The pinnacle of rock and roll. What year?

[Sounds Great]

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I think it was about 1976. So many great records that year and it seems to be midway through the great rock and roll heyday.

[bunnerabb]

1967.

From there it fragmented, bloated, was deconstructed, rebuilt, genrefied, marketed, pumped full of steroids and spent too much time looking in the mirror.

It's pure form?

1967.

Hands down.

YMMV - IMHO - Title Taxes and Destination Fees May Be Additional - Close Cover Before Striking - Reg.U.S.Pat.Off.

[butterfly]

'76 would have been good. lots of good Zepplin, Steely Dan, Tom WAITS and Frank Zappa.

[joaquin]

ROCK & ROLL WILL NEVER DIE

THE BEST IS YET TO CAME!!

[heinz]

2112 came out in 1976, so I say yeah!

[chetatkinsdiet]

Man, 76 is way past the prime.....
When Mick Taylor left the Stones,
The faces broke up,
Jimi died,
Janis died,
Beatles broke up,
Jim died,
Gibson sold to Norlin,
Fender went to a 3 bolt neck,
Solid state amps started creeping in,
Zep had reached their peak,

...70-71 gets my vote.

I know not all this stuff is from that year, but by the mid 70s it was done. Not to say that some good stuff didn't come out after that...and still, but overall. Rock died sometime in the early 70s.

later,
m

[beechstudio]

IMHO.......I don't think it can be narrowed down to one year. The timeframe from 69' to 76' is the era I am personally fond of. Zeppelin, Floyd, the first Montrose Album, Stones, Sabbath, Mott the Hoople etc...etc...etc. Isn't it funny how recordings from this era rival and stomp the s**t out of the stuff coming out today?

[toque-eh!]

this is one of those impossible questions, but i'm gonna say...........................1979

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by heinz

2112 came out in 1976, so I say yeah!

Yes! That is what I mean. When I go through many of my favorite artists, I find their very best, most creative record is around 76'. Give or take a few years, this is the average.

Of course, there are exeptions, Beatles, Moody Blues, and a few others that were way ahead of their time. But the peak was certainly in the 70's.

[chimpleton]

you got it chetatkinsdiet, not to mention the end of plexi's......
I'm a highway star baby!!

[warhead]

For all the 80's metalheads, I hereby declare 1986 the fukking year of METAL UP YOUR ASS.

Metallica - Master of Puppets
Mega - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time
Flotsam and Jetsam - Doomsday for the Deceiver
Ozzy - Ultimate Sin

and G n R Appetite one year later...

Come on...those were good times! Combine any of those albums with the smell of a cheap rotting vinyl interior of your buddy's first car and the smell of pot and beer and you've gotta be with me on this.

War

[NathanEldred]

1971

[Brian Middleton]

I'm willing to bet that if you compared people's answers to their birthdates, in 90+ percent of the cases you would find a gap of somewhere between 10 and 15 years. I.e.., the people who are saying 1976 were probably born somewhere between 1961 and 1966. I was born in 1958 and (surprise!) I would say the pinnacle was around 1970.

I think most of us experience that peak right on the verge of adolescence. My son (who just turned 13) is going through it right now....suddenly he's obsessed with music and every week he has a new favorite band.

[Teddy Gee]

LOL!!

We will all date ourselves!
I have to basically agree with Chetatkinsdiet, it was peaking in '67-'69 but great stuff continued to straggle into the early 70's. I'll try not to restate his list of all the legends that were gone from the scene by that time, but it is pretty heavy.

That being said, I think there continued to be great stuff made into the 80's, but it just wasn't the same density. The mid-late sixties into early 70's was an incredible gift to those of us who sucked teen teat on Beatles, Jimi, Janis, Doors, Who, Stones, John Kay, Yardbirds, Nuge', (early) Zep, Mothers of Invention, Cream, (early) Bowie, Dead, Airplane, Blind Faith, Traffic, Jeff Beck, Animals, the list goes on (sorry, couldn't help it).....during the mid-late sixties this was what the TOP 40 (!) was populated by!

I'd love to see it happen again, but I don't think so..........

