100 Best 1970’s Albums

All Photo Credits Listed at End Of Article

Our 100 Best Rock Albums of the 1970s list is the result of a poll in which we asked our readers to list their favorite albums of the 1970s. We had a huge response to our poll. Classic rock fans left their lists on both our Facebook page and in the comments sections on our website here at ClassicRockhistory.com. We also received a great deal of emails and messages. Many of the albums we thought readers would pic did actually wind up on many of their lists. However, we were surprised at the amount of albums that were chosen from the second half of the decade. What that told us was that a good majority of our readers probably graduated high school in the late 1970s or early 1980s. So for them, many of their choices were albums from 1976 to 1979 that resonated with their youth.

The albums that were chosen from the earlier part of the decade were the real classic rock albums that defied time. Those albums sounded just as fresh in 1979 as they did in 1971, 1972 or 1973. And of course they still sound just as good in 2020. The 100 Best Rock Albums of the 1970s list is completely reader driven. We just added up the votes for each album and listed them in order of votes. This was a lot of work to do, but in the end a great deal of fun. We want to thank everyone who sent us their list or posted them on our facebook page or the comments sections on this website. We really appreciative it. This is a site that is written by real old school rock fans, not critics. We are glad you are all part of it.

At the end of the reader’s list the writers at classicrockhistory.com have been asked their own favorite albums of the 1970s. These are personal choices. We limited them to just a top 10  for space reasons which they weren’t too happy about.

# 100 – Reggatta de Blanc – The Police

# 99 – Pretzel Logic – Steely Dan

# 98 – Parallel Lines – Blondie

# 97 – Billion Dollar Babies – Alice Cooper

# 96 – Eat A Peach – The Allman Brothers Band

# 95 – Toys In The Attic – Aerosmith

# 94 – Blue –Joni Mitchell

# 93 – Aqualung – Jethro Tull

# 92 -Night Moves  – Bob Seger

# 91 – Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel

# 90 – Pearl – Janis Joplin

# 89 – Foreigner – Foreigner

# 88 – The Clash

# 87 – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC

# 86 – Can’t Buy A Thrill – Steely Dan

# 85 – Out Of The Blue – Electric Light Orchestra

# 84 – Caribou – Elton John

# 83 – The Stranger – Billy Joel

# 82 – Funhouse – The Stooges

# 81 – Apostrophe(‘) –  Frank Zappa

# 80 – Imagine – John Lennon

# 79 – Never Mind The Bollacks – The Sex Pistols

# 78 – Tapestry – Carole King

# 77 – My Aim Is True – Elvis Costello

 # 76 – Rocket To Russia – The Ramones

# 75 – Takin’ It  To The Streets – The Doobie Brothers

# 74 – Station To Station – David Bowie

# 73 – John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band  – John Lennon

# 72 – Joe’s Garage – Frank Zappa

# 71 – After The Gold Rush – Neil Young

# 70 – Heroes – David Bowie

# 69 – Animals – Pink Floyd

# 68 – War Child – Jethro Tull

# 67 – Venus and Mars – Paul McCartney

# 66 – Destroyer – Kiss

# 65 – Bad Company – Bad Company

# 64 – Bat Out Of Hell – Meat Loaf

# 63 – Street Survivors – Lynyrd Skynyrd

# 62 – The Ramones – The Ramones

# 61 – Close To The Edge – Yes

# 60 – Let It Be – The Beatles

# 59 – Bachman Turner Overdrive II – BTO

# 58 – Talking Heads 77 – Talking Heads

# 57 – Presence – Led Zeppelin

# 56 – Aladdin Sane – David Bowie

# 55 – The Cars – The Cars

# 54 – Frampton Comes Alive – Peter Frampton

# 53 – Blood On The Tracks  – Bob Dylan

# 52 – Overnight Sensation – Frank Zappa

# 51 – The Wall – Pink Floyd

# 50 – All Things Must Pass – George Harrison

# 49 – Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie

# 48 – London Calling – The Clash

# 47 – Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs – Derek And The Dominoes

# 46 – The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway – Genesis

# 45 – Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath

# 44 – At Fillmore East – The Allman Brothers Band

# 43 – Queen II – Queen

# 42 – Led Zeppelin III – Led Zeppelin

# 41 – One More For The Road – Lynyrd Skynyrd

# 40 – Morrison Hotel – The Doors

# 39 – Cosmo’s Factory – Creedence Clearwater Revival

# 38 – Fool For The City – Foghat

# 37 – Moondance – Van Morrison

# 36 – Déja vu – Crosby Stills Nash & Young

# 35 – Something / Anything? – Todd Rundgren

# 34 – Madman Across The Water – Elton John

# 33 – Paranoid – Black Sabbath

# 32 – Band On The Run – Paul McCartney

# 31 – Houses of the Holy – Led Zeppelin

# 30 – Sheer Heart Attack – Queen

# 29 – Brain Salad Surgery – Emerson Lake & Palmer

# 28 – Closer To Home – Grand Funk Railroad

# 27 – Machine Head – Deep Purple

# 26 – Some Girls – The Rolling Stones

# 25 – Leftoverture – Kansas

# 24 – Dreamboat Annie – Heart

# 23 – Darkness On The Edge Of Town – Bruce Springsteen

# 22 – Fragile – Yes

# 21 – 2112 – Rush

# 20 – News Of The World – Queen

# 19 – Boston

# 18 – Led Zeppelin I  – Led Zeppelin

# 17 – Sticky Fingers – The Rolling Stones

# 16 – Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd

# 15 – Quadrophenia – The Who

#  14 – A Night At The Opera – Queen

# 13 – Van Halen – Van Halen

# 12 – Led Zeppelin II – Led Zeppelin

# 11 – Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen

# 10 – Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy – Elton John

#  9 – Hotel California – The Eagles

#  8 – Aja – Steely Dan

#  7 – Physical Graffiti – Led Zeppelin

#  6 – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John

#  5 – Rumours – Fleetwood Mac

#  4 – Dark Side Of The Moon – Pink Floyd

# 3 – Exile On Main Street – The Rolling Stones

#  2 – Led Zeppelin IV – Led Zeppelin

#  1 – Who’s Next – The Who

Staff’s best albums of the 1970s list.

