Kind of. I followed Sea of Tranquility’s choice of limiting it to two albums per artist.

70s was a diverse decade for many genres, from folk rock singer-songwriters to German kosmische, art rock, prog, glam, punk, funk, soul, reggae, disco and much more. Too much to digest all at once. In June we covered prog, and July the countdown covered hard rock, heavy metal, and proto-metal.

One Band for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Birmingham where the Dreams die.
One Band to rule them all, One Band to find them,
One Band to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
One Band, none more Black
One Black Sabbath to rule them all

1. Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality (1971)
   Black Sabbath’s third album has always been my favorite, which makes sense given my later preference for stoner doom, one of many metal subgenres that they can be credited for (not that the band ever would claim it). The legend of Tony Iommi downtuning to adjust for his two missing fingertips actually didn’t happen until this album, most noticeably in the C# tuning of “Children of the Grave.” It’s a bit short, with after two instrumentals, only six full-length songs, but they’re all Sabbath at their peak evil powers. Any of their first six albums are solid candidates for favorite Sabbath album. This is mine.

2. Black Sabbath – Paranoid (1970)
   I heard the first three Sabbath albums when I was eight years old. They belonged to a little girl who lived across the hall from me, Jolene. Or at least, her absent father left them behind. She never let me borrow them to listen within the safe confines of my room. I always had to endure playing dolls and house in order to listen to them. Freaked out by both the frightening sounds of the records, and the kind of crazy social transactions I found myself participating in, I didn’t circle back to buy my own copies until I was in college. At that point I realized they’d been embedded in my subconsciousness through over half my life, subtly informing my musical tastes. All my interests in metal, doom, prog, even grunge, were rooted in this album. As they are with many of the 6+ million people who heard this album, so no need to go into the details of why it’s so great.
   
   
3. Thin Lizzy – Black Rose: A Rock Legend (1979)
   Beyond the well known Jailbreak, there’s several albums that can be candidates for Lizzy’s best. Pete chose Fighting (1975) in his ranking a few years back, but that’s changed. Others might choose Johnny the Fox (1976) or Bad Reputation (1977). This has been my top jam since I did a TL ranking in 2006, though others have shifted under it. After their triumphant live album, this is Lynott’s glorious songwriting peak for me.
   
   
4. Flower Travellin’ Band – Satori (1971)
   As with Krautrocksampler Julian Cope once again was the first to introduce me to some long-neglected albums with Japrocksampler: How the Post-War Japanese Blew Their Minds on Rock ‘n’ Roll (2007). Satori was tied with Eve (1971) by Speed, Glue & Shinki as the greatest Japanese rock album of all time. I’m definitely on board with Flower Travellin’ Band, whose iconic cover from their debut Anywhere (1970) is featured on the cover of Cope’s book. Cope described Satori as their “most singular and demented work, coming over like some super-fit combination of Led Zeppelin’s “The Immigrant Song” and the Yardbirds’ “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” as played by a non-blues guitarist such as Michael Schenker, or perhaps Uli John Roth’s power trio Electric Sun.” While I would categorize Satori as proto-metal, the song structures are so far out and guitarist Hideki Ishima’s playing is so original that the album resembles nothing else. It seems only recently that contemporary bands from Japan, Sweden and the U.S. have begun tapping into Flower Travellin’ Band as an influence.
   
   
5. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
   Like a lot of people, my love and impatience for Led Zeppelin has ebbed and flowed since childhood. Enamored by “Black Dog” and “Stairway,” then sick of them, then more impressed by “Four Sticks” and “When the Levee Breaks” on side two. The album ain’t perfect, but it’s never going to go away. I even recently got a bit verklempt watching Buckets the Drummer jam out on “Stairway” after an operatic bathroom skit on love and loss! Led Zeppelin II is still my favorite, but IV looms over the seventies like a giant obolisk. The surface might be crumbling in places, but it’s going to outlast us all.
   
   
6. AC/DC – Powerage (1978)
   As the world grew sick of Back in Black and Highway to Hell, the U.S. version of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (the third Australian album in 1976) came out in 1981, and more fans started appreciating the early Bon Scott era. Counting the Aussie albums, this one, their fifth, is arguably their peak. No singles, no novelty joke songs, no simple earworms that you want to dig out with a nail. Contrary to what one would assume, AC/DC doesn’t even rely on riffs that much. Simply some greasy rock ‘n’ roll riding a locomotive rhythm engine you could set a Swiss watch to, colored by some of Angus’ best leads, while Scott practically oozes his dirty ass lyrics throughout to the point where you subconsciously crave a shower after”Sin City.” Or perhaps you’re like a certain type of folk who embraces the grime and uses this as the “bedroom” record.
   
