After completing my deep dive into the best-selling albums from 1971 to 1979, I’m here to share my personal picks for the 100 most satisfying listens of the decade. Nobody asked for this, but here it is anyway! Keep in mind, these aren’t necessarily the best albums of the era—just the best of the best-sellers. And yes, the list leans heavily toward white male-centric releases. That’s partly because, well, I’m a white male, and also because the 1970s were undeniably a white-male-dominated decade in music.
Selecting the first 50 albums was fairly straightforward, and for anyone over 40, there won’t be many surprises. The second half of the list has been trickier to finalize, but I’m working on it. After spending so much time exploring this musical landscape, I felt compelled to share my findings.
Under each selection, I’ve included a “CliffsNotes” review courtesy of AllMusic. While I typically don’t hold professional critics in high regard—they often feel like industry insiders with unreliable takes—I found myself agreeing with their assessments. Plus, it saved me a lot of effort!
THE FIRST 50
A NEW WORLD RECORD – Electric Light Orchestra (1976)
Opening with the opulently orchestrated “Tightrope,” which heralds the perfect production found throughout this album, A New World Record contains seven of the best songs ever to come out of the group.
A SONG FOR YOU – The Carpenters (1972)
The duo’s best album, and the place to start beyond the hits compilations. A Song for You marked the last time that their music (and the only occasion that one of their albums) would be accepted in the rock world on its own terms, without the duo’s squeaky-clean image and sound, and middle-class dorkiness becoming a drag on their sales and image.
AJA – Steely Dan (1977)
Steely Dan ignores rock on Aja, preferring to fuse cool jazz, blues, and pop together in a seamless, seductive fashion. It’s complex music delivered with ease, and although the duo’s preoccupation with clean sound and self-consciously sophisticated arrangements would eventually lead to a dead end, Aja is a shining example of jazz-rock at its finest.
AQUALUNG – Jethro Tull (1971)
In the space of one album, Tull went from relatively unassuming electrified folk-rock to larger-than-life conceptual rock full of sophisticated compositions and complex, intellectual, lyrical constructs. Varied but cohesive, Aqualung is widely regarded as Tull’s finest hour.
BAD COMPANY – Bad Company (1974)
Appropriately enough given their name, there’s a sense of slow, churning menace to Bad Company. It’s hard rock painted in stark black & white: cranked guitars mirrored by a deliberate wallop from the rhythm section, a rock & roll so loud and basic it wound up not aging much at all even though it pretty much defined mid-’70s album rock.
BLOOD ON THE TRACKS – Bob Dylan (1975)
It’s an affecting, unbearably poignant record, not because it’s a glimpse into his soul, but because the songs are remarkably clear-eyed and sentimental, lovely and melancholy at once. Dylan made albums more influential than this, but he never made one better.
BLUE – Joni Mitchell (1971)
Sad, spare, and beautiful, Blue is the quintessential confessional singer/songwriter album. Forthright and poetic, Joni Mitchell’s songs are raw nerves, tales of love and loss (two words with relative meaning here) etched with stunning complexity. Unrivaled in its intensity and insight, Blue remains a watershed.
BORN TO RUN – Bruce Springsteen (1975)
If The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle was an accidental miracle, Born to Run was an intentional masterpiece. It declared its own greatness with songs and a sound that lived up to Springsteen’s promise, and though some thought it took itself too seriously, many found that exalting.
BOSTON – Boston (1976)
Boston is one of the best-selling albums of all time, and deservedly so. Tom Scholz, who wrote most of the songs, was a studio wizard and used self-designed equipment such as 12-track recording devices to come up with an anthemic “arena rock” sound before the term was even coined. The sound was hard rock, but the layered melodies and harmonics reveal the work of a master craftsman.
BREAKFAST IN AMERICA – Supertramp (1979)
With Breakfast in America, Supertramp had a genuine blockbuster hit, topping the charts for four weeks in the U.S. and selling millions of copies worldwide; by the 1990s, the album had sold over 18 million units across the world. Supertramp still had a tendency to indulge themselves occasionally, but Breakfast in America had very few weak moments. It was clearly their high-water mark.
