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1971



Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV (English hard rock/folk rock)
David Bowie – Hunky Dory (English glam rock/art pop)
Yes – The Yes Album (English progressive rock)
Yes – Fragile (English progressive rock)
Pink Floyd – Meddle (English progressive rock)
Can – Tago Mago (German kraut-rock/experimental rock)
The Doors – L.A. Woman (American blues-rock)
Funkadelic – Maggot Brain (American funk rock)
The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers (English hard rock)
Jethro Tull – Aqualung (English progressive rock/folk rock)
The Who – Who’s Next (English hard rock)
T-Rex – Electric Warrior (English glam rock)
Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality (English heavy metal)
Joni Mitchell – Blue (Canadian folk)
Alice Cooper – Killer (American hard rock/heavy metal)
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (American soul)
The Beach Boys – Surf’s Up (American psychedelic pop)
Deep Purple – Fireball (English heavy metal)
Harry Nilsson – Nilsson Schmilsson (American pop/rock)
Carole King – Tapestry (American soft rock)
Badfinger – Straight Up (British rock/power pop)
Paul and Linda McCartney – Ram (English pop/rock)
Leonard Cohen – Songs Of Love And Hate (Canadian folk)
Elton John – Madman Across The Water (English soft rock/ symphonic rock)
Nick Drake – Bryter Layter (English baroque pop/ folk)
MC5 – High Time (American hard rock/proto-punk)
Sly & The Family Stone – There’s A Riot Goin’ On (American funk/soul)
Dolly Parton – Coat Of Many Colors (American country)
Johnny Cash – Man In Black (American country)
Hawkwind – In Search Of Space (English space rock)
Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells A Story (English roots rock)
John Lennon – Imagine (English rock)
Electric Light Orchestra – Electric Light Orchestra (English symphonic rock, debut)
Uriah Heep – Look At Yourself (English hard rock/progressive rock)
Mountain – Nantucket Sleigh Ride (American hard rock/metal)
Comus – First Utterance (English progressive folk, debut)
Van der Graaf Generator – Pawn Hearts (English progressive rock)
The Move – Message From The Country (English art rock/ power pop, their last album, recorded at the same time as the first ELO album)
Todd Rundgren – Runt: The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren (American pop/rock)
Ash Ra Tempel – Ash Ra Tempel – (German space rock, debut)
The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies (English country-rock)
Isaac Hayes – Shaft (American soul/funk, soundtrack to the film of the same name)
Genesis – Nursery Cryme (English progressive rock)
Budgie – Budgie (Welsh hard rock/heavy metal)
Cactus – One Way… Or Another (American blues rock/heavy metal)
John Prine – John Prine (American country/folk, debut)
Janis Joplin and Full Tilt Boogie – Pearl (American blues rock, her last studio album)
Bill Withers – Just The Way I Am (American soul, debut)
Emerson, Lake and Palmer – Tarkus (English progressive rock)
The Moody Blues – Every Good Boy Deserves Favor (English progressive rock/ symphonic rock)
Traffic – The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys (English progressive rock/jazz fusion)
Mahavishnu Orchestra – The Inner Mounting Flame (American jazz-rock fusion, debut)
ZZ Top - ZZ Top's First Album (American blues-rock, debut (unsurprisingly))
Harry Nilsson – The Point! (American pop-rock, soundtrack to the short animated film)
David Crosby – If I Could Only Remember My Name (American psychedelic folk, solo debut for Crosby Stills & Nash member)
The Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East (Southern rock/blues rock, live double album)


1971 has officially become one of my favorite years for music - seriously, look at all that great stuff in there. Partway through this list, I started getting fairly heavy on progressive rock and hard rock/proto-metal - Part of this is that I tend to want a good loud, energetic album to listen to when I'm coming home from a night shift. This ended with Allman Brothers because I decided to stop on July 3rd and they were the most "American"-seeming band I had on my to-listen list.

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