⇦ 1971

1973 ⇨

The Best Music of 1972

Here is a selection of the best albums and songs from 1972. Hall of Famers are highlighted in orange.

For a list of the top artists who made their debut recording in 1972, check out this list.

Albums (?)		Wikipedia
Al Green	I'm Still In Love With You	☆
Al Green	Let's Stay Together	☆
Albert King	I'll Play The Blues	☆
Alice Cooper	School's Out	☆
America	America	☆
Aretha Franklin	Young, Gifted and Black	☆
Aretha Franklin	Amazing Grace	☆
Bette Midler	The Divine Miss M	☆
Big Star	#1 Record	☆
Bill Monroe	Uncle Pen	☆
Bill Withers	Still Bill	☆
Billy Cobham	Spectrum	☆
Billy Preston	Music Is My Life	☆
Black Sabbath	Vol. 4	☆
Blue Öyster Cult	Blue Öyster Cult	☆
Bob Weir	Ace	☆
Bobby Womack	Understanding	☆
Bonnie Raitt	Give It Up	☆
Budgie	Squawk	☆
Can	Ege Bamyasi	☆
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band	Clear Spot	☆
Captain Beyond	Captain Beyond	☆
Carly Simon	No Secrets	☆
Carole King	Rhymes and Reasons	☆
Cat Stevens	Catch Bull at Four	☆
Cher	Foxy Lady	☆
Chicago	Chicago (V)	☆
Chick Corea	Return to Forever	☆
Cluster	Cluster II	☆
Curtis Mayfield	Super Fly	☆
David Bowie	The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars	☆
Deep Purple	Machine Head	☆
Deep Purple	Made in Japan	☆
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show	Sloppy Seconds	☆
Dr. John	Dr. John's Gumbo	☆
Earth, Wind & Fire	Last Days and Time	☆
Elton John	Honky Chateau	☆
Emerson, Lake & Palmer	Trilogy	☆
Fleetwood Mac	Bare Trees	☆
Frank Zappa	The Grand Wazoo	☆
Frank Zappa	Waka/Jawaka	☆
Funkadelic	America Eats Its Young	☆
Genesis	Foxtrot	☆
Gentle Giant	Octopus	☆
Gentle Giant	Three Friends	☆
George Carlin	Class Clown	☆
Gil Scott-Heron	Free Will	☆
Gordon Lightfoot	Don Quixote	☆
Harry Nilsson	Son Of Schmilsson	☆
Herbie Hancock	Crossings	☆
Humble Pie	Smokin'	☆
Issac Hayes	Joy	☆
Jackson Browne	Jackson Browne	☆
Jerry Garcia	Garcia	☆
Jethro Tull	Thick As A Brick	☆
Jimmy Cliff & Various Artists	The Harder They Come	☆
Joni Mitchell	For the Roses	☆
Keith Jarrett	Facing You	☆
Kool & the Gang	Music Is The Message	☆
Labelle	Moon Shadow	☆
Larry Norman	Only Visiting This Planet	☆
Leon Russell	Carney	☆
Lily Tomlin	This is a Recording	☆
Little Feat	Sailin' Shoes	☆
Loggins and Messina	Loggins and Messina	☆
Lou Reed	Transformer	☆
Loudon Wainwright III	Album III	☆
Mahavishnu Orchestra	Birds of Fire	☆
Miles Davis	On the Corner	☆
Mott the Hoople	All the Young Dudes	☆
Neil Diamond	Hot August Night	☆
Neil Young	Harvest	☆
Neu!	Neu!	☆
Nick Drake	Pink Moon	☆
Nino Rota	The Godfather: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack	☆
Ornette Coleman	Science Fiction	☆
Ornette Coleman	Skies of America	☆
Paul Simon	Paul Simon	☆
Popol Vuh	Hosianna Mantra	☆
Pure Prairie League	Bustin' Out	☆
Randy Newman	Sail Away	☆
Raspberries	Fresh	☆
Raspberries	Raspberries	☆
Rod Stewart	Never a Dull Moment	☆
Roxy Music	Roxy Music	☆
Santana	Caravanserai	☆
Seals & Crofts	Summer Breeze	☆
Slade	Slayed?	☆
Sonny Rollins	Next Album	☆
Steely Dan	Can't Buy A Thrill	☆
Stevie Wonder	Talking Book	☆
Stevie Wonder	Music of My Mind	☆
T. Rex	The Slider	☆
Tangerine Dream	Zeit	☆
The Allman Brothers Band	Eat a Peach	☆
The Chi-Lites	A Lonely Man	☆
The Doobie Brothers	Toulouse Street	☆
The Eagles	Eagles	☆
The Edgar Winter Group	They Only Come Out at Night	☆
The Grateful Dead	Europe '72	☆
The J. Geils Band	Live Full House	☆
The Kinks	Everybody's In Show-Biz	☆
The Moody Blues	Seventh Sojourn	☆
The O'Jays	Back Stabbers	☆
The Rolling Stones	Exile On Main St.	☆
The Staple Singers	Be Altitude: Respect Yourself	☆
Tim Buckley	Greetings from L.A.	☆
Todd Rundgren	Something/Anything?	☆
Townes Van Zandt	The Late Great Townes Van Zandt	☆
Uriah Heep	Demons and Wizards	☆
Uriah Heep	The Magician's Birthday	☆
Van Morrison	Saint Dominic's Preview	☆
Various Artists	Cabaret: Original Soundtrack Recording	☆
War	The World Is A Ghetto	☆
Waylon Jennings	Good Hearted Woman	☆
Wendy Carlos	Sonic Seasonings	☆
Wendy Carlos	A Clockwork Orange: Wendy Carlos' Complete Original Score	☆
Wishbone Ash	Argus	☆
Yes	Close To The Edge	☆
ZZ Top	Rio Grande Mud	☆

