72 FROM ’72 is reaching a climax.
The top of the mountain, the pick of the bunch, the pinnacle of all things musical in 1972.
The Top 10.
As we launch into the final few posts, here is a list of all the albums covered in the countdown so far, with links to the original posts.
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It all began in January with a trio covering three distinct genres; American roots driven songs, German symphonic prog, and a deliciously funky jazz album. (View the post here)
72 RY COODER — BOOMER’S STORY
71 TRIUMVIRAT — MEDITERRANEAN TALES
70 LES McCANN — INVITATION TO OPENNESS
At the end of January a quartet of albums, two of which were live recordings. (Post here)
69 NINA SIMONE — EMERGENCY WARD
68 STEVE MILLER — RECALL THE BEGINNING… A JOURNEY FROM EDEN
67 HARRY NILSSON — SON OF SCHMILSSON
66 NEIL DIAMOND — HOT AUGUST NIGHT
The full house of 5th February featured two LPs from Australia as well as one each from Germany, Italy, and the UK. (Post here)
65 BRIAN CADD — BRIAN CADD
64 DEUTER — AUM
63 BELLETTO DI BRONZO — YS
62 CURVED AIR — PHANTASMAGORIA
61 BUFFALO — DEAD FOREVER…
1972 COUNTDOWN… #60—#56 was certainly a variety pack, covering a classic live heavy rock album, a funky sex-driven sweatshop, some German fusion, and more.
60 MANFRED MANN’S EARTH BAND — GLORIFIED MAGNIFIED
59 PASSPORT — SECOND PASSPORT
58 JANE — TOGETHER
57 DEEP PURPLE — MADE IN JAPAN
56 TIM BUCKLEY — GREETINGS FROM L.A.
Raspberries are in season. There is a school desk, too. Without underwear. (Post here)
55 ALICE COOPER — SCHOOL’S OUT
54 STEPHEN STILLS — MANASSAS
53 GRATEFUL DEAD — EUROPE ’72
52 HERBIE MANN — PUSH PUSH
51 RASPBERRIES — FRESH RASPBERRIES
A brief hiatus saw the countdown resuming in mid-March with some UK folk-rock, soul, jazz-funk from Miles and a bit o’ prog. Something for everyone? (Post here)
50 PENTANGLE — SOLOMAN’S SEAL
49 DONNY HATHAWAY — LIVE
48 THE TEMPTATIONS — ALL DIRECTIONS
47 MILES DAVIS — ON THE CORNER
46 EMERSON LAKE & PALMER — TRILOGY
Once again showcasing the magnificent diversity of popular music. (Post here)
45 TULLY — SEA OF JOY
44 CARAVAN — WATERLOO LILY
43 POPOL VUH — HOSIANNA MANTRA
42 TERRY RILEY — PERSIAN SURGERY DERVISHES
41 LOU REED — LOU REED
As we entered the Top 40 we found an overlooked Floyd, an overrated Neil, and a couple of classy Germans. More here.
40 PINK FLOYD — OBSCURED BY CLOUDS
39 A.R. & MACHINES — AR3
38 NEIL YOUNG — HARVEST
37 AGITATION FREE — MALESCH
36 GRAHAM NASH & DAVID CROSBY — GRAHAM NASH & DAVID CROSBY
Zappa, flute, brass and boogie. That was #35-31.
35 CHICAGO — LIVE IN JAPAN
34 CARSON — BLOWN
33 FOCUS — 3
32 IAN CARR — BELLADONNA
31 FRANK ZAPPA — THE GRAND WAZOO
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Entries #30-26. (Post here)
30 GENTLE GIANT — OCTOPUS
29 SLADE — ALIVE! / SLAYED?
28 STEVIE WONDER — TALKING BOOK
27 LITTLE FEAT — SAILIN’ SHOES
26 BLACK SABBATH — VOL. 4
Some striking album covers in this lot. (View here)
25 NICK DRAKE — PINK MOON
25 URIAH HEEP — DEMONS AND WIZARDS
23 MATCHING MOLE — MATCHING MOLE
22 FLEETWOOD MAC — BARE TREES
21 WENDY CARLOS — SONIC SEASONINGS
Which almost brings us up to date. The past two posts have revealed albums #20-16, and #15-11.
