Retro Albums of the Year 2010's: 2020

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

1972:

Yes - Close To The Edge
Mahavishnu Orchstra - Birds Of Fire
Genesis - Foxtrot
Tower Of Power - Bump City
ZZ Top - Rio Grande Mud
Gentel Giant - Octopus

Oops, I forgot Birds of Fire on my list...... It would probably go in the #5 spot for me.

[SoundscapeMN]

1972:

Yes - Close To The Edge
Mahavishnu Orchstra - Birds Of Fire
Genesis - Foxtrot
Tower Of Power - Bump City
ZZ Top - Rio Grande Mud
Gentel Giant - Octopus

Oops, I forgot Birds of Fire on my list...... It would probably go in the #5 spot for me.

pretty much everywhere lists it as being released in 1973 (January 3rd).

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

1972:

Yes - Close To The Edge
Mahavishnu Orchstra - Birds Of Fire
Genesis - Foxtrot
Tower Of Power - Bump City
ZZ Top - Rio Grande Mud
Gentel Giant - Octopus

Oops, I forgot Birds of Fire on my list...... It would probably go in the #5 spot for me.

pretty much everywhere lists it as being released in 1973 (January 3rd).

You're right! That would explain how I missed it. It will show up in my 1973 list for sure! 

[TAC]

Ahead of its time, apparently.

[Dedalus]

Ahead of its time, apparently.

 

[Kwyjibo]

1972:

Yes - Close To The Edge
Mahavishnu Orchstra - Birds Of Fire
Genesis - Foxtrot
Tower Of Power - Bump City
ZZ Top - Rio Grande Mud
Gentel Giant - Octopus

Oops, I forgot Birds of Fire on my list...... It would probably go in the #5 spot for me.

pretty much everywhere lists it as being released in 1973 (January 3rd).

My cd is a reissue from 1991 and there is a german prog-website that lists it as a 1972 record, maybe that's why I put it in that year. But according to wikipedia is was released in 1973. So I can list it again when we switch to that year. 

[WildRanger]

1972:
1. Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
2. Yes - Close to the Edge
3. Deep Purple - Machine Head; Made in Japan
4. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
5. Neil Young - Harvest
6. Genesis - Foxtrot
7. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick (not a Tull fan but I love this album)
8. Blue Oyster Cult - self-titled
9. Santana - Caravanserai
10. Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill

[WildRanger]

1971:
1. Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
2. Bowie - Hunky Dory
3. The Who - Who's Next
4. Led Zeppelin - IV
5. Yes - Fragile; The Yes Album
6. Deep Purple - Fireball
7. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
8. Can - Tago Mago
9. The Doors - L.A. Woman
10. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

[hefdaddy42]

My birth year!

In no particular order:

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars - David Bowie
Harvest - Neil Young
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
Eat a Peach - The Allman Brothers Band
Close to the Edge - Yes
Can't Buy a Thrill - Steely Dan
Chicago V - Chicago
Eagles - Eagles
Foxtrot - Genesis
Trilogy - Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
Rio Grande Mud - ZZ Top
Miles Davis - On the Corner
Chick Corea - Return to Forever

[ReaperKK]

I'm starting to realize through these posts that there are so many albums I've heard about but never listened to. Gotta start putting in the listening backlog.

[HOF]

I'm starting to realize through these posts that there are so many albums I've heard about but never listened to. Gotta start putting in the listening backlog.

Someone with time on their hands should compile a master list of everyone’s albums for each year...

[ReaperKK]

Hrmm I can work on that over the next week or so, see what I can knock out

[SoundscapeMN]

1973

Man, this was a year that was hard to rank as there are a lot of records I enjoy pretty much equally. Kind of mind boggling.

Blurb from allmediareviews:

1973, a year where progressive rock seemed to be flourishing and many bands made double albums and noteworthy live records.

Also many debut albums came out. Many in the jazz-rock style, which is closely related to progressive rock which is understandable.

1973 I suppose doesn't include a high number of all-time favorites for me, but it does have a lot of records I would rank high among the bands/artists respective catalogs.

