Best Albums of 1976

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Explore the best albums of 1976, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 chartsHelp Click to see how the rankings are calculated . Last updated: 33 minutes ago
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1976 year summaryThe best artists of 1976 were Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Ramones, Eagles, Boston, Bob Dylan, Genesis, Rush, Joni Mitchell and The Modern Lovers.
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1.
Songs In The Key Of Life 
United States Stevie Wonder
Buy album United States
"I know some others have said it already, but this really is one of the few double albums that deserve to be a double album. There is not one filler track, and it covers so many styles yet remains one cohesive unit. It works better than even some progressive rock concept albums that are deliberate..."    Reply
- CJMishellsan | 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:
1976
Appears in:
1,337 charts
Rank Score:
15,656
Rank in 1976:
1
Rank in 1970s:
20
Overall Rank:
67
Average Rating:
Top rated album (85/100 - 1385 votes)  85 (1,385 votes)
Comments:
View 94
2.
Station To Station 
United Kingdom David Bowie
Buy album United States
"Bowie's best. Station To Station has a unique place in Bowie discography – it’s the transition between the soul sound of Young Americans and the electronic experiments of Low, but the odd mixture of styles gives it a singular identity. Jerky rhythms and a disquieting atmosphere are achieved, even..."    Reply
- TheHutts | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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:
1,113 charts
Rank Score:
11,431
Rank in 1976:
2
Rank in 1970s:
30
Overall Rank:
107
Average Rating:
Top rated album (85/100 - 1572 votes)  85 (1,572 votes)
Comments:
View 98
3.
Ramones 
United States Ramones
Buy album United States
"Musically, of course, this record isn’t excellent. Pretty simple garage band sound here. What makes this record great is its return to old rock and roll. These songs, essentially, are early 60s bubble gum pop songs but with guitar distortion, bad New York accents, and about 50 extra beats per min..."    Reply
- riverfront76 | 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:
1976
Appears in:
1,060 charts
Rank Score:
6,867
Rank in 1976:
3
Rank in 1970s:
54
Overall Rank:
226
Average Rating:
 80 (1,322 votes)
Comments:
View 105
4.
Hotel California 
United States Eagles
Buy album United States
"It's a really good album, but I think it has become a little overrated. The title track, "New Kid in Town" and "Life on the Fast Line" are fantastic songs, but the rest of the album isn't as special. Eagles for me were always a singles band - listen to their greatest hits post-1977 and you are al..."    Reply
- rockingbyrd456 | 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:
1976
Appears in:
879 charts
Rank Score:
6,041
Rank in 1976:
4
Rank in 1970s:
65
Overall Rank:
267
Average Rating:
 76 (1,271 votes)
Comments:
View 85
5.
Boston 
United States Boston
Buy album United States
"I can't normally sit down and listen to this record anymore, because classic rock radio has sort of burnt it out for me, but honestly i'm glad that this record was made, and for all the times I heard these songs playing in the car."  Reply
- Grimaticus | 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:
1976
Appears in:
761 charts
Rank Score:
5,684
Rank in 1976:
5
Rank in 1970s:
69
Overall Rank:
285
Average Rating:
 78 (973 votes)
Comments:
View 86
6.
Desire 
United States Bob Dylan
Buy album United States
"Dylan's excellent follow up to, blood on the tracks. Desire, is another one of those Dylan albums that sound like nothing else in his back catalogue. The key to this, apart from Bob's songs, (with Jaques Levy, apart from two), is the use, all the way through the record of Scarlet Rivera's wonderf..."    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:
1976
Appears in:
664 charts
Rank Score:
4,083
Rank in 1976:
6
Rank in 1970s:
96
Overall Rank:
400
Average Rating:
 81 (1,013 votes)
Comments:
View 55
7.
Hejira 
Canada Joni Mitchell
Buy album United States
"Love everything about thks album. Maybe just some of the lyrics don't interest me much but everything is still very poetic and original. Can't even try to duplicate the unique songwriting Joni had on this one. I don't really love other albums by her but this album grabbed me from the first listen..."    Reply
- CompassCharlatan | 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:
1976
Appears in:
413 charts
Rank Score:
3,705
Rank in 1976:
7
Rank in 1970s:
102
Overall Rank:
456
Average Rating:
 81 (472 votes)
Comments:
View 26
8.
2112 
Canada Rush
Buy album United States
"I came around to more Prog Rock via Pink Floyd and then King Crimson, and like any genre of music there is good and bad to discover, and to my surprise I found the good to include Rush, Yes and early Genesis. All three I would've turned my nose up to 20 years ago, maybe it's an age thing... Here ..."    Reply
- TheSmiths82-87 | 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:
1976
Appears in:
646 charts
Rank Score:
3,614
Rank in 1976:
8
Rank in 1970s:
105
Overall Rank:
467
Average Rating:
 80 (966 votes)
Comments:
View 71
9.
The Modern Lovers 
United States The Modern Lovers
Buy album United States
"he is arguably better than Lou Reed... but Lou Reed came first."  Reply
- tonagamu | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (5 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:
1976
Appears in:
537 charts
Rank Score:
3,429
Rank in 1976:
9
Rank in 1970s:
110
Overall Rank:
501
Average Rating:
 82 (618 votes)
Comments:
View 34
10.
A New World Record 
United Kingdom Electric Light Orchestra
Buy album United States
"I wouldn't call myself a huge fan of ELO, but this record was pretty damn near perfect. Highlights are "Tightrope," "Shangri-La," "Above the Clouds," "So Fine," and "Do Ya," but everything on here hits just the right harmony between rock, classical, and Beatle-esque hooks. One of my top ten rock ..."    Reply
- subtleman22 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 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:
405 charts
Rank Score:
3,038
Rank in 1976:
10
Rank in 1970s:
124
Overall Rank:
561
Average Rating:
 80 (497 votes)
Comments:
View 32
Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of 1976 composition

Best Albums of 1976 chart changes

Biggest climbersHelp Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month
Climber Up 3 from 64th to 61st
Jaco Pastorius
by Jaco Pastorius
Climber Up 2 from 51st to 49th
The Pretender
by Jackson Browne
Climber Up 2 from 39th to 37th
Blondie
by Blondie
Biggest fallersHelp Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month
Faller Down 2 from 49th to 51st
War Ina Babylon
by Max Romeo & The Upsetters
Faller Down 2 from 58th to 60th
Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975
by Eagles
Faller Down 1 from 37th to 38th
Still Life
by Van Der Graaf Generator
« View best albums of 1975View best albums of 1977 »
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