20 ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND — EAT A PEACH
19 CLUSTER — CLUSTER II
18 LOU REED — TRANSFORMER
17 STEELY DAN — CAN’T BUY A THRILL
16 TANGERINE DREAM — ZEIT
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15 BIG STAR — #1 ALBUM
14 FLASH — FLASH
13 GENESIS — FOXTROT
12 SANDY DENNY — SANDY
11 ROXY MUSIC — ROXY MUSIC
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vinylconnection.com.au 
Great list, esp. those last five, although I didn’t really get into Roxy Music until later. Looking forward to the Top 10
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Fascinating, Rick. I was very late to Roxy as well. When I first heard them they weren’t rocky enough for Rock nor proggie enough for Prog. I’ve since decided that the Art Rock designation suits them very well indeed!
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No one knows better how to build tension and suspense than you, Bruce! Great list already!
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Cheers, Guy. After about fifteen months living with this list, I’m indulging myself in a bit of hype!
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Wow. That’s a wild list. I’ve only heard of about half of them. And I mean only heard OF them, not actually HEARD them. But the ones that I know I like. You really want to know what mine are?? 0K. Here.
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/bobbyb5/greatest-albums-of-1972/
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Great list! The fact that there is much overlap is less surprising than how many unique entries we each have. What a year, eh?
PS> Just love that ‘Zeit’ is at #1. Could easily have been in my top ten too.
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Quite an amazing countdown, Bruce. I feel you are a true music encyclopedia. My top 10 albums of 1972 are the following:
– Neil Young/Harvest
– Deep Purple/Machine Head
– Rolling Stones/Exile on Main St
– David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust
– Curtis Mayfield/Superfly
– Santana/Caravanerai
– Allman Brothers/Eat a Peach
– Elton John/Honky Château
– Steely Dan/Can’t Buy a Thrill
– Stevie Wonder/Talking Book
Just don’t ask me to rank them! 🙂
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What a great list. I think you may enjoy the last lap here too. The Curtis Mayfield is a great inclusion. Nice one.
Also, thank you for your kind words, Christian. I can’t tell you how encouraging they are.
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I join Christian in awe of your musical fluency, Bruce. All of your followers have no doubt benefited from your effort (e.g., learning of new artists, revisiting a work not listened to in eons, etc). A couple of the albums in my personal top 10 for 1972 have already appeared on your list (Talking Book and Can’t Buy A Thrill). I would also place works by Bowie, Todd Rundgren, Curtis Mayfield and Joni Mitchell there…I’ll soon know if you agree! 😉 I have a guess as to what might be your #1 might be…when the time comes, I’ll let you know if I was right!
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I’m starting to think I need that Curtis album, pronto! I know you and I have discussed Todd before, JDB, so I’ll flag disappointment for you there. But there is *some* overlap. 🙂
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😊👍👍🌈
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Fun reading along in real time, fun wondering what’s left to come!!
Off the cuff, right now, my ’72 Top Ten would probably look something like this (in no particular order):
Rolling Stones, Exile on Main St.
Steely Dan, Can’t Buy a Thrill
Fleetwood Mac, Bare Trees
Little Feat, Sailin’ Shoes
ELP, Trilogy
Miles Davis, On The Corner
Wishbone Ash, Argus
Funkadelic, America Eats Its Young
Jethro Tull, Thick As A Brick
Stevie Wonder, Talking Book
But if asked to create this list a few months from now, it’d likely change a bit!!
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That’s a quality list right there, J.E.S. Nice. Most on the greater ’72 from ’72’ list and a couple still to come!