BRIDGE OF SIGHS – Robin Trower (1974)
Guitarist Robin Trower’s watershed sophomore solo disc remains his most stunning, representative, and consistent collection of tunes. Mixing obvious Hendrix influences with blues and psychedelia, then adding the immensely soulful vocals of James Dewar, Trower pushed the often limited boundaries of the power trio concept into refreshing new waters. One of the few Robin Trower albums without a weak cut, Bridge of Sighs holds up to repeated listenings as a timeless work, as well as the crown jewel in Trower’s extensive yet inconsistent catalog.
COUNTDOWN TO ECSTACY – Steely Dan (1973)
Each of its eight songs have sophisticated, jazz-inflected interludes, and apart from the bluesy vamps “Bodhisattva” and “Show Biz Kids,” which sound like they were written for the stage, the songs are subtly textured. Countdown to Ecstasy is the only time Steely Dan played it relatively straight, and its eight songs are rich with either musical or lyrical detail that their album rock or art rock contemporaries couldn’t hope to match.
COURT AND SPARK – Joni Mitchell (1974)
Joni Mitchell reached her commercial high point with Court and Spark, a remarkably deft fusion of folk, pop, and jazz which stands as her best-selling work to date. While as unified and insightful as Blue, the album — a concept record exploring the roles of honesty and trust in relationships, romantic and otherwise — moves away from confessional songwriting into evocative character studies.
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON – Pink Floyd (1973)
What gives the album true power is the subtly textured music, which evolves from ponderous, neo-psychedelic art rock to jazz fusion and blues-rock before turning back to psychedelia. It’s dense with detail, but leisurely paced, creating its own dark, haunting world. Pink Floyd may have better albums than Dark Side of the Moon, but no other record defines them quite as well as this one.
ELECTRIC WARRIOR – T. Rex (1971)
The real reason Electric Warrior stands the test of time so well — despite its intended disposability — is that it revels so freely in its own absurdity and willful lack of substance. Not taking himself at all seriously, Bolan is free to pursue whatever silly wordplay, cosmic fantasies, or non sequitur imagery he feels like; his abandonment of any pretense to art becomes, ironically, a statement in itself. It’s that sense of playfulness, combined with a raft of irresistible hooks, that keeps Electric Warrior such an infectious, invigorating listen today.
EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY – Rod Stewart (1971)
The great triumph of Every Picture Tells a Story lies in its content. Every song on the album, whether it’s a cover or original, is a gem, combining to form a romantic, earthy portrait of a young man joyously celebrating his young life. It’s a beautiful album, one that has the timeless qualities of the best folk, yet one that rocks harder than most pop music — few rock albums are quite this powerful or this rich.
FRAGILE – Yes (1971)
Fragile was Yes’ breakthrough album, propelling them in a matter of weeks from a cult act to an international phenomenon; not coincidentally, it also marked the point where all of the elements of the music (and more) that would define their success for more than a decade fell into place fully formed. If not exactly their peak, Fragile was as perfect a record as the group would ever make, and just as flawless in its timing as its content.
HEART LIKE A WHEEL – Linda Ronstadt (1974)
What makes Heart Like a Wheel a breakthrough is the inventive arrangements that producer Peter Asher, Ronstadt, and the studio musicians have developed. Finding the right note for each song — whether it’s the soulful reworking of “When Will I Be Loved,” the hit “You’re No Good,” or the laid-back folk-rock of “Willing” — the musicians help turn Heart Like a Wheel into a veritable catalog of Californian soft rock, and it stands as a landmark of ’70s mainstream pop/rock.
HIGHWAY TO HELL – AC/DC (1979)
It wasn’t just Bon Scott who reached a new peak on Highway to Hell; so did the Young brothers, crafting their monster riffs into full-fledged, undeniable songs. This is their best set of songs yet, from the incessant, intoxicating boogie of “Girls Got Rhythm” to “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It).” AC/DC has never sounded so enormous, and they’ve never had such great songs, and they had never delivered an album as singularly bone-crunching or classic as this until now.
