Saturday, September 19, 2009

Top Albums of the 1970s (Pt. 1)

Culturally, the 1970s were pretty diverse. Musically, same thing. The music of the '70s took all of the previous music--rock, soul, blues, pop, psych, classical, etc.--and made it different and more extreme. Electronics became more widely used, punk happened, post-punk happened. Underground music became exceedingly experimental, and, as a result, many different subgenres were born. A pretty hefty portion of (good) modern indie rock music owes everything to punk, post-punk, prog rock, and David Bowie and Brian Eno.

This first part of the Top 120 Albums of the 1970s, which will cover #s 31-120, proves that there were a lot of different styles going on in the '70s. Whereas my '80s list was nearly all post-punk and indie rock and my '90s was all indie rock, the '70s list is considerably more varied. There's plenty of soul, funk, avant-pop, regular pop, post-punk, punk, folk, and krautrock. Because the music was so experimental and different, the '70s are probably my favorite decade for music. (But I'll probably change my mind when I do my '60s list.) The 1970s had a lot of bad, corny music and trends, but here's some more evidence that they weren't just about the Eagles, afros, and bell bottoms. (Though those were pretty cool. Except the Eagles.) Enjoy.

120. Deuter--D
119. The Residents--Meet The Residents
118. Pink Floyd--Meddle
117. David Axelrod--Seriously Deep
116. Elton John--Madman Across The Water
115. DEATH--...For The World To See
114. Neil Young--On The Beach
113. The Walker Brothers--Nite Flights
112. Klaus Schulze--Cyborg
111. The Rolling Stones--Sticky Fingers

110. The Dells--Sing Dionne Warwick's Greatest Hits
109. Archie Shepp--The Cry Of My People
108. Pink Floyd--Wish You Were Here
107. Dead Boys--Young Loud and Snotty
106. Kraftwerk--Kraftwerk 2
105. Incredible Bongo Band--Bongo Rock
104. Black Nasty--Talking To The People
103. Art Ensemble Of Chicago--Les Stances a Sophie
102. Augustus Pablo--King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown
101. Kraftwerk--Radioactivity

100. James Brown--Hell
99. Herbie Hancock--Mwandishi
98. Stevie Wonder--Innervisions
97. Augustus Pablo--East Of The River Nile
96. Mahavishnu Orchestra--Inner Mounting Flame
95. The B-52's--The B-52's
94. Vashti Bunyan--Just Another Diamond Day
93. Joni Mitchell--Blue
92. Marvin Gaye--What's Going On
91. Michael Jackson--Off The Wall

90. Lee "Scratch" Perry & The Upsetters--Roast Fish Collie Weed and Corn Bread
89.Simon & Garfunkel--Bridge Over Troubled Water
88. John Cale--Paris 1919
87. Jimmy Cliff (and others)--The Harder They Come
86. The Residents--Third Reich 'n' Roll
85. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band--Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)
84. Dave Holland--Conference Of The Birds
83. Faust--Faust
82. Iggy Pop & James Williamson--Kill City
81. The Upsetters--Super Ape

80. Steve Reich--Drumming
79. Kraftwerk--Autobahn
78. Parliament--Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome
77. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band--Clear Spot
76. Pere Ubu--The Modern Dance
75. David Bowie--The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
74. This Heat--This Heat
73. Cluster--Zuckerzeit
72. Miles Davis--A Tribute To Jack Johnson
71. Leonard Cohen--Songs Of Love And Hate

70. Robert Wyatt--Rock Bottom
69. Herbie Hancock--Crossings
68. Pink Floyd--The Wall
67. David Bowie--Aladdin Sane
66. Throbbing Gristle--20 Jazz Funk Greats
65. Faust--Faust IV
64. Sly & The Family Stone--Fresh
63. Richard Hell & The Voidoids--Blank Generation
62. Curtis Mayfield--Superfly
61. Faust--So Far

60. Wire--154
59. Brian Eno--Before And After Science
58. The Cure--Three Imaginary Boys
57. Led Zeppelin--IV
56. Herbie Hancock--Head Hunters
55. The Clash--London Calling
54. Jimi Hendrix--Band Of Gypsys
53. Brian Eno--Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy
52. Black Sabbath--Master Of Reality
51. Herbie Hancock--Sextant

50. Talking Heads--Talking Heads: 77
49. Nick Drake--Bryter Layter
48. Fela Kuti--Expensive Shit
47. Suicide--Suicide
46. The Rolling Stones--Exile On Main Street
45. The Slits--Cut
44. James Brown--The Payback
43. The Specials--The Specials
42. Giorgio Moroder--From Here To Eternity
41. Creedence Clearwater Revival--Cosmo's Factory

40. Tim Buckley--Starsailor
39. The Beach Boys--Surf's Up
38. David Bowie--Station To Station
37. Iggy Pop--Lust For Life
36. The Congos--Heart Of The Congos
35. Miles Davis--On The Corner
34. Kraftwerk--The Man Machine
33. Bob Dylan--Blood On The Tracks
32. The Ramones--Rocket To Russia
31. Talking Heads--More Songs About Buildings And Food

That's what I think. Stay tuned for #30-16 and then #15-1 later this week. (Or next week.)

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