Yes, the ages we were in each of the decades has a lot to do with our list. I was roughly the same ages in the '70s that you were in the '80s. So my '70s list is entirely comprised of music I listened to later, mostly in the following decade. Then for me, the '80s (though entirely the later half) is the time when I basically established the identity, music and otherwise, that I still live in today. So the stuff in that list I was really mostly into right at the time. The difference for me between me at 30 and 20 (at least in terms of aesthetics, I definitely grew as a person in other ways) is negligible, while the difference between 20 and 10 is of course insurmountable.

First off, kudos to Glice, Pork, Dead-Air, etc for quality discussion.
I wasn't alive in the 70's, not even close. My parents moved to the USA from Brazil in 73. They're musical preferences were quite different from most of the stuff on my list and most of the lists here, save for your bowie,eno,talking heads. I was raised in a house where playing music and records and in fact the whole culture behind these things was and still is held in high regard. So, my choices reflect not so much on my parents, but yes, music I found out about through various media. Most of it was from books about the 70's new york movement and really the start of ''punk'', which I was reading about 12 years ago. Especially now, with the internet so vastly available, there is no excuse to finding out about cool, older music.
Books still help, especially ones with lots of interviews, for instance when someone says ''I wanna be your dog is the ultimate punk song'', it may have little effect on your previous opinion of said song. But when Lou Reed says it, you think,'' wait a minute, this guy has penned great song in his day and is highly influencial, and has done this and that....''. The point is new perspectives are realized and sometimes even your thought process changes.

God what a sprawling nightmare of a post. here it is: if you're young and weren't around, that should never stop you from doing some accurate research, reading, and lots of listening. Just cause you weren't there, doesn't mean you can't accrue some knowledge and cold hard facts in your head about old music, which is still a lot better than so much of the crap floating around now.

btw i have no idea why unknown pleasures is not in my list. hope it's not too late to add it.

I agree with a lot of this. The 80s was a period when I was finding my way whereas by the time I got to listening back to 70s stuff, my taste was already quite defined. As such a list of key 80s albums for me would include a hodge-podge of styles, from indie, rap, flat-out pop, soul, etc whereas a list for the 70s would be far more narrow and 'knowing' and as such very boring - in that 'I know what I like' kind of a way.

EDITED VERSION OF MY LIST
i forgot devo...


1. the stooges-funhouse
2.can- ege bamyasi
3.television-marquee moon
4. serge gainsbourg-history de melody nelson
5. devo-are we not men? we are devo
6. ramones-ramones
7.neu!-75
8.suicide-suicide
9.patti smith-horses
10. john fahey-america
11.any morricone album, lets say two mules for sister sarah, or my name is nobody
12.pere ubu-the modern dance
13.serge gainsbourg and jean claude vannier-cannabis ost
14. jean claude vannier-L' Enfant Assasin des Mouches
15. the damned-damned damned damned
16. derek bailey-topography of the lungs
17.talking heads-more songs about buildings and food
18. alexander von schlippenbach-pakistani promade
19.captain beefheart-mirror man (released in 1970)
20. bob dylan-desire
21.the sparks-kimono my house/ propoganda
22.john fahey-old fashoined love
23.the clash-london calling
24. joy division-unknown pleasures
25.tom waits-nighthawks at the diner
26.wire- pink flag

Er, what happened to this? Are the results still going to be published?

off the top of my head and not a definitive since i forgot a million things and i did a quick mental ranking so, for now here are my choices (i know i'm super late but i wanted to post a list):

1. the stooges - funhouse
2. yes - fragile
3. nico - desertshore
4. throbbing gristle - second annual report
5. black sabbath - vol. 4
6. the germs - (g.i.)
7. the fall - live at the witch trials
8. hawkwind - space ritual
9. p.i.l. - metal box
10. alice cooper - billion dollar babies
11. amon düül II - yeti
12. sun ra - space is the place
13. big star - third
14. joni mitchell - blue
15. pharaoh sanders - black unity
16. comus - first utterance
17. pere ubu - the modern dance
18. instant composers pool - groupcomposing
19. yoko ono - plastic ono band
20. can - ege bamyasi
21. flower travellin' band - satori
22. alice coltrane - journey to satchidananda
23. funkadelic - free your mind...and your ass will follow
24. swell maps - trip to marineville
25. han bennink - nerve beats

i just remembered i forgot to count exile on main st there but fuck it, that's my list.

