TURN THIS MUTHA OUT! It's the Alternate 1970s Albums Poll on ILX — Results Thread

Greatly loved by a few. (I've never heard it, but the descriptions make it sound interesting.)

51. Van Morrison - Moondance (1970) [111 points, 13 votes]

http://i46.tinypic.com/1180h3t.jpg

I do not own this album but my friend Kurt does and he would always put it on before we would crash from an evening of very questionable activities. It is so beautiful in parts it made falling alseep on the floor of a filthy basement apartment actually quite nice.

― Brandon Welch (Brandon Welch), Tuesday, May 6, 2003 11:00 PM (6 years ago)

I remember first hearing this album, in a cramped freshman dorm room at Syracuse. What grabbed me right away wasn't the songs, or even Van's singing, but the two-part harmony of the simple sax riff on the chorus of "Stoned Me." From there on, I was hooked.
Classic.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Wednesday, May 7, 2003 7:27 AM (6 years ago)

A teetering tower of pungent, tepid dung.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, May 7, 2003 12:03 PM (6 years ago)

Alex was too kind.

Van does not look good on that cover. He looks like Mick Hucknall.

Five Mick Hucknalls.

i love that album

here's hoping the next 50 is more me-friendly. i'm selfish like that

Van does not look good on that cover. He looks like Mick Hucknall.

It's as good as he got!

Okay, sorry I only got through ten today (spotty internet service is to blame). That's half the poll, though. There are that many more albums to come!

100. ZZ Top - Tres Hombres (1973) [80 points, 7 votes]
99. Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges - Clube de Esquina (1972) [80 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote]
98. Chic - C'est Chic (1978) [80 points, 14 votes]
97. John Lennon - Imagine (1971) [80 points, 15 votes]
96. Patti Smith - Horses (1975) [80 points, 17 votes]
95. Van Halen - Van Halen (1978) [81 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote]
94. Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac (1975) [81 points, 8 votes]
93. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory (1970) [81 points, 11 votes]
92. Blondie - Eat to the Beat (1979) [82 points, 9 votes]
91. Miles Davis - Agharta (1976) [82 points, 10 votes]
90. Ian Dury - New Boots and Panties!! (1977) [83 points, 6 votes]
89. Neu! - Neu! 2 (1973) [83 points, 10 votes]
88. Tom Waits - Closing Time (1973) [84 points, 6 votes]
87. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 (1972) [85 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]
86. Hawkwind - Space Ritual (1973) [85 points, 11 votes]
85. Aerosmith - Rocks (1976) [86 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]
84. Tubeway Army - Replicas (1979) [86 points, 9 votes]
83. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak (1976) [86 points, 11 votes]
82. The Who - Live at Leeds (1970) [87 points, 6 votes]
81. Comus - First Utterance (1971) [87 points, 9 votes]
80. Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece (1974) [88 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]
79. Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue (1977) [90 points, 10 votes]
78. Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (1973) [92 points, 9 votes]
77. Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action (1976) [92 points, 10 votes]
76. Pere Ubu - Datapanik in the Year Zero EP (1978) [93 points, 6 votes]
75. ABBA - Arrival (1976) [93 points, 8 votes]
74. David Bowie - Lodger (1979) [93 points, 12 votes]
73. Cluster - Zuckerzeit (1974) [93 points, 14 votes]
72. Pere Ubu - Dub Housing (1978) [94 points, 12 votes]
71. The Rolling Stones - Some Girls (1978) [95 points, 13 votes]
70. Neil Young - Harvest (1972) [96 points, 9 votes]
69. Herbie Hancock - Sextant (1973) [96 points, 12 votes]
68. Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974) [97 points, 10 votes]
67. Throbbing Gristle - 20 Jazz Funk Greats (1979) [98 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]
(Tie) 65. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) [99 points, 9 votes]
(Tie) 65. Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark (1974) [99 points, 9 votes]
64. The Pop Group - Y (1979) [99 points, 10 votes]
63. Al Green - The Belle Album (1977) [100 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote]
62. Steely Dan - Katy Lied (1975) [100 points, 9 votes]
61. Black Sabbath - Master of Reality (1971) [100 points, 11 votes]
60. Various Artists - No New York (1978) [101 points, 10 votes]
59. The Specials - The Specials (1979) [102 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]
58. John Cale - Fear (1974) [104 points, 11 votes]
57. Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson (1971) [106 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]
56. King Crimson - Red (1974) [109 points, 12 votes]
55. Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978) [110 points, 12 votes]
54. Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (1978) [110 points, 13 votes]
53. Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975) [111 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote]
52. Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger (1975) [111 points, 12 votes]
51. Van Morrison - Moondance (1970) [111 points, 13 votes]

