Rock Albums of the '70s: A Critical Guide

by Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau on James Brown: "When he modulates to the bridge it's like the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters. After that he could describe his cars for three [LP] sides and get away with it."

Christgau on Carly Simon: "If a horse could sing in a monotone, the horse would sound like Carly Simon, only a horse wouldn't rhyme 'yacht,' 'apricot,' and 'gavotte.'"

Christgau on Van Morrison: "This is a man who gets stoned on a drink of water and urges us to turn our radios all the way into the mystic. Visionary hooks his specialty."

Christgau on Lou Reed: "Reed Sounds like he's imitating his worst enemy, himself." (Lou Reed on Robert Christgau: "What a moron! Studying rock and roll. I can't believe it!")

An indispensable book, Christgau's Rock Albums the '70s is the definitive guide to nearly 3,000 albums of the decade that brought us progressive rock, country rock, glam rock, funk, disco, punk, heavy metal, and new wave.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Reference, Journalism, Criticism

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Robert Thomas Christgau (born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. He began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop, riot grrrl, and the import of African popular music in the West.

Christgau spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and was a visiting arts teacher at New York University.

Reviews

[Mark Desrosiers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't always agree with him, but hot damn he's fun to read!

[Almofada · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can debate almost everything here: the criteria for a record to be mentioned or not, the rating system, the writing style of Christgau's, the development of his and/or your personal taste/distaste since the publication of the book... everything. But I personally think it a quite good thing, to take a position, to display your taste, to admit changes.
This is why I like the book.
And this is why I built a part of my collection on his words.

[Nils Samuels · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many years, a desert island book. For compact style, few can match Christgau, and the consistency of his pointed judgments about music helped me define, by comparison, what matters most to me.

[Bob Breckwoldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The essential overview of the '70s. Opinionated, thoughtful, literate, and inclusive (not just white, males). Excellent!

[CAC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this guy is the best rock critic. Dave Marsh-yeah, whatever. Christgau's prose is tight and generally angry, like rock.

[Brian R · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good example of Christgau's critical writing style that spawned several thousand lesser imitators.

[Burt Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required reading. Feel free to disagree with Christgau, his preferences are not your preferences. Definitive, in its own way.

[Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good reference guide if you're aware of Christgau's sensibilities and how they stack up to yours, it can be used as a jumping off point to explore bands and albums you may not have been aware of.
I am no music expert, I am somewhat knowledgeable about certain 80's, 90's and early 2000's bands/genres and know a little basic rock/jazz/blues and a tiny bit of classical music history, but I have to say how surprised I was at the number of bands/albums in here that I have never heard of, apparently my music knowledge of the 1970's is really lacking; which isn't surprising as I didn't really start listening to music until the 80's and other than seeking out specific bands I never had a 70's fixation.

[Arthur Kyriazis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather than having read, which i have, i still keep it around along with his reviews of lps in the 80s.

Christgau was a reviewer for the Village Voice. He was a great rock critic, along with Ellen Willis Lester Bangs & a select other few.

His guide made the Rolling Stone Guide seem stupid—it was sophisticated & funny.

It’s online now, along with the 80s version.

Of note; his list of 1960s lps you must own.

It’s more concise and much better than any one else’s.

An essential.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Christgau's reviews for decades, and it was fun to revisit his reviews from the '70s in this volume. Snarky, but also incredibly knowledgeable about a wide range of musical genres.

[Tom Trondson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these record guides Christgau did, one for each decade he reviewed music for the Village Voice. The amount of music he listened to astonishes. More impressive, is his succinct, scathing, funny and/or fascinating reviews. A must for a music head.

[Egghead · Rating 4 out of 5]

reading this as book
not as toilet supplement
exhausting- browse it

[Mark Dickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love learning about artists I know little about, but I don't share Christgau's esthetic