Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s
by
Romanelli 
- Chart updated: 2 hours ago
- (Created: 12/04/2011 20:35).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
Produced By ROY THOMAS BAKER
1. Good Times Roll
2. My Best Friend's Girl
3. Just What I Needed
4. I'm In Touch With Your World
5. Don't Cha Stop
6. You're All I've Got Tonight
7. Bye Bye Love
8. Moving In Stereo
9. All Mixed Up
Ah, The Cars. You'd be hard pressed to find 5 people who list them as their favorite band...and you'd also have a hard time finding 5 people who hate them. Their debut came from nowhere in 1978, and gave us all a glimpse of what New Wave should have been like, before it actually happened. The album plays like a greatest hits disc, with everything from start to finish being familiar. They didn't overdo the keyboards, they put on a hefty helping of guitar, and they got the robotic vocal thing just right. Songs like "Good Times Roll" are stiff and overly clean...and they groove at the same time. How did they do it? We may never know.
This is still The Cars disc to have. They had some ups and downs in their career, but they never matched this album. It's a good time from start to finish. [First added to this chart: 12/04/2011]
Produced By JOHN LECKIE
1. One Chord Wonders
2. Bored Teenagers
3. New Church
4. On The Roof
5. Newboys
6. Gary Gilmore’s Eyes
7. Bombsite Boy
8. No Time To Be 21
9. Safety In Numbers
10. New Day Dawning
11. Downing Men
12. On Wheels
13. Great British Mistake
14. One Chord Wonders
15. Quickstep
16. Gary Gilmore’s Eyes
17. Bored Teenagers
18. Safety In Numbers
19. We Who Wait
20. On Wheels (Live)
21. Newboys (Live)
22. New Church (Live)
23. Gary Gilmore’s Eyes (Live)
24. Drowning Men (Live)
25. No Time To Be 21 (Live)
The early days of punk were dominated by three bands: Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. But don’t sleep on The Adverts. This, their debut album, came out in 1978 and was just as good as what their more famous brethren were doing. The Adverts were led by T.V. Smith and the first female star of the punk era, bassist Gaye Advert. The band played fast and angry music, and the debut was a solid whirl of pure punk angst. The original album was eleven tracks, clocking in at 31 minutes of punk joy. But over the years, Crossing The Red Sea has grown into a somewhat difficult 25 song marathon that can be tough to take in a single sitting. And while it’s great that songs like “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes” (maybe the creepiest punk song ever) are included, having three different versions is pretty tedious.
The first 13 tracks are the original album plus a pair of what were non album tracks. The next six are the band’s singles leading up to the album, and the final six are live versions. It’s great to have this album, but it’s also a bit much for a single disc. The Adverts released a second album (Cast Of Thousands) in 1979, which featured a puzzling experimental sound that did not work well at all, and the band was gone by the end of the year. It would be great to find a shorter version of this re-release from 2011, but for now, this will have to do. The Adverts were a blip on the radar of what great British punk in the seventies was all about…they were as good as any of their contemporaries, if only for a single album. Well worth hearing, and you can always skip the monotony at the end. [First added to this chart: 09/18/2023]
Produced By BOB SEGER, PUNCH ANDREWS & THE MUSCLE SHOALS RHYTHM SECTION
1. Hollywood Nights
2. Still The Same
3. Old Time Rock & Roll
4. Till It Shines
5. Feel Like A Number
6. Ain’t Got No Money
7. We’ve Got Tonite
8. Brave Strangers
9. The Famous Final Scene
In 1978, Bob Seger was riding high on the wave of his two monster hit albums from 1976…Live Bullet and Night Moves. Stranger In Town is a fine, if predictable, follow up. It has everything that made Seger a sudden mid seventies sensation: a great rock and roll voice, some decent ballads (for the girls) and some fine rockers (for the guys). Two of each of these were big hits from the record, and proved that Seger was here to stay. “Still The Same” and “We’ve Got Tonite” were the slower hits, while “Hollywood Nights” and “Old Time Rock & Roll” kept Bob on AOR rock radio. Two different bands were used here: The Silver Bullet Band on 4 tracks, while the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section played on the other five.
