Top 200 Albums of the 1970s - 150-101

150. King Crimson - Red
After roughly 6 years and even more lineup changes Robert Fripp turned King Crimson into a power trio for one final album. Red saw him joined by John Wetton and Bill Brufford going out with the best supporting cast he had yet had. Despite being their least successful album at the time (I’m sure disbanding two weeks before it was released didn’t help), it might very well be their best album. I can at least confidently say it is their best of the 70s. It does pick up in some ways where Starless and Bible Black left off, tied together by “Starless” which was originally intended for that album. Of the mighty prog rock power trios in the 70s it is hard to say any did better than King Crimson on this one. 

149. Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
The ultimate cult folk singer, Nick Drake has enjoyed a far more successful career after his untimely death than he did alive.  His second album is his most polished and for my money features his best song “Northern Sky”. Pink Moon feels a bit of an afterthought (all acoustic, under 30 minutes) but Bryter Later was that one glorious shot at stardom. The fact that it is now considered a masterpiece is bittersweet for Drake who certainly could have used the acclaim (and money) while alive. 

148. Vassar Clements - Hillbilly Jazz
Vassar Clements was around for years, playing on nearly every major country artist’s recordings throughout his 50 year career. After being brought on board for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken sessions the idea came to record an album of his own. Recording a double album of classics and standards, Clements helped define the bluegrass/ragtime style of “Hillbilly Jazz”. Whatever sort of demonic hybrid this might seem to first time listeners, I promise you it works. That boy sure can play the fiddle.

147. Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
After the very uneven School’s Out, the Alice Cooper band regrouped and delivered their most successful album. Returning to some of the macabre themes of Love it to Death and Killer, while also crafting plenty of radio ready glam rock adjacent anthems it was the best of both worlds for Cooper fans. Never without controversy, Cooper would earn the ire of bible thumpers for decades with songs like “Sick Things” and “I Love the Dead”. It would be easier to simply pull up the track listing than individually naming highlights on the album. For my money though “Generation Landslide” and the title track are top tier standouts. The group would never top this, but interestingly enough the non-Cooper members would later put out an album under the group name Billion Dollar Babies.

146. Marvin Gaye - Let’s Get it On
What’s Going On may have given Gaye “voice of a generation” status but the man was at his core a romantic soul singer. Gaye was something of a late bloomer due to some childhood abuse and a lot of baggage about sex. While gaining more control over his own career he channeled this into a deeply funky yet personal album basically all about sex. The title track’s intro has become shorthand for getting down to business. It was joined on the charts by “Come Get to This” and “Sure Love to Ball”. 

145. Pink Floyd - The Wall
The ultimate in concept albums, Roger Waters personal tale of alienation wound up producing one of the decade's best selling albums.  The sound of this album is dark and gone are the long instrumentals that characterized their previous three albums.  This was a massive point of contention for the band, particularly Richard Wright who is all but absent from the entire recordings.  As much as it is Roger Waters’ show, David Gilmour certainly gets a few moments to shine, particularly “Young Lust” and “Comfortably Numb” whose solo is on the short list of greatest things ever recorded. I’ll admit this doesn’t hit quite as hard as it did in high school but I have so much nostalgic love for this album I absolutely cherished as a moody adolescent. 

144. McCoy Tyner - Sahara
Tyner was a world class jazz pianist who was perhaps best known for his tenure with John Coltrane. Sahara was his first album for Milestone and it proved to be something of a breakthrough for him. It was named album of the year by Downbeat, and got two Grammy nominations (for whatever that’s worth). For my money it is the strongest and most interesting record of his career, proving that there was indeed hope for jazz in a post-Coltrane world. “Ebony Queen” is as strong of an opener as you can ask for, but it is the remarkable 23 minute plus title track that is the crowning achievement. 

143. The Kinks - Lola vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
The Kinks spent the majority of the 60s banned from touring America. During their banishment, they doubled down on being the most British band in the British invasion. Lola was their first entry back to the states and it contained their first US hit since the ban when “Lola” made the top ten. The title makes the album seem more of a pretentious concept album that it comes off as, although there is a loose narrative about the recording industry. I like to think Davies was just poking fun at the Who, Beatles, and Stones for their own word salad albums. No one in America might have been aware of how damn good the Kinks had gotten since “You Really Got Me”, with a string of four straight masterpieces leading up to this. Ray Davies and company were just on a roll and ultimately this was just another set of first rate tracks.