van morrison is exhibit a in the case for beards being an instant looks improvement for most dudes

I've had an on-and-off beard for the last four years, shaved it off once last summer and decided that would probably be the last time ever I'd not have one.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for both Minnie Riperton and The Meters.

I think i've given up hope on Ohio Players, Bootsy Collins, Isley Brothers and Mandrill placing.

ILX is funk free mostly unlike the actual 1970s.

I think I've given up on Love Beach, 2112 & Wanna Meet The Scruffs? placing.

ILX is funk free mostly unlike the actual 1970s

Never mind the funk. Halfway through this poll and absolutely no reggae so far. Is it possible for a 1970s Albums Poll to exist without ANY reggae. That has to be violating some kind of law of quantum mechanics.

reggae i kinda understand if only because i figure a lot of peoples' exposure to older reggae comes not from studio albums of the era (beyond marley and cliff) but from more recent compilations.

i am fine with these results this far, except that Chic got beat by Lennon. "I Want Your Love" and "Le Freak" alone destroy anything Lennon ever did solo, imo.

now i can understand why everyone was getting made at me for my capn-save-a-hiphop on the 80s countdown.

also considering the only nominations i used were 5 reggae albums and i forgot to vote, i apologise.

(2xpost) Yeah, this is true and why I only ended up voting for 1 or 2 reggae LPs - I'm aware that the 70s were an amazing time for reggae, but most of my reggae is compilations of collected 7" tracks etc. If I'd thought more carefully there would've been a few I should've nominated, though, but since they weren't on the list, no vote.+

Outside of Bob Marley/Wailers and maybe Toots, wasn't reggae a not-widely-known commodity in the actual '70s? Granted, there's no reason we shouldn't be overly familiar with it now, at least 30 years later, but I don't think it was a going concern to the average '70s record buyer.

I think I've given up on Love Beach, 2112 & Wanna Meet The Scruffs? placing.

― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:46 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i voted for 2112! wish i had placed it higher now though...i had A Farewell to Kings up at the top instead of it

I meant to nominate some Jackie Mittoo but forgot after looking up Evening Time and discovering it was '68. Probably wouldn't have got mad votes however so I will just use the platform of this post to say that Evening Time is not 70s but is pretty damn great.

A friend of mine is a Jackie Mittoo evangelist, so I've heard my fair share. Mostly just from comps he burned, though, so I have no idea which albums actually hang together better than others.

I think Reggae, Funk and Soul would all do better in a singles poll than an albums one. Reggae in particular seems like such a singles oriented genre, especially in the 60s and 70s.

i am fine with these results this far, except that Chic got beat by Lennon. "I Want Your Love" and "Le Freak" alone destroy anything Lennon ever did solo imo.

fixed.

Outside of Bob Marley/Wailers and maybe Toots, wasn't reggae a not-widely-known commodity in the actual '70s? Granted, there's no reason we shouldn't be overly familiar with it now, at least 30 years later, but I don't think it was a going concern to the average '70s record buyer.

