Rock and Reel

100 Favorite Albums of the 1970s: The Top 20

Previous: 40-21

20. Aretha Franklin- Young, Gifted and Black

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

19. Jackson Browne- Late for the Sky

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

18. Neil Young- Tonight’s the Night

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by Paste

Pitchfork: excluded

17. Michael Jackson- Off the Wall

Paste: -15

Pitchfork: -15

16. The Who- Live at Leeds

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

15. Bruce Springsteen- Darkness on the Edge of Town

Paste: -15

Pitchfork: excluded

14. The Rolling Stones- Sticky Fingers

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by Paste

Pitchfork: excluded

13. Sex Pistols- Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols

Paste: +2

Pitchfork: -24

12. Elvis Costello- This Year’s Model

Paste: -22

Pitchfork: -26

11. Stevie Wonder- Innervisions

Paste: -4

Pitchfork: -10

10. The Stooges- Raw Power

Paste: -27

Pitchfork: -47

9. Al Green- Call Me

Paste: excluded

Pitchfork: -26

8. Neil Young- Rust Never Sleeps

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by Paste

Pitchfork: excluded

7. Elvis Costello- My Aim is True

Paste: -14

Pitchfork: -21

6. David Bowie- Hunky Dory

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by Paste

Pitchfork: -48

5. Joni Mitchell- Blue

Paste: -17

Pitchfork: -54

4. The Clash- London Calling

Paste: included in 80 Best Albums of the 1980s list

Pitchfork: +2

3. The Rolling Stones- Exile on Main St.

Paste: tie

Pitchfork: -8

2. Bob Dylan- Blood on the Tracks

Paste: +1

Pitchfork: -3

1. Bruce Springsteen- Born to Run

Paste: -4

Pitchfork: excluded

100 Favorite Albums of the 1970s: 40-21

Previous: 60-41

40. The Velvet Underground- Loaded

Paste: -1

Pitchfork: +27

39. Derek and the Dominos- Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

Paste: -22

Pitchfork: excluded

38. Big Star- Radio City

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

37. Neil Young- On the Beach

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by me and Paste

Pitchfork: -8

36. Leonard Cohen- Death of a Ladies’ Man

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

35. Black Sabbath- Black Sabbath

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

34. Sly and the Family Stone- Fresh

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

33. John Lennon- Plastic Ono Band

Paste: excluded

Pitchfork: -10

32. Stevie Wonder- Songs in the Key of Life

Paste: +6

Pitchfork: excluded

31. Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin IV

Paste: +23

Pitchfork: +24

30. The Who- Who’s Next

Paste: +15

Pitchfork: +16

29. Leonard Cohen- Songs of Love and Hate

Paste: excluded

Pitchfork: -20

28. Ramones- Ramones

Paste: +18

Pitchfork: +9

27. Pink Floyd- The Dark Side of the Moon

Paste: +21

Pitchfork: -20

26. Ramones- Rocket to Russia

Paste: excluded

Pitchfork: -16

25. Television- Marquee Moon

Paste: +14

Pitchfork: +22

24. David Bowie- Low

Paste: -10

Pitchfork: +23

23. Neil Young- After the Gold Rush

Paste: #23 on adjusted list; two-album rule exclusion by me

Pitchfork: -42

22. The Clash- The Clash

Paste: -1

Pitchfork: -11

21. Joy Division- Unknown Pleasures

Paste: -27

Pitchfork: +12

Next: The Top 20

100 Favorite Albums of the 1970s: 60-41

Previous: 80-61

60. Fleetwood Mac- Rumours

Paste: +37

Pitchfork: +30

59. Miles Davis- Bitches Brew

Paste: +44

Pitchfork: +43

58. John Imagine- Imagine

Paste: +16

Pitchfork: excluded

57. David Bowie- Station to Station

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by me and Paste

Pitchfork: excluded

56. The Harder They Come

Paste: -12

Pitchfork: -8

55. Rod Stewart- Never a Dull Moment

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

54. Neil Young- Zuma

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by me and Paste

Pitchfork: excluded

53. David Bowie- “Heroes”

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by me and Paste

Pitchfork: excluded

52. The Jam- In the City

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

51. Black Sabbath- Paranoid

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

50. Jimi Hendrix- Band of Gypsys

Paste: excluded

Pitchfork: -12

49. Funkadelic- One Nation Under a Groove

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

48. Stevie Wonder- Talking Book

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by me and Paste

Pitchfork: excluded

47. Grateful Dead- American Beauty

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

46. Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by Paste

Pitchfork: +19

45. Parliament- Mothership Connection

Paste and Pitchfork: excluded

44. The Stooges- Fun House

Paste: -16

Pitchfork: +32

43. David Bowie- The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Paste: #12 on adjusted list; two-album rule exclusion by me