HONKY CHATEAU – Elton John (1972)
Honky Chateau is a rollicking collection of ballads, rockers, blues, country-rock, and soul songs. On paper, it reads like an eclectic mess, but it plays as the most focused and accomplished set of songs Elton John and Bernie Taupin ever wrote. It’s one of the finest collections of mainstream singer/songwriter pop of the early ’70s.
HOTEL CALIFORNIA – Eagles (1976)
The album marks a major leap for the Eagles from their earlier work, as well as a stylistic shift toward mainstream rock. Hotel California unveiled what seemed almost like a whole new band. It was a band that could be bombastic, but also one that made music worthy of the later tag of “classic rock,” music appropriate for the arenas and stadiums the band was playing. The result was the Eagles’ biggest-selling regular album release, and one of the most successful rock albums ever.
HOUSES OF THE HOLY – Led Zeppelin (1973)
Houses of the Holy follows the same basic pattern as Led Zeppelin IV, but the approach is looser and more relaxed. Jimmy Page’s riffs rely on ringing, folky hooks as much as they do on thundering blues-rock, giving the album a lighter, more open atmosphere. Throughout the record, the band’s playing is excellent, making the eclecticism of Page and Plant’s songwriting sound coherent and natural.
III – Santana (1971)
Santana III is an album that undeservingly stands in the shadows behind the towering legend that is the band’s second album, Abraxas. It’s an album that has aged extremely well due to its spare production (by Carlos and the band) and its live sound. This is essential Santana, a record that deserves to be reconsidered in light of its lasting abundance and vision.
I’M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU – Al Green (1972)
I’m Still in Love With You distinguishes itself with its suave, romantic tone and its subtly ambitious choice of material. And the soul numbers are more complex than they would appear — listen to how the beat falls together at the beginning of “Love and Happiness,” or the sly melody of the title track. There isn’t a wasted track on I’m Still in Love With You, and in many ways it rivals its follow-up, Call Me, as Green’s masterpiece.
INNERVISIONS – Stevie Wonder (1973)
When Stevie Wonder applied his tremendous songwriting talents to the unsettled social morass that was the early ’70s, he produced one of his greatest, most important works, a rich panoply of songs addressing drugs, spirituality, political ethics, the unnecessary perils of urban life, and what looked to be the failure of the ’60s dream — all set within a collection of charts as funky and catchy as any he’d written before.
IV – Led Zeppelin (1971)
Encompassing heavy metal, folk, pure rock & roll, and blues, Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album is a monolithic record, defining not only Led Zeppelin but the sound and style of ’70s hard rock.
MACHINE HEAD – Deep Purple (1972)
Led Zeppelin’s fourth album, Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, and Deep Purple’s Machine Head have stood the test of time as the Holy Trinity of English hard rock and heavy metal, serving as the fundamental blueprints followed by virtually every heavy rock & roll band since the early ’70s.
NIGHT MOVES – Bob Seger (1976)
Stylistically, there’s not much change since Beautiful Loser, but the difference is that Seger and his Silver Bullet Band — who turn in their first studio album here — sound intense and ferocious, and the songs are subtly varied. It not only became a hit, but one of the universally acknowledged high points of late-’70s rock & roll. And, because of his passion and craft, it remains a thoroughly terrific record years later.
OFF THE WALL – Michael Jackson (1979)
Michael Jackson had recorded solo prior to the release of Off the Wall in 1979, but this was his breakthrough, the album that established him as an artist of astonishing talent and a bright star in his own right. This was a visionary album, a record that found a way to break disco wide open into a new world where the beat was undeniable, but not the primary focus — it was part of a colorful tapestry of lush ballads and strings, smooth soul and pop, soft rock, and alluring funk.
PARALLEL LINES – Blondie (1978)
What impresses is the album’s depth and consistency — album tracks like “Fade Away and Radiate” and “Just Go Away” are as impressive as the songs pulled for singles. The result is state-of-the-art pop/rock circa 1978, with Debbie Harry’s tough-girl glamour setting the pattern that would be exploited over the next decade by a host of successors led by Madonna.