Not true in Britain/ Ireland - reggae was pretty damn audible even here in (then) white Ireland, and in London/ Brimingham, it was close to being THE sound of the city.

There were definitely some classic reggae albums on the nomination list for this poll Two Sevens Clash, Marcus Garvey, Burnin', Catch a Fire and Natty Dread. I guess in my mind these less obscure that Clube de Esquina or First Utterance , but I realize that we all come to our favored genres differently. I say that as someone who views himself as a dabbler in reggae rather than a true aficionado. Did put a fair amount on my ballot tho'

Yeah, after I posted that I immediately remembered its popularity over there at the time (made known to me by watching Westway to the World). xp

x-post to self -But, yeah as 7" and 12" singles/ Dubs and as public music on sound systems more than album music

5 out of 50 for me so far (Horses, Fear, 20 Jazz Funk Greats, Red, Specials)

I've got 8, but they're all pretty predictable. Hard to take Horses seriously after the Biscuit pic:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/3108893340_c34e95e1f1.jpg

meant that to be url. instinctively did img. sorry.

don't be sorry

Horses has a reggae song on it: Redondo Beach (white reggae).

If you at all put off by ostensive displays of religiousity, you might want to try I'm Still in Love with You first. That said,

one the things that makes Belle such a great piece of religious art is because it's so much of a piece with everything else Green ever did. Unlike gospel, for example, this can't be mistaken as religious hysteria, and it's not a collective experience at all - it's Green's personal, idiosyncratic embrace of the Lord - made on Green's own perverse terms. It's like Green is alone in his own private universe with his Lord, and sorry babe, but no one else is invited. It's way it's essentially the narrative climax of the entire saga of Southern Soul - religious ecstasy gets folded back into the language of seduction, of secular cockmanship. He resolves the sex/manna/self/collective/relgion tensions that motivated soul by eliminating all meaningful distinctions between the multiple dichotomies that had generated the form.

― MumblestheRevelator, Tuesday, January 5, 2010 5:12 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^great post and the reason why the religion in green is so different than any other artist's religion imo. the "sex/manna/self/collective/religion" all comes together in his voice, which is blinding on this album. his performance on "loving you" has sent me into raptures, absolutely breathtaking. that being said, i feel like the whole ensemble of players on the earlier albums are equal to green whereas here it seems a little unfocused sometimes. if i voted, "call me" would be my #1 easy and is also my desert island disc, it's like all of life contained in 39 minutes.

I am just sickened by the lack of any calypso. Don't you people know about the Mighty Sparrow? For crying out loud people, you need to broaden your musical horizons. I mean, I like Steve Miller Band as much as the next dude but there's so much more out there.

also "Georgia Boy" sounds AMAZING on a dance floor

The lack of precision on Belle might be one reason it's so great. Don't get me wrong - those Mitchell produced albums are their own varieties of sublimity. But the slight lack of focus that marks Belle - the softness of the drums in comparison to those on the Mitchell produced albums, or the way the band never quite get a heavy groove going on 'Georgia Boy'(at least in comparison to what Mitchell & Co. could cook up) - crafts such an individual sonic space, one wherein everything gradually washes away in the wake of Green's vocals. It's a world where everything is breaking down, but not in an apocalyptic way, or as a consequence of failures of nerve and wit, but as a natural kind of winding down. Though arguing whether it's better than Call Me strikes me a bit like arguing whether you love your wife or your children more.

I sort of wish it had been his last secular album for a while, because Truth n Time is a bit of a disappointment in comparison, though it does have a great version of 'To Sir, With Love' (a song I normally detest but which Green utterly transforms).

the specials album does not make the first 100, and lands at 59 on this list? bullshit of the highest order.

so I'm to believe a bunch of cheerless sots are sitiing around listening to king crimson, john cale, and brian eno...

I apologize.

I've never even listened to the Specials album (ska aversion). I'll listen to it soon and get back to you. xp

what a disaster for cheerful sots

what a disaster for cheerful sots
what a chance you'll always get back
what a meaningful prayer

what a cold scuffle searching for kicks
...