---

Songs (?)		Wikipedia
Al Green	Love And Happiness	☆
Al Green	I'm Still in Love with You	☆
Al Green	How Can You Mend A Broken Heart	☆
Al Green	You Ought to Be with Me	☆
Al Green	Look What You Done for Me	☆
Albert Hammond	It Never Rains in Southern California	☆
Alice Cooper	School's Out	☆
Alice Cooper	Elected	☆
America	Ventura Highway	☆
America	I Need You	☆
Argent	Hold Your Head Up	☆
Bette Midler	Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy	☆
Big Star	Thirteen	☆
Big Star	The Ballad of El Goodo	☆
Big Star	In the Street	☆
Big Star	When My Baby's Beside Me	☆
Big Star	Watch the Sunrise	☆
Bill Withers	Lean On Me	☆
Bill Withers	Use Me	☆
Billy Paul	Me and Mrs. Jones	☆
Billy Preston	Will It Go Round in Circles	☆
Black Sabbath	Supernaut	☆
Black Sabbath	Changes	☆
Blue Öyster Cult	Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll	☆
Bobby Womack	Woman's Gotta Have It	☆
Bobby Womack	Across 110th Street	☆
Bread	The Guitar Man	☆
Bread	Everything I Own	☆
Carly Simon	You're So Vain	☆
Carole King	Sweet Seasons	☆
Cashman & West	American City Suite	☆
Chicago	Saturday In The Park	☆
Chuck Berry	My Ding-a-Ling	☆
Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose	Too Late to Turn Back Now	☆
Curtis Mayfield	Superfly	☆
Curtis Mayfield	Pusherman	☆
Curtis Mayfield	Little Child Runnin' Wild	☆
Curtis Mayfield	Freddie's Dead	☆
David Bowie	Suffragette City	☆
David Bowie	Ziggy Stardust	☆
David Bowie	Starman	☆
David Bowie	Moonage Daydream	☆
Deep Purple	Highway Star	☆
Deep Purple	Smoke On The Water	☆
Deep Purple	Space Truckin'	☆
Deep Purple	Lazy	☆
Dobie Gray	Drift Away	☆
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show	The Cover of Rolling Stone	☆
Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show	Sylvia's Mother	☆
Edgar Winter Group	Free Ride	☆
Edgar Winter Group	Frankenstein	☆
Elton John	Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)	☆
Elton John	Crocodile Rock	☆
Elton John	Honky Cat	☆
Elton John	Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters	☆
Elvis Presley	Burning Love	☆
Emerson, Lake & Palmer	From The Beginning	☆
Flaco Jimenez	Marina	☆
Foghat	I Just Want to Make Love to You	☆
Gary Glitter	Rock and Roll, Pt. 2	☆
Genesis	Supper's Ready	☆
Genesis	Watcher of the Skies	☆
Gilbert O'Sullivan	Alone Again (Naturally)	☆
Gladys Knight & the Pips	Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)	☆
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes	If You Don't Know Me By Now	☆
Harry Chapin	Taxi	☆
Hawkwind	Silver Machine	☆
Hot Butter	Popcorn	☆
Humble Pie	30 Days in the Hole	☆
J.J. Cale	Call Me the Breeze	☆
Jackson Browne	Doctor My Eyes	☆
James Brown	Get on the Good Foot	☆
James Taylor	Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight	☆
Jerry Garcia	Deal	☆
Jethro Tull	Thick As A Brick	☆
Jim Croce	You Don't Mess Around With Jim	☆
Jim Croce	Time In A Bottle	☆
Jim Croce	Operator (That's Not the Way it Feels)	☆
Jim Nabors	Back Home Again in Indiana	☆
Jimmy Cliff	The Harder They Come	☆
Jimmy Cliff	You Can Get It If You Really Want	☆
Joe Tex	I Gotcha	☆
John Denver	Rocky Mountain High	☆
Johnny Nash	I Can See Clearly Now	☆
Johnny Nash	Stir It Up	☆
Johnny Rivers	Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu	☆
Joni Mitchell	You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio	☆
Labelle	Moon Shadow	☆
Leon Russell	Tight Rope	☆
Little Feat	Tripe Face Boogie	☆
Liza Minnelli	Cabaret	☆
Liza Minnelli	This Time	☆
Loggins and Messina	Your Mama Don't Dance	☆
Loggins and Messina	Danny's Song	☆
Looking Glass	Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)	☆
Lou Reed	Walk On The Wild Side	☆
Lou Reed	Perfect Day	☆
