Greatest year ever for rock?

Ironically NADM came out in 1972.

LZ IV, Who's Next, Sticky Fingers, Every Picture Tells A Story. Arguably the peak of all four careers (you could quibble over the Stones)

Four classic rock or even Classic Rock albums. Wouldn't argue with 71 even though my preference for albums I love more than those four would be 75.

 

1972

Yes - Close to the Edge
Yes - Fragile
Big Star - #1 Record
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
Genesis - Foxtrot
Cat Stevens - Catch Bull At Four
Miles Davis - On The Corner
Herbie Hancock - Crossings
Return To Forever - S/T
Return to Forever - Light As A Feather
Donald Byrd - Blackbyrd
Stevie Wonder - Music Of My Mind
Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
The Beach Boys - Carl And The Passions: So Tough
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Jethro Tull - Living in the Past
Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
Glass Harp - It Makes Me Glad
Carpenters - A Song For You
Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - S/T
Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - Darwin!
Premiata Forneria Marconi - Storia Di Un Minuto
Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico
Lucifer's Friend - Where The Groupies Killed The Blues
Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds
Frank Zappa - The Grand Wazoo
Weather Report - I Sing The Body Electric
Weather Report - Live In Japan
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
Wishbone Ash - Argus
The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St.
Family - Bandstand
Elton John - Honky Chateau
Paul Simon - S/T
Joni Mitchell - For The Roses
Neil Young - Harvest
Jim Pembroke - Hot Thumbs O'Riley: Wicked Ivory
Pekka Pohjola - Pihkasilmä Kaarnakorva
John Denver - Rocky Mountain High
The Temptations - Solid Rock
Al Green - I'm Still In Love With You
Loggins and Messina - S/T
Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze
Harry Nilsson - Son of Schmilsson
Ricky Nelson - Garden Party
O'Jays - Back Stabbers
Neil Diamond - Moods
Strawbs - Grave New World
The Eero Koivistoinen Music Society - Wahoo!
Matching Mole - S/T
The Allman Brothers Band - Eat A Peach
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Hoelderlin - Hoelderlin's Traum
Khan - Space Shanty
Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Glorified Magnified
Kalevala - People No Names
Earth & Fire - Song of the Marching Children
Grobschnitt - S/T
Santana - Caravanserai
Renaissance - Prologue
Quella Vecchia Locanda - S/T
Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything?
Flash - S/T
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Caravan - Waterloo Lily
Gentle Giant - Three Friends
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Manassas - S/T
Crosby & Nash - S/T
Uriah Heep - Demons and Wizards
Raspberries - Fresh Raspberries
Roxy Music - S/T
Alice Cooper - School's Out
ELP - Trilogy
Chicago - Chicago V
T. Rex - The Slider
America - Homecoming
Rod Stewart - Never A Dull Moment
Syreeta - S/T
Pure Prairie League - Bustin' Out
The Kinks - Everybody's In Showbiz
Spinners - S/T
Santana - Caravanserai
Pete Townshend - Who Came First
Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill
The Grateful Dead - Europe '72
Poco - Good Feelin' To Know
The Moody Blues - Seventh Sojourn
Aphrodite's Child - 666
Bread - Baby I'm A Want You
Amon Duul II - Wolf City
Can - Ege Bamyasi
Captain Beyond - S/T
Faust - So Far
Focus - Focus 3
War - The World Is A Ghetto
Le Orme - Uoma Di Pezza
Nektar - A Tab in the Ocean
Rare Bird - Epic Forest
Tasavallan Presidentti - Lambertland
Hall & Oates - Whole Oats
Cannonball Adderley - The Black Messiah
Larry Norman - Only Visiting This Planet
Fleetwood Mac - Bare Trees

 

Yes Fragile was released in November of 1971.

 

pick a year between 69 and 75.

 

January 4, 1972

My original Atlantic USA copy bought during release week by my uncle has a 1972 copyright date.

 

That's a US reissue....not the original release date. That's not even the earliest US release.

Yes - Fragile »

 

Looks like Fragile was released in Europe in late 1971, but was not released in any way in USA prior to 1972. That 1971 date on discogs for a music club LP release in USA is erroneous.

