I was going to post this in a comment, but realized that I agree with almost none of the choices of my esteemed colleague even though we were born 14 days apart. Thus, this diatribe.
I never got into punk, don't like Dylan or the Stones, grew up listening to country music and hard rock and like the New Wave/Prog Rock genre. My list will be quite different. And away we go...(using Wikipedia's "Music in xx" pages).
1969: Agree that The Band's second album is a contender. Blind Faith by (duh!) Blind Faith also has two excellent songs. Not enough to rate as the best, though. Velvet Underground? No thanks. I am surprised that Kick Out The Jams by MC5 didn't rate a mention from El. Merle Haggard and the Strangers Okie from Muskogee is a strong choice, but I have to go with a live album - At San Quentin by Johnny Cash. The best of seemingly 15 or so albums put out by JC that year.
1970: Strong year. Abraxas by Santana, After the Gold Rush by Neil Young, Bitches Brew by Miles Davis, Deja Vu by CSNY, Moondance by Van Morrison (almost, for me). None, however, compare to Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominoes. Still one of the albums I listen to regularly.
1971: Odd year for me. I know El is a bigger fan of The Doors and The Who than I, but my choice came down to L.A. Woman or Who's Next. The Who win out for consistent strength from beginning to end.
1972: Southern rock was a big staple of my childhood, so I have to go with Eat a Peach by The Allman Brothers. Never been a Stones fan.
1973: I'm not as anti-Floyd as El, so I'll rank Dark Side of the Moon as a great album from this year. Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield and Tres Hombres by ZZ Top are also very good, but my favorite is Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd by Lynyrd Skynrd.
1974: Agreed that this is a weak year. I'd have to go with 461 Ocean Boulevard by Eric Clapton.
1975: My pick for the year is Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. Bruce is #2.
1976: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by AC/DC ['76 in Australia, '81 in the US], Night Moves by Bob Seger, and Hotel California by The Eagles are good choices, but I go with Fly Like an Eagle by The Steve Miller Band.
1977: Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf over Aja by Steely Dan and The Stranger by Billy Joel. I'm a fan of operatic Steinman-rock.
1978: Jesus of Cool by Nick Lowe has some good songs. I guess the eponymous Van Halen album does, too, but I'm not a big VH fan of any permutation. My best album of 1978 was Stranger in Town by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. Honorable mention to The Gambler by Kenny Rogers and the soundtrack to Once Upon a Time in the West by Ennio Morricone.
1979: The Long Run by the Eagles is strong all the way through. Live at Budokan by Cheap Trick and Breakfast in America by Supertramp were certainly popular, but when I looked at the albums releases, one stuck out for me - Rust Never Sleeps by Neil young and Crazy Horse. Massive guitar attacks that don't let up for the whole album. Just what a 10-year old boy from middle Amercia craves.
1980: Bob Seger's Against the Wind is a good album. I guess I didn't realize how much I liked Bob Seger during this time frame. AC/DC Back in Black, the soundtrack of Xanadu (don't look at me like that!), Arc of a Diver by Steve Winwood all made me stop and think, but this is when my favorite Bruce Springsteen album The River came out. As a double album, there was enough space for the rock songs ("Ramrod", "Sherry Darling"), the sad songs ("The River", "Stolen Car") and the monster single ("Hungry Heart").
1981: Foreigner 4 had 4 good singles. El Loco by ZZ Top was not one of the best albums of 1981, but you had to hand it the guys for their subtlety with songs like "Tube Snake Boogie" and "Pearl Necklace". Escape by Journey is forever tainted by the steaming shit pile that was The Sopranos final episode. Soft Cell's Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret only had one good song - "Tainted Love" - but it was a really, really good one. Wild Eyed Southern Boys by .38 Special loses out to my choice - the self-named album by Quarterflash. I still have 8 of the 9 tracks on my mp3 player.
1982: Ah, puberty. The wonders of being a 13-year old boy. I'd rather forget this time of my life, but I'll soldier on for you, dear reader. Thriller and 1999 deserve mention, but not more than that from me. I liked Lexicon of Love by ABC, Nebraska (which was introduced to me by El), Nylon Curtain by Billy Joel (good first half, weak second half). Some albums had one or two good songs - Friend or Foe by Adam Ant ("Goody Two-Shoes"), Branigan by Laura Branigan ("Gloria"), Business as Usual by Men At Work ("Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?"), The Nightfly by Donald Fagen ("New Frontier"...loved the video), Too-Rye-Ay by Dexys Midnight Runners (name anything else...I dare you). Ya know, I think I have to agree with El on this one. Nebraska is undauntingly morose, but it is the best front to back album from 1982. Every other possibility has a couple of good songs and lots of filler. No wonder I am ready to forget this year.
Back to you, El.
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You're both wrong about 1982: the correct answer is Kate Bush's The Dreaming. Not only does it have all kinds of crazy songs about Aborigines, Houdini and The Shining but it's the only album ever to feature the dizzying talents of Dave Gilmour, Rolf Harris and Percy Edwards.
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