Best Non-Hip Hop Albums of the 1970s

Almost every main genre of music was at its peak or near it's peak in the late 60's to early 70's. During those years, I have more DD-cup rated albums than spots in a top 10 list, so for those years, I'm just going until I run out of classics. Right now, I don't know whether the 60's or 70's was the best decade in music. I'll make that call after I'm done with the 60's. I guess I don't really have to call these "non-hip hop" lists anymore since there were few, if any, hip hop albums before the 80's, but I'll keep calling them non-hip hop lists just to keep it consistent. The best album of the 70's is Talking Book by Stevie Wonder.

Albums highlighted in yellow are DD-Cup/5 Mech classics

1970

1. Van Morrison - Moondance (Folk Rock)
2. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (Jazz Fusion)
3. Grand Funk Railroad - Closer to Home (Hard Rock)
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory (Roots Rock)
5. Syl Johnson - Is It Because I'm Black (Soul)
6. Pharoah Sanders - Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) (Free Jazz)
7. Antonio Carlos Jobim - Stone Flower (Bossa Nova)
8. The Kinks - Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (Rock)
9. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (Metal)
10. Neil Young - After the Gold Rush (Folk Rock)
11. Soft Machine - Third (Canterbury Scene/Jazz Fusion)
12. The Guess Who - American Woman (Hard Rock)
13. Grant Green - Green is Beautiful (Jazz-funk)
14. Yusef Lateef - The Diverse Yusef Lateef (Jazz Fusion)
15. Jethro Tull - Benefit (Progressive Rock)
16. The Velvet Underground - Loaded (Rock)
17. McCoy Tyner - Extensions (Jazz)
18. John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (Folk Rock)
19. Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman (Folk Rock)
20. Amon Düül II - Yeti (Krautrock)
21. Bob Dylan - New Morning (Folk Rock)
22. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu (Folk Rock)
23. Sun Ra - Nothing Is… (Free Jazz)
24. Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon (Folk)

1971

1. Jethro Tull - Aqualung (Progressive Rock)
2. Joni Mitchell - Blue (Folk)
3. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Blacknuss (Jazz)
4. Can - Tago Mago (Krautrock)
5. The Who - Who's Next (Hard Rock)
6. The Stylistics - The Stylistics (Philly Soul)
7. Gato Barbieri - Fénix (Jazz)
8. The Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame (Jazz Fusion)
9. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (Soul)
10. Led Zeppelin - IV (Hard Rock)
11. Alice Coltrane - Universal Consciousness (Free Jazz)
12. Carole King - Tapestry (Pop/Rock/Folk)
13. Candi Staton - Stand by Your Man (Deep Soul)
14. Pharoah Sanders - Thembi (Free Jazz)
15. Herbie Hancock - Crossings (Jazz Fusion)
16. Black Sabbath - Master of Reality (Metal)
17. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love and Hate (Folk)
18. Faust - Faust (Krautrock)

1972

1. Stevie Wonder - Talking Book (Soul)
2. Neil Young - Harvest (Folk Rock)
3. Can - Ege Bamyasi (Krautrock)
4. McCoy Tyner - Sahara (Jazz)
5. Candi Staton - Candi Staton (Deep Soul)
6. Return to Forever - Return to Forever (Jazz Fusion)
7. Neu! - Neu! (Krautrock)
8. Charles Mingus - Let My Children Hear Music (Jazz)
9. Faust - Faust So Far (Krautrock)
10. Gato Barbieri - Last Tango in Paris (Jazz/Soundtrack)
11. Nick Drake - Pink Moon (Folk)
12. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick (Progressive Rock)
13. McCoy Tyner - Song for My Lady (Jazz)
14. Deep Purple - Machine Head (Hard Rock)
15. Yes - Close to the Edge (Progressive Rock)
16. Fela Kuti - Shakara (Afrobeat)
17. Horace Silver - In Pursuit of the 27th Man (Jazz)
18. Paul Motian - Conception Vessel (Free Jazz)
19. Return to Forever - Light as a Feather (Jazz Fusion)
20. Lou Reed - Transformer (Glam Rock)
21. Al Green - Let's Stay Together (Soul)

