Great albums of the 1970s

I'm making a list not because it's in any coherent order (I really just picked the first 25 that popped into my head), but to start a discussion for the decade that may have been the golden age of the album. What would you add or subtract?

1. Pink Floyd- The Wall
2. Neil Young- On the Beach
3. CCR- Cosmo's Factory
4. Waylon Jennings- Dreaming My Dreams
5. Big Star- Radio City
6. Mott the Hoople- Mott
7. The Ramones- Rocket to Russia
8. Kris Kristofferson- Kristofferson
9. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers- Damn the Torpedoes
10. Phil Ochs- Greatest Hits
11. Jimi Hendrix- Band of Gypsies
12. Willie Nelson- Phases and Stages
13. Lou Reed- Transformer
14. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band- Stranger in Town
15. Waylon- Honky Tonk Heroes
16. Gram Parsons- GP
17. Black Sabbath- Paranoid
18. Bruce Springsteen- The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle
19. Neil Young- Tonight's the Night
20. Bob Dylan- Desire
21. The Clash- London Calling
22. Fleetwood Mac- Tusk
23. Willie- Red-Headed Stranger
24. Lynyrd Skynyrd- Street Survivors
25. Paul Simon- There Goes Rhymin' Simon

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Permalink Reply by steviedal on October 4, 2010 at 10:46am
Just a few random meanderings then mate :
* Prefer the first Big Star album myself.....
* You missed possibly my personal favourite 70's album - VEEDON FLEECE by VAN MORRISON
* NO way is Desire better than Blood On The Tracks , never , ever .
* Lou Reed - Revolver , never heard of it.
* No Stevie Wonder , no Marvin Gaye , no Curtis Mayfield , i always thought you had SOUL my bruvva !
* Nice to see MOTT on there
* ELECTRIC WARRIOR by T-REX
* LOADED by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND
* DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN

and last but by no means least :
BACK TO THE BARROOMS - MERLE HAGGARD
Permalink Reply by TenLayers on October 4, 2010 at 11:55am
Exactly what I was thinking when I read the list. No way Desire is better than Blood on the Tracks.
Permalink Reply by Adam Sheets on October 4, 2010 at 12:43pm
Confusion. Of course I meant Transformer, not Revolver. Mistakes happen and I changed it. Thanks for pointing it out.

Big Star is great at anything they did.

And Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, The Payback by James Brown. Most of Parliament/Funkidelic's work, etc. I guess I just wasn't in the soul mood when I made the list.

And Back to the Barrooms was '80.
Permalink Reply by steviedal on October 4, 2010 at 1:45pm
So was London Calling ( in America ! ) : - )
Permalink Reply by Adam Sheets on October 4, 2010 at 1:48pm
Indeed it was. Told you I didn't put any research into my list. :)

So I guess Back to the Barrooms can be an honorary '70s album and it's near the top.
Permalink Reply by Jack on October 4, 2010 at 11:47am
Not sure the 70's were the golden age of albums but your list hits a lot of high spots.

Can't stand Pink Floyd, never found Skynyrd interesting, I'd omit those two, though I realize the significance of both. I hope that with Roger Waters currently re-milking The Wall, complete with new and improved "insights" and "meaning", it doesn't get Pete Townsend thinking too hard about writing yet another "rock opera", or trotting out Endless Wire for a concept tour. Anyway, here's some other great 1970's albums.

The Who - Who's Next
Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
Marshall Tucker Band - Marshall Tucker Band
Talking Heads - Fear of Music
Elton John - Goodbye Yellowbrick Road
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key of Life
Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St.
Permalink Reply by Adam Sheets on October 4, 2010 at 12:48pm
Damn, how did I forget the Who, the Stones, and Roxy Music? As I said it was the first 25 that popped in my head and my main goal was to get a discussion such as this one going.

I would pick Talking Book over Songs in the Key of Life, though. Or for that matter Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy over Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

I'll agree about the MTB and also we need to mention the Allmans.

As far as Pink Floyd goes, I love the Syd Barrett psychedelic rock years, like Dark Side of the Moon, could easily skip the rest of the David Gilmour era and rank both Roger Waters-dominated albums (The Wall and The Final Cut) among my favorites.
Permalink Reply by Jack on October 4, 2010 at 2:16pm
Went with Yellow Brick on the strength of Loves lies Bleeding/Funeral For A Friend and Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting. 70's Elton was consistently great, what came later though...
Permalink Reply by Adam Sheets on October 4, 2010 at 12:44pm
After thinking about it, I give Blood on the Tracks the edge solely because of "Idiot Wind." Other than that, they are evenly matched in my book.
Permalink Reply by TenLayers on October 4, 2010 at 2:16pm
Desire is an album of songs..Blood on the Tracks is.....blood on the tracks. That is the difference between those two.
Permalink Reply by RP N10 on October 4, 2010 at 1:01pm
The 70s was a decade of mighty peaks and deep troughs but with some gems amongst which omitted above are:
Grateful Dead - American Beauty; Skullf*ck; Blues For Allah & Jerry's and Bobby's 1st solo records
Springsteen - Darkness
Lou Reed - Berlin (one of only 3 of his solo records I own)
Kantner, Slick, Freiberg - Baron von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun
Burritos - Last Of The Red Hot Burritos
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Vol 1 but it wasn't then)
Elvis Costello - Get Happy
Bowie - Heroes
The Band - Northern Lights, Southern X
Echo & the Bunnymen - Crocodiles
More to follow when my TV shows have finished.
Permalink Reply by Adam Sheets on October 4, 2010 at 1:05pm
Definitely Will the Circle Be Unbroken belongs near the top.

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Created by No Depression Feb 17, 2009 at 9:06pm. Last updated by No Depression Apr 9.