Ear of Newt’s Top 30 Rock Albums of 1973

I’ve been reminiscing a lot lately about rock stuff that happened 30 years ago. I recently posted interviews originally published back in ’83 with such still-active artists as British guitar phenomenon Allan Holdsworth and legendary Aussie earbusters AC/DC.

Then I started thinking about maybe doing a list of my fave rock albums from 30 years back, before coming to the realization that 1983 was not a particularly stellar year for rock.

Sure, heavy metal was coming on strong, with Metallica issuing its first album and groups from the New Wave of British Metal sounding off. And the amazing debut by Stevie Ray Vaughan brought killer blues-rock into the mainstream.

But all in all ’83 just didn’t strike me as a year overflowing with monumental rock records.

Unlike 1973.

Now ’73–there was a year to get your ya-ya’s out. For me, anyway. I turned 16 and my life revolved around the enchanting world of guitar-driven rock. I blew all my lawnmowing money on the latest new sounds. My friends had nice cars; I had nice albums. I was okay with that.

And of course 1973 was also when the greatest rock album of all time–the Who’s Quadrophenia–came out.

So screw 1983. I’m going back 40 years instead.

Here’s my top 30 rock albums of ’73, listed alphabetically by title. I’ve included three of my fave tracks from each disc to help you remember how awesome they really were.

Maybe in 2014 I’ll go back four decades again for my top 30 of ’74, ’cause that was a fine year too, if my vinyl collection is any indication.

Betcha can’t wait for that.

Aerosmith: Aerosmith (“Make It”, “Dream On”, “Mama Kin”)

Aladdin Sane: David Bowie (“Watch That Man”, “Panic in Detroit”, “Cracked Actor”)

Bachman-Turner Overdrive: Bachman-Turner Overdrive(“Gimme Your Money Please”, “Hold Back the Water”, “Blue Collar”)

Back in ’72: Bob Seger (“Rosalie”, “Turn the Page”, “Back in ’72”)

Band on the Run: Paul McCartney & Wings (“Band on the Run”, “Mrs Vandebilt”, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five”)

Billion Dollar Babies: Alice Cooper (“Elected”, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, “Raped and Freezin'”)

Bloodshot: The J. Geils Band (“[Ain’t Nothin’ But a] Houseparty”, “Back to Get Ya”, “Give it to Me”)

Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band (“Ramblin’ Man”, “Southbound”, “Jessica”)

Countdown to Ecstasy: Steely Dan (“Bodhissatva”, “Razor Boy”, “My Old School”)

Dark Side of the Moon: Pink Floyd (“Time”, “The Great Gig in the Sky”, “Money”)

Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin (“Over the Hills and Far Away”, “Dancing Days”, “No Quarter”)

Loud ‘N’ Proud: Nazareth (“Go Down Fighting”, “Turn on Your Receiver”, “This Flight Tonight”)

New York Dolls: New York Dolls (“Personality Crisis”, “Vietnamese Baby”, “Frankenstein”)

Montrose: Montrose (“Rock the Nation”, “Rock Candy”, “Make It Last”)

Mott: Mott the Hoople (“All the Way from Memphis”, “Honaloochie Boogie”, “Drivin’ Sister”)

Muscle of Love: Alice Cooper (“Big Apple Dreamin’ [Hippo]”, “Working Up a Sweat”, “Teenage Lament ’74”)

Pronounced ‘Leh-nerd Skin-nerd’: Lynyrd Skynyrd (“I Ain’t the One”, “Poison Whiskey”, “Free Bird”)

Quadrophenia: The Who (“The Real Me”, “5:15”, “Doctor Jimmy”)

Queen: Queen (“Keep Yourself Alive”, “Doing All Right”, “The Night Comes Down”)

Razamanaz: Nazareth (“Razamanaz”, “Woke Up This Morning”, “Bad Bad Boy”)

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath: Black Sabbath (“Sabbra Cadabra”, “Killing Yourself to Live”, “Looking for Today”)

Selling England By the Pound: Genesis (“I Know What I Like [In Your Wardrobe]”, “Firth of Fifth”, “The Cinema Show”)

Still Alive and Well: Johnny Winter (“Can’t You Feel It”, “All Tore Down”, “Still Alive and Well”)

Tanx: T-Rex (“Rapids”, “Electric Slim and the Factory Hen”, “The Street and Babe Shadow”)

Tattoo: Rory Gallagher (“Tattoo’d Lady”, “Who’s That Coming”, “A Million Miles Away”)

The Captain and Me: The Doobie Brothers (“Long Train Runnin'”, “Dark Eyed Cajun Woman”, “Ukiah”)

Tres Hombres: ZZ Top (“Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers”, “Master of Sparks”, “Move Me on Down the Line”)

Twice Removed From Yesterday: Robin Trower (“I Can’t Wait Much Longer”, “Man of the World”, “Twice Removed From Yesterday”)

Tyranny and Mutation: Blue Oyster Cult (“O.D.’d on Life Itself”, “Hot Rails to Hell”, “Baby Ice Dog”)

Vagabonds of the Western World: Thin Lizzy (“Slow Blues”, “The Rocker”, “Little Girl in Bloom”)