   
7. Thin Lizzy – Bad Reputation (1977)
   The top spots shift around over the years. When I last did an album ranking piece for Thin Lizzy in 2006, Jailbreak was my #2, and Bad Reputation was #6. Like AC/DC’s Powerage, it doesn’t benefit from hit singles, just mostly head-down rocking, though there is certainly an outlier with the pop hooks and Van Morrison inspired R&B horns on “Dancing in the Moonlight.” Lead by “Killer Without a Cause” and the title track, there isn’t a weak moment on this great album in a catalog that’s so consistent, your top six could shuffle any given day.
   
   
8. Led Zeppelin – Houses Of The Holy (1973)
   As great as Led Zeppelin was, it wasn’t hard to pick their two best 70s albums. It’s a fairly close call with III, but Physical Graffitti only has three classic tunes on the whole double set. This one is flawed too, with “The Crunge” and “D’yer Make’r.” I kind of like the latter, but not a great album cut. I would have loved if they ventured further into the psych prog of “No Quarter.” What amazing guitar tones. Yeah, the Zep had amazing moments ’til the end.
   
   
9. Hawkwind – Space Ritual (1973)
   I recently overheard a customer and clerk talk about this album at a small record store. They repeated the story of how Lemmy was kicked out for doing drugs. I didn’t want to be THAT guy and interject that it was simply the wrong drugs. Cuz duh, they were all high of kites through at least 1977. Hawkwind were special with and without Lemmy, and I broke my rule of no live albums with this one because no studio album comes close to this set. And it’s the only official album you can hear highlights “Orgone Accumulator” and “Upside Down.” Atomhenge is releasing a 50th Anniversary edition on Sep 29. Tempted!
   
   
10. Judas Priest – Stained Class (1978)
    Priest has a deep catalog with a lot of classics, and this is my pick for their all-time best. Even more so than the landmark Sad Wings of Destiny, the speed and precision of this album was a key inspiration for the NWOBHM scene to the point where these legends were grandfathered into the cause, as the key architects of the sound of heavy metal as we know it, before it splintered into thousands of subgenres. What’s even more amazing is that the band, even after their commercial peak in the early 80s, kept working hard at being better musicians, and hit yet another peak 12 years later. Metal gods indeed.
    
    
11. Stray – Stray (1970)
    Signed to a contract way back in 1966 as young teenagers on the strength of precocious musical talent rivaling Free, Stray have plenty of experience with mod and psychedelia. On their debut album, they nod to their past with the rocking “Only What You Make It” and the psychedelic pop of “Around The World In Eighty Days.” But it’s the sprawling proto-metal of the 9:23 opener “All In Your Mind” that prompted Pentagram to cite them as an influence. Iron Maiden would later record that song as a B-side. The band is tight and cohesive despite exploring additional genres like prog, jazz fusion and Hawkwind-like space rock. Some of their more driving moments even remind me of some early MC5, but more musically diverse and complex. The closing title-track features some scorching Del Bromham guitar solos resembling Sir Lord Baltimore.
    
    
12. Judas Priest – Sad Wings Of Destiny (1976)
    Here’s a good test to determine what is and isn’t heavy metal. Imagine if the album was released this year. Would any of the first five Sabbath albums be considered anything other than hard blues rock and proto-metal? This is why many believe Judas Priest’s second album is the first full-on heavy metal album. Genre debates aside, with Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing’s guitar work, Rob Halford’s range and the epic songwriting, there’s no denying it’s a landmark event in metal.
    
    
13. AC/DC – Let There Be Rock (1977)
    Every decade I love Bon Scott era AC/DC more and more. They’re the purest expression of rock ‘n’ roll in the 70s followed closely by Motörhead. The first three Aussie albums, High Voltage, T.N.T. and Dirty Deeds are great, but I’m not on board with all the choices for the American comps. Why leave “Jailbreak” off of Dirty Deeds? I love that song. So Let There Be Rock is their first truly consistent album, all bangers top to bottom. This is my church of rock. Yayus!
    
