Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s
by AAL2014

I view the 1970's as popular music's finest decade. There are great acts that spawned in the 60's, 80's, 90's, and 00's of course, but pound for pound, year after year, album after album, looking at the output from the 1970's makes me feel nostalgic even though I wasn't around.

• Chart updated: 04/14/2025 04:45
• (Created: 07/15/2015 19:04).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 4 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 6 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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9. (=)

Blue 

 Joni Mitchell

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The incredible Joni at her most mesmerizing. Worth listening to over and over and over. In the morning, at night, good times, bad times. It's a landmark and so gorgeous. Memorable melodies and laughably good lyrics scattered all over this album. [First added to this chart: 04/24/2020]

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

1,373 charts

Rank Score:

16,434

Rank in 1971:

6

Rank in 1970s:

20

Overall Rank:

69

Average Rating:

 85 (1,504 votes)

Comments:

114

35. (33) 2

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Hemispheres 

 Rush

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Simply put, La Villa Strangiato is one of my very very favorite songs ever. It inspired me as a drummer and still does. The opening 20 minute monster is no joke itself. Rush, my favorite band, truly and with impact, find their way and begin one of my favorite album streaks of all time (‘78-84). [First added to this chart: 07/16/2015]

Year of Release:

1978

Appears in:

389 charts

Rank Score:

2,693

Rank in 1978:

12

Rank in 1970s:

147

Overall Rank:

642

Average Rating:

 81 (595 votes)

Comments:

34

40. (=)

On The Beach 

 Neil Young

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This album fucking rules. Such an underrated masterpiece! About as Neil Young-esq as the man and his songs ever got. One of my favorite album covers too. [First added to this chart: 06/24/2022]

Year of Release:

1974

Appears in:

827 charts

Rank Score:

7,524

Rank in 1974:

2

Rank in 1970s:

49

Overall Rank:

210

Average Rating:

 84 (984 votes)

Comments:

62

42. (45) 3

Harvest 

 Neil Young

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A very favorite of mine in the singer/songwriter canon and Neil Young at his most convincing and consistent. A Man Needs a Maid and the Needle and the Damage Done are some of the most moving tracks I've ever heard. [First added to this chart: 07/16/2015]

Year of Release:

1972

Appears in:

1,381 charts

Rank Score:

12,692

Rank in 1972:

5

Rank in 1970s:

25

Overall Rank:

95

Average Rating:

 85 (1,724 votes)

Comments:

96

58. (57) 1

Court And Spark 

 Joni Mitchell

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One of Joni’s best sets of songs and that’s saying so much. The sonics of this record are crystal clear without making the music at all hum-drum, sort of a proto-Rumours sound. [First added to this chart: 10/30/2021]

Year of Release:

1974

Appears in:

510 charts

Rank Score:

3,248

Rank in 1974:

6

Rank in 1970s:

122

Overall Rank:

540

Average Rating:

 82 (580 votes)

Comments:

38

73. (72) 1

The Hissing Of Summer Lawns 

 Joni Mitchell

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[First added to this chart: 03/27/2023]

Year of Release:

1975

Appears in:

328 charts

Rank Score:

2,505

Rank in 1975:

10

Rank in 1970s:

157

Overall Rank:

697

Average Rating:

 80 (413 votes)

Comments:

26

96. (95) 1

Hejira 

 Joni Mitchell

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Joni enlists some of the finest musicians in the business to produce some of the finest music of her career. Auditory bliss. [First added to this chart: 04/24/2020]

Year of Release:

1976

Appears in:

404 charts

Rank Score:

3,858

Rank in 1976:

7

Rank in 1970s:

103

Overall Rank:

449

Average Rating:

 81 (456 votes)

Comments:

26

Total albums: 7. Page 1 of 1

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s composition

Year	Albums	%
1970	9	9%
1971	18	18%
1972	15	15%
1973	11	11%
1974	10	10%
1975	13	13%
1976	7	7%
1977	10	10%
1978	4	4%
1979	3	3%

Artist	Albums	%
David Bowie	4	4%
Joni Mitchell	4	4%
Stevie Wonder	3	3%
Pink Floyd	3	3%
Black Sabbath	3	3%
Yes	3	3%
The Who	3	3%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	43	43%
	38	38%
	7	7%
	5	5%
	3	3%
	1	1%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s chart changes

Biggest climbers
Up 3 from 45th to 42nd Harvest by Neil Young
Up 3 from 36th to 33rd Ram by Paul & Linda McCartney
Up 2 from 61st to 59th Exodus by Bob Marley & The Wailers

Biggest fallers
Down 4 from 37th to 41st Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin
Down 3 from 41st to 44th Animals by Pink Floyd
Down 3 from 42nd to 45th John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band by John Lennon

New entries
Get Up With It by Miles Davis

Leavers
Brain Salad Surgery by Emerson, Lake & Palmer

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 6 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
95/100	06/12/2025 05:30	Johnnyo	2,527	80/100
95/100	04/21/2022 13:11	Larcx13	1,141	86/100
90/100	08/01/2020 21:31	MasterOfPuppets	174	91/100
90/100	02/28/2020 03:16	Tamthebam	632	85/100
95/100	04/24/2018 03:06	jdenny2018	102	91/100

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s comments

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Rating:  

95/100

From Johnnyo 06/12/2025 05:31

Finest decade indeed and a damn fine representation you have of the decade here. One of the best 70’s charts on the site. Great job

#309472 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

95/100

From jdenny2018 04/24/2018 05:51

AAL, Blood on the tracks, Made in japan, and most of your 41-50 were the new listens. Thanks for the welcome, still getting used to posting in forums and what not

#213530 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

From AAL2014 04/24/2018 05:23

jdenny, thanks for your comments and ratings on these charts. I actually haven't touched this chart in over a year, maybe longer. Although the albums closer to the top would probably remain the same or close to it, there's a lot of work to be done yet with this chart.

Inner Mounting Flame will definitely be here when I get around to updating it. I had yet to even listen to it when I compiled this chart initially.

May I ask what future listens you took from this?

Welcome to the site!

#213529 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

95/100

From jdenny2018 04/24/2018 03:07

Solid list. Definitely gave me a couple ideas for future listens. Definitely would've chosen Inner mounting flame over birds of fire

#213526 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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