1972’s Best Classic Rock Albums

Continuing with our Best Classic Rock Albums of the 1970s series, we turn to the year 1972. Just as we have seen in 1970 and 1971, the year was filled with releases from great solo rock artists and rock bands. The singer-songwriter genre exploded in 1972, with artists like Jim Croce, James Taylor, Harry Chapin, and many others all receiving significant airplay on both AM pop radio and FM album-oriented rock. Hard Rock was evolving into metal with bands like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath releasing great albums that would inspires generations of Metal bands.

The popularity of Progressive rock continued to grow, with bands like Yes and Emerson Lake & Palmer selling millions of records. Fifties artists such as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley were still releasing records. Soul music also dominated charts as the sound of Motown continued to shine. There were a great many music choices for consumers in 1972. Rock and roll, in all its genres, stood at the forefront.

# 75 – Stealers Wheel – Stealers Wheel

# 74 – The London Chuck Berry Sessions – Chuck Berry

# 73 – Who Came First – Pete Townshend

# 72 – Passin’ Thru – James Gang

# 71 –Graham Nash David Crosby – Crosby & Nash

# 70 – Rio Grande Mud –  ZZ Top

# 69 – Lou Reed – Lou Reed

# 68 – Clear Spot – Captain Beefheart

# 67 – 1+1 – Grin

# 66 – Europe ’72 – The Grateful Dead

# 65 – Loggins and Messina – Loggins and Messina

# 64 – Glitter – Gary Glitter

# 63 – The World Is a Ghetto – War

# 62 – Piledriver – Status Quo

# 61 – Fanny Hill – Fanny

# 60 – Octopus – Gentle Giant

# 59 – Ege Bamyasi – Can

# 58 – Seventh Sojourn – The Moody Blues

# 57 – Homecoming – America

# 56 – Hellbound Train – Savoy Brown

# 55 – For the Roses – Joni Mitchell

# 54 – Fresh – Raspberries

# 53 –  Lion’s Share – Savoy Brown

# 52 – The Magician’s Birthday – Uriah Heep

# 51 – Joe Cocker – Joe Cocker

# 50 – Burgers – Hot Tuna

# 49 – Demons and Wizards – Uriah Heep

# 48 – Toulouse Street – The Doobie Brothers

# 47 – No Secrets – Carly Simon

# 46 – Roadwork – Edgar Winter’s White Trash

# 45 – Number 1 Record – Big Star

# 44 –Manassas – Stephen Stills

# 43 – School’s Out – Alice Cooper

# 42 –  Son of Schmilsson – Harry Nilsson

# 41 – Never a Dull Moment – Rod Stewart

# 40 – Music of My Mind – Stevie Wonder

# 39 – They Only Come Out at Night – Edgar Winter Group

# 38 – Pure Prairie League – Pure Prairie League

# 37 – Rock & Roll Music to the World – Ten Years After

# 36 – Sail Away – Randy Newman

# 35 –  Chicago V – Chicago

# 34 –Sailin’ Shoes – Little Feat

# 33 –Wind of Change – Peter Frampton 

# 32 –Straight Shooter – James Gang

# 31 – Foghat – Foghat

# 30 – Just Another Band from L.A. – Frank Zappa and The Mothers

# 29 – Rock of Ages – The Band

# 28 – Smokin’ O.P.’s – Bob Seger

# 27 – Linda Ronstadt – Linda Ronstadt

# 26 – Blue Öyster Cult – Blue Öyster Cult

# 25 – Jackson Browne – Jackson Browne

# 24 – Paul Simon – Paul Simon

# 23 – Bustin’ Out – Pure Prairie League

# 22 – Barnstorm – Joe Walsh

# 21 – Talking Book – Stevie Wonder

# 20 –Bare Trees – Fleetwood Mac

# 19 – Saint Dominic’s Preview – Van Morrison

# 18 – Live Full House – The J. Geils Band

# 17 – Phoenix – Grand Funk Railroad

# 16 – Vol. 4 – Black Sabbath

# 15 – Smokin’ – Humble Pie

# 14 – Jeff Beck Group – Jeff Beck

# 13 – Made in Japan  – Deep Purple

# 12 – Living in the Past – Jethro Tull

# 11 – Something/Anything? – Todd Rundgren

# 10 – You Don’t Mess Around with Jim  – Jim Croce

We open up our 1972′ best classic rock albums list with a great one from Jim Croce. The album You Don’t Mess Around with Jim featured classic song such as “Operator,” “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim,” “Time In A Bottle,” “Photographs and Memories,” and so many more.

#  9 – Honky Château – Elton John

Elton John’s Honky Chateau was a transitional album from the legendary artist. Headed towards a more slick pop sound, the album presented fans with such nuggets as “Rocket Man, Honky Cat, Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters,” and other great tracks.

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

Steely Dan’s great debut album unleashed Donald Fagen and Walter Becker’s talents into a rock and roll world that would fall in love with the group instantly. Who could forget the album’s standout tracks, such as “Do It Again, Dirty Work, and Reelin’ In the Years?” At the time, we had no idea of the brilliant catalog of music soon to come from the band. Can anyone say Aja?

#  7 – Trilogy – Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Trilogy was one of Emerson Lake & Palmer’s finest albums. It was the band’s third album release. Side one alone of this fantastic record put this one in our top 10. Standout tracks included “The Endless Enigma (Part 1) and Enigma (Part 2), ” From the Beginning” and “Hoedown.”

#  6 – Machine Head – Deep Purple

Deep Purple’s legendary record Machine Head was released in March of 1972. It is one of the greatest and most influential hard rock records ever released. The album included such Deep Purple classics as “Highway Star, Smoke On The Water” and “Space Truckin.”

#  5 – Harvest – Neil Young

Neil Young crossed so many genres on the great Harvest album defining the brilliance of the singer songwriter genre within the mergers of country, southern and rock styles. Standout tracks included the songs “Heart of Gold, Old Man, Alabama, and The Needle and the Damage Done.”

#  4 – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie

David Bowie’s brilliant album, officially titled The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, was released in the spring of 1972. The album stands as one of David Bowie’s greatest musical achievements. David Bowie’s character of Ziggy Stardust defined a fascinating story delivered with such brilliant songs as “Starman, Ziggy Stardust, “Suffragette City, Five Years and Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide.”

#  3 – Eat A Peach – The Allman Brothers Band

As we move closer to the top spot on our 1972’s best classic rock albums list, we turn to one of our favorite bands of all time. The Allman Brothers Band album Eat A Peach was a landmark two-record set release for the group. The album was a mix of live tracks from the Fillmore East concerts along with new studio recordings with and without Duane Allman. Standout tracks included “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More, Melissa, Blue Sky Little Martha,” and incredible live versions of “Mountain Jam” and “One Way Out.”

#  2 – Close To The Edge – Yes

Many Yes fans will argue that the Close To The Edge album was Yes’s finest work. This incredible rock record stands as one of the greatest progressive rock records ever released.

#  1 – Exile on Main St – The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones two record set Exile On Main Street is so good we don’t even know where to start in describing this record. It was The Rolling Stones’ tenth album. Most critics and fans clearly define the record as the Rolling Stones’ best work. Song after song, this one just blows you away. The big hits like “Tumbling Dice, Happy, Rips This Joint, Sweet Virginia,” and the deeper cuts like “Sweet Black Angel, Torn and Frayed,” and just about every other track on the album have been cherished among rock fans for five decades.

Updated August 12, 2024

1972’s Best Classic Rock Albums article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2024

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