1. Genesis - Selling England By the Pound
2. Jethro Tull - A Passion Play
3. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
4. The Who - Quadrophenia
5. Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning
6. King Crimson - Larks' Tongue in Aspic
7. Yes - Yessongs
8. Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
9. Herbie Hancock - Headhunters
10. Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
11. Emerson Lake and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
12. Billy Cobham - Spectrum
13. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
14. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
15. Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
16. Styx - Styx II
17. Carmen - Fandangos in Space
18. Return to Forever - Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
19. Mahavishnu Orchestra - From Nothingness to Eternity
20. Queen - Queen
21. Genesis - Genesis Live
22. Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle
23. Nektar - Remember the Future
24. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
25. Premiata Forneria Marconi - Photos of Ghosts
26. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
27, Bruce Springsteen - Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ
28, Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
29. Chick Corea and Return to Forever - Light as a Feather
30. Gentle Giant - In a Glass House
31. Rick Wakeman - The Six Wives of Henry VIII
32. Gong - Flying Teapot
33. Carlos Santana, and John McLaughlin - Love Devotion Surrender
34. John Lennon - Mind Games
35. Michael Nesmith - Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash
36. Billy Joel - Piano Man

[Dedalus]

1973:

01. The Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd)

[ariich]

1. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
2. Tom Waits - Closing Time
3. Return to Forever - Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
4. Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
5. Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Four
6. The Who - Quadrophenia
7. Return to Forever - Light as a Feather
8. King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic   
9. Queen - Queen
10. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound   

Other albums of moderate interest for me:
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
NEU! - NEU! 2   
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

1973!. This was a tough list to compile. After the first 3 albums it was kind of tough to decide on an order...

1. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
2. Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans
3. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
4. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
5. King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic
6. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
7. The Who - Quadrophenia
8. David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
9. Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
10. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
11. Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
12. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
13. Faust - IV
14. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
15. Gentle Giant - In a Glass House
16. Procul Harum - Grand Hotel
17. Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy

[MirrorMask]

1973

1. ALICE COOPER - Billion Dollar Babies

This is the undisputed winner of the year for me. The most famous and iconic album, live staple wise, of the Alice Cooper band. Timeless classic.

Then as honorable mentions since I don't terribly love these albums, we could have in a difficult order:

2. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Greetings from Asbury Park, NY
3. QUEEN - Queen
4. BLACK SABBATH - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
5. ALICE COOPER - Muscle of Love
6. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle


EDIT to insert Queen, I forgot about their debut!

(And yeah, I don't listen to Pink Floyd, I suck)

[KevShmev]

01 Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
02 Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
03 Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
04 Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
05 Blue Oyster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation
06 David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
07 Triumvirat - Illusions on a Double Dimple
08 The Who - Quadrophenia
09 Emerson Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
10 Camel - Camel
11 The Doobie Brothers - The Captain and Me
12 Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans
13 Kansas - Kansas
14 Billy Joel - Piano Man
15 Stevie Wonders - Innervisions
16 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
17 Queen - Queen
18 Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
19 Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
20 Paul McCartney - Band on the Run

What a year!  I went 20 deep and couldn't include records by King Crimson, Montrose, Le Orme, Chicago, ZZ Top and Styx.

[ReaperKK]

Alright 1973:

1. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon
2. Queen - Queen
3. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
4. ZZ Top - Tres Hombres

[ReaperKK]

I'm starting to realize through these posts that there are so many albums I've heard about but never listened to. Gotta start putting in the listening backlog.

Someone with time on their hands should compile a master list of everyone’s albums for each year...

I started working on this, should have some stats up for you guys this weekend. I'll make the doc public once it's complete.

[WildRanger]

1973:

1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
2. The Who - Quad
3. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
4. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
5. The Stooges - Raw Power
6. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
7. King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic
8. Can - Future Days
9. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced
10. Budgie - Never Turn Your Back on a Friend

No one put Can on their list except me? I'm surprised.

[HOF]

Some pretty good ones for 1973:

1. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
2. Camel - Camel
3. King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic
4. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
5. PFM - Photos of Ghosts (wasn't going to include this because it's songs from the first two albums with English lyrics, but Old Rain is tremendous so why not).

