Best Albums of the 1970s

« View best albums of the 1960sView best albums of the 1980s »

Listed below are the best albums of the 1970s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1970s decade summary

Year	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts.	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year)	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart.
1970	2,037	258,907	Paranoid (56th)by Black Sabbath
1971	2,133	328,717	Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) (12th)by Led Zeppelin
1972	2,173	259,209	The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stard... (9th)by David Bowie
1973	2,059	266,436	The Dark Side Of The Moon (2nd)by Pink Floyd
1974	1,948	139,034	Red (144th)by King Crimson
1975	2,102	226,126	Wish You Were Here (8th)by Pink Floyd
1976	2,093	150,423	Songs In The Key Of Life (86th)by Stevie Wonder
1977	2,107	256,101	Rumours (21st)by Fleetwood Mac
1978	2,148	145,058	Darkness On The Edge Of Town (202nd)by Bruce Springsteen
1979	2,076	212,665	London Calling (20th)by The Clash
Total	20,876	2,242,676

The best artists of the 1970s were Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, The Who and Genesis.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Share | |

Collector's summary (filtered)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from 1977. (Remove this filter)

Sort by

Rumours

Fleetwood Mac

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

2,195 charts

Rank Score:

34,082

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

87 (2,535 votes)

Comments:

183

Animals

Pink Floyd

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

1,711 charts

Rank Score:

25,579

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

14.

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

1,723 charts

Rank Score:

21,727

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,832 votes)

Comments:

144

17.

Low

David Bowie

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

1,486 charts

Rank Score:

19,397

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,026 votes)

Comments:

168

33.

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

1,343 charts

Rank Score:

11,818

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

124

Average Rating:

80 (1,818 votes)

Comments:

145

41.

Aja

Steely Dan

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

784 charts

Rank Score:

9,431

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

167

Average Rating:

83 (963 votes)

Comments:

57.

The Stranger

Billy Joel

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

667 charts

Rank Score:

7,253

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

237

Average Rating:

82 (852 votes)

Comments:

64.

"Heroes"

David Bowie

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

845 charts

Rank Score:

6,734

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

263

Average Rating:

83 (1,446 votes)

Comments:

67.

Exodus

Bob Marley & The Wailers

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

750 charts

Rank Score:

6,402

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

273

Average Rating:

82 (850 votes)

Comments:

68.

The Clash

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

871 charts

Rank Score:

6,300

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

280

Average Rating:

82 (1,267 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
4
...
9
10
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 91. Page 1 of 10

Best Albums of the 1970s composition

Year	Albums	%

1970	107	11%
1971	101	10%
1972	100	10%
1973	108	11%
1974	97	10%
1975	99	10%
1976	93	9%
1977	91	9%
1978	105	11%
1979	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

David Bowie	11	1%
Genesis	10	1%
Jethro Tull	9	1%
Pink Floyd	8	1%
Yes	8	1%
Elton John	8	1%
AC/DC	8	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	387	39%
	372	37%
	42	4%
	38	4%
	36	4%
	25	3%
	21	2%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	973	97%
Yes	27	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	941	94%
Yes	59	6%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	12	1%

« View best albums of the 1960sView best albums of the 1980s »

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Recognised Year Charts (2023)
1. Top 40 Albums of 2023 by Decibel (2023)
2. Top 10 Albums of the Year 2023 by Bleep (2023)
3. 30 Best Albums of 2023 by Revolver (2023)
4. NME Albums Of The Year 2023 by New Music Express (2023)
5. The 80 Best Albums Of 2023 by PopMatters (2023)
6. Les Inrocks Albums of the Year 2023 by Les Inrocks (2023)
7. Best Albums of 2023 by Norman Records (2023)
8. Albums of the year 2023 by The Line Of Best Fit (2023)
9. The 50 Best Albums Of 2023 by Complex (2023)
10. Loud And Quiet Albums of the Year 2023 by Loud And Quiet (2023)
11. The 20 best albums of 2023 by Dazed (2023)
12. Uncut Best 75 Albums Of The Year 2023 by Uncut (2023)
13. The 30 best albums of 2023 by Time Out (2023)
14. Albums Of The Year 2023 by Rough Trade (2023)
15. Quietus Albums Of The Year 2023 by The Quietus (2023)
16. The 100 Best Albums of 2023 by Rolling Stone (2023)
17. Top 100 Albums of 2023 by Piccadilly Records (2023)
18. Best Albums of 2023 by Northern Transmissions (2023)
19. The 20 Best Albums of 2023 by Esquire (2023)
20. Top 55 Albums of 2023 by The Alternative (2023)