The Top Five Albums of the 70's

The seventies were a decade when I lot of things happened: the hippie ideal lost its potency, the darker heavy rock songs of desperation and pessimism took place, new genres emerged such as glam rock, reggae, disco, funk, and punk. Rock music was still the driving force of the youth, and it was the seventies when rock stars started becoming huge acts, filling stadiums, arenas, and open air festivals. The stage equipment was upgraded so concerts could become louder and attract more and more audiences. In such an atmosphere, a lot of great albums were released, but today’s “assignment” for me is to pick the top five that shaped the future of popular music. Here they are:

1. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970) 

This is one of the most important records of all times. It paved the way for the angry, furious and raging musical expression, later called heavy metal. Released in 1970 it marked the beginning of the new, darker era of rock music in which the emphasis wasn’t on love anymore but on rage towards the establishment. Paranoid contains several of the band's most iconic songs, such as "Iron Man," "War Pigs" and the title track, which was the band's only Top 20 hit, reaching number 4 in the UK charts. The band’s signature tune “Paranoid” was recorded in the last minute. Bill Ward, Sabbath’s original drummer, stated in an interview: “"We didn't have enough songs for the album, and Tony (Iommi) just played the guitar lick, and that was it. It took twenty, twenty-five minutes from top to bottom."  Paranoid's US release was delayed until January 1971, as the Black Sabbath album was still on the charts at the time of its UK release. Paranoid reached No. 12 in the US in March 1971 with virtually no radio airplay.

2. Led Zeppelin - (untitled) (1971) 

The album without a name is my personal favorite from the Led Zeppelin catalog, but that isn’t why it’s on the list. This is Led Zeppelin’s prime-time record, the culmination of their artistic development and, of course,  the LP that gave the world “Stairway to Heaven.” But not only this legendary ballad is the reason for the success of this album. The A side contains three more rock classics: “Black Dog,” Zeppelin’s most exciting riff of all times, “Rock’n’Roll,” another iconic rock tune, and the elfish “Battle of Evermore.” The B-side, although not that known to non-Zeppelin fans, contains fantastic, a bit more mystical songs and great grooves: “Misty Mountain Hop,” “Four Sticks,” “Going to California,” and “When the Levee Breaks.” The material was recorded between December 1970 and March 1971 at several locations, most prominently the Victorian house Headley Grange, famous for its natural reverb that can be heard on the record, especially on the drums. Released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records, the LP was untitled, and throughout history, it was called several names by the fans, the critics, and the journalists: Four Symbols, The Fourth Album, Untitled, Runes, The Hermit, and ZoSo (which was derived from Page's symbol). The album is one of the best-selling albums of all time with more than 37 million copies sold. It is tied for the third highest-certified album in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America at 23x platinum. Writers and critics have regularly cited it on lists of the greatest albums of all time

3. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)  

Bowie could easily be listed in every decade’s best record list from the seventies until 2016, when he left this world, leaving us his masterpiece “Blackstar.” He left his mark on rock history the moment he entered the scene and his 1972 LP “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, ” is definitely one of the highlights of the era. Similar to Floyd’s “Dark Side Of The Moon” it is a concept album that tells the story of Bowie's alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. The album has been consistently considered one of the greatest albums of all time, with Rolling Stone magazine ranking it the 35th greatest ever.

4. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973) 

This is an album that I find very difficult to write about. Why? Because, not only that I think it is the best piece of music ever released (at least in rock music), but I don’t believe that anything else even comes close to this masterfully envisioned and crafted record. Where to begin? With the production that opened a new era in studio recording and editing? With Roger Waters’ lyrics that might just be the greatest piece of 20th-century poetry, a true rock epos? Or with the fact that it's one of the best-selling records of all time, an album that remained on the chart for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988 and sold an estimated 45 million copies worldwide? Actually, I won’t start at all; I’ll leave the research to you.

5. The Clash - London Calling (1979) 

The Clash are the icons of punk, but their music far exceeds the raw, simple and short classic punk songs. For me, they were always a rock band, with lots of references to the rockabilly era, but also from the sixties. They were excellent musicians, unlike most of the punk groups, and fertile songwriters. Their third studio album “London Calling,” with the iconic cover design showing bassist Paul Simonon smashing his bass on stage, is a sort of an exit-way for punk music, shifting the energy towards post-punk, with huge influences from reggae, rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock. The lyrics also follow the pulse of the time and are concerned with social displacement, unemployment, racial conflict, drug use, and the responsibilities of adulthood. The album received widespread acclaim and was ranked at number eight on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003.

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