PRONOUNCED – Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973)
The genius of Skynyrd is that they un-self-consciously blended album-oriented hard rock, blues, country, and garage rock, turning it all into a distinctive sound that sounds familiar but thoroughly unique. On top of that, there’s the highly individual voice of Ronnie Van Zant, a songwriter who isn’t afraid to be nakedly sentimental, spin tales of the South, or to twist macho conventions with humor. And, lest we forget, while he does this, the band rocks like a motherf*cker. It’s the birth of a great band that birthed an entire genre with this album.
RUMOURS – Fleetwood Mac (1977)
Rumours is the kind of album that transcends its origins and reputation, entering the realm of legend — it’s an album that simply exists outside of criticism and outside of its time, even if it thoroughly captures its era. Some of these songs may be too familiar, whether through their repeated exposure on FM radio or their use in presidential campaigns, but in the context of the album, each tune, each phrase regains its raw, immediate emotional power — which is why Rumours touched a nerve upon its 1977 release, and has since transcended its era to be one of the greatest, most compelling pop albums of all time.
RUNNING ON EMPTY – Jackson Browne (1977)
Browne’s least ambitious, but perhaps most accessible, album ironically became his biggest seller. But it is not characteristic of his other work: for many, it will be the only Browne album they will want to own, just as others always will regard it disdainfully as “Jackson Browne lite.”
SLOWHAND – Eric Clapton (1977)
Slowhand doesn’t sound schizophrenic because of the band’s grasp of the material. This is laid-back virtuosity — although Clapton and his band are never flashy, their playing is masterful and assured. That assurance and the album’s eclectic material make Slowhand rank with 461 Ocean Boulevard as Eric Clapton’s best albums.
SOME GIRLS – The Rolling Stones (1978)
Some Girls may not have the back-street aggression of their ’60s records, or the majestic, drugged-out murk of their early-’70s work, but its brand of glitzy, decadent hard rock still makes it a definitive Stones album.
SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE – Stevie Wonder (1976)
Stevie Wonder had talent to spare during the mid-’70s, and instead of letting the reserve trickle out during the rest of the decade, he let it all go with one massive burst.
STICKY FINGERS – The Rolling Stones (1971)
The key to the album isn’t the instrumental interplay — although that is terrific — it’s the utter weariness of the songs. With its offhand mixture of decadence, roots music, and outright malevolence, Sticky Fingers set the tone for the rest of the decade for the Stones.
STILL BILL – Bill Withers (1972)
Bill Withers came into his own on his third album, Still Bill. Released in 1972, the record is a remarkable summation of a number of contemporary styles: the smooth soul coming out of Philly, smoky, late-night funk via Bobby Womack, bluesy Southern soul, and ’70s singer/songwriterism. It’s rich, subtly layered music, but its best attribute is that it comes on easy, never sounding labored or overworked.
STREET SURVIVORS – Lynyrd Skynyrd (1977)
Street Survivors appeared in stores just days before Lynyrd Skynyrd’s touring plane crashed, tragically killing many members of the band, including lead singer and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant. Consequently, it’s hard to see Street Survivors outside of the tragedy, especially since the best-known song here, “That Smell,” reeks of death and foreboding. If the band had lived, however, Street Survivors would have been seen as an unqualified triumph, a record that firmly re-established Skynyrd’s status as the great Southern rock band.
TEASER AND THE FIRECAT – Cat Stevens (1971)
Tea for the Tillerman may have been the more impressive effort, but Teaser and the Firecat was the Cat Stevens album that gave more surface pleasures to more people, which in pop music is the name of the game.
THE CAPTAIN AND ME – The Doobie Brothers (1973)
The Doobie Brothers’ third long-player was the charm, their most substantial and consistent album to date, and one that rode the charts for a year. It was also a study in contrasts, Tom Johnston’s harder-edged, bolder rocking numbers balanced by Patrick Simmons’ more laid-back country-rock ballad style.
