They showed up dressed in all white, like the bastard sons of Liberace and Ziggy Stardust sent down on a mission from an oversexed space church. Angel were what would have happened if Yes did cocaine with KISS in a snow globe? Formed in the mid-’70s and signed to Casablanca (yes, the same asylum that housed KISS and Donna Summer), Angel were theatrical, outrageous, and so soaked in glitter and grandiosity that they made Queen look like a bar band. They were the opposite of the three cord rebellion of punk. Angel in contrast were layered, symphonic, hermetically sealed from street grime, and gloriously delusional. So let’s roll out the star-shaped keyboard, float above the drum riser, and count down the top three albums that prove Angel crash-landed in style.

3. White Hot (1978)

By the time White Hot hit the shelves, Angel were full-throttle space-glam operatives firing lasers in every fucking direction, and this record is their chrome-dipped, radio-ready missile. Opener “Don’t Leave Me Lonely” is a lighters-up (or smart phones up for you young fuckers), heartbreak anthem smuggled out of a sci-fi prom. “Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore” is bubblegum rebellion pumped up with power chords and falsetto flourishes. Punk was sneering at arena rock by this point, but Angel doubled down on the melodrama, and somehow made it work. Gregg Giuffria’s synths sound like a haunted carousel. The guitars chime like Bowie with a buzzsaw. This is the sound of trying to seduce a robot with eyeliner and a fog machine—and goddamn it, it works.

2. Helluva Band (1976)

This son of a bitch is so gloriously over-the-top it practically needs a libretto and velvet curtains. Helluva Band is Angel planting their flag on Prog Rock Mountain and saying, “We brought glitter, get used to it.” Tracks like “The Fortune” and “Feelin’ Right” are sonic rollercoasters—complete with tempo shifts, Moog freakouts, and choruses that sound like a gospel choir crash-landing in a neon spaceship. Punk kids in CBGB would have laughed this off the stage, but those kids were wrong. This wasn’t rebellion; it was revelation. Frank DiMino’s voice ascends into helium heaven while Barry Brandt’s drumming turns every fill into a fireworks finale. This album doesn’t not only rocks your face off, my friends, it also to paints it, dresses you in crushed velvet, and floats you into the cosmos. You’ll love it!

1. Angel (1975)

The debut. The myth. The uncut, ridiculous, beautiful truth. Angel is a fever dream pressed to wax—equal parts metallic pomp and prog cathedral. “Tower” opens the album like a four-minute rock sermon—complete with cathedral organs, thunder riffs, and a vocal delivery that could resurrect statues. “On & On” is a shimmering vortex of melody that sounds like ELO being electrocuted in a mirror maze. The whole album is a masterclass in glam symphonic madness. Fuck trying to be cool, they were trying to be immortal. And in this hourglass of swirling keys and heaven-bound hooks, they goddamned pulled it off. This is the kind of record you find in your weird uncle’s attic that changes the way you look at mirrors—and rock and roll—forever.

Angel never got their due, probably because they were too pretty, too weird, and too committed to their own ridiculous mythology. But that’s exactly why they matter. These three albums are time capsules from a parallel dimension where rock stars wore capes unironically and every song could end with a gong crash. Listen to these records with the lights off, the lava lamp on, and your disbelief fully suspended. Angel were a glam-rock cathedral built on glitter, power chords, and delusion. And it was glorious.