Can't believe that nobody mentioned Steely Dan.

I wouldn't have guessed ours would have so many things in common that didn't make any other lists. I'm glad somebody else listed Big Star's Third which I think is like ten times the record of their other two albums put together.

thanks for making me realize i listed the marble index, i forgot that one is 1969. desertshore is equally as awesome, though.

third is just so much better, the poppy songs are very well developed, the sad songs are fucking abyssmally hopeless and the covers are very good. above everything, there's not a note on third that's not profound to some level.

you put some albums there that barely didn't make the cut on my list.

Same with you. I keep slapping myself for not putting Pere Ubu on my list, but I just can't force them in because I can't see who I'd take out. I might not have put in Modern Dance though because I'm really partial to 360 Degrees of Simulated Stereo as one of the least commercial things ever released in all it's beauty. But I just can't cut out Patti Smith. 25 was really hard as a limit for this list!

Yeah, and can you fucking imagine "Kangaroo" and "Holocaust" on one record. Chilton's done a lot of good stuff in his various incarnations (my favorite after this is Live in London with all it's glorious feedback and proto-noise rock!) but when he recorded Sister Lovers he really must have been thinking about offing himself. It's a better suicide note than In Utero even.

Nice list everyneurotic.

I've never listened to Big Star! I feel I should remedy that soon, I'll check out Third.

A few off the top of my head.

Ian Dury - New Boots and Panties
Dion - Born To Be With You
The Clash - London Calling
Ivor Cutler - Dandruff
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Big Youth - Screaming Target
Minnie Riperton - Perfect Angel
The Slits - Cut
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory
Captain Beefheart - Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)
Lee Hazlewood - Requiem for An Almost Lady
Louis Andriessen - De Staat
Steve Reich - Six Pianos
Dolly Parton - Jolene
The Balfa Brothers - J'ai Vu le Loup, Le Renard et la Belette
Ramones - It's Alive

steely dan. suck.

It was on the list I PMed to our host, except I named it Sister Lovers.
If it doesn't make it, that'll be because of that and that only.
It's a very well-balanced thing, and it's sad there were bonuses on the Rhyno CD. Take Care was a perfect ending.
To those who don't feel that attracted, let's say there's a poignant version of Femme Fatale, and I don't know many bands who were covering the VU in 1975. The rest is on a par and above the cover (Big Black Car, Stroke It Noel...).

Wrong.

1. Can - Tago Mago
2. Sly and the Family Stone - There's A Riot Going On
3. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
4. Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
5. Faust - The Faust Tapes

In.deed.

Interestingly, this contains about half of the albums I really agonised over but cut out in the end. A top 50 albums from me would include around 5-10 extra from that list. Rep!

I'm such a wimp. I can't possibly narrow down a selection of albums from the 70s. That was my formative decade and I have thousands of albums that I enjoy so much I can't even begin, sorry. :(

I love the early 70s 'leftover' rock from the 60s, then got into progressive rock ala King Crimson, PFM, Gentle Giant, Yes...then progjazz like Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Weather Report etc., then punk/new wave as it developed toward the later half of the 70s, and much of the funk/before disco. I guess if I HAD to pick ONE favorite it would have to be King Crimson, their whole catalog from that decade. I'm not familiar with much of what I read here, what I would term avant garde/obscure/eclectic.

One recurrent band I enjoyed that was FAR from the mainstream and mentioned here quite frequently is Can. I do have about 1/2 of what I see listed here, the more 'familiar' listings. Then I've got some relatively odd ones I don't see here like Grin, Brand X, The Pink Fairies, Gryphon, John Abercrombie, Dixie Dregs and more....I'm surprised I didn't notice any Mott the Hoople, "All the Young Dudes".