    
14. Queen – News of the World (1977)
    It seems not many Queen fans rate this as their favorite. Arguably all their albums have weak spots, but this one provides the most consistent thrills in my experience. At this point I just tolerate the twofer stadium “We Will/Are” intro along the lines of the beginning of Led Zep IV, but there’s much to love, from the speed metal influencing “Sheer Heart Attack” to “Spread Your Wings,” the bordline cringe ‘n’ nasty “Get Down, Make Love” later covered by NIN, and “Sleeping on the Sidewalk.” And “It’s Late” is such a massively underrated jam. I keep expecting it to be revived in a way that “Kashmir” was. I guess it takes just the right movie soundtrack. Not that the band has helped, they hadn’t played it live since 1979, and it’s on none of the live recordings. One of life’s great mysteries.
    
    
15. Motörhead – Overkill (1979)
    Motörhead’s 1977 self-titled debut album is cool, featuring their signature pig head logo, their signature song re-done from Lemmy’s Hawkwind days and “The Watcher.” But it wasn’t until Overkill that they truly nailed down their sound. Fast, brutal, and Lemmy spitting out witty lyrics like rusty bullets from his whiskey and smoke ravaged throat.
    
    
16. Queen – Queen II (1974)
    I was only 10, but it’s funny to think Queen was once my second favorite band based solely on News of the World, Jazz and The Game. I did have the Greatest Hits comp, but didn’t get to hear “Ogre Battle” and “The March of the Black Queen” for another decade. I prefer this over Night at the Opera because it has the progressive ambitions without the music hall/show tune ditties, for the most part.
    
    
17. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd (1973)
    I was catching up on Nate Garrett’s (Spirit Adrift) Big Riff Energy channel, and he talked about how Skynyrd’s run of first five albums is perfect. I can’t quite buy that with their third and fourth albums, and even in the documentary If I Leave Here Tomorrow (Netflix), they admit how they were low on energy and inspiration. Nevertheless, had Ronnie and others lived to make a sixth album, they would certainly be ranked close to my top 10 of album runs, and the first is still my favorite, along with the original Muscle Shoals recordings. Them holed up at the Hell House cabin in Green Cove Springs, FL, picking psychedelic mushrooms and simmering in a large pot for some dank all-day tea, sweating and being eaten by bugs, but creating and honing music for this debut album is the stuff of rock ‘n’ roll legend.
    
    
18. Rainbow – Rising (1976)
    This took me a while to appreciate, as my introduction to Ronnie James Dio was the first two albums from his band, then Black Sabbath, then this, which still had that lingering scent of patchouli and bell bottoms. It’s why I still consider this proto-metal, rather than full on heavy metal like Sad Wings of Destiny. Still, Dio levels up from Elf with some iconic vocal performances, and unforgettable riffs on “Stargazer” and “Do You Close Your Eyes.” Better than Deep Purple!
    
    
19. Robin Trower – Bridge Of Sighs (1974)
    What would Jimi do? It’s a question that perpetually haunts fans and guitar acolytes. A talent like that snuffed out at only 27, one can only guess what he would have done. Formed a jazz fusion group? Gone pop? Further steer the direction of hard rock and proto-metal? Create a full-on genius psych prog classic? Maybe all the things, maybe none. But it’s nice to hear at least one talented guitarist, formerly of Procol Harum, offer a possible path, channeling at least a portion of Hendrix’s spirit in this, his most accomplished and gorgeous album.
    
    
20. Night Sun – Mournin’ (1972)
    Among previously overlooked cult albums by Jerusalem, Lucifer’s Friend, Bang, Blues Creation and Blackwater Park, Night Sun’s Mournin’ stands out in the pack as an exceptional piece of German proto-metal with elements of spacy, jazzy prog, screamy Ian Gillian style vocals, and even some moments of doomy heaviness surpassed at the time only by Sabbath. Though it was produced by Conny Plank at windrose in Hamburg, Mournin’ was not celebrated along with the likes of Plank-produced Kraftwerk, Faust and Ash Ra Tempel mainly because its proggy proto-metal was simply not fashionable, at least until recently. Many of the members have a background in 60s jazz band Take Five, and it shows in their chops. The keyboard-heavy grooves still have that satisfyingly lumbering stomp, but they can spin on a dime when they need to, like on the scorching “Nightmare.” The instrumental “Got A Bone Of My Own,” “Plastic Shotgun” and “Crazy Woman” are just as impressive and compare well against the best that Uriah Heep and Atomic Rooster have to offer from all their albums.
    
    
21. The Groundhogs – Split (1971)
    Here’s another amazing band that I finally heard of thanks to CD reissues in 1997 and music sites, and no thanks to mainstream music publications. Together since 1963, their hard blues psych came together on their third album, Thank Christ for the Bomb (1970), and this one gets the edge thanks to the classic “Cherry Red.” All of these albums are now on Bandcamp!
    