While this doesn’t quite reach the heights of Night Moves, it’s still a classic rock classic. The album also features a pair of guitar solos from members of the Eagles: his good friend Glenn Frey on “Till It Shines”, and Don Felder on “Ain’t Got No Money”. Piano remains a huge part of what made Seger’s music sound so good, played here by Robyn Robbins and Barry Beckett. And yes…even though a few years later “Old Time Rock & Roll” would be driven into the ground by its appearance in the Tom Cruise film Risky Business, it still works. This is Seger not breaking any new ground, but cruising nicely on his new found fame. He would continue making hits through the 1980’s. This is well worth having. [First added to this chart: 09/02/2012]
Produced By MUFF WINWOOD
1. Down To The Waterline
2. Water Of Love
3. Setting Me Up
4. Six Blade Knife
5. Southbound Again
6. Sultans Of Swing
7. In The Gallery
8. Wild West End
9. Lions
Dire Straits came from nowhere in 1978, showcasing the incredible guitar skills of Mark Knopfler. The biggest hit from the album, “Sultans Of Swing”, became a guitar anthem, and pretty much every guitar star wannabe over the next twenty or so years tried their hand at playing it. To this day, bands still hear requests for “Sultans”. Unlike most of the other guitar heroes from the sixties and seventies, Knopfler played in a more laid back and pickless style, and his band could rock it out or slay you with an acoustic ballad. Dire Straits (the album) made the band stars, and for good reasons. Not just “Sultans”, this record also includes the excellent “Down To The Waterline”, “Water Of Love”, and “Setting Me Up”.
As great and enduring as those songs are, the other half of Dire Straits is not nearly as memorable. It all sounds great, for sure, but after “Wild West End”, the rest is pretty forgettable. Meaning that the Straits had songs, but they still had a ways to go. “Southbound Again” is basically a Dylan rewrite with different lyrics, and the rest is merely dull. With a few more powerful tracks like “Sultans”, Dire Straits may have been a perfect debut. They did get better…after their second album, Knopfler began to show real growth as a songwriter, but the band was over already within a decade. Both Knopflers (Mark and David) have had varying success as solo artists, but never like they did when Dire Straits got it just right. [First added to this chart: 12/07/2011]
Produced By JON LANDAU & BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
1. Badlands
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Something In The Night
4. Candy's Room
5. Racing In The Street
6. The Promised Land
7. Factory
8. Streets Of Fire
9. Prove It All Night
10. Darkness On The Edge Of Town
Born To Run was the sax album, and The River was the keyboard album. Darkness On The Edge Of Town is the guitar album. Not even Bruce Springsteen could top Darkness, his 4th album. If you don't like The Boss, then you've never listened to this. What could be Springsteen's finest album is also one of the best albums of the 70's. Filled with angst and tension and unbelieveably great songs, Darkness is simply amazing. Bruce snarls his way through all ten songs, and shows that he's also one hell of an underrated lead guitarist. Max Weinberg also shows, particularly on "Candy's Room", why he deserves mention as one of rock's greatest drummers.
If you haven't already (and I know some of you have...many times), put this album on when you're home alone. Crank it up as loud as you can...and just listen. You will be blown away. Lyrically, musically, songwriting, playing...it's all here. This is a masterpiece.
"Tonight I'll be on that hill 'cause I can't stop
I'll be on that hill with everything I've got
Lives on the line where dreams are found & lost
I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town" [First added to this chart: 12/04/2011]
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 17 | 17% | |
| 1971 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1972 | 8 | 8% | |
| 1973 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1974 | 4 | 4% | |
| 1975 | 9 | 9% | |
| 1976 | 6 | 6% | |
| 1977 | 13 | 13% | |
| 1978 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1979 | 13 | 13% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 5% | |
| The Allman Brothers Band | 4 | 4% | |
| Queen | 3 | 3% | |
| Pink Floyd | 3 | 3% | |
| Eagles | 3 | 3% | |
| George Harrison | 2 | 2% | |
| Dire Straits | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 8 from 78th to 70thGeorge Harrison by George Harrison |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 70th to 71stMind Games by John Lennon |
| Down 1 from 71st to 72ndIn Through The Out Door by Led Zeppelin |
| Down 1 from 72nd to 73rdVan Halen by Van Halen |
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Other decade charts by Romanelli
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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 67 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 04/24/2024 01:21 | 480 | 95/100 | |
| ! | 04/23/2024 09:39 | Moondance | 476 | 85/100 |
| ! | 09/20/2023 19:55 | 2 | 90/100 | |
| ! | 01/23/2022 16:11 | 178 | 95/100 | |
| ! | 04/04/2021 11:42 | MasterOfPuppets | 174 | 91/100 |
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 4% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.1/100, a mean average of 88.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 89.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 10.9.
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s comments
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Hell yeah.
Very solid chart. Would have liked to have seen a bit more international diversity.
Very well done. I enjoyed reading the commentary and your thoughts about certain albums.
Sick top 10!
Interesting chart with lot of personality.
For some reason, this chart just makes me feel good. A lot of albums on here just bring back a lot of memories!
Very nice chart be sure to fix the comments jazz and moondance they seem to fit the wrong album
Too much emphasis on classic rock for a higher rating than 80 sorry. Not a single German album in a decade that was defining for the German music scene??
Isn't it weird how you never see Allman Brothers' Brothers and Sisters and Laid Back ever?
36 in common.
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