THE CARS – The Cars (1978)
The Cars’ 1978 self-titled debut, issued on the Elektra label, is a genuine rock masterpiece. The band jokingly referred to the album as their “true greatest-hits album,” but it’s no exaggeration — all nine tracks are new wave/rock classics, still in rotation on rock radio. Whereas most bands of the late ’70s embraced either punk/new wave or hard rock, the Cars were one of the first bands to do the unthinkable — merge the two styles together.
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST… – David Bowie (1972)
Ziggy Stardust is a glitzy array of riffs, hooks, melodrama, and style and the logical culmination of glam. Familiar in structure, but alien in performance — is the first time his vision and execution met in such a grand, sweeping fashion.
THE STRANGER – Billy Joel (1977)
There’s no denying that the melodies of each song on The Stranger are memorable, so much so that they strengthen the weaker portions of the album. Joel rarely wrote a set of songs better than those on The Stranger, nor did he often deliver an album as consistently listenable.
THE WALL – Pink Floyd (1979)
The Wall was Roger Waters’ crowning accomplishment in Pink Floyd. This ambitious concept album was an across-the-board smash, topping the Billboard album chart for 15 weeks in 1980.
THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE – Bruce Springsteen (1973)
The album’s songs contain the best realization of Springsteen’s poetic vision, which soon enough would be tarnished by disillusionment. He would later make different albums, but he never made a better one. The truth is, The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle is one of the greatest albums in the history of rock & roll.
THIS YEAR’S MODEL – Elvis Costello (1978)
The songs on This Year’s Model are typically catchy and help the vicious sentiments sink into your skin, but the most remarkable thing about the album is the sound — Costello and the Attractions never rocked this hard, or this vengefully, ever again.
TRES HOMBRES – ZZ Top (1973)
Tres Hombres is the record that brought ZZ Top their first Top Ten record, making them stars in the process. It couldn’t have happened to a better record. ZZ Top finally got their low-down, cheerfully sleazy blooze-n-boogie right on this, their third album. In a sense, they kept trying to remake this record from this point on — what is Eliminator if not Tres Hombres with sequencers and synthesizers? — but they never got it better than they did here.
VAN HALEN – Van Halen (1978)
Sheer visceral force is one thing, but originality is another, and the still-amazing thing about Van Halen is how it sounds like it has no fathers. Plenty other bands followed this template in the ’80s, but like all great originals Van Halen doesn’t seem to belong to the past and it still sounds like little else, despite generations of copycats. Listen to how “Runnin’ with the Devil” opens the record with its mammoth, confident riff and realize that there was no other band that sounded this way.
WHO’S NEXT – The Who (1971)
Apart from Live at Leeds, the Who have never sounded as LOUD and unhinged as they do here, yet that’s balanced by ballads, both lovely (“The Song Is Over”) and scathing (“Behind Blue Eyes”). That’s the key to Who’s Next — there’s anger and sorrow, humor and regret, passion and tumult, all wrapped up in a blistering package where the rage is as affecting as the heartbreak.
Honorable Mentions
2112 – Rush (1976)
461 OCEAN BOULEVARD – Eric Clapton (1974)
ABBA: THE ALBUM – ABBA (1977)
AGENTS OF FORTUNE – Blue Oyster Cult (1976)
AMERICA – America (1971)
AND THE DESTROYERS – George Thorogood (1977)
ARRIVAL – ABBA (1977)
BAD GIRLS – Donna Summer (1979)
CAN’T BUY A THRILL – Steely Dan (1972)
CHAMPAGNE JAM – Atlanta Rhythm Section (1978)
COMES A TIME – Neil Young (1978)
DEMONS AND WIZARDS – Uriah Heep (1972)
DIRE STRAITS – Dire Straits (1978)
DREAMBOAT ANNIE – Heart (1976)
EDDIE MONEY – Eddie Money (1977)
EAT A PEACH – The Allman Brothers Band (1972)
JAILBREAK – Thin Lizzy (1976)
JT – James Taylor (1977)
KATY LIED – Steely Dan (1975)
KILLER – The Alice Cooper Band (1971)