The 1970s were the golden age of the album.
More than mere collections of songs, albums became complete artistic statements – spaces for sonic exploration, conceptual storytelling, and personal revelation. With the rise of stereo sound, longer LP formats, and immersive packaging, artists leaned into music that demanded full attention rather than just radio play. The album became the cultural currency of cool, the centre of counterculture, the way to make a legacy.
This was the decade of prog rock suites, soul masterpieces, punk manifestos, and confessional folk chronicles. The LP became a novel you listened to. Pink Floyd turned existential unease into widescreen spectacle. Stevie Wonder fused joy and political clarity into pop symphonies. Bowie reinvented identity as performance art. The Clash expanded punk into something revolutionary and cinematic.
In the list that follows, we choose one defining album from each year of the ’70s – not always the biggest seller, but the one that captured the moment’s spirit. Some shaped history. Others whispered futures. All earned their place on the turntable.
Drop the needle. Turn it up. The decade awaits.
Best 1970s albums - year by year
1970: Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin’s third long-player marked a bold left turn from their hard rock roots, diving into acoustic textures, folk music influences, and mystical moods. From the thunderous charge of 'Immigrant Song' to the gentle beauty of 'That’s the Way', this adventurous, dynamic album revealed a richer, more introspective side to Zeppelin – proving they were far more than just riff-driven rock gods.
Key track: 'Immigrant Song'
Honourable mention: Moondance (Van Morrison). A lush, jazz-inflected burst of soul and sunshine. Effortlessly elegant.
1971: What's Going On
What’s Going On is Marvin Gaye’s soul masterpiece – an introspective, politically charged concept album that shattered Motown’s commercial formula. With lush orchestration, rich harmonies, and an unmistakable groove, Gaye tackled war, racism, poverty, and environmental crisis with disarming beauty and bold sincerity. More than just an album, it’s a profoundly human plea for understanding and unity – timeless, resonant, and arguably the most important soul record ever made.
Key track: 'Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)'. The album's emotional heart is a haunting, soulful lament blending beauty and sorrow, capturing environmental grief with effortless grace.
Honourable mention: Blue (Joni Mitchell). Devastatingly honest, intricately written. A confessional masterpiece that changed songwriting forever.
1972: Exile on Main St.
A raw, swaggering blend of rock, blues, gospel, and soul, Exile on Main St. captures The Rolling Stones at their most gloriously unpolished. Recorded in a chaotic French villa, the album reflects a band on the edge, brimming with grit and authenticity. Its murky, dense sound adds to the mystique, creating a timeless, rebellious energy that continues to captivate listeners and influence generations of musicians.
Key track: 'Tumbling Dice'. Sleazy, soulful, and irresistibly loose.
Honourable mention: Ziggy Stardust. Bowie’s glam-rock alter ego takes flight in a concept album of theatrical brilliance.
1973: The Dark Side of the Moon
Few albums have defined a generation – and beyond – quite like The Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd’s 1973 masterpiece fused philosophical lyrics, groundbreaking studio techniques, and lush sonic textures into a seamless, immersive experience. Themes of time, madness, greed, and mortality unfold with hypnotic precision, anchored by iconic tracks like 'Time' and 'Money'. Its impact was immediate and enduring, making it not just an album, but a cultural landmark that still resonates across decades.
Key track: 'Time': a haunting reflection on mortality with an insistent, regretful rhythm.
Honourable mention: Houses of the Holy. Genre-defying, risk-taking, and euphoric – Led Zep at their most playful.
1974: Court and Spark
Court and Spark marked a turning point for Joni Mitchell, blending her poetic songwriting with a jazz-inflected, more accessible sound. The album balances vulnerability and sophistication, showcasing Mitchell’s evolving artistry and lyrical brilliance. Songs like 'Help Me' and 'Free Man in Paris' reveal both emotional depth and sharp wit, while the lush arrangements elevate her voice to new heights. It’s a radiant, genre-blurring triumph that deepened her legend.
Key track: 'Help Me': a breezy, bittersweet distillation of the album’s romantic vulnerability, melodic charm, and jazz-infused sophistication.
Honourable mention: Red (King Crimson). Crushing, complex, and forward-looking: proto-metal meets abstract expressionism.
1975: Blood on the Tracks
Bob Dylan at his most emotionally raw and lyrically masterful. Often interpreted as a chronicle of heartbreak and personal turmoil, the album marries poetic introspection with stripped-back arrangements. Its songs shift between bitterness, longing, and quiet resignation, creating a portrait of love lost that feels both intimate and universal. It’s a devastatingly beautiful work – one of Dylan’s finest and most enduring achievements.
Key track: 'Tangled Up in Blue' is a storytelling masterclass, blending heartache, memory, and shifting perspectives.
Honourable mention: Wish You Were Here. Pink Floyd's haunting tribute to absence, loss and the music industry –richly melodic, reflective, and emotionally resonant throughout.
