Best Albums of the 1970s

Sort by

• Overall Rank
• Num. Charts
• Avg. Rating
• Num. Ratings
• Release Date
• Title
• Artist

11.

Blood On The Tracks 

 Bob Dylan

Buy album

• EBAY
• APPLE MUSIC
• SPOTIFY
• AMAZON (US)
• #Sponsored

"1 December 2013 "Blood On The Tracks". It's an album almost synonymous with maturity and the absolute expression of all the nuances of love and loss. It's an album that I notice I love more and more as my life ticks along. When I first heard it at the age of 12 I didn't get it. I didn't see what ...""1 December 2013 "Blood On The Tracks". It's an album almost synonymous with maturity and the absolute expression of all the nuances of love and loss. It's an album that I notice I love more and more as my life ticks along. When I first heard it at the age of 12 I didn't get it. I didn't see what was so great about it. And even now to this day, I feel their is a more relatable feeling I get from his 60s music. I am 24 years old as I write this. Dylan was 21 and 24 when he made my other 2 favorite albums of his. Is that all it comes down to? Perhaps. As for this album, well it's a legendary piece of art. It transcends my amateur description. There are just so many themes and details and emotions that are expressed here. The album is a roller coaster, it takes you through all the highs of love found and all the lows of regret. And in the end you leave this record wiser than when you entered. To name the highlights is basically to name off every track. It's literally that great. The songs that just absolutely gut me every time I hear them are "Simple Twist of Fate" (perhaps one of the most sobering songs ever), "You're A Big Girl Now", "Meet Me In The Morning" (so simple and beautiful and the fucking steel guitar and slide guitar at the end is pure aesthetic perfection), "Shelter From The Storm", and the closer "Buckets of Rain". Oh and about this closer...it's perfect. I use that word "perfect" too much, I know. But this song AS A CLOSER is perfection. It's like a little nugget of almost simpleton-level wisdom that floats in and soothes us after the emotional journey of the rest of the album that just ended. It's so damn simple and playful and REAL. This album feels so absolutely relaxed and natural. It's a grand example of the plain expression of very exact and thought-out art. It's an album that opens up more and more not only with each listen but also with each passing year of living. It's an album that is always there to help get me through. Thanks, Bob. Grade 100/100"  [+]  Reply

- Mercury | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 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:

1975

Appears in:

1,877 charts

Rank Score:

20,129

Rank in 1975:

2

Rank in 1970s:

11

Overall Rank:

42

Average Rating:

 87 (2,222 votes)

Comments:

169

12.

Marquee Moon 

 Television

Buy album

• EBAY
• APPLE MUSIC
• SPOTIFY
• AMAZON (US)
• #Sponsored

"One of the interesting things about this album is that it is punk while bearing many opposite qualities from what you traditionally associate with punk. Punk is thought of as short songs, aggressive, political, rudimentary, whereas Marquee Moon has a song approaching 11 minutes, is often laid-bac...""One of the interesting things about this album is that it is punk while bearing many opposite qualities from what you traditionally associate with punk. Punk is thought of as short songs, aggressive, political, rudimentary, whereas Marquee Moon has a song approaching 11 minutes, is often laid-back, totally apolitical, and very technically proficient. Fantastic guitar counter-melodies sprinkled throughout, I just love it."  [+]  Reply

- colonelchibbers | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +10 votes (10 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:

1,808 charts

Rank Score:

19,055

Rank in 1977:

3

Rank in 1970s:

12

Overall Rank:

44

Average Rating:

 86 (1,911 votes)

Comments:

149

13.

Exile On Main St. 

 The Rolling Stones

Buy album

• EBAY
• APPLE MUSIC
• SPOTIFY
• AMAZON (US)
• #Sponsored

"The Rolling Stones, shacked up in a French estate, dressed like pirates and loaded, produce a double album that reveals something new every time you listen to it. Maybe not my number one album ever, but without a doubt one of the coolest."  Reply

- jjstraka | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +13 votes (13 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:

1,975 charts

Rank Score:

18,883

Rank in 1972:

2

Rank in 1970s:

13

Overall Rank:

46

Average Rating:

 85 (2,375 votes)

Comments:

211

14.

What's Going On 

 Marvin Gaye

Buy album

• EBAY
• APPLE MUSIC
• SPOTIFY
• AMAZON (US)
• #Sponsored

"“In the morning, I’ll be alright my friend, but soon the night will bring the pain. Flying high in the friendly sky” What do you get when you combine the smoothest voice in the history of music with the greatest bass lines in the history of music, and hotbox a Motown studio full of marijuana? An ...""“In the morning, I’ll be alright my friend, but soon the night will bring the pain. Flying high in the friendly sky” What do you get when you combine the smoothest voice in the history of music with the greatest bass lines in the history of music, and hotbox a Motown studio full of marijuana? An album that is better than anything in its genre and in its decade - which is saying a lot when you consider all that happened in the 1970’s. If heroin could sing, it still wouldn’t sound as good as Marvin Gaye. I stand very firmly behind my opinion that Marvin Gaye possessed the greatest voice of all time. There are countless things to love about this album musically, the tight bass lines, the smooth aesthetic, the jazz feel, liberal use of assorted wind and stringed instruments, and the variety of percussion the crystal clear production that sounds as incredible in 2015 as it did in 1971. However, it’s Marvin’s show, and it’s his voice that carries the listener through the album. The man clearly had enormous talent, and it is displayed in its entirety on “What’s Going On”. Listening to Marvin Gaye perform live was akin to watching Michael Jordan make the final shot of the 1998 NBA finals, except better by several orders of magnitude because music is clearly a domain of excellence far superior to sports. One of his studio assistants was questioned at one point what the most difficult thing was when working with Marvin Gaye. The response was that it was so difficult to select which takes of his voice to keep and which to discard, because they were all so beautiful that it felt wrong to delete anything that he recorded. “What’s Going On” is about discontent - with culture, with politics, with discrimination, with the imperfect self. It came at a time when the Barry Gordy’s Motown record label was interested only in pumping out radio hits for profit and wasn’t interested in any of this introspective, challenging music. Gaye demanded it be released as he envisioned it and was nearly close to breaking ties with the record label. Marvin Gaye had a wild and remarkable career, plagued by the internal conflict which is was clear from his art, as well as his ongoing struggle with depression and multiple suicide attempts and drug addiction. It’s this struggle that fuels the beauty that is his music. His angelic voice carries just enough of a painful undertone to send shivers down the listener’s spine. That’s “What’s Going On”"  [+]  Reply

- corenfro | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +10 votes (10 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:

1,664 charts

Rank Score:

18,714

Rank in 1971:

3

Rank in 1970s:

14

Overall Rank:

48

Average Rating:

 85 (1,978 votes)

Comments:

146

15.

Hunky Dory 

 David Bowie

Buy album

• EBAY
• APPLE MUSIC
• SPOTIFY
• AMAZON (US)
• #Sponsored

"Fun album to listen. I don't find it inconsistent at all, every song in here contributes something to the album as a whole."  Reply

- Defago | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 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:

1,877 charts

Rank Score:

18,706

Rank in 1971:

4

Rank in 1970s:

15

Overall Rank:

49

Average Rating:

 87 (2,465 votes)

Comments:

159

16.

Paranoid 

 Black Sabbath

Buy album

• EBAY
• APPLE MUSIC
• SPOTIFY
• AMAZON (US)
• #Sponsored

"This is essential listening not only for the metal genre but for music in general as its importance in history is huge. The influence this album had is massive and it has the quality to back it up as well. Musically, it still sounds so fresh and exciting with side 1 being one of the strongest sid...""This is essential listening not only for the metal genre but for music in general as its importance in history is huge. The influence this album had is massive and it has the quality to back it up as well. Musically, it still sounds so fresh and exciting with side 1 being one of the strongest sides of music the metal genre has ever seen. To have War Pigs, Paranoid and Iron Man on one half of a record makes it seem like this is a greatest hit compilation rather than an album. There is a slight drop off in the second half but it is no way near as large as you expect with Electric Funeral and Fairies Wear Boots being absolute classics for the group. The instrumentation on here is simply phenomenal as well with every member of the group shining at one point or the other. As a result of this we get a heavy and cohesive sound that is a joy to experience. Ozzy Osbourne's vocal is extremely impressive on here also as he showcases why he is considered one of the greatest of all time. Overall, this is Black Sabbath's strongest release as it is the most consistent and has some of the greatest instrumental moments they have ever produced. "  [+]  Reply

- Untitled | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 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:

1,754 charts

Rank Score:

18,590

Rank in 1970:

1

Rank in 1970s:

16

Overall Rank:

50

Average Rating:

 86 (2,130 votes)

Comments:

140

17.

