As the 1970s turned its midpoint corner, some of the biggest artists of the decade reached their stride. At the same time, emerging acts found new ways to reflect similar musical values with their songs.

As seen in the list below of the Top 40 Albums of 1976, which were selected by the UCR staff, many of the period’s biggest stars were still packing in arenas, selling records by the millions, and holding on to the fame and success they had grown accustomed to over the preceding years.

Time had not weathered Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, and the Rolling Stones, artists who came of age in the 1960s but found much of their greatest success in the following decade. Not content to stay in one place, they, and other artists, continued to cover new ground in 1976.

READ MORE: Top 30 Albums of 1975

There was a new movement emerging from just over that line, too. Bands like the Ramones, while a product of their age, hearkened back to an earlier time, both foreshadowing punk’s stirring of the pot and looking back at pop music’s coming-of-age years, just as Genesis and Peter Frampton opened new chapters in their long careers.

1976 wasn’t a consensus year; its very appeal is the disparate nature of the artists who released the best albums during those 12 months. Pick an artist in transition during the decade, and they likely regarded 1976 as a small step toward their next big move. Some individuals, on the other hand, seized the emerging opportunities presented to them.