Essential 1970s LPs

I've been digging very heavily through the 1980s stuff that I missed and I want to continue on with the 1970s soon. Right now I'm going through a progressive rock website's top 100 list, and of course I know the obvious Floyd, Bowie, Sabbath, etc.

Besides the stuff in the charts back then, is there some overlooked 1970s stuff that you could recommend? For example, I plan to start going through Kraftwerk's 70s stuff, same with Vangelis (R.I.P.), Scorpions, and I just found a guy called Jean-Luc Ponty that I really like. Bonus points if you could recommend some awesome sounding rock/metal, electronic, soundtracks or really just anything that's slightly more underground. I hear that there was a whole 'space music' scene, and tons of cool fusion, krautrock and so forth. Lots of stuff I haven't delved into yet.

 

Why not check Rate Your Music Year by Year. Their lists are pretty good, and the music is categorised. Then stream before you buy. If you like Ponty, maybe try Zappa's Hot Rats (although it was recorded in 1969).

 

hawkwind - in search of space
miles davis - live-evil
mahavishnu orchestra - birds of fire
john mclaughlin - extrapolation
return to forever - hymn of the 7th galaxy
sir lord baltimore - kingdom come
bang - bang
can - future days
tonto's expanding head band - zero time
syrinx - long lost relatives
david pritchard - nocturnal earthworm stew

 

VAST subject!

 

Neu! I prefer Neu! 75 of their albums.

Tangerine Dream, especially Phaedra, Rubycon and Ricochet.

Anything from Harmonia and Cluster.

Heading fusion-wards, start at the very beginning with Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, then check out Return to Forever (I actually like the Bill Connors line up more than the Al Di Meola one) and Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Then take a left turn and get Television's Marquee Moon, because that is just the law.

 

Oh, nearly forgot: King Crimson's immortal mid-70s run of albums, Larks'Tongues In Aspic, Starless And Bible Black, Red.

 

Some unsuccessful records from stars are fantastic! I’m especially thinking about albums like „Surf’s Up“ by the Beach Boys

 

Osamu Kitajima – Benzaiten
flower travellin' band - satori
Budgie - Never turn your back on a friend
harmonia - deluxe
amon duul 2 - yeti
magma - mekanik destruktiw kommandoh
jean-michel jarre - oxygene
jean-michel jarre - equinoxe
van der graaf generator - pawn hearts
Rocket From the tombs (any 70s comp)
Pentagram (any 70s comp)

&... AC/DC - P0werage

 

Gong

 

How much spare time do you have.... ?

 

There are a plethora of fantastic seventies albums....

One band I completely missed back in the day that have become a favourite of mine now are Gentle Giant
I think there catalog is very worth exploring.
At the very least
Three Friends
Octopus
In A Glass House
Power And The Glory
Free Hand
Interview
are all very worth exploring.

 

I'd like to candidate this list - in any order:

Van der Graaf Generator H to He, Who Am the Only One
Genesis Nursery Cryme
Caravan If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
King Crimson Lizard
Jethro Tull Living in the Past
Yes Close to the Edge
Return to Forever Where Have I Known You Before
Hawkwind Warrior on the Edge of Time
Steve Hillage L
Henry Cow Western Culture

 

Oh my. Here comes a listing of every album of that decade.

And probably some from the two adjoining decades as well...

 

The thread title led me to think the same thing, but the first post limited it to albums I generally don't care for.

 

I've actually got a good bit at the moment.

There's some good recommendations so far. I can probably just find lists somewhere but it's more fun hearing everyone's favorites on here.

Awesome. That'll keep me busy Hopefully I'll come across some real gems soon...

 

Provide the link, so we can avoid overlapping their recommendations. But honestly I think exploring only the best albums by artists is a bad way to build a collection. Instead just explore artists/bands and pick up albums from their most prolific eras. In the '70s I list these:
AC/DC, Aerosmith, Allman Brothers Band, Bad Company, Big Star, Bowie, Costello, CCR, Dylan, Eagles, Eno, Faces, Fleetwood Mac, Funkadelic, Marvin Gaye, Genesis, Grateful Dead, All Green, Isaac Hayes, Elton John, Rickie Lee Jones, Carol King, Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, Little Feat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marley, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, Graham Parker, Tom Petty, PiL, Queen, Ramones, Rolling Stones, Linda Ronstadt, Roxy Music, Paul Simon, Springsteen, Steely Dan, Rod Stewart, The Stooges, T. Rex, Talking Head, Television, Thin Lizzy, Richard and Linda Thompson, Van Halen, The Velvet Underground, Weather Report, Stevie Wonder, and Neil Young.

 

To pile on, I don’t know if there is a better decade for exploring diverse music. The 70’s as a whole arguably produced the best diverse, quality (and a lot of garbage one hit wonder albums that I for some reason I like) albums of any decade. Add production values and sound quality being at it’s peak, I think it’s the best decade to do some exploring. And you’ll still miss a bunch of good stuff. That list vinylontubes gave is a great start. Music took a very hard turn at the stroke of 1980. Very few 70’s acts survived. Very curious phenomenon, but a great decade to explore. You should give Van Morrison’s Moondance a spin! Great album from that period.

 

I'll avoid the obvious Yes, Genesis, Floyd, Zep, Springsteen offerings. The following are essential to me!

Van Morrison- Veedon Fleece
Mahavishnu Orchestra- Birds Of Fire
Grobschnitt - Solar Music
Nektar - A Tab In The Ocean
The O Band - The knife
Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn
Santana - Caravanserai
Kansas - Point Of Know Return
Soft Machine - Bundles

 

Pekka Streng & Tasavallan Presidentti ‎– Magneettimiehen Kuolema

Genre:

Rock

Style:

Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock

Year:

1970


Maybe not so essential to the rest of the world, but for me this is the most important album made in 1970. People might be more familiar with Tasavallan Presidentti and their guitarist Jukka Tolonen, they were the backing band with few extra musicians. Pekka Streng was 27 when he died. He released just two albums, the other one was Kesämaa (1972).

 

In the early 70s the big labels issued sampler records at low prices, usually offering 1 track each from their roster of artists.

As an example, "Bumpers" is a great 1970 2lp collection from Island records, and can be had used for a reasonable price.

I can thank Bumpers for introducing Traffic, Nick Drake, Jethro Till and Sandy Denny to me.