Best Albums of the 1970s
Explore the best albums of the 1970s, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 charts.
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Last updated: 5 hours ago
Last updated: 5 hours ago
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"I can't get over how she set me free 0h, oh, lonesome me... Is there another album that more embodies the sound of the 70s? Back when bands' lyrics were repeated by the faithful like sacred truths. Back when albums seemed larger than life carrying their own mythology and album covers were gazed u..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,170
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Comments:
"This album is perfect in every way. Neil at his finest. Great album to throw on, make a drink and crash on the couch" Reply
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,763
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"The title track is excellent, Motion Pictures is basically perfect, but then he goes ahead and closes the album with Ambulance Blues. A perfect album closer, among the best ever, and certainly the best acoustic ballad album closer aside from Desolation Row. I might even prefer it for it's emotion..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,138
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"On rust never sleeps, new material presented live here, neil shows off both acoustic and electric sides, both equally engaging. Neil's a simple poet, which he shows off on "thrasher" and "hey hey my my". "ride my llama" displays some quirky humor from neil. My biggest criticism is that the album'..." [+] Reply
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paladisiac | 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:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,981
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"This album is an absolute masterpiece, and has a sound like no other album ever released, even by Neil himself. You can truly feel raw emotion here, and this is definitely Neil's most emotional album. After the loss of Daniel Whitten, Neil recorded this album on one dark night in 1972 in only one..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,939
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Comments:
201.
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"Every note on Cortez the killer is so right" Reply
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,742
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"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
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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:
1,229
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Comments:
"It takes lot of love, to chance way things are. I start listening Neil Young from this album and Live Rust. This is peacefull, optimistic and Neil Youngs way deep album in country. I recommend this, 90/100" Reply
Year of Release:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
729
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"Apparently this was one of the first big collector's editions/box sets released. Critics didn't like it because they believed it put the artist too high on a pedestal. Years later, this is still an incredible introspective on Young's early career. Contains most of his essential and experimental t..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
327
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"A live album of new material that documents a time whereby N.Y was at war with his band as well as his audience who wanted 'Harvest' and instead got .... this A third of the Ditch trilogy and an essential album for rock fans" Reply
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Brad1770 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
327
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Total albums: 11. Page 1 of 2
Best Albums of the 1970s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 111 | 11% | |
| 1971 | 101 | 10% | |
| 1972 | 96 | 10% | |
| 1973 | 112 | 11% | |
| 1974 | 94 | 9% | |
| 1975 | 97 | 10% | |
| 1976 | 90 | 9% | |
| 1977 | 91 | 9% | |
| 1978 | 105 | 11% | |
| 1979 | 103 | 10% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Neil Young | 11 | 1% | |
| David Bowie | 11 | 1% | |
| Frank Zappa | 11 | 1% | |
| Bob Marley | 9 | 1% | |
| Paul McCartney | 9 | 1% | |
| Yes | 9 | 1% | |
| Genesis | 9 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
385 | 39% | |
 |
375 | 38% | |
 |
42 | 4% | |
 |
38 | 4% | |
 |
38 | 4% | |
 |
21 | 2% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Best Albums of the 1970s chart changes
| Biggest climbers Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Up 2 from 89th to 87th |
Up 1 from 100th to 99th |
Up 1 from 91st to 90th |
| Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 2 from 87th to 89th |
Down 1 from 20th to 21st |
Down 1 from 37th to 38th |
