Some of the best rock albums from the early 1970s ended up completely fading away into obscurity. Let’s give those underrated gems some love with this list, shall we?
1970 – ‘The Last Puff’ by Spooky Tooth
Spooky Tooth has always been underrated, and this album takes the cake. The Last Puff is a sweet, dense, bluesy rock album with gospel-leaning soaring vocals a la Mike Harrison. I recommend the whole album, but that cover of The Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus” is on another level. The Last Puff reached No. 70 in Canada but didn’t quite find success in the US. Joe Cocker fans would love this one, considering his Grease Band’s involvement.
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1971 – ‘Church Of Anthrax’ by John Cale and Terry Riley
How about some weird art rock via one of The Velvet Underground’s core members? John Cale and composer Terry Riley dropped this cerebral and beautifully written minimalist work of art back in 1971, and way too few people gave it a chance. Church Of Anthrax is an avant-garde classic, one that might be more accessible to those who aren’t already well-versed in avant-garde music.
1972 – ‘Kongos’ by John Kongos
It’s a little folk rock, a little jazz, and very obscure. John Kongos’ semi-self-titled album from 1972 didn’t get a ton of love, as it didn’t make it to the Billboard 200 upon its release. That’s a shame, though it wasn’t a total flop. Kongos had some success in the 1960s in his native South Africa before moving to the UK at the end of the decade. After Kongos dropped, the songs “He’s Gonna Step On You Again” and “Tokoloshe Man” were pretty big successes in England. If you’re an Elton John fan, you might like Kongos.
1973 – ‘In A Glass House’ by Gentle Giant
Remember Gentle Giant? Their fifth album, In A Glass House, should have gotten way more retrospective love than it has. It’s a concept album about image and being perceived, something that would likely resonate with today’s listeners even more than listeners in the 1970s. Progressive rock fans would adore this piece of work.
1974 – ‘Musik Von Harmonia’ by Harmonia
This is a list of rock albums from the early 1970s, so it’s inevitable that a krautrock album made it to the mix. This album is a trip and weirdly feels like it came from a utopian future. Sadly, though, at the time of its release in 1974, it didn’t really get much attention. This is really the kind of album you have to experience from beginning to end.
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