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: 5 hours ago).
"It's hard to put a finger on XTC. I understand why some people don't love them. They manage to be disorienting without the traditional means. The guitars frequently enter into repetitive hypnotic states, with a jagged bounce. Drums & Wires may be their finest collection, and a solid entry point f..." [+] Reply
- 
meccalecca | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (8 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:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,270
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Intro's of 'The Arrangement' and 'Woodstock'... she takes you to an other world with just a few chords." Reply
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,263
Rank in 1970:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album shows off everything that's great about The Beach Boys: the fact that they could do almost any genre from that time (maybe they should've left rock & roll, but okay); Brian Wilson's genius production techniques; Brian Wilson's out of the box thinking, he basically made Shoegazing with ..." [+] Reply
- 
Boltzmann | 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:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,254
Rank in 1970:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Billy Joel's follow up to his artistic and commercial peak, the stranger. 52nd street, is a good album, but it just hasn't quite got the edge that it's predecessor had. The first side of the album though is very good. Opening with one of the best examples of that cynical songwriting Joel is so go..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,249
Rank in 1978:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Super-incredible instrumental virtuosity everywhere! More challenging than Yes' most classic albums, but no less musical. I find it awesome that for this album, they dispensed with any attempt whatsoever to make something with broad listening appeal and go for the absolute pinnacle of blow-your-m..." [+] Reply
- 
Fischman | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 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:
1,247
Rank in 1974:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I think that the problem with this album is that, if any other band had released it, it would have been considered a good album, because it can from the greatest band of all time, many people consider it a let down. Compared to I, II, III etc. yes, it's not as good but it's not as bad as people m..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,246
Rank in 1976:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Released 5 months after Rust Never Sleeps, an almost live album with studio overdubs and removed crowd noise, Young released the fully live Live Rust. Starting off with Young playing solo, he is joined by Carzy Horse and turns in a rocking performance. The song selection is key, and it's mostly g..." [+] Reply
- 
Romanelli | 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:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,244
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Lots of people in these comments are saying this album is a disappointment. Completely untrue. Lyrics, musicality and production all much improved from the first album. Sure, it's not as angry or "punk," but at the end of the day, that doesn't matter as much as how enjoyable it is to listen to. A..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,244
Rank in 1978:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
""Katy Lied" is one of Steely Dan's great classic albums ( OK, they all are!) from when they were still a real band, and not "just" the Becker/Fagen duo. The Becker/Fagen aim for perfection is very much apparent here. Great production and playing. Inspired songwriting and dark thought-provoking ly..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,237
Rank in 1975:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Ramones second and more of the same, possibly even better than the first album. I bought this and Ramones in early 77 as US import pressings and they were barely off my turntable for the whole year – best band ever and a soundtrack to my youth." Reply
- 
Dankel | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 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:
1,232
Rank in 1977:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 27 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 | |||
If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