142. Frank Zappa - Apostrophe
The album that brought Frank Zappa his first hit single, Apostrophe is a musical soul mate to Overnite Sensation.  Zappa got silly but also wrote some of the most mindbogglingly complex music to go along with the borderline comedy songs. Some critics might have wanted Zappa to have more messages in his music, but the man seemed to have an open contempt for message music, making the music impeccably highbrow and the lyrics dragging things to the gutter. Takes a certain mad genius to make a triptych about deadly yellow snow and jumping right into an ode to pancakes. 

141. Paul Simon - Paul Simon
Paul Simon’s first official solo album quickly demonstrated that he hadn’t even begun to stretch his wings creatively.  Remarkably upbeat, it established quite quickly that he would do just fine without Mr. Garfunkel. Considering Simon was essentially the sole writer in the duo it might seem pointless to go solo. However despite branching out some on Bridge Over Troubled Water it was clear that S&G were always going to be tied to their folk roots. Simon’s predilections for world rhythms was only just beginning though.

140. Parliament - Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome
This album begins and ends with arguably two of P-funk’s all time greatest songs “Bop Gun (Endangered Species)” and “Flashlight”.  This album alone has spawned several career’s worth of hip hop samples. There was no question about how under the influence Parliament might have been with Sir Nose Devoidoffunk, an invention that could only come from snorting your body weight in cocaine. With two tracks topping 10 minutes in length, George Clinton was fully embracing the long form jams.

139. Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius used to introduce himself as the best bass player in the world, and I can’t argue with the man. His self-titled solo debut (not counting the later retitled Jaco album) was about the purest expression of his otherworldly talents on bass. He starts off with a bass cover of Miles Davis’ “Donna Lee” which quickly puts to rest anyone who might think they could outplay him. “Come On, Come Over” features Sam and Dave and is the only song with vocals and it is almost permanently stuck in my head. For his first outing Jaco had the help of seasoned pros Herbie Hancock, Lenny White and a slew of great sax players. His career was cut short by rampant substance abuse issues and mental health problems that were never treated, but for one glorious album everything came together.

138. Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want to See the Bright Lights
Richard and Linda Thompson picked up right where Fairport Convention left off but did them one better.  Full of Irish folk songs recorded in happier times in their relationship, it ironically enough is arguably their darkest work particularly on “Withered and Died” and “The End of the Rainbow”. Richard’s songwriting was in superb form and Linda was a perfect compliment to him. Lost in the material might be just how damn good Richard was as a guitarist.

137. Sparks - No. 1 in Heaven
I have been listening to music from the seventies as long as I’ve been listening to music. Yet somehow I had never heard of Sparks. The duo went through numerous changes and seemed to register everywhere but the US. In 1978 they decided to switch up their sound and worked with Giorgio Moroder, who lended his disco synth skills to the album. Turns out that match was made in, well Heaven. The album is full of hooks and Russell Mael’s ridiculous high vocals work perfectly. I listened to this out of courtesy originally and was instantly converted. Several other revisits have confirmed it was no fluke. The title track might wind up as my most played song in 2025.

136. Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
The last Simon and Garfunkel album was a near perfect sendoff.  The opening title track became one of the most covered songs in the history of music, but no one can sing it quite like Art.  The rest of the album shows Paul Simon stretching his writing abilities out quite a bit and setting the stage for his solo debut.  “The Boxer” shows that they haven’t gotten too far from their roots and is one of the many highlights to be heard.

135. Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
After three quick albums with the Experience, Jimi Hendrix spent the rest of his life working on his fourth proper studio album. Always tinkering, and reworking things he died before any official release could be made. However, working with Buddy Miles and Billy Cox Hendrix had a backing band with some soul. Jimi never met a record contract he didn’t sign, which helped complicate matters when it was time to release things, and also the glut of posthumous releases. What makes Band of Gypsys so unique as a live album is that none of these songs appear in any previous release. All new songs with a new band recorded live on New Years Eve. Chronologically speaking this is possibly the first 70s recording made. All that aside by the time “Who Knows” is over it is abundantly clear Jimi was operating on another level from the host of would be guitar gods beneath his feet.

