My Favorite Albums: The 1970s

Because of the dominant presence of the Beatles and Bob Dylan in the 1960s, I was forced to make two separate top-ten album lists for that decade. The 1970s had no such dominant figure; it was more a combination of maturing veterans and promising new faces. While the '60s still contain a disproportionate number of the truly classic albums in history, all the greatness of the '60s was really concentrated over the second half of that decade. Meanwhile, the '70s featured very strong albums being made over the entire span of the decade. Here is a close approximation to my 10 favorites from 1970 through 1979:

The Who -- Who’s Next
Bob Dylan -- Blood on the Tracks
Bruce Springsteen -- Born to Run
Led Zeppelin -- Led Zeppelin IV
The Who -- Quadrophenia
Elvis Costello & the Attractions -- This Year’s Model
Neil Young -- After the Gold Rush
Bruce Springsteen -- Darkness On the Edge of Town
Big Star -- #1 Record
Rod Stewart -- Every Picture Tells a Story

EDIT:  One album that I initially missed but that deserves a spot on this list is Grievous Angel by Gram Parsons, a lovely display of country/rock, helped immeasurably by the gorgeous backing vocals of Emmylou Harris.

Who's Next remains a virtually perfect blend of rock musicianship from the whole band, Pete Townshend's deeply personal songwriting, and Roger Daltrey's emotion-filled singing. It's the apex of album-oriented rock. The other choices include Bob Dylan's most personal and most romantic great album; Springsteen shooting for the stars and nearly reaching them; Page, Plant and crew with the quintessential hard-rock album that also remembered to go acoustic at times; and rock's most fully realized concept album.

We also have Costello at his most brash; Young at his most dreamily laconic; Springsteen as the hard world encroaches on his romanticism; Chilton and Bell's gorgeous, lilting nostalgia; and Stewart at the height of his vocal powers.

Some albums that just missed the cut: Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, an album that is magical at its best ("Time", "Brain Damage / Eclipse") but has a few too many dull stretches; and Randy Newman's Good Old Boys and Carole King's Tapestry, two very different examples of the classic early-'70s singer-songwriter era.

Stay tuned for the top ten from the '80s, coming (possibly) soon to a blog posting near you (I'm assuming you tend to sit near the computer screen while reading it).