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	2,033	259,317	Paranoid (56th)by Black Sabbath
1971	2,129	329,085	Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) (12th)by Led Zeppelin
1972	2,157	259,423	The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stard... (9th)by David Bowie
1973	2,057	266,621	The Dark Side Of The Moon (2nd)by Pink Floyd
1974	1,943	139,206	Red (144th)by King Crimson
1975	2,101	226,443	Wish You Were Here (8th)by Pink Floyd
1976	2,089	150,490	Songs In The Key Of Life (86th)by Stevie Wonder
1977	2,105	256,210	Rumours (21st)by Fleetwood Mac
1978	2,142	145,341	Darkness On The Edge Of Town (202nd)by Bruce Springsteen
1979	2,069	212,849	London Calling (20th)by The Clash
Total	20,825	2,244,986

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 (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

181.

Eat A Peach

The Allman Brothers Band

Year of Release:

1972

Appears in:

310 charts

Rank Score:

2,228

Rank in 1972:

Rank in 1970s:

181

Overall Rank:

806

Average Rating:

80 (378 votes)

Comments:

182.

Surf's Up

The Beach Boys

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

353 charts

Rank Score:

2,222

Rank in 1971:

Rank in 1970s:

182

Overall Rank:

810

Average Rating:

79 (535 votes)

Comments:

183.

The B-52's

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

397 charts

Rank Score:

2,191

Rank in 1979:

Rank in 1970s:

183

Overall Rank:

821

Average Rating:

78 (488 votes)

Comments:

184.

Vol 4

Black Sabbath

Year of Release:

1972

Appears in:

363 charts

Rank Score:

2,167

Rank in 1972:

Rank in 1970s:

184

Overall Rank:

826

Average Rating:

81 (635 votes)

Comments:

185.

Before And After Science

Brian Eno

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

308 charts

Rank Score:

2,126

Rank in 1977:

Rank in 1970s:

185

Overall Rank:

835

Average Rating:

80 (431 votes)

Comments:

186.

Neu!

Year of Release:

1972

Appears in:

388 charts

Rank Score:

2,116

Rank in 1972:

Rank in 1970s:

186

Overall Rank:

840

Average Rating:

80 (458 votes)

Comments:

187.

Radio City

Big Star

Year of Release:

1974

Appears in:

320 charts

Rank Score:

2,082

Rank in 1974:

Rank in 1970s:

187

Overall Rank:

858

Average Rating:

79 (431 votes)

Comments:

188.

The Köln Concert
Live

Keith Jarrett

Year of Release:

1975

Appears in:

252 charts

Rank Score:

2,066

Rank in 1975:

Rank in 1970s:

188

Overall Rank:

866

Average Rating:

82 (267 votes)

Comments:

189.

Specials

The Specials

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

380 charts

Rank Score:

2,046

Rank in 1979:

Rank in 1970s:

189

Overall Rank:

876

Average Rating:

78 (451 votes)

Comments:

190.

Autobahn

Kraftwerk

Year of Release:

1974

Appears in:

358 charts

Rank Score:

2,031

Rank in 1974:

Rank in 1970s:

190

Overall Rank:

883

Average Rating:

78 (479 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
18
19
20
...
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 19 of 100

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%
Elton John	8	1%
The Rolling Stones	8	1%
Wishbone Ash	8	1%
Joni Mitchell	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.

Recent Member Charts
1. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s by amirmishali (2024)
2. Top 80 Music Albums of 1974 by amirmishali (2024)
3. Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by telegram (2024)
4. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by Purplepash (2024)
5. Top 44 Music Albums of 1987 by Purplepash (2024)
6. Top 80 Music Albums of 1986 by cicadelic (2024)
7. New albuns V by VictorVale (2024)
8. Top 57 Music Albums of 2024 by LedZep (2024)
9. Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s by Larcx13 (2024)
10. Top 32 Music Albums of 2009 by Larcx13 (2024)
11. Top 27 Music Albums of 2007 by Larcx13 (2024)
12. Top 54 Music Albums of 2005 by Larcx13 (2024)
13. Top 45 Music Albums of 2001 by Larcx13 (2024)
14. Albums waiting to be added 8 by Johnnyo (2024)
15. Top 80 Music Albums of 2023 by jeremy9 (2024)
16. Soundtracks by Johnnyo (2024)
17. Top 40 Music Albums of 2024 by cronadigallina (2024)
18. Top 65 Music Albums of 1997 by cicadelic (2024)
19. Top albums of the ‘10’s (301 - 400) by Johnnyo (2024)
20. Top 68 Music Albums of 2008 by jeremy9 (2024)