RYM Top 25 worst albums of 1970s with at least 1000 votes: what hills will you die on?

But...how many of us here, are likely to either reach a consensus...or, agree with whatever consensus we would reach...?

 

It only just made it - the list is by place on the list.

 

Zeppelin / In Through The Outdoor
Dylan / Self Portrait

Definitely should be not on this list. The others are debatable though.

 

Black Sabbath - Never Say Die! Is a good record

Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band - Bluejeans and Moonbeams is my favorite Beefheart record. Like a Don Van Vliet solo record. He gives me a hug, and I like it.

 

David Bowie - Pin Ups
Wings - Wild Life
Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door

The Alan Parsons has a couple decent songs, at least "Lucifer" is very good

 

Half of these albums are scoring around 3 out of 5, which really isn't so bad. They happen to be from bands that are still revered enough in the internet era to garner 1000+ rankings on a website. I'm sure we can find plenty of more gawd-awful albums recorded in the 70's that were big sellers at the time that suck much more than those on this list.

And I take it the the Sgt. Pepper's soundtrack didn't have enough votes to qualify for the list??

 

Hating Pin Ups is curiously trendy these days. Have that many people even listened to it?

I happen to like it a lot. It's fun and creative and doesn't take itself too seriously.

 

I haven’t heard most of these, but I like the two Black Sabbath albums, and the Zeppelin, Kraftwerk, and ABBA. None are my favorite, but they’re all solid AFAIC. Especially Never Say Die! That album is a lot better than its reputation.

For the rest, Eve has its moments, I don’t like the Beefheart except for the opening track, and the VU isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard.

That Manson record, though, is awful.

 

i also like "rock 'n' roll" ("stand by me" is maybe one of the best cover versions ever) and which other worst album has songs like "sweet hitch hiker" and "someday never comes" on it ?

 

Bluejeans and Moonbeams and Never Say Die are both great! I have middling to negative opinions about the rest on the list that I've heard.

 

I’m on the hill for Carl & The Passions: All This Is That, Mess Of Help & Marcella are all essential Beach Boys tracks.

 

Waterloo, Pin Ups, Eve, and In through the Out Door are all albums I listen to regularly, and none of them are the worst albums by those artists. Not sure how they could possibly end up on a list like this.

 

I'll gladly die on the hill defending the two Sabbath albums, In Through the Out Door and Night in the Ruts.

 

Tormato is an excellent album.

 

I like it as well some pretty good covers - "Sorrow" and "See Emily Play" in particular

 

The Doors - Other Voices isn't that bad. There are some really good songs on there. Of course if Jim was around and sung them, they would've been even better. But, I doubt Jim would've agreed to sing them. LOL

Now, on the other hand, except for one or two songs, Full Circle deserves its hate.


Judas Priest - Rocka Rolla is their debut album and were still finding their mark. But there are a few songs on there that are really good and still get played at concerts on occasion. Traces of the signature twin guitar attacks of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton were present and also Rob Halford's signature high pitched screams. The album gets hate because they hadn't found their footing yet and the album is mostly blues infused Hard Rock instead of their Metal Anthems they are known for. That being said, it is one of my least favorite JP albums (bottom three along with Turbo and Nostradamus.) Their next album, Sad Wings Of Destiny, puts this and all other albums to shame. It's one of my all-time top 10 albums of any genre.

CCR - Mardi Gras. As said earlier in this thread, it's not bad, but compared to all their others it does seem bad. John Fogerty's songs at least keep it from being a stinker.

Both Black Sabbath albums listed aren't bad either. There are a handful of great songs on both albums. Take the best songs from both albums and combine them into one and you would have a great BS album that would rank with the best of their catalog.

LZ - ITTOD shouldn't be on this list. There are 3 great songs on it along with a few fun songs too.

 

For my personal tastes Top 5 Bowie albums so big disagreement here.


Bowie ‎– Pinups
Label:
RCA Victor ‎– PCD1-0291
Format:
CD, Album, Reissue
Country:
US
Released:
1984

 

I really enjoy the two Can albums, especially the one with the Traffic guys. I'd probably rather hear Can do oddball funk than pure avant.

 

Apparently these people didn't get the word about "Having Fun with Elvis on Stage".

 

Nothing wrong with Bowie Pin Ups or Zeppelin ITTOD as far as I'm concerned

 

Bob Dylan - Self Portrait
David Bowie - Pin Ups
The Beach Boys - Carl and The Passions, So Tough
Wings - Wild Life
Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door

I like all of these and even *really* like So Tough. Clearly these all rate low compared to the quality of these artists remaining output, but they aren't even close the worst music of the 70's

Where's Byrdmaniax by The Byrds? (I like that one too)

 

Self Portrait is my favorite Dylan album. The two Sabbath titles are excellent, especially Technical Ecstasy. The Lou Reed appeals to people who like noise (note: I am one of those people.) The Charles Manson album is pretty damn good and "off the wall," but its rep is going to be tainted by other extraneous circumstances. That Aerosmith album is underrated. Early Kraftwerk is early Kraftwerk. A "different animal" than what they were to evolve and "perfect themselves" into but still good. The Led Zeppelin title listed here is unimpeachable.

 

Agreed. Some odd and shrill production qualities might detract from what could have been "better" with different choices made or maybe more time taken to "get it right," but this is a highly underrated album.

 

I'm confused as to what this list is. Are these, according to the RYM ratings, the worst 25 albums of the 1970s? Because I'm sure I could come up with 25 that are worse than most of these.

Of these, I've probably heard around half of them. Of those, the only one I'd say is truly awful is Love Beach. Metal Machine Music is its own thing entirely and not really conventionally "rateable". Is it good? No, not to me...but I do get what Lou Reed was going for and can appreciate the perversity of it. The two Dylan albums have their moments but aren't great by any means, although probably a bit better than their reputations. Mardi Gras is bad, with only two Fogerty songs to save it.

I wouldn't say that any of these (that I've heard) are great albums, but certainly LPs like Prince's For You, Wings' Wild Life, Yes' Tormato, Bowie's Pin Ups, the Captain Beefheart album, and even the Zeppelin one (definitely their weakest) have a few high points that belong among each artist's better work.

 

I love 'Night in the Ruts.'