Best Albums of the 1970s
Listed below are the best albums of the 1970s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 58,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 6 hours ago).
"Trip-hop most certainly trace its roots back to the early 70's. Serge Gainsbourg's "Histoire de Melody Nelson" is a daring and controversial concept album that I am extremely fond of. The soundscape, jam, and dynamics of the simple instrumental setup is sharply contrasted with the flamboyant symp..." [+] Reply
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calsper | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (5 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,901
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Clearly a rock opera of what I interpret as a dysfunctional woman who ends up with a family she doesn't want, and the children are taken off her, which leads to her inevitable suicide. Incredibly moving album - the last good Lou Reed album, it took him three albums to reach the peak of his solo c..." [+] Reply
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SuedeSwede | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,886
Rank in 1973:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Brazilian hippy culture at its max. Os Novos Baianos lived in a hippie community singing songs, having sex and playing football. With these antecedents, of course their records must be good. 80% of the reason why I put this record in my list is because it features the song "Preta Pretinha", which..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,881
Rank in 1972:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Fantastic album of immaculate sounding, experimental and yet hooky songs. As others have noted, this is far more similar to other early 70s glam rock than Eno's later ambient work. As someone who far prefers glam rock to ambient music, that's fine with me. In fact, I prefer this album to any of R..." [+] Reply
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Caesar01 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,847
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"People need to stop associating Springsteen with Born In the U.S.A. and Glory Days and give New York City Serenade a deep listen. It's a song that develops and builds so powerfully before having one of the best payoffs in music history. I listen to this album when I wish Born to Run was more musi..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,827
Rank in 1973:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I have always rated this album very highly in Bowie's canon, though there've been plenty of demurrals. It was meant to be a straight musical of 1984, but the Orwell estate wouldn't give him the rights to the material - presumably because they predicted Eurythmics ten years hence in the very year ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,802
Rank in 1974:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album's nervous energy, danceable beats, and disjointed song structures would become important strands in the DNA of subsequent indie rock. Young bands are still finding fertile ground in the influence of this album." Reply
Year of Release:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,778
Rank in 1978:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Another great Stevie Wonder album. Talking book, is the second in that run of five, maybe six, glorious albums, and is another special record. Some great funky tracks in, superstition, maybe your baby, and, Tuesday heartbreak, as well as beautiful songs in, blame it on the sun, and, I believe. My..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,775
Rank in 1972:
Rank in 1970s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Peter Gabriel leaves the band, yet the band's sound remains intact. I would argue that this album is softer and perhaps more accessible than Foxtrot and The Lamb, mainly because of Collins' voice (NOT the direction of the band...that would come later). They were just as progressive here as they w..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,762
Rank in 1976:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Suicide's self-titled LP is a unique experience. Maybe there's other stuff like this out there that I'm not aware of, but I've never heard anything like this before. Not only is Suicide unique, it's really good too. The arrangements are sparse, yet impactful." Reply
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teague | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,746
Rank in 1977:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 14 of 100
Best Albums of the 1970s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 110 | 11% | |
| 1971 | 99 | 10% | |
| 1972 | 97 | 10% | |
| 1973 | 112 | 11% | |
| 1974 | 94 | 9% | |
| 1975 | 97 | 10% | |
| 1976 | 89 | 9% | |
| 1977 | 93 | 9% | |
| 1978 | 106 | 11% | |
| 1979 | 103 | 10% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| David Bowie | 11 | 1% | |
| Yes | 9 | 1% | |
| Genesis | 9 | 1% | |
| Miles Davis | 8 | 1% | |
| Electric Light Orchestra | 8 | 1% | |
| Pink Floyd | 8 | 1% | |
| AC/DC | 8 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
388 | 39% | |
 |
373 | 37% | |
 |
43 | 4% | |
 |
39 | 4% | |
 |
38 | 4% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
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| Best Artists of 1970 | |
|---|---|
| 1. Black Sabbath | |
| 2. Neil Young | |
| 3. George Harrison | |
| 4. Simon & Garfunkel | |
| 5. John Lennon | |
| 6. Miles Davis | |
| 7. Van Morrison | |
| 8. Creedence Clearwater Revival | |
| 9. Led Zeppelin | |
| 10. The Beatles | |
| 11. The Stooges | |
| 12. The Velvet Underground | |
| 13. Grateful Dead | |
| 14. Derek & The Dominos | |
| 15. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | |
| 16. Crosby, Stills & Nash | |
| 17. Santana | |
| 18. Carlos Santana | |
| 19. Deep Purple | |
| 20. Cat Stevens |