(Tie) 49. The Who - Who's Next (1971) [112 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]

http://i49.tinypic.com/flanv9.jpg

Sure, you've heard "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" too many times (damn you, CSI!) its undeniably classic, easily the Who's OPO. If nothing else, for Entwistle's best song "My Wife."

― Mitya (mitya), Monday, March 13, 2006 7:21 PM (3 years ago)

As for Who's Next it's both classic and dud. Past 1967, Townshend's failures are generally pretty interesting and the sinking of Lifehouse results in a pretty outstanding rock album without all the conceptual blubber of hippie mysticism weighing it down. I'd dump some of the tracks with a couple of the Odds And Sods leftovers (really just "Pure And Easy" and "Naked Eye") though.

Who's Next also marks the point where the studio version of The Who completely separates from the live version of The Who. It's not surprising, Townshend has everything he needs to feed his maniac pursuit to whatever/wherever, but the one thing he can't do is get the live sound down of the 70s-era Who. Too bad, the live versions of "Won't Get...," "Baba...," and "My Wife" on The Kids Are Alright are still U & K and there's a live take of "Bargain" out there that's just amazing.

― The Equator Lounge (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, March 14, 2006 2:32 PM (3 years ago)

Keith Moon's drumming is positively godlike all over this record. It's a full percussion session built into one guy. I really love the freakout drumming on Bargain and his playing is so groovy under neath that autowah solo out on Going Mobile.

Those synth/organ loops on Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again are really ahead of the curve for 1971.

― earlnash, Wednesday, December 30, 2009 12:25 AM (1 week ago)

i didn't put who's next or dark side of the moon on my ballot but i loved loved loved them when i was younger and getting into "classic rock" so maybe i only left them out because they were too obvious...

like i basically assumed they were on the first list, only on ILX do they miss a top 20 70s records list let alone top 100

Should've just made this a list of 102 albums so they could be included out of obligation. (Or 103, to include Born to Run... which, duh, is coming up on this list in the future. Sorry to spoil the suspense.)

Born to Run is a bit different though in that Springsteen doesn't quite seem to have made the popularity leap to my generation in the same way Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Beatles etc. have. He's not a central piece of the "classic rock" canon that gets remarketed to younger folks. I didn't listen to him until much later on when my interest in music grew broader.

(Tie) 49. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Armed Forces (1979) [112 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]

http://i47.tinypic.com/r2rr76.jpg

This was the first Costello album I heard, sometime in 1980. As a kid who was used to Queen, ELO, Styx, etc., this album along with Fear Of Music and Pleasure Principle sounded pretty radical and changed my idea of what constitutes a "good song." Few songs on Armed Forces (much better title than the overly blunt Emotional Fascism) were directly catchy. To me it sounded to be more about wordplay and creative arrangements and production.

― Fastnbulbous, Monday, June 30, 2008 4:02 AM (1 year ago)

this is a great album overall, a top three Elvis C album for me. this is the album where he really over-extended himself on the wordplay though, and got much too clever for his own good. thankfully he seemed to realise that at the time because the puns were never so laboured or obtrusive again.

― Roberto Spiralli, Sunday, June 29, 2008 11:17 PM (1 year ago)

Armed Forces has some of the best inner-sleve artwork, ever, and careens between overdone wordplay, earnest emotion, and cutting lines like "she has a chemistry class, I want a piece of her... mind" which I adore.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, May 23, 2001 8:00 PM (8 years ago)

^ just about every critique in the archives mentions the wordplay on this album. I agree that sometimes it gets so self-consciously clever that it borders on distracting, but "Green Shirt" can't be topped and I'd hate it if he dumbed it down.

another good one i didn't vote for!

when i was 5 or so i used to run out of the room when 'oliver's army' came on because i was scared of it. great song!