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: 1 hour ago).
"For a guy who plays the piano, this debut has precious little of that instrument...and that's a good thing. This is power pop at it's finest. The songs are catchy but deep and Joe's sarcastic flare was never better. I remember hearing this album for the first time a few months after "Night and Da..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
928
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The film is better than CD but hearing THE BAND /THE NIGHT THEY BOUGHT OLD DIXIE DOWN is just magnificent" Reply
Year of Release:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
923
Rank in 1978:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Synthesizing poetic free-form lyrics and emotionally intense vocals, Patti Smith reinvented the unstable relationship that exists between life and art in the spirit of Janis Joplin. Her engaging and unique personality is probably best evoked in the quasi-religious elegy, 'Pissing In The River', u..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
919
Rank in 1976:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The best darn Krautrock I ever heard. I imagine this album is the musical equivalent of what it would feel like to be in the Pagemaster movie scene where all the paint falls from the roof and makes everything cartoon. Yeaaaahhhh." Reply
- 
Necharsian | 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:
919
Rank in 1970:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I know I'm in the minority on this, but I think this is The Who's best album next to Quadrophenia. Highly underrated. Other commenters are correct - it does feel like a Townshend solo album, but Roger's vocals make it much more than just that." Reply
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
910
Rank in 1975:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I prefer the October 1979 re-release (with "Teenage Kicks" and "Get Over You") to the initial 14-track LP, released in May 1979." Reply
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
908
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The first half of this album is just incredible and is probably the greatest side of music ever from VM. The rich instrumentation through the whole album is amazing and it creates a dense soundscape with so much to explore and come back too. Instrumentally, it is extremely diverse with some outst..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
906
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"A really unique-sounding album, even for Jethro Tull. The traditional English folk approach blends surprisingly effectively with Tull's hard rock ethos. It sounds like the soundtrack to the nerdiest game of Dungeons and Dragons ever conceived. Recommended. Even if you don't love it (and I'm not e..." [+] Reply
- 
spigelwii | 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:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
905
Rank in 1977:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I believe you miss out on the historical context if you call Ramones a pop band, and even by today's standards the music is too aggressive and the vocals too snotty to be considered pop. That said, this is another solid punk-rocker although not reaching the same heights as the self-titled debut o..." [+] Reply
- 
Bork | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 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:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
897
Rank in 1978:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"It may not be fair, but I have always less appreciated the work of Schulze (who left Tangerine Dream (TD) because of artistic differences with Edgar Froese in 1970) than TD's. As a young boy you may need variety. Possibly it was difficult for me at that time to appreciate the musical and artistic..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
897
Rank in 1972:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 35 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 | 12 | 1% | |
| Genesis | 9 | 1% | |
| Yes | 9 | 1% | |
| The Rolling Stones | 8 | 1% | |
| Miles Davis | 8 | 1% | |
| Electric Light Orchestra | 8 | 1% | |
| Pink Floyd | 8 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
388 | 39% | |
 |
374 | 37% | |
 |
42 | 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.
| Email Address | |
|---|---|
| Forgotten passwords and other site notifications are sent to the email address saved on your profile. If you've changed your email address recently, please remember to update it on your profile page. (If you can't remember your password, and your email address is out of date, please contact us for assistance getting back into your account). |
