Best 1970s Rock Songs
The best rock songs of the 1970s (70s), ranked — each one links to the album it came from, on vinyl, CD or Amazon Music.
Reviewed by Callum Ashworth, 247 Album Verdict · Last updated · How we rank
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1LZ
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2DB
Life on Mars?
The Rickmansworth housewife observation set to Rick Wakeman's piano cascade.
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3WH
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4WH
Won't Get Fooled Again
The synth, the guitar, the scream — eight minutes of civilisation collapsing.
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5DO
Riders on the Storm
Rain, organ, Morrison's late-career baritone at its most cinematic.
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6EJ
Rocket Man
Bernie Taupin's loneliness-as-space-metaphor and Elton's most affecting vocal.
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7PF
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8QU
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9BS
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10PF
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11BS
Thunder Road
The piano intro, the harmonica, the screen door — the whole American myth.
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12EA
Tap the artwork or "Listen" to find the track on Amazon Music; "Watch" opens a YouTube search; the song title or "Album" opens its album page. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases and sign-ups.
Why is the 1970s considered rock's most diverse decade?
Few decades cover as much stylistic ground under one genre umbrella — arena rock, prog, glam, Southern rock, blues-rock and punk's late-decade emergence were all happening at once, often overlapping on the same festival bills, which is part of why critics treat the decade as rock's broadest creative stretch.
What's the difference between this and your classic rock coverage elsewhere?
This list focuses specifically on the 1970s; "classic rock" as a term is really a radio-format label covering roughly the mid-1960s through the early 1980s, so this list sits inside that broader classic-rock era rather than being identical to it.
Does this list include prog rock?
Yes, where a track represents prog's commercial or critical high points — the genre was a major strand of 1970s rock even though its longer, more complex song structures set it apart from the decade's more radio-friendly arena rock.