Stephen

[Zarathustra]

1969, what a year. The idealism and energy of the 60's at it's peak, before the drugs and decadence took over completely.

I was still "In Utero", but I can dimly remember mom listening to these tracks a little too loudly on her Phillips stereo.

Whipping Post - The Allman Brothers Band
Come Together - The Beatles
Many Rivers To Cross - Jimmy Cliff
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Oh, What A Night - The Dells
It's Your Thing - The Isley Brothers
I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
The Thrill Is Gone - B.B. King
Ramble On - Led Zeppelin
Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell
Suspicious Minds- Elvis Presley
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Honky Tonk Women - The Rolling Stones
Stand! - Sly & the Family Stone
I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges

Z

[warhead]

Originally Posted by Brian Middleton

I'm willing to bet that if you compared people's answers to their birthdates, in 90+ percent of the cases you would find a gap of somewhere between 10 and 15 years. I.e.., the people who are saying 1976 were probably born somewhere between 1961 and 1966. I was born in 1958 and (surprise!) I would say the pinnacle was around 1970.

I think most of us experience that peak right on the verge of adolescence. My son (who just turned 13) is going through it right now....suddenly he's obsessed with music and every week he has a new favorite band.

I totally agree. I bet the average would be take about 15 years off the year mentioned and you'd be damn close to the birth year.

Except Nathan though...I'm only 33 but I bet he's younger than me! (I was born in 1971...)

War

[NathanEldred]

Wait!!! I've got to change it to 1972....Exile on Main Street was released and Dark side was being recorded. Okay I'm better.

Warren, thanks for the compliment, I guess I'm looking pretty good for 49 (kidding).

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by Brian Middleton

I'm willing to bet that if you compared people's answers to their birthdates, in 90+ percent of the cases you would find a gap of somewhere between 10 and 15 years. I.e.., the people who are saying 1976 were probably born somewhere between 1961 and 1966. I was born in 1958 and (surprise!) I would say the pinnacle was around 1970.

I think most of us experience that peak right on the verge of adolescence. My son (who just turned 13) is going through it right now....suddenly he's obsessed with music and every week he has a new favorite band.

Maybe. But I was born in 59' and I still say 1976!

There were some that peaked earlier, of course. But as I look though my collections, many of my favorite bands had what I consider their best records about 76'. Exceptions would be the Beatles (of course), Moody Blues, Traffic, Yes, etc. But most of your "classic rock"...

[mr scratchy esq]

1966

Pet Sounds
Revolver
Blonde on Blonde

[GPl]

Originally Posted by Brian Middleton

I'm willing to bet that if you compared people's answers to their birthdates, in 90+ percent of the cases you would find a gap of somewhere between 10 and 15 years. I.e.., the people who are saying 1976 were probably born somewhere between 1961 and 1966. I was born in 1958 and (surprise!) I would say the pinnacle was around 1970.

I think most of us experience that peak right on the verge of adolescence. My son (who just turned 13) is going through it right now....suddenly he's obsessed with music and every week he has a new favorite band.

LOL, how true. Ok I'll say 1970, but 76 definately was a great year.

[fOZf8]

I couldn't say a specific year, most likely because I wasn't born until 1976, but I would have to agree that the best rock'n roll of all time most definately all came to be in 76 and earlier. Anyone who says it happened later than that (particularily after 80) hasn't heard enough of the roots of what they claim to be better.

[TYY]

I was born in '79, but I say the peak was 1964. After the british the invasion Rock & Roll went down hill, but it was the birth of ROCK. I know this comes down to semantics, but that's the way I see it. The heyday of rock and roll was 1956-1962. The beatles and motown was GREAT, but that was pop...

[Silver Sonya]

As someone with probably a very different aesthetic than most people on this website, I have to say I think it's funny that people stop at '76 when the very next year the Clash and the Sex Pistols and Elvis Costello and Talking Heads showed people what for...

