Rolling Stone recently released its list of the 75 best albums of 1975, and before even looking at it I had a strong feeling I would disagree with several of their choices and be able to replace them with much better selections. So, I did exactly that.
First, here are the ones on their list which I’m axing, and — in parentheses — the ranking bestowed by Rolling Stone:
Abba | Abba (75)
Crosby & Nash | Wind On The Water (73)
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes | To Be True (72)
The Miracles | City Of Angels (70)
Joan Baez | Diamonds & Rust (69)
Curtis Mayfield | There’s No Place Like America Today (68)
Shirley & Company | Shame Shame Shame (66)
Steve Hackett | Voyage Of The Acolyte (65)
Jefferson Starship | Red Octopus (64)
Latimore | Latimore III (63)
Waylon Jennings | Dreaming My Dreams (59)
Keith Jarrett | The Koln Concert (56)
The Grateful Dead | Blues For Allah (51)
The Who | The Who By Numbers (49)
Minnie Riperton | Adventures In Paradise (48)
Bonnie Raitt | Home Plate (46)
Al Green | Al Green Is Love (45)
Gary Stewart | Out Of Hand (44)
Roberta Flack | Feel Like Makin’ Love (43)
The Spinners | Pick Of The Litter (40)
Guy Clark | Old No. 1 (39)
Parliament | Chocolate City (38)
Emmylou Harris | Pieces Of The Sky (37)
The Isley Brothers | The Heat Is On (36)
The Bee Gees | Main Course (33)
Gilberta Gil & Jorge Ben | Gil E Jorge/Ogum Xango (32)
Kraftwerk | Radio-Activity (29)
Paul Simon | Still Crazy After All These Years (25)
Bob Marley & the Wailers | Live! (18)
Smokey Robinson | A Quiet Storm (14)
Roxy Music | Siren (11)
Joni Mitchell | The Hissing Of Summer Lawns (8)
Bruce Springsteen | Born To Run (5)
Patti Smith | Horses (2)
And here are the ones from their list which I’ll keep:
Ohio Players | Honey (74)
Elton John | Rock Of The Westies (71)
Thin Lizzy | Fighting (67)
Eagles | One Of These Nights (62)
Nils Lofgren | Nils Lofgren (61)
Rufus | Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan (60)
Jeff Beck | Blow By Blow (58)
The Band | Northern Lights – Southern Cross (57)
Various Artists | The Rocky Horror Picture Show (55)
War | Why Can’t We Be Friends (54)
Rush | Fly By Night (53)
Wings | Venus & Mars (52)
Lee Perry & The Upsetters | Revolution Dub (50)
AC/DC | High Voltage (47)
Elton John | Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy (42)
Heart | Dreamboat Annie (41)
Miles Davis | Agharta (35)
Betty Davis | Nasty Gal (34)
KISS | Alive! (31)
KC & The Sunshine Band | KC & The Sunshine Band (30)
Funkadelic | Let’s Take It To The Stage (28)
Aerosmith | Toys In The Attic (27)
David Bowie | Young Americans (26)
Fela Kuti & Africa 70 | Expensive Shit (24)
Black Sabbath | Sabotage (23)
Fleetwood Mac | Fleetwood Mac (22)
Burning Spear | Marcus Garvey (21)
Queen | A Night At The Opera (20)
Steely Dan | Katy Lied (19)
Brian Eno | Another Green World (17)
Earth Wind & Fire | That’s The Way Of The World (16)
Richard & Linda Thompson | Pour Down Like Silver (15)
Bob Dylan & The Band | The Basement Tapes (13)
Willie Nelson | Red Headed Stranger (12)
Led Zeppelin | Physical Graffiti (10)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Zuma (9)
Pink Floyd | Wish You Were Here (7)
Toots & The Maytals | Funky Kingston (6)
Neil Young | Tonight’s The Night (4)
Parliament | Mothership Connection (3)
Bob Dylan | Blood On The Tracks (1)
And here are my selections to fill in the 34 holes I created (in no particular order):
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention with Captain Beefheart | Bongo Fury
Rush | Caress Of Steel
Phil Manzanera | Diamond Head
Electric Light Orchestra | Face The Music
UFO | Force It
Sly Stone | High On You
Sparks | Indiscreet
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention | One Size Fits All
Sparks | Propaganda
Golden Earring | Switch
King Crimson | USA
Esther Phillips | What A Difference A Day Makes
Little Feat | The Last Record Album
Big Mama Thornton | Sassy Mama!
Labri Siffre | Remember My Song
Alice Cooper | Welcome To My Nightmare
The Headhunters | Survival Of The Fittest
KISS | Dressed To Kill
Neu | Neu 75
Various Artists | Tommy Soundtrack
Peter Hammill | Nadir’s Big Chance
Sweeney Todd | Sweeney Todd
Lynyrd Skynyrd | Nuthin’ Fancy
John Cale | Slow Dazzle
ZZ Top | Fandango!
Nazareth | Hair Of The Dog
Lou Reed | Coney Island Baby
Hawkwind | Warrior On The Edge Of Time
Roy Harper | HQ
Jimmy Castor Bunch | Supersound
The Tubes | The Tubes
Fela Kuti & His Africa 70 | Confusion
Tom Waits | Nighthawks At The Diner
Crack The Sky | Crack The Sky
And finally, here’s a playlist of tracks from the blended list:
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Area Resident is an Ottawa-based journalist, recording artist, music collector and re-seller. Hear (and buy) his music on Bandcamp, email him HERE, follow him on Instagram and check him out on Discogs.