Lou Reed	Satellite Of Love	☆
Lou Reed	Vicious	☆
Luther Ingram	(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right	☆
Lyn Collins	Think (About It)	☆
Manu Dibango	Soul Makossa	☆
Marvin Gaye	Trouble Man	☆
Maureen McGovern	The Morning After	☆
Michael Jackson	Ben	☆
Millie Jackson	Ask Me What You Want	☆
Mott The Hoople	All The Young Dudes	☆
Neil Diamond	Play Me	☆
Neil Diamond	Song Sung Blue	☆
Neil Young	Heart Of Gold	☆
Neil Young	The Needle and the Damage Done	☆
Neil Young	Old Man	☆
Neu!	Hallogallo	☆
Nick Drake	From The Morning	☆
Nick Drake	Pink Moon	☆
Nino Rota	Love Theme from "The Godfather"	☆
Ohio Players	Funky Worm	☆
Paul Simon	Mother And Child Reunion	☆
Paul Simon	Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard	☆
Randy Newman	Sail Away	☆
Raspberries	Go All The Way	☆
Raspberries	I Wanna Be With You	☆
Ray Charles	America the Beautiful	☆
Rick Nelson And The Stone Canyon Band	Garden Party	☆
Rick Springfield	Speak to the Sky	☆
Ringo Starr	Back Off Boogaloo	☆
Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway	Where is the Love	☆
Rod Stewart	You Wear It Well	☆
Roxy Music	Re-Make/Re-Model	☆
Roxy Music	Virginia Plain	☆
Sammy Davis, Jr. With The Mike Curb Congregation	The Candy Man	☆
Seals & Crofts	Summer Breeze	☆
Slade	Mama Weer All Crazee Now	☆
Stealers Wheel	Stuck In The Middle With You	☆
Steely Dan	Reelin' In The Years	☆
Steely Dan	Do It Again	☆
Steely Dan	Dirty Work	☆
Stevie Wonder	Superstition	☆
Stevie Wonder	You Are The Sunshine Of My Life	☆
Sweet	Little Willy	☆
Sweet	Wig-Wam Bam	☆
T. Rex	Telegram Sam	☆
T. Rex	Children of the Revolution	☆
T. Rex	Metal Guru	☆
The 5th Dimension	Last Night I Didn't Get to Sleep at All	☆
The Allman Brothers Band	Blue Sky	☆
The Allman Brothers Band	Melissa	☆
The Allman Brothers Band	Ain't Wastin' Time No More	☆
The Allman Brothers Band	One Way Out	☆
The Band	(I Don't Want to) Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes	☆
The Blue Ridge Rangers	Jambalaya (On the Bayou)	☆
The Carpenters	Goodbye To Love	☆
The Carpenters	Top Of The World	☆
The Chi-Lites	Oh Girl	☆
The Doobie Brothers	Listen to the Music	☆
The Doobie Brothers	Jesus Is Just Alright	☆
The Doobie Brothers	Rockin' Down the Highway	☆
The Eagles	Take It Easy	☆
The Eagles	Peaceful Easy Feeling	☆
The Eagles	Witchy Woman	☆
The Four Tops	Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)	☆
The Kinks	Celluloid Heroes	☆
The Main Ingredient	Everybody Plays the Fool	☆
The Moody Blues	I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)	☆
The Move	Do Ya	☆
The O'Jays	Love Train	☆
The O'Jays	Back Stabbers	☆
The Rolling Stones	Tumbling Dice	☆
The Rolling Stones	Happy	☆
The Rolling Stones	Rocks Off	☆
The Spinners	I'll Be Around	☆
The Spinners	Could It Be I'm Falling In Love	☆
The Staple Singers	I'll Take You There	☆
The Stylistics	Break Up to Make Up	☆
The Stylistics	I'm Stone in Love with You	☆
The Temptations	Papa Was A Rollin' Stone	☆
The Who	Join Together	☆
Thin Lizzy	Whiskey In The Jar	☆
Three Dog Night	Black and White	☆
Todd Rundgren	Hello It's Me	☆
Todd Rundgren	I Saw The Light	☆
Todd Rundgren	It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference	☆
Todd Rundgren	Couldn't I Just Tell You	☆
Uriah Heep	Easy Livin'	☆
Uriah Heep	The Wizard	☆
Uriah Heep	Rainbow Demon	☆
Van Morrison	Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)	☆
Vicki Lawrence	The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia	☆
War	The Cisco Kid	☆
Wendy Carlos	Theme from A Clockwork Orange (Beethoviana)	☆
Wishbone Ash	Warrior	☆
Wishbone Ash	The King Will Come	☆
Yes	Close to the Edge	☆
Yes	Heart of the Sunrise	☆
Yes	And You and I	☆

⇦ 1971

1973 ⇨