Key Takeaways
- Voting is open for the greatest rock album of the ’70s through UCR’s March Madness bracket.
- AC/DC’s Highway to Hell faces ZZ Top’s Deguello in the first round.
- Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic competes against Yes’ Fragile.
- The winners will advance to the next round starting March 16.
What is the greatest rock album of the ’70s? You can help decide with UCR’s 2026 March Madness bracket.
Last year we got a great response to our Best ’80s Album bracket, which ended with AC/DC’s Back in Black defeating Van Halen’s 1984. Both of those bands are back with their most popular ’70s records, competing against 30 more of the most famous albums of the ’70s.
The 32 contenders have been seeded into our bracket alphabetically, then paired off into 16 first round battles. You can vote below for your favorite albums – once an hour between now and Sunday, March 15 at 11:59PM EST.
The 16 winners will move on to the second round beginning Monday, March 16.
Adrian Borromeo, UCR
AC/DC’s Highway to Hell vs. ZZ Top’s Deguello
As mentioned above, AC/DC won last year’s contest with 1980’s Back in Black. We’re going back just one year for our ’70s bracket, to their big 1979 Bon Scott-fronted commercial breakthrough Highway to Hell.
They’re up against ZZ Top’s Deguello, which was released the same year and marked the beginning of the innovations and explorations with which the Texas trio would fine multi-platinum success in the early ’80s.
Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic vs. Yes’ Fragile
Aerosmith’s 1975 masterpiece Toys in the Attic, home to “Sweet Emotion,” “Walk This Way” and much much more, goes up against Yes’ 1971 breakthrough Fragile, home to “Roundabout” and “Long Distance Runaround,” among others.
The Beatles' <em>Let It Be</em> vs. The Who's <em>Who's Next</em>
1970’s Let It Be, the last album released by the Beatles, and home to the title track and “Get Back,” faces off against the Who’s best-ever studio album, 1971’s Who’s Next, famous for songs such as “Baba O’Riley” and “Behind Blue Eyes.”
Black Sabbath’s Paranoid vs. Van Halen’s Van Halen
Uh-oh, some idiot paired off two genre-defining albums in the first round. Black Sabbath’s 1971 masterwork Paranoid and Van Halen’s world-changing 1978 debut could both easily be finals contenders. Instead, you have to decide which one of them goes home way too early. My bad!
Adrian Borromeo, UCR
Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks vs. Tom Petty’s Damn the Torpedoes
Two Traveling Wilburys stars are forced to fight each other for the right to move onto the second round. Will you vote for Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks (most famous for “Tangled Up in Blue”) or Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Damn the Torpedoes, which features “Don’t Do Me Like That” and many others?
Bob Seger’s Stranger in Town or Ted Nugent’s Ted Nugent
Two of Detroit’s finest square off in this battle. Ted Nugent hit it out of the park with his self-titled 1975 debut, which contains “Stranglehold” and “Motor City Madhouse,” an ode to his hometown. He’s up against Bob Seger and his hit-packed (“Hollywood Nights,” Old Time Rock and Roll”) 1978 album Stranger in Town.
Bruce Springsteen's <em>Born to Run</em> or Styx's <em>The Grand Illusion</em>
Two career-making albums face off in this battle. The third time was the charm for Bruce Springsteen, whose 1975 album Born to Run made him famous enough to be on the covers of Time and Newsweek the same week. Two years later Styx had their own breakthrough with The Grand Illusion, which featured the future radio classics “Come Sail Away” and “Fooling Yourself.”
Cheap Trick’s At Budokan or Rush’s 2112
The final first round region two battle is a study of opposites. Rush broke through with studio wizardry and an album side-long song suite on 1976’s 2112, while Cheap Trick used short, catchy pop-friendly rock songs and the power of their live show to make the whole world fall in love with them for the first time with 1978’s At Budokan.
Adrian Borromeo, UCR
The Clash's <em>London Calling</em> or The Rolling Stones' <em>Sticky Fingers</em>
It’s pretty wild to think that these two albums came out in the same decade. Both came from bands born in London, too. In 1971 the Rolling Stones released Sticky Fingers– home to “Brown Sugar,” “Wild Horses” and more – in the middle of one of the most impressive album hot streaks in rock history.
Eighteen years later, the Clash peaked with their sprawling but never lagging double album London Calling, home to the title track, “Clampdown” and rock’s most famous last-minute addition, “Train in Vain.”
(We almost chose Exile on Main St.. for the Stones, in which case we’d have double albums going head to head too..)
Top 100 ’70s Rock Albums
From AC/DC to ZZ Top, from ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ to ‘London Calling,’ they’re all here.
Gallery Credit: UCR Staff
