Best Albums of the 1970s

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: 2 hours ago).
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1970s decade summaryThe best artists of the 1970s were Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, The Clash, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder and The Who.
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"Good news first or bad news..? Well, the bad news ain't so bad, so let's start there... Bad news: "Mambo Sun" and "Planet Queen" are actually the same song - BUT good news: it's a really good song. (Same with "Get It On" and "The Motivator," but that's an even BETTER song.) And just a little more..."  [+]  Reply
- JuJu83 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +9 votes (9 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:
4,619
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"It's very difficult to describe "Van Halen" (1978) via precedents: there's the unselfconscious attitude of The Ramones and virtuosic musicianship of Led Zeppelin, but it's filtered through blaxploitation films, Southern California skateboarding culture, and P.T. Barnum's Circus. The bottom line i..."  [+]  Reply
- JuJu83 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 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:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,423
Rank in 1978:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"My favourite Kraftwerk album. The man machine, features beautiful soundscapes combined with a pop mentality. The model, even became a no:1 hit in the U.K. a few years down the line. Perfect late night chill out music. They were so ahead of their time."  Reply
- garycottier | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 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:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,379
Rank in 1978:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,313
Rank in 1971:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album really ought to be in the top 100. I'm realizing how hard I'm finding it to write accurate description of these albums, rather, why I like them. I like them because the underlying music is good. That's all there is too it."  Reply
- revolver94 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 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:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,291
Rank in 1970:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,085
Rank in 1979:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Call out to non-Dylan fans: If you didn't care much for "Highway 61" or "Blonde on Blonde", be sure to check out this album before you pass up the rest of his discography completely. A totally different sound, both in terms of instrumentation (violin, accordion, mandolin and female background voc..."  [+]  Reply
- Mother Nature's Son | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +9 votes (9 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:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,077
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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"Amazing amazing amazing ! I mean "Thrasher", "Powderfinger", "Pocahontas", "Sail Away", and both the opening and closing "Hey Hey, My my" are all immaculate and just absolutely powerful and emotional. This is a classic."  Reply
- Mercury | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 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:
4,076
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"YES..... yesssss.... The dirty churning angst on this recording is so very raw, yet understated... powerful beyond explanation.... This is not the "Dance to the Music" Sly... This is the ruminatin' dark and burnin' out Sly... a hard rude awakening coming over the war-torn survivors of the Sixties..."  [+]  Reply
- muzikluvah | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 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:
4,023
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,007
Rank in 1972:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 10 of 100

Best Albums of the 1970s composition

Recognised  Decade Charts (2020s)
1. NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s by New Music Express (2019)
2. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2019)
3. The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
4. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks by Billboard (2019)
5. Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of the 2010s by Gorilla vs. Bear (2019)
6. Top 100 Albums of the Decade by Crack Magazine (2019)
7. Top 50 Albums of the 2010s by The Wild Honey Pie (2019)
8. BrooklynVegan's Top Albums of 2010s by BrooklynVegan (2020)
9. The 50 best albums of the decade – 2010 to 2019 by Independent (2019)
10. The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s by Spin (2020)