134. Neil Young - On the Beach
I can’t for the life of me explain how this album managed to be out of print for so damn long.  Recorded after Tonight’s the Night but released before, it’s everything great about Neil Young. It speaks volumes just how great Young was throughout the 70s. A quick look at the track list one would assume this was Young’s blues album, but it is a very liberal definition of the blues to be sure. That said, “Ambulance Blues” is perhaps the finest long acoustic ballad this side of “Madam George”. 

133. Jimmy Smith - Root Down
Sometimes when I make these long lists I forget an album. This results in much reshuffling and re-numbering, but in the case of Root Down I just forgot to write the blurb on it, whoops. Jimmy Smith was always something of an outsider in jazz. There simply weren’t a lot of organists in the scene but as the Hammond B-3 got more in vogue with rock music in the later part of the 60s, Smith felt like more of a prophet. This live set released in 1972 was less of a jazz album than instrumental funk. Smith surrounded himself with some younger musicians who helped him get in touch with his funky side. The title track was famously sampled by the Beastie Boys for their song “Root Down”, but “Sagg Shootin’ His Arrow” set up immediately that these guys were cookin’ with gas. 

132. Sly and the Family Stone - Fresh
Continuing on the funky grooves of Riot, the sound got considerably more cleaned up. The result is a much more approachable level of funk but not quite the hazy lightning in a bottle magic of its predecessor. Despite lacking some of the hits of earlier albums this remains one of my absolute favorites. As one of the architects of funk, Sly and the Family Stone continued to evolve with the genre. Fun fact I learned on my 2025 Spotify wrapped, Sly and the Family Stone wound up being my most played artist of the year.

131. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo’s Factory
You wouldn’t expect a band’s 4th album in less than two years to be this absolutely stacked with hits, but such was the power of John Fogerty and company in 1970.  Over half this album has become classic rock radio staples. It helped to have a couple of solid covers to fall back on, and overly long or not I do love their extended jam session of “Heard it Through the Grapevine”. It would prove to be something of a last gasp for the band, as Pendulum saw things tearing apart before Mardi Gras ended things. Turns out maybe you can’t go that hard, that fast indefinitely. Who doesn’t want to smoke some “Ooby Dooby” while “Lookin’ Out My Back Door”? Fogerty was also one of the best ballad writers in rock as evidenced by “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and “Long As I Can See the Light”.

130. Emmylou Harris - Pieces of the Sky
After a few years of being the world’s best background vocalist Emmylou Harris finally had her own album of brilliant introspective country pop.  Her cover of “For No One” might just be one of the only to improve upon the original, but for my money the best song remains “If I Could Only Win Your Heart”. Am I alone in considering this the best female fronted country album of the decade? Perhaps, but this is my list damn it, make your own. 

129. David Bowie - Heroes
Bowie’s second great album of his Berlin period picked up almost exactly where Low left off.  The title track is easily among his all time greats, and the album goes out on more than a high note with “The Secret Life of Arabia”. Bowie’s best work seemed to ride the line between experimental artsiness and catchy pop-rock. Low and Heroes are perhaps his period where the balance was almost perfectly dialed in 50/50. Hardly an alternative/indie artist of the last 40 years that can’t deny this as an inspiration.

128. AC/DC - Highway to Hell
If it weren’t for years of being force fed rock radio, Back in Black might be AC/DC’s best album.  I have to go with its predecessor, which also happened to be the last with Bon Scott.  At times you can hear the man forecasting his own demise, particularly on the title track, but the rest is just the band doing what they do best.  “Beating Around the Bush” is far and away my favorite song they ever recorded, and new producer Mutt Lange helped tighten up their wild sound. AC/DC spent most of their career re-recording the same basic album, but this album was all highlights.

127. The Clash - The Clash
This was punk music at its best, even from their earliest days they seemed to be a band that had something to say, instead of just being pissed off about everything like many of their contemporaries.  They rallied against racism “White Riot”, American imperialism “I’m so Bored with the U.S.A.”, and England’s job market “Career Opportunities”.  It was punk at its most important, and the template that every subsequent band could only hope to emulate. Regardless of which release you prefer it remains an all time genre classic.

126. Jackson Browne - Saturate Before Using
Although it was his first official solo album, Jackson Browne had been writing songs for other people for years before his debut came out.  He proceeded to cherry pick the best songs of his back catalogue and the result is nearly perfect.  A smash hit upon its release it helped establish a new wave of LA piano driven folk rock.  

125. Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat
When I put together my 500 favorite albums I mentioned Tea for the Tillerman was a coin toss to represent Cat Stevens. Fast forward a decade and I have chosen the other side of that coin. It isn’t so much that Teaser has grown on me over the years just that each time I listen to both albums an internal tug of war pulls me to one over the other. I can’t say either album has a weak song, but what ultimately pushed this one over the top here was “Morning Has Broken” which come to think of it has always been my favorite song of his. Now let’s go watch Harold and Maude.

124. Santana - Abraxas
As I write these reviews it is getting harder and harder to think of ways to say “this is the group’s best album”, but damn Abraxas is the best Santana album. It was their first #1 album helped in large part by their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Black Magic Woman”. Abraxas also features one of Carlos’s finest compositions “Samba Pa Ti”. The album is Santana at their most dialed-in. The jamming that characterized some of their live shows and first album are toned down here. Sure there are plenty of extended musical distractions, but it is much more reigned in and tighter. The result is probably the most commercially friendly album of their original band, and one that shines start to finish.

123. The New York Dolls - The New York Dolls
When David Johansen passed away this year he was the last surviving member of the Dolls. A group that burned far too bright before imploding long before their influence could be acknowledged. They were a reckless, sloppy rock band that served as a vulgar American counterpoint to the British glam scene. Johansen did his best Mick Jagger and nearly every song sounds like the boys were probably drunk while recording. The New York Dolls might have been the ugliest dudes to ever wear drag, but their debut album is a hot mess to match their look.  Sleazy, dirty, rock from a band that was too shitty to be the Stones despite how much they try.  All of its flaws somehow make it brilliant. Todd Rundgren was wise to try and capture their sound live rather than clean it up for radio ears. 

122. Talking Heads - Fear of Music
A perfect bridge to their best album, Fear of Music may sound at first like Remain in Light-lite. After the brilliant opener “I Zimbra” things settle into business as usual. Much of the album was recorded over two sessions at Frantz’s and Weymouth’s loft. The songs themselves were mostly composed on the spot and refined over longer jam sessions. Eno then went to work treating the songs and shaping them into their final form. The sessions revealed a band that had already found its voice but were confidently stretching themselves out. “Heaven” is another on the long list of potential favorite Talking Heads songs. Every time I listen to this I think it is the equal or superior to its two better known predecessors. 

121. The Charlie Daniels Band- Fire on the Mountain
If you only know Charlie Daniels for “Devil Went Down to Georgia” prepare to have your genitals explode. Continuing the southern rock legacy he helped lead, Fire on the Mountain was the man and his band at their most electric. Hell, as soon as those dueling riffs in “Caballo Diablo” start up I was hooked. Mostly recorded in Macon, Georgia with a pair of live recordings in Nashville this easily ranks among the best southern rock ever made. Unfortunately “The South’s Gonna Do It” was about as misinterpreted as Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”, even used by the KKK for radio ads. Daniels fired back, and regardless of how misread it was at the time, it still does in fact rock. 

120. The Stooges - Funhouse
A hot mess of an album that perhaps captures best what a glorious disaster the Stooges were as a band. After attempts to record a traditional album were aborted, they stripped the studio of all soundproofing and played live as they would on stage. Working on one song a day with the “best” take chosen for the album. The songs were recorded in the order they appear on the album, which clearly shows by the end of the sessions the group was literally falling apart. “TV Eye” might be their best song as a band, and if that song isn’t for you, I got bad news about the rest of the album.

119. Brian Eno - Before and After Science
Brian Eno recorded this over the course of two years while simultaneously working on other ambient projects, collaborating with David Bowie, and recording an album with Cluster.  Apparently 100 tracks were written for the album with only 10 making the final cut, and well Eno couldn’t have distilled a better album.  This would be Eno’s last “rock” album of the decade and marked the end of his first great period of prolific genius.  Eno was never more refined, and his musicians are as great as ever.  The second half of the album points to the more ambient work he would pursue for the next couple of years and contains “By This River” which is damn near the best song he ever recorded.  

118. Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic
Third times the charm for Aerosmith. With all due respect to Get Your Wings, Toys in the Attic is where they really entered the big time. Sure the iconic “Walk this Way” and “Sweet Emotion” are the best remembered tracks but every other song is a banger. Even the novelty “Ten Inch Record” which seems like a spiritual precursor to AC/DC’s “Big Balls” gets a chuckle. “You See Me Crying” is a surprising moment of vulnerability on an album essentially about getting your dick wet. The beginning of Aerosmith’s peak.

117. Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps
Neil Young ended the 70s on a high note with one of his best albums.  Mostly recorded live while on tour with Crazy Horse, it’s book-ended by “Hey Hey, My My” and its amplified counterpart “My My, Hey Hey”. To be fair, probably every album Young made in the 70s could have made this list. It was his response in some ways to punk, and name dropping Johnnie Rotten definitely hammered that point home. With a mix of acoustic and electric, Rust Never Sleeps is just a stellar collection of songs from one of the decade's best songwriters.

116. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
A perfect primer for anyone wanting to check out Thin Lizzy the band. It features their two best known songs, the title track and “The Boys are Back in Town”. The latter is definitely a song I should be absolutely sick of by now, but god damn when that harmony kicks in I get just as pumped as the first time hearing it. Jailbreak remained their most successful record and was the defining album of their peak run which was about as good as anyone’s in the decade. Luckily for us they were just getting started.

115. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd’s follow up to Dark Side of the Moon suffers some of the same fate that Zeppelin’s second album does. Which is to say unimaginative FM rock radio would play the ever loving shit out of the middle of this album. However, who can blame them for blasting the title track and “Have a Cigar”?  “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” is their loving and brilliant tribute to former leader Syd Barrett and it’s at least one part of the album that never gets stale.

114. Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
The best album from Funkadelic also proved to be Clinton’s most popular.  More politically conscious than most of his earlier albums this still brings the funk in a big way. I understand catching some flack for putting this over Maggot Brain, but I always preferred the P-funk elastic funk sound of their prime. I still can’t tell you where the line between Funkadelic and Parliament ends but regardless of what the record credits are the results were perfect.

113. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
A remarkable leap forward from their debut, Black Sabbath set the standard for which metal would be measured for nearly 4 decades.  The instrumental wanking was trimmed way down and the songs themselves are all essentials.  “War Pigs” is nearly impossible not to sing along to, and pretty much every track can make a case for the album’s best song. We can debate where metal began, but it was probably some time in 1970. As iconic as the title track and “Iron Man” might be, I find myself bumping “Hand of Doom”, “Electric Funeral”, and “Fairies Wear Boots” far more often. All killer and more than any other album of Sabbath’s, no filler.

112. James Brown - Sex Machine
As I decided to open the floor to live albums I was again confronted by this peculiar James Brown joint released at the beginning of the decade. It is sort of a live album, but also features studio performances with fake crowd noise pumped in. Ultimately it doesn’t matter how the album was constructed (and honestly MANY live albums in the 70s had studio overdubs). What does matter is that Soul Brother #1 and his air tight JBs were never better or funkier than on this set. The breakdown in “Give it Up, Turn it Loose” may very well be the funkiest thing anyone has ever gotten.

111. Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare
Alice Cooper’s first official solo album after the dissolution of his band, is a concept album that was as strong as any of his previous band’s work.  It features a wonderful monologue from the legendary Vincent Price and more excellent contributions from long time producer Bob Ezrin.  Alice certainly embraced his love of horror, but also found time to make a love song to alcohol "Cold Ethyl", and one of the saddest songs about domestic abuse you're likely to hear with "Only Women Bleed".  With Ezrin’s help he also leaned heavily into the more theatrical and grandiose while still rocking as hard as ever.

110. Willie Nelson - The Red Headed Stranger
I wouldn’t really argue with anyone if they named Willie Nelson the best country artist of all time. Long established as a hitmaking songwriter, his string of seventies albums were almost all spectacular. The Red Headed Stranger however was an ambitious gamble that proved to be perhaps his most enduring album. Willie had dabbled in the concept album with Phases and Stages, but his new deal with Columbia gave him complete control over his sound. The result is about the most stripped down country album you’re likely to hear from 1975. The album itself is about a man who shoots his wife and her lover then goes on the run from the law. Nelson blended his own originals with stripped down arrangements of songs that all fit thematically. The result is less a collection of songs but a rich tapestry. There are even a few that might consider this the best country album ever recorded.

