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: 4 hours ago).
Best albums by year or decade
Decade:
Year:
1970s decade summaryThe best artists of the 1970s were Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, Black Sabbath, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder and The Who.
View chart at point in time
 Show this chart as it was on the following date
Share this chart
Collector's summary (top 1,000) Help The maximum rank used by the Collector's Summary is configurable from your profile (top 1,000 is currently selected). Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!
Sort Sort by
"Novices to the world of acclaimed rock music looking to cut their teeth wouldn't have to dig very deep to find evidence of The Dark Side of the Moon's legacy and societal imprint. After all, this is a record that is arguably the most universally celebrated and globally popular in modern history. ..."  [+]  Reply
- DriftingOrpheus | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +10 votes (10 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
58,579
Rank in 1973:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (92/100 - 5361 votes)  92 (5,361 votes)
Comments:
"The first time I heard this album was a bootleged copy off cassete when I was 14, laying on a hillside at night beside the girl who I thought at the time was the most beautiful and sexy in the world. You may like to add your own imagery to the setting, but it left a permanant mark on my psychie t..."  [+]  Reply
- marcel4tmh | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +15 votes (15 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
43,717
Rank in 1975:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (91/100 - 4083 votes)  91 (4,083 votes)
Comments:
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
42,090
Rank in 1972:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (90/100 - 3569 votes)  90 (3,569 votes)
Comments:
"Flawless album in my view, yes, including Four Sticks and Misty Mountain Hop. Some consider Stairway To Heaven to be on of if not the most overplayed song ever, but it's so amazing that I could listen to it a thousand more times. My favorite track on LZ4 is not Stairway or even Levee, but rather ..."  [+]  Reply
- Cojo7 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +16 votes (16 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
37,729
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (90/100 - 4022 votes)  90 (4,022 votes)
Comments:
"What can you say about Rumours that has not already been said? One of the most beautiful and yet bittersweet collection of songs ever put on record. It's impossible to pick standout tracks because they are all equally good but different to each other. How the record shifts from Chrissy's heartbre..."  [+]  Reply
- evilzzz | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
30,429
Rank in 1977:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (87/100 - 2670 votes)  87 (2,670 votes)
Comments:
"This record is pretty much as close to perfect as I've personally heard. It just rolls. Every track has its own unique identity but at the same time adds to the completeness of the whole. The wild diversity of the songs and styles and sounds on this record never seem forced or half-baked. And has..."  [+]  Reply
- Mercury | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +19 votes (19 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
30,123
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (87/100 - 3176 votes)  87 (3,176 votes)
Comments:
"A lot of people complain about its "pretentiousness", and its pompous nature, but quite frankly I don't see it working without these traits. All the emotions and the rage towards the world of one person packaged in an incredibly expressive piece of work. It ranges from melancholic to angry to apa..."  [+]  Reply
- 19loveless91 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +13 votes (14 helpful | 1 unhelpful) Help 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:
24,518
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (87/100 - 3518 votes)  87 (3,518 votes)
Comments:
"Roger Waters plays this whole thing live in support of his new album and this just shoots up the charts, funny how that works but it still has some climbing to do. It'd be a lot higher if it weren't competing so directly with Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall, it deserves to..."  [+]  Reply
- jackbrown8786 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +15 votes (15 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
21,930
Rank in 1977:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (88/100 - 2824 votes)  88 (2,824 votes)
Comments:
"A brooding masterpiece. Like Jim Morrison and The Doors captured L.A in their music and lyrics, so Ian Curtis and Joy Division do the same with Manchester. Unknown pleasures, is a dark record of alienation, loneliness and foreboding. You cannot fail to be drawn into the eerie atmosphere as Curtis..."  [+]  Reply
- garycottier | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +10 votes (10 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
21,105
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (86/100 - 2350 votes)  86 (2,350 votes)
Comments:
"Who's next, derived from the aborted 'lifehouse' project, another Pete Townshend rock opera that he was unable to complete. In a way, that was a blessing in disguise, as it leaves us with a classic album full of fantastic songs. Who's next, had a strut and swagger about, it's obvious the band are..."  [+]  Reply
- garycottier | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
20,845
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (86/100 - 2586 votes)  86 (2,586 votes)
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1970s composition

Best Ever Albums
1. OK Computer by Radiohead
2. The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd
3. Abbey Road by The Beatles
4. Revolver by The Beatles
5. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
6. In Rainbows by Radiohead
7. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
8. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie
9. Kid A by Radiohead
10. The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground & Nico
11. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
12. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
13. Nevermind by Nirvana
14. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles
15. Funeral by Arcade Fire
16. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
17. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
18. Doolittle by Pixies
19. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac
20. To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar