The Rockologist Flashes Back To His Favorite Albums Of The Seventies
Published May 28, 2007
So I'd like to think that I've long since refined some of the obvious rough edges in my writing back then — which will soon become evident as you read this. But you certainly can't fault my youthful enthusiasm. Anyway, here is that original article:
Trying to narrow down ten years of rock into it's ten or twenty best albums is of course a ridiculous proposition.
The biggest problem in compiling this list was the recurring names of some artists who seemed to consistently release the decade's best work.
Therefore this list has been narrowed down to fifteen artists, some with several albums under each respective heading. The choices are based on several things. These are the artists I felt best represented the different phases of the decade. The artists whose significance I felt will be measured most in the years to come. And the artists whose records were on my turntable most in the seventies.
1. Bruce Springsteen
Born To Run (1975)
Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978)
The last of rock and roll's great innocents, Springsteen is an artist whose importance is only begining to be measured. Born To Run and Darkness On The Edge Of Town together are the soundtrack of urban and rural teenage America.
2. The Who
Quadrophenia (1973)
By Numbers (1975)
Pete Townshend represents the very soul of rock music. Quadrophenia is the masterpiece which tied all of the elements of the Who together into a moving statement on youth and it's loneliness. By Numbers was a revealing personal re-evaluation of the Who's future goals.
3. David Bowie
Ziggy Stardust (1972)
Diamond Dogs (1974)
Young Americans (1975)
Bowie was the most enigmatic personality of the decade. Ziggy is the rock classic of the glitter era. Diamond Dogs was Bowie at his over-dramatic, apocalyptic best. Young Americans, Bowie's experiment with soul, created his most believable persona.
4. Pink Floyd
Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)
Animals (1977)
Dark Side is as cohesive a work as was produced this decade. It's brilliant production brings it as close to the "Sgt. Pepper of the seventies" tag as anything. Animals is an amazing statement on the human condition and it's trappings.
5. Rolling Stones
Exile On Main Street (1972)
Some Girls (1978)
1972 found the Stones at the height of it's creative talents, with a brilliant album in Exile and it's best live performances as a band. Just as some had written them off, 1978's Some Girls found the band hitting yet another peak.
6. Bob Dylan
Blood On The Tracks (1974)
Slow Train Coming (1979)
The seventies were a period of several comebacks for Dylan. Blood On The Tracks was arguably the most powerful record of his career, with "Idiot Wind" as biting as any of his lyrical work. Slow Train was Dylan's most courageous outing since the sixties, a testimony to his newfound faith.
- The Rockologist Flashes Back To His Favorite Albums Of The Seventies
- Published: May 28, 2007
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Rock, Music: Lists, Music: Classic Rock and Oldies, Culture: Personal History
- Part of a feature: The Rockologist
- Writer: Glen Boyd
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Comments on this articleComments
You had good taste in the 70's, Glen. Like many of us, a bit schizophrenic - how do albums by Pink Floyd as well as Ramones appear on the same list? 'S Ok - my own list probably has the MC5 right next to Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Born to Run? Hm..... I was a metalhead at the time I first heard that. How could anyone claim this guy made great rock music? After all, he had a saxophone in his band, something which never appeared on Machine Head, or Master of Reality.
I think we were all a bit schizo in the seventies JC. So if I ever did another of these lists, I'd probably run down all the metal stuff I liked back then. The two albums you mention would probably be there (though in Sabbath's case, I think I'd opt for Vol. 4 over Masters), as well people like Uriah Heep, Black Oak Arkansas, and pre-Agents of Fortune Blue Oyster Cult.
My list may not totally reflect it, but I majored in heavy mullet in the seventies. At least when I wasn't listening to Bruce, Neil, or Bob. Some things never change.
-Glen
I would have included Kansas' Leftoverture and Van Halen's title album. What about Yes? Yes were to prog rock what paint is to wood.
Glen - Vol 4 would be my Sabs choice also, but I didn't think anyone would get the reference.
And why is it I can never find a copy of Vol 4 on CD at a decent price?
In re: seventies schizo - I think people in general had a wider range in taste. I remember I used to have Sabs, Deep Purple, EL&Palmer, Jefferson Airplane, & CSN&Y in my collection, and that was when I was still in elementary school.
The general public's gravitation to particular genres is something I think developed after punk shattered the idea of rock as a social force - everyone fell back into a tribal state of mentality when it came to music and social status.
And that discussion could run book length, if anyone has a few spare months.
i would have added King Crimson's "Red" ;)
roxy music-all up to 1974
brian eno-all up to 1977
bowie-you mentioned all of my least favorite... aladdin sane, station to station, low and lodger are personal favorites.
clash-s/t
wire-first 3
p.i.l.-first, second edition
joy division-unknown pleasures
chic-c'est chic, risque
leonard cohen-songs of love and hate
talking heads-more songs, fear of music
buzzcocks-anything they put out in the 70s
...it could go on forever.
didn't realize how british that list was... hrm. i like the americans too... and i completely forgot about the germans!
neu-neu!, neu! 2, neu! '75
faust-all
can-all up to 1974
kraftwerk- 1974-78
augh... i give up
Well, thanks for all of the suggestions on stuff that should have been included. But I think you are all are all forgeting something. As I pointed out in the intro, I originally put this list together in 1980. All it really represents is what I thought the best records of the seventies were at the time.
So Zing, I hear ya on things on things like the Bowie/Eno Berlin trilogy. If I'd wrote this today, those could've very well made it. Ditto for Roxy, T. Heads, maybe even Wire. People like Yes and Crimson too. But in some cases, my deeper appreciation for those bands came much later.
Anyway, spirited discussion here so I thank you all for the comments.
-Glen
That list holds up surprisingly well, doesn't it? And to answer your question about Elvis Costello -- no, he didn't burn out.
Elvis Costello may not have have technically burned out but, in his change from passionately angry young man to weird beard serious artist, he sure got boring, which amounts to the same thing. Beards are bad!
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Great list. I would put "Tonight's the Night" under Neil Young. It shows Neil at his burned-out best. Good thing he snapped out of the haze before we lost him and his genious.