Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s
by 
buzzdainer 
I was born and raised in a New England mill town that had seen better days. The textile mills and shoe factories had mostly closed down, and the river that passed through town was rated by the EPA as one of the seven most polluted in the country. My neighborhood was rough by Maine standards: a working-class French Canadian community where teenagers wielding knives roamed the streets looking for trouble. Especially during the summer, though, I spent most of my time outside, building forts in the woods, playing pickup baseball in the sandlot, and swinging like Tarzan on a makeshift rope swing somebody had rigged to a high limb behind the school.
When I was cooped up indoors, I remember playing my parents' records on my own little record player in the basement. My favorite was the Beach Boys, but I also distinctly remember listening to Fleetwood Mac, Boston, Stevie Wonder, the Everly Brothers, Doobie Brothers, Meat Loaf, Jim Croce, America, the Association, Paul Simon, Elton John, the Eagles, Electric Light Orchestra, the Beatles, and many others. I didn't fully develop my own individual musical tastes until I was older, but it's actually quite amazing to me how much of that stuff stuck. With the benefit of hindsight, I've added great artists like Nick Drake and Big Star, whom I never heard at the time, as well as lots of great funk, country, folk, proto-punk, and reggae. I'm a little less enamored of the so-called classic rock from this period, as I think I've been oversaturated with it, thanks to the local radio station, WBLM, the Rock and Roll Blimp, that was wall-to-wall seventies rock. You'll see Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin in my year charts, but I can't get quite excited enough about them to include them here.
- Chart updated: 11/07/2022 20:15
- (Created: 02/16/2016 17:23).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 23 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s has an average rating of 91 out of 100 (from 23 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from Jamaica. (Remove this filter)
Toots and the Maytals are often regarded as the quintessential roots reggae band, and one of Bob Marley's key influences. I love them, but I did have a bit of a challenge deciding which of their albums to rank highest, especially since there are multiple versions of Funky Kingston that are quite different from one another. My first and only purchase of a Toots album was a compilation that included tracks from both Funky Kingston and In the Dark. In the end, I decided to give the nod to Funky Kingston, as it's the one that most fully captures the fun and soul of Toots Hibbert's vocals and songwriting. Even if you're referring to the original 1972 album under the Funky Kingston name, every song here is a gem.
[First added to this chart: 10/26/2020]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
527
Rank in 1973:
Rank in 1970s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
If I were really being honest, Bob Marley's greatest hits compilation Legend would appear here, since it was a staple in my musical rotations from the end of my high school years through college. But I'd be breaking my tradition of focusing far more on proper albums than greatest hits compilations. Since a sizable chunk of Legend is culled from Exodus... Exodus it is! While I love Bob Marley and all he's contributed to the world of reggae music, it's his love songs, rather than his political ditties, that feel most memorable to me. "Waiting in Vain" is the highlight here, with its heartbreaking repetition at one point: "I don't wannna / I don't wanna / I don't wanna / I don't wanna / I don't wanna wait in vain." I hear you, Bob. Me neither.
[First added to this chart: 03/10/2016]
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,256
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Rank in 1970s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
I first heard Toots & the Maytals through a trustafarian friend who loved all things with an African or African American lineage. His Afrophilia wasn't just a persona; he spent several years studying ethnomusicology in Ghana, and he taught hundreds of people back here in the states how to respectably play a djembe. In his expert opinion this LP by Jamaician reggae master Toots Hibbert is the finest reggae album ever made, even better than anything in Bob Marley's catalog, and it's hard for me to disagree. It's more fun, but with a strong social conscience nonetheless. "Time Tough" and "Pressure Drop" are probably the two best known, and best, tracks here, but the quality is incredibly consistent throughout.