109. Grateful Dead - Workingman’s Dead
The Grateful Dead’s best studio album owed far more to Crosby, Stills, and Nash than to psychedelic drugs.  The Dead embraced their roots with some great country, folk, and blues featuring some great vocal harmonies to boot. They also abandoned all their far out jam band tendencies (although they would absolutely keep it up live). “Uncle John’s Band” and “Casey Jones” bookend the album and served to become two of the group's signature tunes.

108. Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac
It wasn’t their first album, but it was certainly their breakthrough.  With Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks on board they delivered one of the defining albums of the decade.  Almost every song was a classic and it laid the groundwork for their next blockbuster album. Few bands of the decade pulled such a 180 in terms of their sound, and perhaps only the Bee Gees had more commercial success making the switch. It may seem crazy to modern audiences but Nicks only came along at Buckingham’s insistence, wisely making sure they were a package deal. The rest is as they say, history. 

107. AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap 
I’m not here to debate the superior era of AC/DC but since this list is all about the 70s Bon Scott is clearly king. Dirty Deeds took everything good about their first album and tightened it up. Scott’s lyrics were not to be taken seriously (Big Balls come on), but what makes things so damn awesome is how tight the band is. Even chaotically wailing away Malcolm keeps things on track with arguably the most competent rhythm guitar playing in rock. “Rocker”, “Problem Child”, and “Squealer” proved they were far more than radio hits.

106. Fela Kuti and the Afrika 70 - Zombie
Many artists have made political music and criticized their government, very few had their homes destroyed by the military as a direct result. Fela Kuti was immensely popular in his native Nigeria, and his earlier run in with police resulted in the classic “Expensive Shit”. “Zombie” was his most infectious and best song. Utilizing a groove unlike no other and lyrics comparing the Nigerian military to zombies got under the skin of the authorities. The resulting attack nearly killed Fela and did result in his mother dying after being thrown out a window. To say he suffered for his art is putting it mildly but among his string of great 70s releases, Zombie just hits that harder.

105. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
After being limited to two songs per-album for several years it was no surprise that George Harrison had a lot of backlogged songs when The Beatles broke up.  The quality of those songs was something few people could have guessed at.  All Things Must Pass was a revelation for fans who got to see a third wheel emerge as a true superstar.  Produced by Phil Spector it features two albums worth of Harrison’s best, rounded out with a series of extended jam sessions from what would soon become Derek and the Dominoes.  The title track could very well be the single best song George ever wrote.

104. Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South
There are a number of albums I listened to for this list that can best be described as “courtesy” listens. Albums I didn’t think were actually going to make the cut but out of respect for the artist felt like they should be considered. Well I think before “The Revival” finished I thought there is no way in hell the second Allman Brothers album wasn’t going to be on this list. Plenty of people would beat the drum that the Duane era was the best and it really isn’t hard to argue with this. Recorded over 5 months while the band was touring constantly the songs here were well road tested which gives it that particular energy. Although not the commercial breakthrough the band was hoping it did contribute a number of future staples to their growing legend as a live act.

103. Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door
Zep’s last album cleaned up the drugged out excess of Presence with a more focused and adventurous group of songs.  John Paul Jones dominates the album and like every other Zeppelin album there isn’t a bad song on here.  “All of My Love” might be Plant’s finest moment as a songwriter, and it’s fitting that the album would end with their most blues based song in years, “I’m Gonna Crawl”. Bonham had grooves for days on “Fool in the Rain” as arguably the best band of the decade went out on top.

102. Badfinger - Straight Up
Badfinger picked up right where they left off and turned in another nearly flawless collection of power pop.  Billed as the heir apparent to the Beatles, Straight Up contains some of their best known tracks “Baby Blue” and “Name of the Game”. The album was a laborious process, recording for over 9 months with both George Harrison and Todd Rundgren at different points overseeing the process. It is remarkable that the surviving album would be damn near their best, proving that with that much work something great was truly emerging. By this point in the band’s history Pete Hamm had fully emerged as Badfinger’s most important creative voice. 

101. Al Green - Call Me
This is the last of Al Green’s great early 70s albums before he found Jesus, and in many people’s opinion his best. An opinion I happen to share. Despite dropping two pretty much perfect albums right before this, something about Call Me just puts it over the top. Perhaps it is the mournful touch of songs like “Have You Been Making Out OK”, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”, or “Funny How Time Slips Away” that hit just a bit deeper than your average soul music.  Just some sweet beautiful soul music right here