Best Albums Ever: 1970s

Punk! Prog! Alternative! Music from the 60s usually sounds "old," if not outright dated, but the much of the 70s' music still sounds fresh and relevant today.

1970:
1. The Beatles - Let It Be
2. Neil Young - After The Gold Rush
3. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
4. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young - Deja Vu
5. Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More
6. Van Morrison - Moondance
7. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica
8. The Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead
9. Joni Mitchell - Ladies Of The Canyon
10. The Doors - L.A. Woman

1971 (almost impossible to rank the top 3):
1. Leonard Cohen - Songs Of Love And Hate
2. Joni Mitchell - Blue
3. David Bowie - Hunky Dory
4. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
5. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
6. Carole King - Tapestry

1972:
1. Lou Reed - Transformer
2. Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
3. Yes - Fragile
4. Cat Stevens - Catch Bull At Four
5. The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St.
6. Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick

1973:
1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
2. Tom Waits - Closing Time
3. The Stooges - Raw Power
4. Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy
5. The Who - Quadrophenia
6. Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On

1974:
1. Leonard Cohen - New Skin For The Old Ceremony
2. The Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock 'N Roll
3. Tom Waits - The Heart Of Saturday Night
4. Kraftwerk - Autobahn

1975:
1. Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
2. Neil Young - Tonight's The Night
3. Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
4. Patti Smith - Horses
5. Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers
6. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
7. Elton John - Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy
8. Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic

1976:
1. The Ramones - Ramones
2. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
3. Rush - 2112
4. AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

1977:
1. Neil Young - Decade (I won't normally include compilations, but this one's too good to miss)
2. Neil Young - Comes A Time
3. Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols
4. Billy Joel - The Stranger
5. Pink Floyd - Animals
6. Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
7. Crosby, Stills, and Nash - CSN
8. Leonard Cohen - Death Of A Ladies' Man

1978:
1. Tom Waits - Blue Valentine
2. Armand Schaubroeck - Ratfucker
3. The Adverts - Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts
4. Van Halen - Van Halen
5. Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door
6. Foreigner - Double Vision

1979:
1. Pink Floyd - The Wall
2. Neil Young - Live Rust
3. Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps
4. The Clash - London Calling
5. The Clash - The Clash
6. Sex Pistols - The Great Rock N' Roll Swindle
7. The Dead Kennedys - Live At The Deaf Club (not sure when this was released, but it was recorded in '79)
8. Fleetwood Mac- Tusk
9. Cheap Trick - At Budokan
10. Supertramp - Breakfast In America