What was the greatest guitar album of the 1970s?

What was the greatest guitar album of the 1970s?

As you've probably gleaned from the headline, we're eager to know what you – the lovely GuitarWorld.com readers – consider to be the greatest guitar album of the 1970s.

OK, I admit this is a tough one. I mean, the greatest guitar album of the '60s is obviously The Transformed Man by William Shatner. And the best guitar album of the '80s is clearly The Return of Bruno by Bruce Willis.

But how do you choose a single "greatest guitar album" from the '70s?

While the '60s and '80s were carpeted and/or wallpapered with some truly incredible and influential guitar-centric releases, the '70s were literally plastered with them – walls, floors, lamp shades, basements, attics, bathrooms, servant's quarters and boiler rooms. You couldn't walk two inches without stepping on a Free Bird or a Larks' Tongues in Aspic.

If the '60s rock and blues boom was the explosion, the music of the '70s was the volcanic fallout, and it covered the land – and darkened the skies – for many a year. It spawned heavy metal, punk, funk, prog and Southern rock. It witnessed the height of the "classic rock era" and then gawked and grinned in awe as Eddie Van Halen came along and created something, um, else.

Still – regardless of all that stuff – you can choose only one album in the poll below, so – as weird as it seems – there will be a winner, and we can't wait to see what it is.

Obviously, we couldn't list every album from the '70s, so if you don't see your favorite, just write it in.

This poll will be taken down in early to mid July (hey, we play things by ear around here), and we'll reveal the results in the November 2024 issue of GW, which goes on sale September 3.

Keep on truckin'!

What was the greatest guitar album of the 1970s?