Your top five albums from 1971

[Karl Henning]

And there was the Talking Heads Fear of Music

That album alone smacks snypsss down

But I don't think the case can seriously be made for the death of pop music, any more than for classical . . . .

[Wakefield]

What a lot of fantastic albums! Truly an amazing year.

My preferences:

Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin (who knows if this album doesn't have the best B side of the whole rock history, but after all these days there are no more B sides)
L.A. Woman - the Doors (Riders on the Storm!)
Meddle - Pink Floyd (Echoes: what a great vocal and instrumental work)
At the Fillmore East - Allman Brothers (live music as it should always be done)
Hunky Dory - David Bowie (Life on Mars?)

[Karl Henning]

Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin (who knows if this album doesn't have the best B side of the whole rock history, but after all these days there are no more B sides)

I will guess that John will feel that Foxtrot has a competitively great B side

[Wakefield]

I will guess that John will feel that Foxtrot has a competitively great B side

Do you know why I think it's the best B side?

Because you enjoy it (and want to listen to it) after Black Dog, Rock and Roll, The Battle of Evermore and Stair to Heaven... It was an unfair combat. 

[San Antone]

What I've noticed in looking up the best albums for any given year is that during the 1950s and early 1960s the best albums were jazz and blues.  Then in 1963, with The Beatles' and Bob Dylan's debuts, rock and pop became predominant.  As the '60s progressed jazz and blues listings became fewer and fewer until by 1967 Albert King's Born Under a Bad Sign showed up at #37 and Sinatra & Jobim at #39.  What I consider "real" jazz records did not appear until Duke Ellington's Far East Suite at #49  and Miles Smiles at #50.

This is based on the charts at http://www.besteveralbums.com/.

[Karl Henning]

. . . What I consider "real" jazz records did not appear until Duke Ellington's Far East Suite at #49  and Miles Smiles at #50.

Sinatra & Jobim certainly has a cocktail-lounge-&-cantina vibe.

[North Star]

What I've noticed in looking up the best albums for any given year is that during the 1950s and early 1960s the best albums were jazz and blues.  Then in 1963, with The Beatles' and Bob Dylan's debuts, rock and pop became predominant.  As the '60s progressed jazz and blues listings became fewer and fewer until by 1967 Albert King's Born Under a Bad Sign showed up at #37 and Sinatra & Jobim at #39.  What I consider "real" jazz records did not appear until Duke Ellington's Far East Suite at #49  and Miles Smiles at #50.

This is based on the charts at http://www.besteveralbums.com/.

Neil Young as no. 1 for 1970 over e.g. these? Oh well, can't argue with vox populi, I suppose.

Santana - Abraxas
Deep Purple - In Rock
CCR - Cosmo's Factory (just ask The Dude)
Elton John
Free - Highway
Led Zeppelin III
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

[Sergeant Rock]

Neil Young as no. 1 for 1970 over e.g. these? Oh well, can't argue with vox populi, I suppose.

Santana - Abraxas
Deep Purple - In Rock
CCR - Cosmo's Factory (just ask The Dude)
Elton John
Free - Highway
Led Zeppelin III
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

And

Moondance  Van Morrison
Burrito Deluxe  The Flying Burrito Brothers
Hot Tuna  Hot Tuna
Déjà vu  CSN&Y
Workingman's Dead  The Grateful Dead
American Beauty  The Grateful Dead
James Gang Rides Again  James Gang
Fun House  The Stooges
The Last Puff  Spooky Tooth
Sex Machine  James Brown
Layla  Derek and the Dominos (Clapton)
I Walk the Line (soundtrack)  Johnny Cash
Soul Rebels  The Wailers
Ladies of the Canyon  Joni Mitchell
Live Cream  Cream
Live at Leeds  The Who
Free Your Mind...and Your Ass Will Follow  Funkadelic   

Better than, or at least equal to, 1971.

Sarge

[Jay F]

Neil Young as no. 1 for 1970 over e.g. these? Oh well, can't argue with vox populi, I suppose.

Santana - Abraxas
Deep Purple - In Rock
CCR - Cosmo's Factory (just ask The Dude)
Elton John
Free - Highway
Led Zeppelin III
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

In 1970, I liked After the Gold Rush more than any of these albums except s/t by Elton John. Black Sabbath and Deep Purple failed to chart for me at all, ever, no matter how many albums they made or years they were around. I've always found CCR boring, with the exception of the Vietnam-theme song with the line "I Ain't No Millionaire's Son." I don't remember Free.

[Jay F]

Then you missed two of her best albums: Roses in the Snow (1980) and Cimarron (1981). I think Cimarron has a great selection of covers that work superbly as a unified album. The only Emmylou record I didn't buy upon initial release was Thirteen. I somehow missed it (most Emmylou fans say I didn't miss much  )

But '79 was a great year if only for London Calling and Van Morrison's Into the Music! And there was the Talking Heads Fear of Music, Blondie Eat to the Beat, and The B-52's (Dance this mess around!). Marianne Faithful Broken English! Ry Cooder Bop Til You Drop. Patti Smith Group Wave. And who could forget Sid Sings    1979 was the year I started to believe in popular music again.

Sarge

I liked Blondie a lot, and bought all of Talking Heads albums through 1986, though TH's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th albums all blend together for me. I didn't get around to London Calling until I got a turntable again in 1998. I bought Broken English in 1980, but really only liked "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan." I never liked punk much.