And Peter Gabriel didn't really start getting cool until at least 1980 or so, right? Ha! I just said that to solicit a bunch of hateful flame-mail from the prog-of-heart among you. (But it's true... )

This is a silly (fun but silly) topic. It's an endless vortex of generational subjectivity. And impossible to address. Rock'n' roll has had so many different movements and I'd like to believe a few are still ahead. I bet you there are some people who believe that '97, the year of OK Computer, was a zenith. And I think we'd be foolish to argue against that.

All this being said, my vote has to go to '67 as the obvious year when rock recognized itself as serious with the release of "Sgt. Pepper's." Before then, rock music was considered entertaining but disposable or at least ephemeral. I feel like people realized after '67 that, in the right hands, this form of music could reach the level of high art, with lasting cultural import.

--- Chad

[David Herbert]

There are many great periods of music and if you haven't explored them all, you owe it to yourself.
I think The Beatles started the first great wave with Revolver and Rubber Soul, a wave which extended through the best work of The Who (Who's Next, Tommy), the Stones (Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street), Pink Floyd (Darkside to the Wall), Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Hendrix, etc. That first great wave ended on Thanksgiving Day 1976 with The Band's Last Waltz.
The next wave had already started: Talking Heads, The Clash, The Police, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, XTC, The Sex Pistols, U2, Squeeze, Violent Femmes, etc. That second wave was fascinating because it both reviled the poor state of affairs the first wave had come to (along with the social and political realities of the mid 70s), while honouring the essence of what the first wave had originally been. Punk stood in stark opposition while the more artistic new wave saw the value in Bowie, Eno, Lou Reed, and Peter Gabriel. In fact Some of the best work was collaborative between new folks like David Byrne and "old" folks like Brian Eno.
The third great wave, and this one may surprise you, started about 85 and featured U2's second act (Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree), Sting's first two solo albums (Blue Turtles, Nothing Like the Sun), Peter Gabriel's SO, REM (Out of Time, Green), and Paul Simon's Graceland. This wave was short and was mainly the mature work of a number of first and second wave artists. There was a strong political and social theme. A few smaller acts like Midnight Oil and Tears for Fears did some strong work but this wave was not as deep as the first two waves.
Another smaller wave happened with Jane's Addiction, The Pixies, Sonic Youth, and later Nirvana. Grunge was a late part of this, and probably the most popular.
Some good acts popped up in the 90s- Pavement, Beck, Portishead, Soul Coughing, Modest Mouse, etc, but no real waves. The new millenium has so far been even more underground.
If you haven't explored these various waves tomorrow is a good day to start. If you loved the 60s but never bought London Calling by The Clash and you still love to rock out, well, get ready for a major discovery. If you worship Beck or Steve Malkamus you should listen to some Dylan or Leonard Cohen. Love The Rapture? Check out Blondie and Lou Reed. And the Clash.
But I am probably not telling anyone something they already don't know. David

[StuartMac]

I'm totally biased because to me the Rolling Stones are the single greatest thing to have happened to mankind, so it's got to be 1968 - 1972.

Beggars' Banquet
Let It Bleed
Sticky Fingers
Exile On Main Street

For me that's the finest run of albums of all time. Throw in the fact that they also stuck out one of the greatest live albums ever in the same period - Get Yer Ya Yas Out - and it's clearly Rock's Golden Age.

Some other acts had some decent stuff out in the same period as wel

[cdog]

2005

[pgk]

As someone with probably a very different aesthetic than most people on this website

i hear ya loud and clear!

1954 and 2005



call me a purist, but for me rock and roll pretty much stopped being rock and roll when the fender bass came along. to me, all these albums listed are flat out rock albums, not rock and roll albums. and i do love rock, make no mistake.
but it ain't rock and ROLL.....

different strokes

[dale116dot7]

Yea, 1954. Elvis and Bill Haley both recorded in that year.

1980 is good too - Stray Cats started up around then, and that helped revive the stand-up bass and that 1950's slap bass style. That band is one of the reasons I got an upright bass.

[blackcatdigi]

I have to agree. Spot on, '76.

My, how things have changed...

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by David Herbert

There are many great periods of music and if you haven't explored them all, you owe it to yourself.
I think The Beatles started the first great wave with Revolver and Rubber Soul, a

Excellent post, David.