The ranking of the 25 best records of 1977 according to BBC Classical Music

1977 is one of those years that changed the history of popular music forever. British magazine BBC Classical Music has tried to sum it up through a ranking of the 25 best albums produced in those memorable twelve months. In the collective memory, 1977 remains above all the year of the punk explosion and the crowning of disco music: in Britain, provocation and abrasive guitars ruled, while in the United States the dancefloors and the “Saturday Night Fever” phenomenon turned disco into mass culture. But reducing 1977 to these two phenomena tells only part of the story. It was in fact a year of extraordinary variety, and above all of transition. While punk declared war on the rock of the past, progressive was still producing ambitious works, funk and soul music were reaching new heights of sophistication, and reggae was finally winning over a worldwide audience. Fleetwood Mac turned their romantic crises into flawless pop-rock, Steely Dan pushed the art of studio recording to near-obsessive levels, and Bob Marley became a global icon. At the same time, Kraftwerk were anticipating synth-pop, hip-hop and techno, David Bowie was redefining the boundaries of art-rock while anticipating the nascent new wave, and Television were pointing the way toward what would become crucial for post-punk and alternative rock. From CBGB to Studio 54, 1977 was one of the great crossroads in the history of contemporary music, a moment when old languages reached their peak while those of the following decade were already beginning to take shape.

So here is the ranking of the 25 best albums of 1977 according to BBC Classical Music (the full feature here).

25. Earth, Wind & Fire – All ‘n All
24. Richard Hell & The Voidoids – Blank Generation
23. Bill Withers – Menagerie
22. Wire – Pink Flag
21. Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True
20. Brian Eno – Before And After Science
19. Muddy Waters – Hard Again
18. Chic – Chic
17. The Clash – The Clash
16. Iggy Pop – Lust for Life
15. Jethro Tull – Songs from the Wood
14. Steely Dan – Aja
13. The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus
12. Talking Heads – Talking Heads: 77
11. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Street Survivors
10. Yes – Going for the One
9. Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express
8. Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
7. David Bowie – “Heroes”
6. Pink Floyd – Animals
5. Billy Joel – The Stranger
4. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Exodus
3. Television – Marquee Moon
2. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
1. David Bowie – Low

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