    
22. Motörhead – Bomber (1979)
    The only disadvantage over Overkill Lemmy & co’s third album has is the lack of shock value of the band finally clicking into their signature sound. Lean, mean and nasty, they’ve shed all the dusty sonic blues rock artifacts that held back On Parole and their 1977 full length debut. Lemmy famously always denied being heavy metal, and insisted on being considered the rock ‘n’ roll pantheon under Little Richard. Still, definitely hard rock. He also said these early albums suck eggs compared to some of his later work, which, maybe they’re a bit more primitive in terms of the playing and lyrics (the clumsy metaphors of “Ace of Spades” won’t be winning any poetry awards). But still perfect to my ears.
    
    
23. Speed, Glue & Shinki – Eve (1971)
    Not all my late discoveries of great underground hard rock and heavy psych were quite top 30 tier for me (Leaf Hound, November, Buffalo), but this odd trio based in Japan but with an English singer/drummer (Joey Smith), has persisted. If boldly addressing drugs and depravity in their lyrics was forward thinking, these guys were sort of pioneers. Their eclectic approaches to heavy can be heard in Melvins, Boris among others. Only their second self-titled album reached the lower regions of this mega-poll I participated in over a decade ago: ILM 1970-1979 WTF Hard ‘n’ Heavy ‘n’ Loud + Krautrock, Arty, Noisy, Weird, Funky, Punky Album Poll. So yeah, this is an acquired taste!
    
    
24. Scorpions – Taken By Force (1978)
    While Lovedrive (1979) was a flashier, well produced album with more stadium-ready tunes, I’ve gradually realized since I got a remastered version in 2001, this is possibly their best album overall. “Steamrock Fever,” “We’ll Burn the Sky,” “The Sails of Charon,” “He’s a Woman – She’s a Man,” I remember seeing these titles in the record club description thinking they sounded like killer songs without properly hearing them for way too long. Kind of like how my allegiance for AC/DC’s Highway to Hell (1979) shifted to Powerage (1978), like it did for a lot of others.
    
    
25. UFO – Lights Out (1977)
    UFO’s live album kind of overshadowed their studio work, but their best overall for me is Lights Out. It’s too short, doesn’t have that many “hits,” but it’s their best sounding album, best performance, and most consistent songs. There are more influential bands that this beats out on my list like Montrose and Van Halen cuz UFO just matters more to me for consistent listening pleasure and influence on other bands I love. Bonus friendlies for Michael Schenker on guitar and the Hipgnosis cover.
    
    
26. Sweet – Sweet Fanny Adams (1974)
    In 1974, the band recorded their first full album without the “Chinnichap” team, and it was a corker. Despite the fact that it melded the best of both the worlds of T. Rex and Queen, and influenced everyone from Kiss to Cheap Trick and Motley Crue, Sweet Fanny Adams wasn’t even released properly in the U.S. Only part of it was heard in a domestic reissue of Desolation Boulevard (1974), a minor classic in its own right. It was finally reissued by Sony BMG in 2005, remastered with copious bonus tracks. The album kicks off with proto-speedmetal, I kid you not. “Set Me Free” is fast and clean with a tight guitar solo that sticks in the brain, basically providing a template for later Judas Priest and NWOBHM, and eventually covered by Saxon among many others. It definitely shows Andy Scott is one of the undersung guitar heroes of the era. “No You Don’t” is a brooding, psych rocker with vocals that rival Ozzy Osbourne’s paranoia. The B-side “Burning” also pays tribute to Black Sabbath. “In To The Night,” has the coolest intro, building up from a simple drum pattern and riff, that probably made the likes of Alice Cooper and Ted Nugent green with envy, had they even heard it. “Peppermint Twist” and “AC-DC” break up the dark rockers with some pop. I believe the Australian AC/DC already existed by the time the latter came out. Sweet F.A., yeah!
    
    
27. Budgie – Never Turn Your Back on a Friend (1973)
    Another massively important piece of the proto-metal puzzle, Welsh band Budgie actually formed before Deep Purple, in 1967, originally called Hill Contemporary Grass, but missed getting credit for creating anything as their self-titled debut came out in 1971. Their third and best album features “Breadfan” which appeared to be an influence on everyone from Rush (who would debut just a year later with some similar sounds) to Iron Maiden and the entire NWOBHM scene, and later Metallica, who covered both that song and “Crash Course in Brain Surgery” from the following album. AC/DC recorded a cover of “Baby Please Don’t Go” less than two years later inspired by Budgie’s. On fresh re-listens, prog elements are present, and the 10:21 “Parents” is a sprawling downtempo ballad with some really beautiful guitar solos that end up sounding like the cries of birds. There’s an interesting acoustic version on the CD reissue that sounds like it could have been a Led Zeppelin/Jethro Tull collaboration.
    
