Acclaimed Music Top 25 Albums from 1974 poll

Genesis!

ome albums just missing the Top 25 26 include: Queen - Sheer Heart Attack, 28 Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), 29 Lou Reed - Rock n Roll Animal, 30 Average White Band - AWB, 31 John Cale - Fear, 32 Bad Company - Bad Co., 33 David Bowie - Diamond Dogs, 35 Millie Jackson - Caught Up, 36 Bob Dylan/The Band - Before the Flood, 37 Dr. Feelgood - Down by the Jetty, 38 Supertramp - Crime of the Century, 39 The Meters - Rejuvenation, 40 Little Feat - Feats Don't Fail Me Now, 41 Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information, 42 Blue Öyster Cult - Secret Treaties, 43 Barry White - Can't Get Enough, 46 Can - Soon Over Babaluma and 48 Todd Rundgren - Todd.

it's gotta be Sparks. what an incredible album that is!

Rare poll where I won't vote for Neil Young. Would have gone for the Dolls album at one point in my life, but Pretzel Logic, in high school and now. Also like Grievous Angel; love "Withered and Died," "Late for the Sky," and "September Gurls." Could see a few different albums winning this one.

Voted for Autobahn almost solely because of side A. Has anyone seen their 3D concert show? It's pretty great. They played autobahn for fifteen minutes.

Runners-up: Wyatt and Roxy Music. And Can, if it had been eligible.

It's Too Late To Stop Now is live as well.

So many classics - I'm not sure if any other year is going to have a top 25 I prefer. Radio City, Court and Spark, and FFF are probably all in my top 10 ever, and No Other, Country Life, Lamb, Good Old Boys, Red, On The Beach, and Kimono My House are all favourites too.

Voting Steely Dan, but lots of other great ones: Parsons, Thompson's, Mitchell, Browne, Big Star, Newman, Ronstadt, etc.

Stevie's best '70s album.

Radio City

On the Beach, of course.

Throw these ones into a hat--Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Kraftwerk, Big Star, Neil Young, Stevie Wonder--draw one, and that'll be the winner by one or two votes.

Was gonna vote for Kraftwerk but then realized I only really like the title track so defaulted to Stevie.

Nobody's mentioned Gene Clark yet which would be in my top five, but Joni and Big Star vie for #1.

Autobahn!

I have to go with Sparks even though I prefer Propaganda. Gene Clark, Kraftwerk and Big Star are all up there too.

Sorry to repeat myself here but yet again they have missed out so many great soul albums. Stevie all the way down at 24 is just not good enough.

Syreeta - Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta (Probably my favourite album of the 70's)
Millie Jackson - Caught Up (Number 35? Seriously this should be top three)
Chairmen of the Board - Skin I'm In
Minnie Riperton - Perfect Angel
Rufus & Chaka Khan - Rufusized
Labelle - Nightbirds
The Isley Brothers - Live It Up
B.T Express - Do It Till' You're Satisfied
Betty Wright - Danger High Voltage
The Meters - Rejuvination
Commodores - Machine Gun

Actually the biggest omission has to be Here Come The Warm Jets, how the hell is that not in the 25?

they call it a 1973 release. discogs says the UK vinyl (and US 8-trk?) came out late that year.

VU 1969

I wondered what Al Green and the Spinners were up to--Pick of the Litter was '75, and Call Me will be on the next one. But Al Green Explores Your Mind certainly could have been on there.

"Wurdah Itah" was released this year too. Pretty good year but c'mon that Sparks album is one of those epochal things. At least I think so, yeah.

On the Beach, just, but so much strong competition: Joni, Wyatt, Kraftwerk, R&L Thompson, Randy, Roxy, Stevie and Gene Clark.

Would also add Shuggie Otis, Millie Jackson, Ann Peebles, Al Green, Chairmen of the Board, Gil Scott-Heron, Leonard Cohen, Cluster, Tom Waits, Can and Bowie. It was a very good year in so many genres.

only albs w/ 1974 actually in the title shld be eligible, so that 'August 1974' by the Taj Mahal Travellers can win

For me, it's between Pretzel Logic, On the Beach, Second Helping, FFF, and No Other. Taking Tiger Mountain and Diamond Dogs also would've been strong contenders if they'd made the top 25. I like all of these a lot, so this will be a tough call. Comes down to Steely vs Stevie, and I think I'd have to go with Pretzel Logic, one of my all-time favorites.

where's Ned when you need him?

Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Big Star - Radio City
Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
Sparks - Kimono My House
Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness' First Finale

honest answer, radio city

not sure what i'm voting for tho

Wouldve voted Taking Tiger Mtn. Going w On the Beach

Started to get bogged down in Good Old Boys vs. Second Helping, and then realized I'd lose my mind without Radio City.

ridiculous list. very hard to pick but went for Court & Spark.

I was initially waffling between Red, Radio City and VU Live 1969 until I realized as great as it is the Big Star simply doesn't affect me the same way it used to do. And though Red still rocks as hard as ever I've only listened to it about a tenth the number of times as I've listened to Live 1969. So it's the Velvets, but actually it's Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy.

the Big Star simply doesn't affect me the same way it used to

feel this way too, tbh, but i have to stand by it in honor of all it's given me over the years

my favorite to listen to in this moment = richard & linda t

This might be my least favorite year in music ever. I know I'll get smacked down for this, but 75% of the stuff on this list seems like a real chore for me to sit through these days.

I'm tempted to give a lot of this stuff a fresh listen on Spotify, but my expectations are mighty low.

Holy fuck, I didn't see Red on there!

I feel like a bit of a chump now, although it would be close anyway tbh.

I think I'll vote for Bob Marley's best album.

I'd have voted for Perfect Angel given the chance.

Phaedra! Then Rock Bottom then On the Beach then the rest.

No wait Grievous Angel and Radio City come before everything else. Good year!!

I'll be the one vote for Veedon Fleece with apologies to about half the rest of the list.

taking tiger mountain by strategy should be on here.

none of the albums on here mean very much to me. autobahn is okay... country life is ok... the big star album is good but i feel like i am "missing something" when i hear it because it clearly is very important to some people. guess i'm going to have to go with the velvets because of the organ on what goes on

oh yeah, i also like the cover of that album

have to vote for Lamb

voted randy newman

'74 top 5:

Radio City
Court and Spark
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
Rock Bottom
No Other

Notable ommission: Funkadelic - Standing on the Verge of Getting It On, possibly my favourite album of theirs.

I havent heard Standing on the Verge but I get the feeling that that's one of those albums where ILM is still ahead of the rockcrit curve

which is mystifying cuz i've assumed that parliament were canon on high for basically my whole life

Notable ommission: Funkadelic - Standing on the Verge of Getting It On, possibly my favourite album of theirs.

^ this x1000. Just listened to this last week for the first time in years, and it was just as mindblowing as I remember. The way the band kicks in on "Red Hot Mama" is so ridiculously swinging it's almost painful. Weird that this isn't seen as one of their peaks alongside Maggot Brain and Mothership Connection (or is it?).

In its absence, voted for Grievous Angel. First heard it on the same day I heard Cecil Taylor's Unit Structures for the first time, found both records equally baffling. Now I can't imagine life without them.

top ten for 1974:

1. Kimono My House
2. Magma - Wurdah Itah
3. Red
4. Taking Tiger Mountain
5. Peter Hammill - The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage
6. Todd Rundgren - Todd
7. Yes - Relayer
8. Utopia s/t
9. Rock Bottom
10. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

It's Too Late To Stop Now is live as well.

i wish i had known this, would have been able to add Queen's Sheer Heart Attack to this list. would anyone really have voted for it though?

frogbs I would've been somewhat interested in reading your top 10s for all these years tbh

Gavin is spot on mentioning Funkadelic, another great funk album they missed out. It's my favourite album George Clinton has ever been involved with and there's a lot of competition.

going to vote for Pretzel Logic, Country Life, Radio City or On the Beach.

Autobahn.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I think this is between Sparks and Roxy for me, although those aren't my favorite by either band. Big love for that Robert Wyatt album too.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

i did not see this one coming, i thought Big Star was going to take it.

oh i ended up voting for Steely Dan, second time i have done that in these '70s polls.

surprised by neil young's margin of victory here

ah hah, i knew it would be neil.

ah hah, i knew it would be neil.

Not surprised at the Neil win, but pretty surprised Parsons only got 2 votes.

who are the other two smart people who voted for phaedra?!