Pink Moon 

 Nick Drake

Buy album

• EBAY
• APPLE MUSIC
• SPOTIFY
• AMAZON (US)
• #Sponsored

"There's a certain beauty to this album that is inescapable. It has no gimmicks to it, just Drake alone on his acoustic guitar. It's an atmospheric and ethereal record that I will be returning to for a while."  Reply

- camsh | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +9 votes (9 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:

1,567 charts

Rank Score:

17,147

Rank in 1972:

3

Rank in 1970s:

17

Overall Rank:

57

Average Rating:

 86 (1,876 votes)

Comments:

144

18.

Low 

 David Bowie

Buy album

• EBAY
• APPLE MUSIC
• SPOTIFY
• AMAZON (US)
• #Sponsored

"Pitchfork called this the best album of the '70s, a move I thought was pretty dubious until I got around to spinning Low half a dozen times on a long bus ride home from college. Low manages to embody the depth of absolute melancholy through manifestations vocal and instrumental, brash and serene;...""Pitchfork called this the best album of the '70s, a move I thought was pretty dubious until I got around to spinning Low half a dozen times on a long bus ride home from college. Low manages to embody the depth of absolute melancholy through manifestations vocal and instrumental, brash and serene; the feeling is strong even in the album's perkier tunes, like "Sound and Vision," which holds up as one of the best songs of his career. Declaring an absolute best album for a decade is still pretty arbitrary, especially for a decade with such immense scope as the '70s, but maybe Pitchfork had the right idea."  [+]  Reply

- weedygonsalez | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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:

1,542 charts

Rank Score:

16,326

Rank in 1977:

4

Rank in 1970s:

18

Overall Rank:

63

Average Rating:

 86 (2,098 votes)

Comments:

169

19.

Sticky Fingers 

 The Rolling Stones

Buy album

• EBAY
• APPLE MUSIC
• SPOTIFY
• AMAZON (US)
• #Sponsored

"Whereas Exile is chaotic and unrestrained, Sticky Fingers is remarkably disciplined for an album this raunchy and soaked in sin."  Reply

- yonstein414 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +9 votes (9 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:

1,652 charts

Rank Score:

16,270

Rank in 1971:

5

Rank in 1970s:

19

Overall Rank:

64

Average Rating:

 86 (1,940 votes)

Comments:

139

20.

Songs In The Key Of Life 

 Stevie Wonder

Buy album

• EBAY
• APPLE MUSIC
• SPOTIFY
• AMAZON (US)
• #Sponsored

"I don't care what anyone says, this is a top 100 album of all time. No question. Hands down. Let's move on. It is so much better than many albums ahead of it on our website. Objectively I would put it in the top 50. Anyway, this is an album any fan of music should take in at some point. It is Ste...""I don't care what anyone says, this is a top 100 album of all time. No question. Hands down. Let's move on. It is so much better than many albums ahead of it on our website. Objectively I would put it in the top 50. Anyway, this is an album any fan of music should take in at some point. It is Stevie's masterpiece (even though he had 5 incredible albums). It is so well composed, organized, and performed. So much soul and passion put into this album that took more than 2 years to be released. I was lucky enough to see him play it live in its entirety and I was given an entirely new view on this beautiful work of art. And as I type this, I have it spinning on the turntable. Again, what a work of art."  [+]  Reply

- AAL2014 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +10 votes (10 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:

1976

Appears in:

1,327 charts

Rank Score:

15,643

Rank in 1976:

1

Rank in 1970s:

20

Overall Rank:

70

Average Rating:

 85 (1,382 votes)

Comments:

94

• « prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• ...
• 99
• 100
• next »
• Goto Page: 

Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of the 1970s composition

Top 1,000 Top 500 Top 250 Top 100

Year	Albums	%
1970	110	11%
1971	100	10%
1972	97	10%
1973	111	11%
1974	93	9%
1975	98	10%
1976	91	9%
1977	92	9%
1978	105	11%
1979	103	10%

Artist	Albums	%
David Bowie	11	1%
Yes	9	1%
Genesis	9	1%
Miles Davis	8	1%
Electric Light Orchestra	8	1%
Pink Floyd	8	1%
AC/DC	8	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	387	39%
	375	38%
	42	4%
	39	4%
	38	4%
	21	2%
	20	2%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	976	98%
Yes	24	2%

Live?	Albums	%
No	943	94%
Yes	57	6%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	987	99%
Yes	13	1%