Pitchfork: -12

42. Funkadelic- Maggot Brain

Paste: +21

Pitchfork: +27

41. Van Morrison- Moondance

Paste: +21

Pitchfork: excluded

Next: 40-21

100 Favorite Albums of the 1970s: 80-61

Previous: 100-81

80. ABBA- Arrival

79. MC5- Back in the USA

78. Roxy Music- Roxy Music

77. Talking Heads- More Songs About Buildings and Food

Paste: #26 on adjusted list

Pitchfork: #34 on adjusted list

76. Bruce Springsteen- The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle

75. Neil Young- Time Fades Away

74. Sly and the Family Stone- There’s a Riot Goin’ On

Paste: #16 on adjusted list

Pitchfork: #4 on adjusted list

73. Gang of Four- Entertainment!

Paste: #50 on adjusted list

Pitchfork: #8 on adjusted list

72. Van Halen- Van Halen

Pitchfork: #48 on adjusted list

71. Neil Young- Comes a Time

70. Janis Joplin- Pearl

69. Iggy Pop- Lust for Life

Paste: beginning of comparison; excluded

Pitchfork: #44 on adjusted list

68. Bob Marley- Exodus

Paste: excluded

67. B.B. King- Live at Cook County Jail

Paste: excluded

66. Marvin Gaye- What’s Going On

Paste: +56

Pitchfork: #36 on adjusted list

65. Miles Davis- A Tribute to Jack Johnson

Paste: excluded

Pitchfork: beginning of comparison; +24

64. George Harrison- All Things Must Pass

Paste: +29

Pitchfork: +8

63. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young- Deja vu

Paste: +15

Pitchfork: excluded

62. Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin III

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by Paste

Pitchfork: +40

61. The Specials- Specials

Paste: excluded

Pitchfork: +30

Next: 60-41

100 Favorite Albums of the 1970s: 100-81

About three months ago, I posted my 100 Favorite Albums of the 1980s in five installments. In the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting my top 100 of the ’70s.

With the ’80s, I compared my list with those of Paste and Slant. Because Slant hasn’t ranked the LPs for this particular decade, I decided to use Pitchfork’s list in addition to Paste’s recent picks.

As I did last time, I quantified the differences between my list and those of the two online magazines. I controlled for albums I have not heard (and took into consideration Paste’s two-album limit). This resulted in 61 albums I had heard on Paste’s lists and 65 on Pitchfork’s. A “+” indicates the album was higher on their list, and a “-“ indicates the album was higher on mine. I only used my top 61 and my top 65 to compare with the respective lists, but I posted all of my picks anyway.

100. Van Morrison- Tupelo Honey

99. The Allman Brothers Band- At Fillmore East

Paste: #43 on adjusted list

98. Bob Marley- Catch a Fire

97. Santana- Abraxas

96. Bob Marley- Burnin’

95. Roxy Music- For Your Pleasure

Pitchfork: #60 on adjusted list

94. Bob Marley- Natty Dread

93. Kraftwerk- Trans-Europe Express

Paste: #41 on adjusted list

Pitchfork: #6 on adjusted list

92. Roxy Music- Siren

91. Patti Smith- Horses

Paste: #28 on adjusted list

90. Brian Eno- Another Green World

Pitchfork: #10 on adjusted list

89. Bob Dylan and the Band- The Basement Tapes

Paste: #42 on adjusted list

88. Can- Tago Mago

Pitchfork: #24 on adjusted list

87. Richard Hell and the Voidoids- Blank Generation

86. David Bowie- Aladdin Sane

Pitchfork: #52 on adjusted list

85. The Modern Lovers- The Modern Lovers

Paste: #52 on adjusted list

Pitchfork: #29 on adjusted list

84. Richard and Linda Thompson- I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

83. Bob Dylan and the Band- Before the Flood

82. Brian Eno- Here Come the Warm Jets

Pitchfork: #20 on adjusted list

81. Talking Heads- Talking Heads: 77

Next: 80-61

Top 10 Tracks of 1971

Previous: 1970

A number of these songs land very high on just about every all-time song list (and with good reason): “What’s Going On,” “Imagine” and “Stairway to Heaven.” I heard the live version of “Maggot Brain” on the One Nation Under a Groove EP before the original album cut, and in some ways, I’m more fond of the former. Still, I thought it was only fair to allow a song from the album proper to make the 1978 list. Picking a song off of David Bowie’s Hunky Dory is a bit difficult because I feel the songs all go together so well, and the individual track don’t stand out in quite the same way. Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May” would have been a lock on this list a few years back, and in fact it was my all-time number one for a while. Maybe I listened to it too much?

10. Marvin Gaye- What’s Going On (Listen)

9. Al Green- Tired of Being Alone (Listen)

8. John Lennon- Imagine (Listen)

7. Funkadelic- Maggot Brain (Listen)

6. David Bowie- Quicksand (Listen)

5. Rod Stewart- Every Picture Tells a Story (Listen)

4. Led Zeppelin- Stairway to Heaven (Listen)

3. Joni Mitchell- River (Listen)

2. The Who- Baba O’Riley (Listen)

1. The Rolling Stones- Wild Horses (Listen)

Next: 1972