Listed below are the best albums of the 1970s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 3 hours ago).
"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...""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 musically romantic, instead of lyrically."[+]Reply
"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...""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 career.
Key tracks: Berlin, Lady Day, The Kids, Men of Good Fortune
Key lyric: 'Men of good fortune often cause empires to fall, while men of poor beginnings, often can't do anything at all.'"[+]Reply
"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...""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 must be one of the top 20 songs ever composed. The rest of the record is very good too and it was selected by Rolling Stone Brazil as the Best Brazilian Record Ever."[+]Reply
"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...""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 symphonic arrangements that carries the dynamic of this album to an unprecedented level of freely associative instrumentation.
The story in French is in spoken words and is circling around the story of the androgynous person of Melody Nelson that Gainsbourg bumps into and falls in love with - creepy.
What I like most about this album, though, is the stylistic consistency and similarity throughout the album that gives it qualities resemblant of a single extended musical piece with a number of progressions.
"Histoire de Melody Nelson"'s mix of freewheeling guitar, funk style bass, spoken word vocals and lush, deep orchestrated string music together makes this one of my favorite albums."[+]Reply
"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...""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 Roxy Music's work. I quite like Eno's voice, even though he himself didn't seem to be a big fan.
The high points on this album are simply stunning, with On Some Faraway Beach and Some of Them Are Old standing out as exceptionally beautiful tracks (OSFB could almost bring me to tears). Needles in the Camel's Eye is a top-tier glam rocker (used to great effect at the beginning of Velvet Goldmine - a movie I'd recommend to any glam rock fans), while Baby's on Fire has one of the most intricately explosive solos (courtesy of King Crimson's Robert Fripp) I've ever heard. It all wraps up in one of Eno's earlier ambient experiments, the wonderful title track, which I can honestly just zone out and listen to on repeat and be perfectly content.
While it's not a perfect album, each track has something new to discover on repeat listens. Highly recommended to fans of glam rock, as well as anyone looking for an album of pop songs crafted by one music's most creative minds. "[+]Reply
"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...""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 only complaint though is the lightweight opening track, you are the sunshine of my life. It's extremely slight and has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the album as far as i'm concerned. Apart from that, it's brilliant. "[+]Reply
"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
"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...""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 were on their previous four albums. The album's sound is probably closest to Selling England: Collins sings a lot like Gabriel did on that album (probably because his voice is softer and more soulful), and there's about an equal proportion of ballads and heavier tracks. Collins isn't as edgy a singer as Gabriel, but the band compensates by playing with more aggression on tracks like Dance on a Volcano. Collins' drumming is particularly powerful on this album: he's jazzy and fast. Hell, Los Endos is borderline fusion due to the style of drumwork.
This album is a legitimate contender for Genesis' best for two reasons:
(1) The musicianship is sharper than ever before, and
(2) Even with Gabriel out of the picture, the songwriting and singing didn't take a hit. Remarkably, the band neither improved nor devolved due to Gabriel's departure. That says a lot about a band!
I think Gabriel's departure was good for all parties involved. Banks, Rutherford, and Collins would eventually develop a mutual interest in crafting pop songs, and Gabriel had free reign to experiment with styles outside of Genesis' core sound. Both Gabriel and Genesis would knock each other off the charts in the future, FYI."[+]Reply
"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 ...""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 depicted. So Bowie reinvented it as a dystopian fantasy of his own, gave an elegant two-fingered salute to literary snobbery and produced a musically exciting, lyrically disturbing world in which NOT ONE element is misplaced or extraneous, and which features the last outing on a Bowie album of stellar pianist Mike Garson at his effervescent, effortless best. So there!"[+]Reply
"I'm a Queen fan because of albums like this, and this truly is an excellent album, jam packed with great tracks and hidden gems. It starts with Brighton Rock, which recently had renewed interest due to the Baby Driver movie. It's a top notch track that shows off just how great Brian May's guitar ...""I'm a Queen fan because of albums like this, and this truly is an excellent album, jam packed with great tracks and hidden gems.
It starts with Brighton Rock, which recently had renewed interest due to the Baby Driver movie. It's a top notch track that shows off just how great Brian May's guitar playing really is.
That's followed up by Killer Queen. Little needs to be said about this one. Everyone knows it.
Then comes the three songs that blend into one another - Tenement Funster, Flick of the Wrist, and Lily of the Valley - which is truly amazing, and those three tracks are some of my favourite that Queen's ever done.
Now I'm Here is a great catchy rock number. What an excellent first side to an album.
Then side two starts with In the Lap of the Gods. I particularly love the way this track starts. A strong opener for side two. Then comes Stone Cold Crazy, the track Q magazine described as "thrash metal before the term was invented". It's a great fun heavy rocker. Dear Friends gives us something more melodic and mellow, before we get onto a Deacon track, Misfire. Which is a decent pop-rock song. Bring Back That Leroy Brown is an incredibly clever track. It really shows just how diverse Queen were. She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos) is both haunting and wonderful. Such an underrated gem. And then the album finishes perfectly with the anthemic In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited. All in all one of my favourite albums ever. Brilliant album."[+]Reply