Against the '70s

Spring has sprung, sort of, and what better way to celebrate than with another musical list. This time around, Popblerd's counting down the top 100 albums of the 1970s. As with the others (we did an '80s list and a '90s list), it was tough whittling down my personal top 100. We had 19 people weighing in on this one, so there's a good diversity of opinions. The countdown is underway at Popblerd; today, it moved into the 30s.

Topping my personal top 100 of the '70s is Led Zeppelin IV. Kind of an obvious choice, I guess, but for me it's about as close to a perfect rock album as you're going to get. Ironically, I've heard pretty much every song on it so damn much that I don't break it out anymore, especially the likes of "Stairway to Heaven," "Rock and Roll" and "Black Dog." However, I still love hearing "When the Levee Breaks," with that iconic Bonham drum pattern and swampy blues sound. There are other Zeppelin albums I prefer, but this one's the best.

The rest of my list:

2. The Who - Who's Next
3. Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
4. The Clash - London Calling
5. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
6. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
7. Neil Young - Tonight's the Night
8. Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power
9. Black Sabbath - s/t
10. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
11. The Who - Quadrophenia
12. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
13. Van Halen - I
14. The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies
15. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
16. Ramones - s/t
17. David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
18. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle
19. Elvis Costello - My Aim is True
20. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
21. Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps
22. The Clash - Give 'em Enough Rope
23. Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks
24. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
25. Beatles - Let It Be
26. Pink Floyd - The Wall
27. Talking Heads - Fear of Music
28. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
29. Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic
30. AC/DC - Let There Be Rock
31. Queen - A Night at the Opera
32. Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady
33. Big Star - #1 Recoprd
34. Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
35. Peter Gabriel - 2
36. The Stooges - Fun House
37. The Jam - All Mod Cons
38. Rush - 2112
39. Steely Dan - Aja
40. Cheap Trick - s/t
41. Led Zeppelin - III
42. The Who - Live at Leeds
43. David Bowie - Hunky Dory
44. Van Halen - II
45. Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
46. Television - Marquee Moon
47. Joe Jackson - I'm the Man
48. The Kinks - Lola
49. Deep Purple - Machine Head
50. Devo - Are We Not Men?
51. Rolling Stones - Some Girls
52. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
53. The Clash - s/t
54. Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food
55. Queen - News of the World
56. The Cars - s/t
57. Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
58. Big Star - Radio City
59. John Lennon - Mind Games
60. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
61. Joe Jackson - Look Sharp!
62. New York Dolls - s/t
63. AC/DC - TNT
64. Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
65. The Faces - A Nod is as Good as a Wink to a Blind Horse
66. Gang of Four - Entertainment
67. David Bowie - Lodger
68. Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
69. Aerosmith - Rocks
70. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes
71. Supertramp - Breakfast in America
72. Allman Brothers Band - Eat a Peach
73. Ramones - Leave Home
74. XTC - Drums and Wires
75. The Modern Lovers - s/t
76. Wire - Pink Flag
77. Cheap Trick - At Budokan
78. Rush - A Farewell to Kings
79. Blondie - Parallel Lines
80. Peter Gabriel - 1
81. Sly and the Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On
82. Saturday Night Live soundtrack
83. The Police - Regatta de Blanc
84. Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
85. Nick Lowe - Labour of Lust
86. Max Webster - High Class in Borrowed Shoes
87. Wings - Band on the Run
88. Cheap Trick - In Color
89. Elvis Costello - Armed Forces
90. Roxy Music - Siren
91. Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
92. Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
93. KISS - Destroyer
94. Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and Other Love Songs
95. The Cars - Candy-O
96. The Police - Outlandos D'Amour
97. Thin Lizzy - Black Rose
98. Led Zeppelin - Presence
99. Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers
100. The Who - By Numbers

Plenty of great albums didn't make the cut. I could easily list another 100.