 

My favorite year that predates my life is 1969:

In the Court of the Crimson King
Abbey Road
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II
Tommy
Blind Faith
The Velvet Underground
Let It Bleed
Hot Rats
Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire
The Stooges
Grand Funk
The Band
Willy and the Poor Boys
Green River
Trout Mask Replica
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
Santana
The Allman Brothers Band
Chicago Transit Authority
Free

My favorite year of my life is 1991:

Nevermind
Ten
Metallica
Out of Time
Laughing Stock
Use Your Illusion I & II
Badmotorfinger
Achtung Baby
Loveless
Temple of the Dog
Spiderland
Gish
Arise
Into the Great Wide Open
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Goat
Bullhead
Drive Like Jehu
Innuendo
Parallels
Slave to the Grind
Mr. Bungle
No More Tears
Road Apples
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
The Reality of My Surroundings
Blind
Saigon Kick
Fear
8-Way Santa

 

Unless I've very much missed it, am I to understand that this thread's been here for nearly 14 years, and no-one's posted this yet?…



…it's a scientific fact!

 

1967
But all nominations for 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1971 will be taken seriously.

 

And you left out one of the best:
Kinks-Face To Face

 

Hello,

1973 for me...Even the records released that year by the "greats" are still really good IMO. It's just hard for me to ignore The Dark Side of the Moon & Dixie Chicken...Not to mention Who Do We Think We Are ? & many many others. You name it, everyone seemed to put out really solid albums, if not their collectively considered bests.

Ciao,

Rastus

 

For me there is no BEST year (maybe next year, who knows!) but just off the top of my head, 1967 was great:

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Are you Experienced" AND "Axis Bold as Love" (I could stop right there!)
The Doors (first, self titled) (Again, stop there?!)
The Beatles: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (What more could you ask for?!)
The Velvet Underground: "Velvet Underground and Nico" (Banana peal- wow!)
The Rolling Stones: "Between the Buttons" (Love that one)
Moby Grape (self titled) (Excellent!)
Grateful Dead (self titled) (The year of great self-titled albums? Well there you go!)
Captain Beefheart: "Safe as Milk" (OK, not my very favorite Van Vliet and company but who's complaining?!)

 

Yeah...I'm not sure if that earlier US release is erroneous or not, but since they're a UK band, and the album was recorded and released in the UK (and all of Europe) in 1971...I can't see how it's a 1972 album. Or are you just counting when they come out in the US regardless of their actual global release?

 

I grew up with a ton of LP, cassette, and Cd copies of "Fragile" that all say 1972 on them. And no person living in the USA in the early 70's ever heard "Roundabout" prior to 1972. That's why.

 

Lol..who cares what your old US copies say? I would think a Yes fanatic would want to know when the actual, original 1st pressing was released...not when Woolworth's happened to get it.

 

67 or 69. Hard to say. I can't think of two comparable years in the last three decades.

 

Similar problem with Tales From Topographic Oceans. Recorded and copyrighted in 1973 along with a UK release date, but not released in USA until January 9, 1974.

But for Fragile, I spent 25 years thinking the album was a 1972 album (because that's what all the records said,) until I read on the interweb that it was released outside of my country five weeks earlier, it's hard to fix that in my perception.

 

I know...I used to think it was 1972 as well, and that they released both Fragile and Close to the Edge in the same calendar year (how awesome). But when I actually got a first UK pressing and it said 1971, and I started looking at their own discography putting it in November of '71...I too had to recalibrate my thinking, so that it was The Yes album and Fragile that were released in the same calendar year (still awesome).

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is the same way...
UK Dec 1 1973 release
US Jan 1 1974 release

 

1982

 

With all the great obscure bands I've discovered over the last 15 years, I've narrowed it down between 1970 -1972.

 

2017

 

Yes.

 

One more to add regarding 1967: the year Bob Dylan wrote more songs in that one year than in any one year in his career- 107 for Basement Tapes and outtakes and it seems I read the total for the year was something like 156 (can't confirm that). Quite a year for Bob!

 

1970
Great album year!