Staff writer and creator of the ClassicRockHistory.com logo

Thomas Neokleous

# 10 – Close To The Edge – Yes

# 9 – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John

# 8 – Machine Head – Deep Purple

# 7 – Hejira – Joni Mitchell

# 6 – Aja – Steely Dan 

# 5 – Apostrophe (!) – Frank Zappa

# 4 – Animals – Pink Floyd

# 3 – Led Zeppelin IV – Led Zeppelin

# 2 – Déjà Vu – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY)

# 1 – Dark Side Of The Moon – Pink Floyd

Guest writer and recording artist – John Tabacco

# 10 – Orchestral Favorites – Frank Zappa

# 9 – Caribou – Elton John

# 8 – Innervisions – Stevie Wonder

# 7 – There Goes Rhymin’ Simon – Paul Simon

# 6 – Moving Targets – Flo and Eddie 

# 5 – John Lennon Plastic Ono Band – John Lennon

# 4 – Ram – Paul & Linda McCartney

# 3 – Aja – Steely Dan

# 2 – Pretzel Logic – Steely Dan

# 1 – One Size Fits All – Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Prevention

Staff Writer – Janey Robert’s picks

# 10 – Hunky Dory – David Bowie

# 9 – Fun House – The Stooges

# 8 – Siren – Roxy Music

# 7 –  Marquee Moon  – Television

# 6 – This Year’s Model – Elvis Costello

# 5 – Eat To The Beat – Blondie

# 4 – Lodger – David Bowie

# 3 – Horses – Patti Smith

# 2 – The Undertones – The Undertones

# 1 – The Ramones – The Ramones

Staff Writer – Skip Anderson

# 10 – Searchin’ for a Rainbow – The Marshall Tucker Band 

# 9 –  Crosby Stills & Nash – Crosby Stills & Nash

# 8 –  Fool For The City – Foghat

# 7 – Slowhand – Eric Clapton

# 6 – Fire on the Mountain – The Charlie Daniels Band

# 5 – Bring It Back Alive – Outlaws

# 4 – One More from the Road – Lynyrd Skynyrd

# 3 – Eat A Peach – The Allman Brothers Band

# 2 – The Marshall Tucker Band (Self -titled debut)- The Marshall Tucker Band

# 1 – Idlewild South– The Allman Brothers Band

Staff writer -Tony Scaveli

# 10 – Highway To Hell – AC/DC

# 9 – Led Zeppelin IV  – Led Zeppelin

# 8 – Powerage – AC/DC

# 7 – Stained Class  – Judas Priest

# 6 – Overkill – Motorhead 

# 5 – Machine Head – Deep Purple

# 4 – Sabotage – Black Sabbath

# 3 – Physical Graffiti – Led Zeppelin

# 2 – Master of Reality – Black Sabbath

# 1 – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC

Editor-in-chief – Brian Kachejian’s picks

# 10 -The Hermit Of Mink Hollow – Todd Rundgren

# 9 – Blue Valentine – Tom Waits

# 8 – Wings Over America – Paul McCartney & Wings

# 7 – Night Shift – Foghat

# 6 – Ghost Writer – Garland Jefferies

# 5 – Gonna Take A Miracle – Laura Nyro

# 4 – Darkness on the Edge Of Town – Bruce Springsteen

# 3 – Houses Of The Holy – Led Zeppelin

# 2 – Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy – Elton John

# 1 – Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen

All album covers are Amazon Associate links that serve as direct link to the cds and vinyl records on Amazon. None of the album covers are stored on the ClassicRockHistoy.com server.

If you missed our flagship article on the history of classic rock, it’s jam-packed with so much entertaining and informative information spanning one hundred years of music history and more that used many highly rated academic sources as research documentation.

The Story of Classic Rock

PHOTO CREDITS for feature photo

Jackson Browne – Helge Øverås [CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]

The Ramones – 75pickup at English Wikipedia(Original text: en:User:Mrhyak) [Public domain]

Mick Jagger – Bert Verhoeff / Anefo [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Geddy Lee – Enrico Frangi [Public domain]

The Who – Jean-Luc [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

Jimmy Page – Heinrich Klaffs [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

Pink Floyd Members – Capitol Records [Public domain] Via Creative Commons

Stevie Nicks : Photo: David Wainwright [Public domain]

Mick Ralphs of Bad Company – Jim Summaria [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Joni Mitchell – Capannelle [CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Jimmy Page – Jim Summaria, http://www.jimsummariaphoto.com/ [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Robert Plant – Jim Summaria, http://www.jimsummariaphoto.com/ [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Eddie Van Halen – Photo: Carl Lender [CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Blondie – Jean-Luc [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

David Bowie with eye patch -AVRO / CC BY-SA 3.0 NL (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en)

Sting – Helge Øverås [CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]

Frank Zappa – Photo: Helge Øverås [CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]

Pat Benatar – Photo: Heidy Escobar from VALPARAISO; LAGUNA VERDE, CHILE [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]