[First added to this chart: 02/16/2016]
[First added to this chart: 03/15/2016]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,203
Rank in 1973:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 06/02/2016]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
969
Rank in 1973:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 03/27/2016]
Year of Release:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
616
Rank in 1978:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 6. Page 1 of 1
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 9 | 9% | |
| 1971 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1972 | 13 | 13% | |
| 1973 | 12 | 12% | |
| 1974 | 9 | 9% | |
| 1975 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1976 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1977 | 8 | 8% | |
| 1978 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1979 | 9 | 9% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| David Bowie | 4 | 4% | |
| Neil Young | 4 | 4% | |
| Stevie Wonder | 4 | 4% | |
| The Rolling Stones | 3 | 3% | |
| Grateful Dead | 3 | 3% | |
| Talking Heads | 3 | 3% | |
| Neil Young & Crazy Horse | 3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s chart changes
There have been no changes to this chart.Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s similar charts
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Other decade charts by buzzdainer
buzzdainer has shared 6 more decade charts with the community. Browse them all here.| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s | buzzdainer | 2020s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | buzzdainer | 2010s decade chart | 2024 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | buzzdainer | 2000s decade chart | 2024 | |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 23 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/07/2022 02:25 |  Larcx13 | 1,139 | 86/100 | |
| 11/06/2022 20:47 | adbrack1988 | 26 | 97/100 | |
| 11/06/2022 20:34 | Johnnyo | 2,584 | 80/100 | |
| 11/06/2022 17:07 | Rm12398 | 99 | 89/100 | |
| 11/06/2022 11:05 | Moondance | 476 | 85/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some charts can have several thousand ratings)
This chart is rated in the top 2% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 91.2/100, a mean average of 93.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 93.5/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 6.7.
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s comments
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From buzzdainer 04/22/2024 15:48 | #303127
buzzdainer 04/22/2024 15:48 | #303127
Thank you, Larcx13! Glad to hear there's another Toots fan out there!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Larcx13 11/07/2022 02:31 | #291113
Larcx13 11/07/2022 02:31 | #291113
Damn that's some gnarly picks in that top 10. Maytals, The clash, Tom waits, marquee moon & Mothership Connection! Good stuff. This whole list is great.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Johnnyo 11/06/2022 20:35 | #291106
Top notch chart with great notes. Very enjoyable read
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From buzzdainer 11/06/2022 15:30 | #291092
buzzdainer 11/06/2022 15:30 | #291092
Thank you, Moondance and JoeyBones1986, for those generous comments. It's been a little bit since I've looked at this chart as a whole, and although I'm pretty happy with the first 40 selections or so, I feel like there are some omissions from the second half of the chart that would make it a little more varied and interesting. Like most things in life, it remains a work in progress.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Moondance 11/06/2022 11:14 | #291088
Always enjoy checking out your charts & reading how the albums connect to your life journey. The 70's were such a rich period of music ¬ I sometimes think my top 101-200 is as good as my top 100. We were very fortunate to live that period of music in real time.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From JoeyBones1986 03/10/2022 17:03 | #282644
Great selections, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading your personal notes
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From buzzdainer 12/16/2020 20:58 | #262785
buzzdainer 12/16/2020 20:58 | #262785
Thanks for your comment and rating, Larcx13! I'm not so sure my lack of interest in Pink Floyd has to do with not getting them so much as being oversaturated with them during my formative years. For many of my generation, it was an unquestioned truth that Dark Side of the Moon is the greatest album of all time. These days I just have little interest in it. I will say I love the song "Wish You Were Here" and think of it as one of the great songs of the seventies. But I'm not so sure I need 25+ minutes of "Shine on You Crazy Diamond."
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Larcx13 12/05/2020 15:58 | #262061
Larcx13 12/05/2020 15:58 | #262061
I love Closing Time! Im disappointed you dont get Pink Floyd, but good list.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From buzzdainer 06/04/2017 16:18 | #192007
buzzdainer 06/04/2017 16:18 | #192007
I think we basically agree that the seventies was a really fun decade for music, as evidenced by both of us selecting Tusk (which has some pensive moments, but the title track is a pretty wild ride), Innervisions, Ziggy Stardust, and the B-52's self-titled debut for our seventies charts. But I'll concede that my chart has a fair amount of what Jack Black's character in High Fidelity calls "sad bastard" music. Nick Drake, to be sure. Maybe early Tom Waits too, although I think Closing Time is a beautiful meditation on a wide array of human emotional experience. And then there's stuff on my chart like Parliament's Mothership Connection--we're not calling that grim, are we? It's some of the most unabashedly goofy funk ever made, in my opinion. But maybe that just illustrates how very distinctly two different music lovers can experience the same album.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
bobbyb5 06/04/2017 09:17 | #191974
bobbyb5 06/04/2017 09:17 | #191974
Really thoughtful chart and well-condidered, obviously. But you'd never know from it that the 70s was an unbelievably FUN decade for music. Its a little grim considering how raucous and wild and full of variety the 70s was. But people today have an image of the 70s as being depressing, but it was actually a hoot. 70s made music proves this.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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