1976: Songs in the Key of Life
Stevie Wonder’s magnum opus is an expansive, joyous, and deeply human celebration of life in all its complexity. Blending soul, funk, jazz, and pop with dazzling musicianship and social consciousness, it covers everything from love and faith to inequality and fatherhood. Ambitious yet heartfelt, it’s a genre-defying masterpiece whose warmth, wisdom, and melodic brilliance continue to inspire and uplift across generations.
Key track: 'Sir Duke': a jubilant tribute to musical greats, bursting with infectious horns, rhythmic brilliance, and pure joy.
Honourable mention: Station to Station. Krautrock-meets-soul in Bowie's cocaine-fuelled, genre-melting tour de force.
1977: Low
Low marked a bold reinvention for David Bowie, diving into ambient textures, fractured song structures, and stark emotional terrain. Created during his Berlin period with Brian Eno, the album’s first half blends catchy, minimalist pop with experimental edges, while the second half ventures into moody, instrumental landscapes. Daring and influential, Low shattered expectations and helped redefine the boundaries of rock, electronic, and art music for decades to come.
Key track: 'Sound and Vision'. Innovative, upbeat fusion of pop and avant-garde sounds, showcasing Bowie’s artistic reinvention.
Honourable mention: Rumours (Fleetwood Mac). Pop-rock perfection born from personal chaos. Polished, melodic, and emotionally loaded.
1978: Parallel Lines
Blondie’s breakthrough third album brilliantly blends punk energy with catchy pop hooks and New Wave flair. Its polished production and infectious songs like 'Heart of Glass' propelled the band into mainstream success. The album’s fearless genre-mixing and Deborah Harry’s charismatic vocals helped define late ’70s rock, making Parallel Lines a timeless, vibrant snapshot of a transformative musical era.
Key track: 'Heart of Glass' – A groundbreaking fusion of disco, punk, and pop that catapulted Blondie to international stardom.
Honourable mention: The Kick Inside. Theatrical vocals, poetic mysticism, and emotional depth - Kate Bush's breathtaking debut.
1979: London Calling
London Calling is The Clash’s genre-defying masterpiece – a fierce, sprawling double album fusing punk with reggae, ska, rockabilly, and soul. Brimming with political urgency and raw energy, it tackles everything from social unrest to personal disillusionment. Joe Strummer’s impassioned vocals and the band’s bold experimentation make it a landmark in punk history. Urgent yet tuneful, chaotic yet focused, it’s a thrilling document of rebellion with lasting cultural and musical impact.
Key track: 'London Calling'. A thunderous, apocalyptic anthem of political anxiety and punk defiance.
Honourable mention: Fear of Music. Jerky, paranoid, and visionary: Brian Eno helps New York art rockers Talking Heads to take post-punk to the next level.
And... 11 more amazing 1970s albums that we have to mention
1. Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (1970)
Neil Young's third LP is a fragile, quietly devastating folk-rock masterpiece, balancing wounded vulnerability with stark beauty. It’s the sound of a songwriter learning how to turn uncertainty into universality.
2. Black Sabbath – Paranoid (1970)
Dark, heavy, unvarnished – Black Sabbath are the midwives as heavy metal is born. Ozzy Osbourne et al give us riffs like carved granite, lyrics full of dread, yet thrillingly alive.
3. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
A towering blend of folk mysticism and hard rock power. Epic, intimate, iconic – and 'Stairway to Heaven' became rock’s defining pilgrimage.
4. Nick Drake – Pink Moon (1972)
Sparse and spectral: just voice and guitar. A whisper of extraordinary emotional weight, now revered as a quiet masterpiece.
5. Yes – Close to the Edge (1972)
Prog rock at full bloom. Dazzling musicianship, spiritual ambition, and breathtaking scale woven into one seamless suite.
6. Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
Grand, glamorous, bittersweet. A lush pop odyssey of showbiz glitter shot through with longing and sharp songwriting brilliance.
7. Patti Smith – Horses (1975)
Punk poetry incarnate – raw, ecstatic, visionary. Smith turns rock into invocation, performance, and liberation.
8. Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express (1977)
Cold, elegant, metronomic. A steel-and-silver dream of modernity. Electronic music’s blueprint begins right here...
9. Television – Marquee Moon (1977)
Knife-edged guitars, wiry tension, and urban mystique. A post-punk masterpiece of precision, space, and ecstatic release. And without a doubt one of the most awesome debut albums ever set down.
10. Michael Jackson – Off the Wall (1979)
Joyous, sleek, and rhythmically irresistible. Here is where the Michael Jackson phenomenon begins: the future king of pop assumes total artistic control.
11. Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (1979)
Atmospheric, haunted, and deeply interior. A stark portrait of emotional fracture, rendered with chilling calm and unforgettable intensity.
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