    
28. Uriah Heep – Look At Yourself (1971)
    An early review of their first album, …Very ‘eavy…Very ‘umble, released June 13, 1970 in Rolling Stone trashing it may have tainted the critical response to this band, but they were hugely important as one of the first architects of proto-metal their hard rock infused with prog and heavy psych. Their occasional use of high pitched operatic harmonies on “Look at Yourself” and “Bird of Prey” from their second album, sound like a template for Queen, while Judas Priest must have been keenly listening to the piledriving “Love Machine.” The epic 10+ minute “July Morning” assembles three separate parts that were linked by C minor key. Someone wrote that it inspired a Bulgarian tradition of traveling to the coast of the Black Sea to watch the sun rise on the 1st of July while singing this song. That sounds completely made up, but I love the image. If it weren’t for the fact that the band were fairly well known with their singles “Gypsy” and later “Easy Livin'” they would have become a much “cooler” cult favorite/buried treasure.
    
    
29. Deep Purple – In Rock (1970)
    A lot of folks hold Purple in equal or even greater esteem than Black Sabbath. I can understand it, as Blackmore is a great guitarist and composer in ways that Iommi is not. However, I’ve never FELT it. This is an important classic, and if it weren’t for the fact that I love how they cite MC5 as a key influence, this would have been lower.
    
    
30. Scorpions – In Trance (1975)
    Martin Popoff’s book Who Invented Heavy Metal is a fun and recommended read. I think the topic deserves more books on it, ones that go beyond just mentions of “heavy metal” in reviews and debating the music, but really digging into the musical culture of the time, when bands started truly self-identifying as heavy metal, and fans started regularly using the term rather than hard or heavy rock, putting patches on jackets and battlevests. In 1975 it seems both bands and fans still looked mainly like hippies, but Scorpions definitely took a step toward metal. At least there’s some proto-metal to be found in their hard rock at this point, compared to psychedelic and kosmische elements in the first two.
    
    
31. UFO – Phenomenon (1974)
    Choosing #31 is even harder than the top 10, because I have to decide now who’s going to be cut out. It was a tough one, but I felt it absolutely necessary that UFO make this list. Their live album gets all the attention, and while their third through seventh studio albums are all solid, a single one has rarely been singled out as a classic. A band considered metal adjacent for their dual lead guitars, and a lean, hard attack that strips out all the blues that no one else did in 1974. It’s significant that Iron Maiden kicks off every show by playing “Doctor Doctor” on the PA. Steve Harris must have heard that in 1974 and a light bulb went off in his head — that’s it! That’s the template I want to expand on.

More from the usual suspects:

3. Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (Vertigo/WB, 1970)
4. Black Sabbath – Vol. 4 (1972)
5. Black Sabbath – Sabotage (1975)
6. Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
7. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin III (1970)
8. Thin Lizzy – Jailbreak (Mercury, 1976)
9. Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975)
10. AC/DC – Let There Be Rock (Epic, 1977)
11. Rush – Hemispheres (1978)
12. Thin Lizzy – Johnny the Fox (1976)
13. AC/DC – Highway to Hell (1979)
14. Rush – A Frarewell to Kings (1977)
15. Queen – A Night at hte Opera (1975)
16. AC/DC – High Voltage (1976)
17. Epitaph – Outside the Law (1974)
18. Queen – Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
19. Thin Lizzy – Fighting (1975)
20. Sweet – Desolation Boulevard (1974)
21. Rush – 2112 (1976)
22. Atomic Rooster – Death Walks Behind You (1970)
23. Deep Purple – Machine Head (1972)
24. Thin Lizzy – Vagabonds of the Western World (1973)
25. Scorpions – Virgin Killer (1976)
26. Uriah Heep – Demons and Wizards (1972)
27. Funkadelic – Standing on the Verge of Getting it On (1974)
28. Lucifer’s Friend – Lucifer’s Friend (1970)
29. Leaf Hound – Growers Of Mushroom (1971)

Bubblin’ Under

November – En Ny Tid är Här (1970)
Funkadelic – Standing On the Verge Of Getting It On (1974)
Budgie – In For the Kill! (1974)
Granicus – Granicus (1973)
Van Halen – Van Halen (1978)
Montrose – Montrose (1973)
The Groundhogs – Thank Christ for the Bomb (1970)

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