1973

1. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd (Southern Rock)
2. Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (Jazz Fusion)
3. Sun Ra - Space is the Place (Free Jazz)
4. Perry Leopold - Christian Lucifer (Psychedelic Folk)
5. Sun Ra - Astro Black (Free Jazz)
6. Terry Callier - What Color is Love (Soul)
7. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (Progressive Rock)
8. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Prepare Thyself to Deal with a Miracle (Jazz)
9. Can - Future Days (Krautrock)
10. Al Green - Call Me (Soul)
11. Strawbs - Bursting at the Seams (Progressive Rock)
12. Dave Holland Quartet - Conference of the Birds (Free Jazz)
13. Embryo - Rocksession (Krautrock)
14. Billy Cobham - Spectrum (Jazz Fusion)
15. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (Metal)
16. Marvin Gaye - Let's Get it On (Soul)
17. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Burnin' (Reggae)

1974

1. Bob Dylan - Planet Waves (Folk Rock)
2. Cluster - Zuckerzeit (Krautrock)
3. Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information (Soul)
4. Jorma Kaukonen - Quah (Folk Rock)
5. Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece (Folk Rock)
6. Triumverat - Illusions on a Double Dimple (Krautrock)
7. Strawbs - Hero & Heroine (Progressive Rock)
8. Popol Vuh - Einsjäger & Siebenjäger (Krautrock)
9. Faust - Faust IV (Krautrock)
10. King Crimson - Red (Progressive Rock)
11. Sun Ra - Space Probe (Jazz)
12. Herbie Hancock - Thrust (Jazz Fusion)
13. Fenton Robinson - Somebody Loan Me a Dime (Blues)

1975

1. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks (Folk Rock)
2. Allen Toussaint - Southern Nights (Soul)
3. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (Progressive Rock)
4. Bob Dylan & The Band - The Basement Tapes (Folk Rock)
5. Parliament - Mothership Connection (Funk)
6. Neu! - Neu! '75 (Krautrock)
7. Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Wake Up Everybody (Philly Soul)
8. Willie Hutch - The Mark of the Beast (Funk/Soul)
9. McCoy Tyner - Trident (Jazz)
10. Tangerine Dream - Rubicon (Berlin School)

1976

1. Toots & The Maytals - Funky Kingston (U.S. Version) (Reggae)
2. Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius (Jazz Fusion)
3. Bob Dylan - Desire (Folk Rock)
4. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life (Soul/Funk)
5. Yusef Lateef - The Doctor is in…and Out (Jazz)
6. La Düsseldorf - La Düsseldorf (Krautrock)
7. Eloy - Dawn (Krautrock)
8. Weather Report - Black Market (Jazz Fusion)
9. McCoy Tyner - Focal Point (Jazz)
10. Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior (Jazz Fusion)

1977

1. Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express (Electronic/Krautrock)
2. Weather Report - Heavy Weather (Jazz Fusion)
3. Paul Motian - Dance (Free Jazz)
4. Yusef Lateef - Autophysiopsychic (Jazz)
5. Pink Floyd - Animals (Progressive Rock)
6. Kansas - Point of Know Return (Progressive Rock)
7. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Exodus (Reggae)
8. Klaus Schulze - Mirage (Berlin School)
9. Jethro Tull - Songs from the Wood (Progressive Rock)
10. Peter Tosh - Equal Rights (Reggae)

1978

1. John Prine - Bruised Orange (Country/Folk)
2. James Blood Ulmer - Tales of Captain Black (Jazz Fusion)
3. Al Di Meola - Casino (Jazz Fusion)
4. Todd Rundgren - Hermit of Mink Hollow (Pop/Rock)
5. Lee "Scratch" Perry - Roast Fish, Collie Weed & Corn Bread (Reggae)
6. Jethro Tull - Heavy Horses (Progressive Rock)
7. Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (Funk)
8. Kate Bush Lionheart - (Art Rock)
9. Sun Ra - Lanquidity (Free Jazz)
10. Kate Bush - The Kick Inside (Art Rock)

1979

1. McCoy Tyner - Horizon (Jazz)
2. Günter Schickert - Überfällig (Krautrock)
3. Eloy - Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes (Krautrock)
4. Michael Jackson - Off the Wall (Pop)
5. Sun Ra - Sleeping Beauty (Jazz)
6. Embryo - Embryo's Reise (Krautrock)
7. Van Morrison - Into the Music (Folk Rock)
8. Motörhead - Overkill (Metal)
9. Rickie Lee Jones - Rickie Lee Jones (Rock/Pop/Vocal Jazz)
10. Fela Kuti - Unknown Soldier (Afrobeat)