[hefdaddy42]

Another great year for music.

No particular order:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Return to Forever - Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
Allman Brothers Band - Brothers & Sisters
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Billy Joel - Piano Man
Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy
King Crimson - Larks Tongues in Aspic
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
Jimmy Cliff - Struggling Man
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
Tower of Power - Tower of Power
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
Eagles - Desperado
Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
Jackson Browne - For Everyman
Chick Corea & Return to Forever - Light as a Feather
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin - Love Devotion Surrender
Charles Mingus - Mingus Moves

[WildRanger]

Another great year for music.

No particular order:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Return to Forever - Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
Allman Brothers Band - Brothers & Sisters
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Billy Joel - Piano Man
Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy
King Crimson - Larks Tongues in Aspic
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
Jimmy Cliff - Struggling Man
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
Tower of Power - Tower of Power
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
Eagles - Desperado
Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
Jackson Browne - For Everyman
Chick Corea & Return to Forever - Light as a Feather
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin - Love Devotion Surrender
Charles Mingus - Mingus Moves

Since you have Billy Joel's Piano Man on your list where is Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road?

[hefdaddy42]

Another great year for music.

No particular order:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Return to Forever - Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
Allman Brothers Band - Brothers & Sisters
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Billy Joel - Piano Man
Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy
King Crimson - Larks Tongues in Aspic
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
Jimmy Cliff - Struggling Man
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
Tower of Power - Tower of Power
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
Eagles - Desperado
Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
Jackson Browne - For Everyman
Chick Corea & Return to Forever - Light as a Feather
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin - Love Devotion Surrender
Charles Mingus - Mingus Moves

Since you have Billy Joel's Piano Man on your list where is Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road?

I don't like Elton John.

[HOF]

Another great year for music.

No particular order:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Return to Forever - Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
Allman Brothers Band - Brothers & Sisters
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Billy Joel - Piano Man
Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy
King Crimson - Larks Tongues in Aspic
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
Jimmy Cliff - Struggling Man
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
Tower of Power - Tower of Power
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
Eagles - Desperado
Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
Jackson Browne - For Everyman
Chick Corea & Return to Forever - Light as a Feather
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin - Love Devotion Surrender
Charles Mingus - Mingus Moves

Since you have Billy Joel's Piano Man on your list where is Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road?

I don't like Elton John.

Impossible, as many people who like Billy Joel also like Elton John! ;-)

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Another great year for music.

No particular order:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Return to Forever - Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
Allman Brothers Band - Brothers & Sisters
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Billy Joel - Piano Man
Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy
King Crimson - Larks Tongues in Aspic
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
Jimmy Cliff - Struggling Man
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
Tower of Power - Tower of Power
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
Eagles - Desperado
Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
Jackson Browne - For Everyman
Chick Corea & Return to Forever - Light as a Feather
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin - Love Devotion Surrender
Charles Mingus - Mingus Moves

Since you have Billy Joel's Piano Man on your list where is Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road?

I don't like Elton John.

Impossible, as many people who like Billy Joel also like Elton John! ;-)

Yeah! This is objectively true, not subjective

I'm starting to realize through these posts that there are so many albums I've heard about but never listened to. Gotta start putting in the listening backlog.

Someone with time on their hands should compile a master list of everyone’s albums for each year...

I started working on this, should have some stats up for you guys this weekend. I'll make the doc public once it's complete.

I was going to do this, but then realized I have way too many projects going to tackle another one. I figured if I waited long enough someone else would take up this mantle! Thanks for picking it up! 

[TAC]

The only albums on my 1973 radar are:

1. Black Sabbath-Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
2. Alice Cooper-Billion Dollar Babies
3. Aerosmith s/t
4. Alice Cooper-Muscle Of Love
5. Led Zeppelin-Houses Of The Holy
6. Slade-Sladest
7. Deep Purple-Who Do We Think We Are
8. Thin Lizzy-Vagabonds Of The Western World
9. Montrose-s/t
10. Icecross-s/t

[NoseofNicko]

Just listened to McCartney’s Band on the Run for the first time today, what a fantastic album!

