Songfactor's Choice

10. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen (1975)

Key Tracks:

• Born To Run (in video)


• Thunder Road


• Jungleland

Bruce's breakthrough. He appeared on the covers of both Time and Newsweek that year, and actually lived up to the hype.
Nominated by Pinkstones


9. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars - David Bowie (1972)

Key Tracks:

• Ziggy Stardust (in video)


• Suffragette City


• Starman

Unlike lame future efforts like the Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines identity swap, Bowie became a believable Ziggy Stardust, the ultimate Rock Star destroyed by the fanaticism he created.
Nominated by RonJonSurfer


8. (pronounced 'leh-'nerd 'skin-'nérd) - Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973)

Key Tracks:

• Free Bird (in video)


• Gimme Three Steps


• Simple Man

Skynyrd's debut, with a handy pronunciation guide for a title and the amazing "Free Bird" to close it out.
Nominated by Laurie


7. London Calling - The Clash (1979)

Key Tracks:

• Train in Vain (Stand By Me)


• London Calling


• The Guns Of Brixton (in video)

The Clash at their anti-establishment best. Joe Strummer read a lot of news reports, which provided lots of material.
Nominated by MC_Kenne


6. Rumours - Fleetwood Mac (1977)

Key Tracks:

• Go Your Own Way


• Dreams


• The Chain (in video)

Break-up can be a great song starter (like Phil Collins' Face Value), and Fleetwood Mac had 3 going on - The McVies, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, and Mick Fleetwood and his wife was all on the splits when they recorded this tumultuous album.
Nominated by Lea


5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John (1973)

Key Tracks:

• Candle In The Wind


• Bennie And The Jets (in video)


• Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding

Bernie Taupin provided lots of lyrical variety with songs about hitting the clubs, a glam goddess, and troubled young girls. But it might be Elton's instrumental "Funeral For a Friend" that is the most chilling.
Nominated by Jenny


4. Who's Next - The Who (1971)

Key Tracks:

• Baba O'Riley (in video)


• Won't Get Fooled Again


• Behind Blue Eyes

Peak musicianship (just try to play this stuff on Rock Band), and plenty to say, The Who created a masterpiece.
Nominated by BlueAngel


3. Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin (1971)

Key Tracks:

• Stairway To Heaven


• Rock And Roll


• Black Dog (in video)

Written at an old house in a remote part of England with great acoustics but no electricity (they used the Rolling Stones mobile studio to record), Led Zeppelin rocked harder than ever, creating a classic album.
Nominated by Lucky


2. The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd (1973)

Key Tracks:

• Time


• Money (in video)


• Us And Them

It's too bad kids today will never know what it's like to plug a big set of headphones into a turntable, put on Dark Side of the Moon, and let it blow your mind.
Nominated by Pinkstones


1. Sticky Fingers - The Rolling Stones (1971)

Key Tracks:

• Brown Sugar


• Wild Horses (in video)


• Can't You Hear Me Knocking?

This album earned points for the packaging, which was designed by Andy Warhol and featured a real zipper with the first appearance of the lips logo. The songs weren't bad either.
Nominated by Lucky