[NJ Joe]

Who's Next, Fragile, Islands.

Honorable Mention: 

11 more off that list.  What a year!

edit:  Oh wait, it's 5.  I'd add Meddle and Nursery Cryme.

[Mirror Image]

Who's Next, Fragile, Islands.

Honorable Mention: 

11 more off that list.  What a year!

edit:  Oh wait, it's 5.  I'd add Meddle and Nursery Cryme.

Great choices of course. You're my prog brother from another mother.

[The new erato]

The Last Puff  Spooky Tooth

Sarge

Nice to se I'm not alone in remembering this fondly.

[71 dB]

Are most GMG members born in 1955 so that they were teenagers when these albums came out? I was born in 1971. In my childhood I didn't listen to music much apart from all the jazz my father listened to. I didn't heard Pink Floyd or Genesis anywhere. I heard for example Clifford Brown and loved Max Roach's drum solos. 

Only in high school did I get interested of music and finding my own favorite music. I was able to buy my first very crappy music system. What I found in late 80's wasn't Pink Floyd. It was Acid House! S'Express, The Beatmasters, Bomb the Bass, Baby Ford etc.

Okay, of course I heard these 70's tracks somewhere, but they never got me interested. In fact, I thought the music of 70's sucks!

Between 1988 and 1996 I listened to "electronic dance music". Then I found Elgar/classical music. Later my music taste began to explode. I found pop/soft rock/new age and I began to see the "genre" doesn't mean anything.

In 2008 I found Tangerine Dream and King Crimson. I discovered music from the 70's I REALLY liked. Okay, I sampled other "big" names again but they didn't work for me. Okay, Tangerine Dream and King Crimson it is for me. Few years later I found more music from the 70's I like: Rose Royce (S'Express paragon) and Herbie Hancock (my father isn't into "electronic" jazz, a purist as he is) and Carly Simon.

So, for me these's poll are meaningless. King Crimson ("Islands"), Tangerine Dream ("Alpha Centauri"), Herbie Hancock ("Mwandishi") and Carly Simon ("Carly Simon" and "Anticipation") for me when we talk about 1971. I'm sure there's much more 70's music I like, but I haven't found them yet (probably some less known weird artists).

[Mookalafalas]

Are most GMG members born in 1955 so that they were teenagers when these albums came out?

  I was born in 66, but have 5 older brothers, so I group in this music like a fish grows up in water.  I didn't actually start putting music on myself til I was 15, when my last brother went off to college (and left his albums at home).  I remember putting on Sergeant Peppers and having no idea what was on it. It turned out I could recite every line from "A Day in the Life" by heart, except for one ("Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall") without ever having consciously listened to it. 

[The new erato]

I was 20 in 71 and this was 3 years before I started to get into classical music, so this period is right up my alley.

[Sergeant Rock]

Are most GMG members born in 1955 so that they were teenagers when these albums came out?

I was 15 when the British invaded (Beatles, Stones, Dave Clark 5, the Animals, Marianne Faithfull, etc) and 22 in 1971. So yes, the music in these polls was part of my youth. With the deaths of Morrison, Joplin and Hendrix, and the transformation of Soul into Funk, I tuned out for several years, concentrating on classical instead. My interest in "popular" music was revived with Emmylou Harris's first albums in '75 and the emergence of punk/new wave in the second half of the 70s.

Sarge

[71 dB]

I feel young among you others. 

[Karl Henning]

When Soul turned to Funk, our Sarge turned to Classical:  a triumph! 

[North Star]

Are most GMG members born in 1955 so that they were teenagers when these albums came out? I was born in 1971. In my childhood I didn't listen to music much apart from all the jazz my father listened to. I didn't heard Pink Floyd or Genesis anywhere. I heard for example Clifford Brown and loved Max Roach's drum solos. 

Only in high school did I get interested of music and finding my own favorite music. I was able to buy my first very crappy music system. What I found in late 80's wasn't Pink Floyd. It was Acid House! S'Express, The Beatmasters, Bomb the Bass, Baby Ford etc.

Okay, of course I heard these 70's tracks somewhere, but they never got me interested. In fact, I thought the music of 70's sucks!

Between 1988 and 1996 I listened to "electronic dance music". Then I found Elgar/classical music. Later my music taste began to explode. I found pop/soft rock/new age and I began to see the "genre" doesn't mean anything.

In 2008 I found Tangerine Dream and King Crimson. I discovered music from the 70's I REALLY liked. Okay, I sampled other "big" names again but they didn't work for me. Okay, Tangerine Dream and King Crimson it is for me. Few years later I found more music from the 70's I like: Rose Royce (S'Express paragon) and Herbie Hancock (my father isn't into "electronic" jazz, a purist as he is) and Carly Simon.

So, for me these's poll are meaningless. King Crimson ("Islands"), Tangerine Dream ("Alpha Centauri"), Herbie Hancock ("Mwandishi") and Carly Simon ("Carly Simon" and "Anticipation") for me when we talk about 1971. I'm sure there's much more 70's music I like, but I haven't found them yet (probably some less known weird artists).

I was born in 1991, but my parents were born earlier (much to everybody's surprise, I'm sure) and they were easily the largest influence on the popular music I've heard.
On the Jazz front, I haven't listened to much that has electric, let alone electronic, instruments, either.