This is strictly opinion, of course. I should note that I tried to mainly keep it to one album per artist, unless they had two that just had to be on the list. And the '70s were home to many of the greatest albums of all time, which means plenty of all-time classics will be sadly unrepresented on this list. But let's get started:
10.Elvis Costello: Armed Forces
While My Aim Is True sounds like the '50s, Armed Forces is where Elvis Costello really developed and grew into his own signature sound. I actually prefer the overall sound of this one over My Aim Is True; that being said, it just doesn't stack up with it on a track-by-track basis. Still a classic, though.
Essential tracks: "Accidents will Happen," "Goon Squad,"
9.Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
For the most part, disco, funk, and soul (three of the premier genres of the '70s, tended to be singles-based and were rarely able to string together great full albums, This is the exception. Here, Marvin Gaye really had something to say (rhyme unintentional, I swear), and with that voice, the world was listening.
Essential tracks: "Mercy Mercy Me," "What's Going On."
8. Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division served as the precursor to many of the great '80s alternative groups (and arguably invented alternative music itself) by proving here that music could be dance-y and mopey at the same time. This album is notable in how unique it was; nobody sounded like these guys in 1979.
Essential tracks: "Shadowplay, ""She's Lost Control. "
7. Blondie: Parallel Lines
there is a tendency to dismiss Blondie that existed both then and now,and it exists because the group decided to name themselves Blondie, a mistake which would have really hurt their chances of being then seriously - if their music didn't sound as good as this, that B. A phenomenal power-pop masterpiece, Parallel Lines has also aged remarkably well.
Essential tracks: "One Way or Another," "Heart of Glass."
6. Boston: Boston
This album sold very well, but for some reason, perhaps because of the nature of its recording, Boston is not afforded the respect that most of the other albums on this list receive now, But it should: This album is classic cock in at its absolute peak, from the soaring vocals of Brad Delp to the harmonized guitars. And besides, who doesn't love them some "More Than a Feeling?"
Essential tracks: "Peace of Mind," "More Than a Feeling"
5. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
Never has a band in such turmoil came off sounding so good. By this point each member of Fleetwood Mac had basically slept with all the others, but it didn't matter when they got to the recording studio. Lindsey Buckingham's ability to write quality songs is first-rate, and that was on full display here. A doesn't hurt that this album contains my all-time favorite song,"Go Your Own Way."
Essential tracks: "Go Your Own Way," "The Chain. "
4. Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV
An album that has been in the news recently thanks to a (very timely) lawsuit against "Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin IV has often been overshadowed - that is, until people listen to it again, and they forget all about everything surrounding it,and just listen to one of the forest albums ever assembled. Led Zeppelin was a very polar band; when they were bad, they were truly awful, but when they were good, no one could touch them. And this is their one album without a single misstep.
Essential tracks: "Black Dog," "When the Levee Breaks."
3. Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
Rarely does an artist kick off their career so well. My Aim Is True is the '50s personified, and yet updated for the new decade. And like many of the mid-'00s '80s style bands, you can easily make the argument that this is the better than any of the '50s artists it was emulating. Plus, none of those bands wrote a song like "Watching the Detectives."
Essential tracks: "Watching the Detectives," "Miracle Man."
2. Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run
Epic is definitely the only word I can use to describe many of these songs--"Born to Run," "Thunder Road," "Jungleland;" all of these are epics, but they don't come off as pretentious or heavy-handed. Bruce Springsteen pulls them off with aplomb, and manages to make each of them feel important, and at times, genuinely moving.
Essential tracks: "Born to Run," "Thunder Road."
1. David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust*
*Yes I know its full name, but when you name an album something that long I reserve the right to never, ever call it that.
Forget about the storyline; the storyline is dumb. Forget about the rock opera aspects of this album, or the fact that Bowie for some reason decided to throw a Kinks cover in there, when it would be perfectly fine without it. Few artists, from any time or any decade, have managed to string together a succession of songs this good. So many times I have been listening to a song off Ziggy Stardust, say, "Lady Stardust" for example, marveling at how good it is, and then been blown away when I realize that it's the seventh best song on this album. Ziggy Stardust isn't perfect, but it's better than any rock opera about a space being named "Ziggy Stardust" has any right to be, and it's the best album of the 1970s.
Essential tracks: Everything but "It Ain't Easy."
No comments:
Post a Comment