The 1970s was the decade when rock came of age. Countless great bands unleashed debut albums that would change the course of music forever, launching stellar careers and often creating entirely new genres in the process.
Every year of the 70s produced its share of classic debuts, but our job here is to boil is down to just 10 – one for every year. Heavy metal, glam, southern rock, punk – countless genres can be traced back to these albums.
Of course, some big bands are notable by their absence. The likes of Kiss, Queen, Rush and numerous other all future legends had stellar careers, but their debut albums weren’t nailed-on classics.
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Other bands – among them Boston, the New York Dolls, Montrose and Television – released brilliant debut albums. It’s just that in each case, there were even more brilliant debut albums released the same year.
Here, then, are the greatest debut albums from every year of the 1970s
1970: Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath1971: Mahavishnu Orchestra – The Inner Mounting Flame1972: Roxy Music – Roxy Music1973: Lynyrd Skynyrd – (Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd)1974: Bad Company – Bad Company1975: Patti Smith – Horses1976: Ramones – Ramones1977: Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks… Here’s The Sex Pistols1978: Van Halen – Van Halen1979: Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures