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: 4 hours ago
"The first of the big five brought us classic Yes in a big way. Right from the first few bars, you can tell this is a very special collection of musicians." Reply
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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:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,370
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Amazingly original, this rock symphony of sorts redifined what could top the charts. The first half is energetic and shows us a wealth of ideas, while the second half is more relaxed and ambient, developing individual ideas more." Reply
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,360
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Some time before their more mature, critically-acclaimed Jazz/Pop albums of their mid to late 70's period, Steely Dan begun their journey with this album. From its sleazy red-light district cover to its sleazy and clever lyrics to the beautiful and melodic music, this album has no weak songs. All..." [+] Reply
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NickVolos | 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:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,349
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"His debut, blending an old-school singer-songwriter rock/pop vibe with the attitude of punk. My ranking reflects the extended version including a fav of mine, "watching the detectives"." 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:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,309
Rank in 1977:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This is the album where Cohen may surpass Dylan as my favorite lyricist. Very very few songwriters have spun such an intricately beautiful web of words to engulf a listener." Reply
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meccalecca | 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:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,306
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Iggy’s second album again working with David Bowie is his best solo album without question. Lust for Life, The Passenger, Tonight, Success and Neighborhood Threat are the best tracks for me. A little more commercial sounding than The Idiot but still very experimental with lyrics that are just as ..." [+] Reply
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Brandon8 | 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:
3,294
Rank in 1977:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I saw an infographic that described this album as astronaut porn music. Can confirm: definitely makes me want to film a space porno." Reply
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,258
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album was very big in 1977. ELO was at the height of their popularity. The problem was, disco and punk were starting to gain momentum, and Out Of The Blue was the beginning of the downside for ELO. A double album was a bit ambitious, and a lot of the material was not up to par. Jeff Lynne as..." [+] Reply
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Romanelli | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (4 helpful | 1 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:
3,250
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"from beginning to end a masterpiece." Reply
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,197
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Average Rating:
Comments:
""Minimalism" seems to be an unfortunate term to describe a piece of music, where so much is going on. The only gripe I have with this is that it could be easily cut by about 5-10 mins. Not that it isn't great throughout, but the ideas are the same, so I think the perfect length for this would be ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,189
Rank in 1978:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 12 of 100
Best Albums of the 1970s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 111 | 11% | |
| 1971 | 101 | 10% | |
| 1972 | 95 | 10% | |
| 1973 | 113 | 11% | |
| 1974 | 95 | 10% | |
| 1975 | 97 | 10% | |
| 1976 | 90 | 9% | |
| 1977 | 91 | 9% | |
| 1978 | 104 | 10% | |
| 1979 | 103 | 10% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Neil Young | 11 | 1% | |
| David Bowie | 11 | 1% | |
| Frank Zappa | 11 | 1% | |
| Paul McCartney | 9 | 1% | |
| Yes | 9 | 1% | |
| Genesis | 9 | 1% | |
| Bob Marley | 9 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
385 | 39% | |
 |
376 | 38% | |
 |
42 | 4% | |
 |
38 | 4% | |
 |
38 | 4% | |
 |
20 | 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 65th to 63rd |
Up 1 from 98th to 97th |
Up 1 from 94th to 93rd |
| Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 2 from 13th to 15th |
Down 1 from 20th to 21st |
Down 1 from 27th to 28th |
Best Artists of
the 1960s
1.
The Beatles
3.
Jimi Hendrix
4.
Bob Dylan
6.
The Doors
8.
Led Zeppelin
10.
King Crimson
