I think I've blown my wad on the '79 thing, so here's all the other great records I can think of right now.

David Bowie- Lodger
The Mekons- The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen
DEVO- duty now for the future
Pere Ubu- New Picnic Time and, I believe, Dub Housing (!)
Joni Mitchell- Mingus
Prince's first album
Joy Division- Unknown Pleasures
Tom Petty- Damn The Torpedoes
Funkadelic put out Uncle Jam Wants You
ACDC- Highway to Hell, for christ sake
pil- metal box and that other one- Version 2 or something?
Gang Of Four- Entertainment
Ian Dury- Do It Yourself
The Damned- Machine Gun Etiquette
The Jam- Setting Sons and of course All Mod Cons
Iggy Pop- New Values
Buzzcocks- A Different Kind Of Tension
The Undertone's lovely and erudite debut
Boomtown Rats- The Fine Art Of Surfacing
Split Enz- Frenzy
Bob Marley- Survival
Peter Tosh- Mystic Man
The Stranglers- The Raven
The Cure- Three Imaginary Boys
Pink Floyd- The Wall
Foreigner- Head Games (just making sure you?re listening)
The Raincoats- The Raincoats
Shoes- Present Tense (wow!)
Throbbing Gristle- 20 Jazz Funk Greats (ha ha)
that Tom Verlaine solo album came out in 1979!!!!!!
Oh, and Joe Jackson put out "I'm The Man" in '79. "Look Sharp" actually came out in '78. Sue me.
NEIL YOUNG'S LIVE RUST CAME OUT HOLY SHIT I FORGOT!!!! FUCK THIS, I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT RUST-