released 7/7/77 styx's 7th album the Grand Illusion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Illusion_(album)

not a bad track on the whole record.
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Well, here goes.

Chicago's album Live in Japan is a phenomenal recording. It's got some of the best hits from Chicago's work previously to that point. Also, if you like live music, this is a good one because the variances and, frankly, sloppiness, that you get in a live recording, the interaction with the crowd, are all here.

Especially in their early days, Chicago was still more on the experimental side and fused rock, jazz and many other influences together. Not like what they became in the 1980s.

Some of my very favorite songs are on this album. Specifically "Colour my World" and "Beginnings" which, incidentally, my dad used to woo my mom with a mixed tape back in the day. Probably the two best love songs ever.

It's not the most rockin' music of the decade, but it's good stuff, and you can't go wrong with Chicago for good, classy, thoughtful, lyrically interesting and musically complex stuff.
Source(s):
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:azfwxqw5ld6e

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G'day Jfinke,

Thank you for your question.

According to Rolling Stone's top 500 albums, the top 10 albums of the 1970s were:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938174/the_rs_500_greatest_albums_of_all_time

1. Exile on Main Street the Rolling Stones 1971
2. What's Going On Marvin Gaye 1971
3. London Calling the Clash 1979
4. Blood on the Tracks Bob Dylan 1975
5. Born to Run Bruce Springsteen 1975
6. Plastic Ono Band John Lennon 1970
7. Innervisions Stevie Wonder 1973
8. Rumours Fleetwood Mac 1977
9. Who's Next The Who 1971
10. Blue Joni Mitchell 1971

The top best selling album from each year according to Billboard:

The best-selling album of 1970 was Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Simon and Garfunkel.
The best-selling album of 1971 was Jesus Christ Superstar Soundtrack.
The best-selling album of 1972 was Harvest, by Neil Young.
The best-selling album of 1973 was The World Is a Ghetto, by War.
The best-selling album of 1974 was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, by Elton John.
The best-selling album of 1975 was Elton John's Greatest Hits.
The best-selling album of 1976 was Frampton Comes Alive, by Peter Frampton.
The best-selling album of 1977 was Rumours, by Fleetwood Mac.
The best-selling album of 1978 was the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack.
The best-selling album of 1979 was 52nd Street, by Billy Joel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best-selling_albums_by_year_(USA)

Personal tastes vary so I would listen to tracks on Youtube and LastFM to see whether you like the music.

Reg
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KISS "ALIVE"
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I'm very partial to Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed, particularly the song Knights in White Satin. It was first released in 67, but it wasn't really popular until 72. As someone who was a child in that era, it just sounds right to me--it typifies the era. There were other songs that topped the charts or made history other ways, but many of them were the kinds of things you didn't dare let your parents know you were listening to (and that was one of the reasons they were chart-toppers--parents could never figure it out because they didn't know their teenagers had those albums)!
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Wire - Pink Flag

While not a commercial success, Pink Flag, the debut album from the band Wire, is highly influential and, in my opinion, still provides a thrilling listening experience today. It sounds fresh even over 30 years after recording. It predicted and influenced modern rock to come decades later. Bands like REM, Henry Rollins, Minor Threat, Elastica, and many more were influenced by Wire.

Rolling Stone named Pink Flag number 410 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Released in '77, Pink Flag signaled that punk rock had already jumped the shark. The album's experimental, non-conforming nature was the true punk alternative to what was quickly becoming a generic and stale movement.

All Music Guide describes Pink Flag as "a fascinating, highly inventive rethinking of punk rock and its freedom to make up your own rules."

Wire was a punk band, in fact a post-punk band, that was way ahead of its time. According to All Music Guide, "Wire emerged out of the British punk explosion but, from the outset, maintained a distance from that scene and resisted easy categorization. While punk rapidly became a caricature of itself, Wire's musical identity -- focused on experimentation and process -- was constantly metamorphosing. Their first three albums alone attest to a startling evolution as the band repeatedly reinvented itself between 1977 and 1979. That capacity for self-reinvention, coupled with a willingness to stop recording indefinitely when ideas weren't forthcoming, has been crucial to Wire's longevity and continued relevance."

I highly recommend you spend some time with Pink Flag and appreciate it as a great collection of music and also knowing it was about 30 years ahead of its time.

Here is a link to the first third of the album on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y96TSCAwCC4&feature=related

Amazon is selling the 2006 digitally remastered version as an MP3 album for $8.99: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013Z27PM?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwokaythings-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0013Z27PM
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Flag
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kiftxqr5ldfe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y96TSCAwCC4&feature=related

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I would say that Boston's first album was the true landmark 70's rock album. It changed the way that the guitar sounded and was played. It really showed off power guitar and vocals and in many way opened the door for the hard rock and metal bands that followed. "More than a Feeling" is quintessential 70's power rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcsVPis1iNs
Source(s):
I'm a musician who remember how these guys blew me away.

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Deep Purple - Machine Head. Not a stinker in the bunch!
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Exile on Main St. by The Rolling Stones. It was released as a double LP in May 1972.
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My favorite albums from that time are:
The Alan Parsons Project-Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Blue Oyster Cult-Some Enchanted Evening
Country Joe & the Fish-Electric Music for the Mind and Body
Crosby, Stills & Nash-Crosby, Stills & Nash
Electric Light Orchestra-On the Third Day
Heart-Dreamboat Annie
Its A Beautiful Day-Its A Beautiful Day
Joe Walsh-The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
Kraftwerk-Radioactivity
Loggins and Messina-Full Sail
Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd-Meddle
Pink Floyd-Wish You Were Here
Quicksilver Messenger Service-Just For Love
Steve Miller Band-Fly Like an Eagle
The Beatles-Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Moody Blues-In Search of the Lost Chord

and a very special album Jeff Wayne-War of the Worlds. Anyone who likes most of the previously named albums should locate and listen to it.
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Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue! Still holds up to this day as full of great hits and showed Jeff Lynne really starting to shine as a writer and producer.
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Robin Trower - Live! (1976)
Source(s):
trowerpower.com
robintrower.ning.com

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