album, and somehow didn't come up once on this episode
- James Hetfield's long-lost uncle: Confirmed to probably be Ted Nugent, circa 1991
- The "project band" theory: A single-band listening obsession — Rush, Down, and Led Zeppelin/The Song Remains The Same all cited as examples
- The winner of 1976: The palette cleanser. Cannot ever be loud enough.
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