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Great list…If I told you my list today it would be different in a week. The only one missing for me would be Straight Up by Badfinger…which that would be The Raspberries, Big Star, and Badfinger….the Godfathers of Power Pop.
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Can you believe I forgot Straight Up, even though I’ve had that list for a hundred years? I must have been thinking it was from a different year or something. Sometimes you get the year wrong. I’m gonna have to correct that oversight.
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No, no, you didn’t. It was 1971. And I’ve got the years wrong several times. One top twenty record in this series was elevated due to my thinking Hawkwind’s Space Ritual came out in 1972 when in fact it was recorded in late ’72 but was released in 1973.
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Wait though…let me double check that…hell I could be very wrong. I was thinking of 72 but it could be 71
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Yep…my fault…Baby Blue was relased in 1972 as a single but the album was 71
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Yeah, that is a weakness with these projects. In the end, so many albums could jump from 50 to 5 one day or the reverse on another.
“Straight Up” is a beaut album, for sure. In fact it came in at #33 in the 1971 list. 😉
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More data on ‘Straight Up’ (from my own post 🤪), the LP was released in December 1971 in the USA and February 1972 in the UK. I think that explains our confusion!
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You know what though? On the site where I made that list it’s listed as 72. So I guess I’ll just leave it even though I probably have it on my 71 list too. Both are actually correct so what the hell.
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Exactly. A brilliant album whatever the year.
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Ok…I’m so sorry! I’ll tell you the reason I was thinking 72…Baby Blue was released in 1972 but the album was 1971…
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Great list! Here’s mine in no order (and no live albums to make it easier). Steeleye Span, Rod Stewart, Humble Pie and Uriah Heep are bubbling under…
BOC – BOC
Allmans – Eat A Peach
Purple – Machine Head
Slade – Slayed?
Bowie – …Ziggy Stardust
Yes – Close To The Edge
Mott – All The Young Dudes
Lal and Mike Waterson – Bright Phoebus
Sabs – Vol 4
Genesis – Foxtrot
What a year though!
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No, did that too quickly… missed one. ELP Trilogy edges out Genesis. Focus 3 is bubbling under too. Very difficult! Look forward to seeing your Top 10.
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F…..ck! Alice Cooper in there too. That’s a shoo-in so Bright Phoebus has to go… much as it pains me. I’m not very good at lists, sorry.
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🤣 So I’m probably going to tackle 1973. Maybe you could start now?
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Hey, it’s not an exam. Have as many as you need! (I had trouble with keeping it to seventy-two).
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I don’t even think I even know 72 albums from this great so I suppose I have an advantage there. I guess this is a rough Top 20. Trapeze had a great album in ’72 as well! It really was quite a yeah eh? Was 1973 this good? I’m off to check…
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“Year” not “great”
Looks like 1973 is another strong year too. Maybe not quite the same amount of albums but I think my Top 10 would maybe be stronger that year. Possibly just due to more “heavy” music kicking in around that point.
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Yeah, both heavy rock and prog were going gang busters in ’73. It’s the year for which I have the largest holding so I’m feeling a bit daunted… and haven’t even finished ’72 yet. Luckily, we do this for fun, right?
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Great stuff, HMO.
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It’s been YEARS since I’ve listed to Deep Purple’s “Made in Japan” album. Great choice for sure. – Marty
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It was a busy year for the Purps. As we’ll be reminded soon. 🙂
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That Graham Nash/David Crosby (that name order didn’t stick, btw!) is a good one. The Crosby songs overall I think are better, but of course Nash — ever the tunesmith — found the route to a hit with “Immigration Man.”
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You can take the man out of the Hollies, but yer can’t take the Hollies out of the man!
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I’m just waiting to see what position the Stones land in, lol.
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(Fade in snare roll…)
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(crosses fingers it’d be #1 ‘cos that’s what I’d choose) 😉
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Ha!
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