[hefdaddy42]

Another great year for music.

No particular order:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Return to Forever - Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
Allman Brothers Band - Brothers & Sisters
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Billy Joel - Piano Man
Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy
King Crimson - Larks Tongues in Aspic
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
Jimmy Cliff - Struggling Man
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
Tower of Power - Tower of Power
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
Eagles - Desperado
Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
Jackson Browne - For Everyman
Chick Corea & Return to Forever - Light as a Feather
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin - Love Devotion Surrender
Charles Mingus - Mingus Moves

Since you have Billy Joel's Piano Man on your list where is Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road?

I don't like Elton John.

Impossible, as many people who like Billy Joel also like Elton John! ;-)

[Kwyjibo]

Some good ones in 1973, in alphabetical order:

Aerosmith - Make It
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire (again  )
Oldfield, Mike - Tubular Bells
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Tower Of Power - Tower Of Power
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
Yes - Yessongs
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres

[SoundscapeMN]

1974

Excellent year with a lot of great records.

From allmediareviews

1974, a very deep year for albums, like pretty much every year in the early and mid 70's.

On the surface, there's a couple of all-time favorites of mine from Yes and a derived project from Mahavishnu Orchestra. It also saw Rush finally put out their debut record, the last record with Peter Gabriel in Genesis, 2 of the better King Crimson albums, and another excellent record from Renaissance. Also 2 of the early Queen records, which are among my favorites in their catalog.

Genesis and Yes albums came out within 10 days of each other in November. And the Rush debut album came out the same day as one of Camel's best records.

It also seemed the prog thing was reaching its peak and jazz-rock also seemed to be really big. Quite a few albums came out with only 2-4 tracks on them, featuring side-length suites of course.

Also there seemed to be a fair amount of rock/pop and art-rock coming into fold, with bands like ELO, Supertramp, Sparks, and 10cc putting out some of the best records of their career in 1974.

Overall, I wouldn't consider '74 quite as top-heavy as '73, but maybe as if not having more depth in quality.

1. Yes - Relayer
2. Jerry Goodman and Jan Hammer - Like Children
3. King Crimson - Red
4. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
5. Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
6, Renaissance - Turn of the Cards
7. King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black
8. Supertramp - Crime of the Century
9. Queen - Queen II
10. Kansas - Kansas
11. Gryphon - Red Queen to Gryphon Three
12. 10cc - Sheet Music
13. Todd Rundgren's Utopia - Todd Rundgren's Utopia
14. Rush - Rush
15. Return to Forever - Where Have I Known You Before
16. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
17. Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado
18. Weather Report - Mysterious Traveller
19. Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness' First Finale
20. Gentle Giant - The Power and the Glory
21. Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
22. Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark
23. Camel - Mirage
24. Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (')
25. Deep Purple - Burn
26. Sparks - Propaganda
27. Herbie Hancock - Thrust
28. Triumvirat - Illusions on a Double Dimple
29. Sparks - Kimono My House
30. Stanley Clarke - Stanley Clarke
31. Jethro Tull - War Child
32, Marvin Hamlisch - The Sting Soundtrack

[Dedalus]

1974:

01. Burn (Deep Purple)

[ariich]

Solid year!

1. Tom Waits - The Heart of Saturday Night
2. King Crimson - Red
3. Lucifer's Friend - Banquet
4. Wishbone Ash - There's the Rub
5. Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
6. Bill Evans - Symbiosis
7. Average White Band - AWB
8. Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness' First Finale
9. Queen - Queen II
10. Maynard Ferguson - Chameleon
11. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
12. King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black
13. Yes - Relayer
14. Return to Forever - Where Have I Known You Before
15. Funkadelic - Standing on the Verge of Getting It On

Also of interest to me:
Parliament - Up for the Down Stroke
Rush - Rush (although this one I find pretty meh)

[Kwyjibo]

Some good ones, in alphabetical order:

Aerosmith - Get Your Wings
Kansas - Kansas
King Crimson - Red
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping
Oldfield, Mike - Hergest Ridge
Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
Supertramp - Crime Of The Century
Tower Of Power - Back To Oakland
Yes - Relayer