I might as well pick 1974. It was a great year for Art / Glam Rock:
Sparks – Kimono My House and Propaganda
Queen – Queen II & Sheer Heart attack
David Bowie – Diamond Dogs
Sweet – Sweet Fanny Adams and Desolation Boulevard
Roxy Music – Country Life
Also, more than decent for Prog Rock:
Gentle Giant – The Power and the Glory
King Crimson – Starless and Bible Black and Red
Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Jethro Tull – Warchild
for Prog Pop:
Supertramp – Crime of the Century
Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado
for Hard Rock:
Deep Purple – Burn and Stormbringer
Bad Company - Bad Company
Montrose – Paper Money
Blue Oyster Cult – Secret Treaties
Rush –Rush
Budgie – In for the Kill
Nazareth – Rampant
For Funk:
Parliament – Up for the Down Stroke
Funkadelic - Standing on the Verge of Getting It On
Graham Central Station - Release Yourself
Kool & the Gang – Wild and Peaceful and Light of Worlds
Earth, Wind & Fire – Open Our Eyes
and for:
Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic
Carole King – Wrap Around Joy
The Hollies – The Hollies (with one of the greatest ballads ever: The Air That I Breathe)
Elton John – Caribou
Mott the Hoople - The Hoople
etc.
Granted, the three-year period from ’73 to ’75 would really make me set for life, since many great artists didn’t release new material in ’73 yet did in ’74 and / or ‘75, and most guys on the above list put out many more classics in this brief time period.
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow
Rolling Stones - Made in the Shade
Rolling Stones - Metamorphosis
Deep Purple - Come Taste the Band
Queen - A Night at the Opera
Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic
Cat Stephens - Greatest Hits
Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac
ZZ Top - Fandango
Yes - Yesterdays
David Bowie - Young Americans
Lynyrd Skynrd - Nuthin’ Fancy
Eagles - One of these Nights
Heart - Dreamboat Annie
Neil Young - Tonight’s the Night
Foghat - Fool for the City
Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All
Head East - Flat as a Pancake
The Who - Who by Numbers
Kansas - Song for America
Nazareth - Hair of the Dog
Jethro Tull - Minstrel in the Galley
Steely Dan - Katy Lied
Doobie Bros - Stampede
Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
Pablo Cruise - Pable Cruise
McCartney & Wings - Venus and Mars
Rush - Fy by Night
John Lennon - Rock n Roll
Stephen Stills - Stills
Chicago - Chicago VIII
War - Why Can’t We Be Friends?
Eric Burdon - Stop
Roger Daltry - Ride a Rock Horse
Ritchie Blackmore - Rainbow
Allman Bros - Win, Lose or Draw
Grateful Dead - Blues for Allah
Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent
Montrose - Montrose
John Cale - Slow Dazzle
Eric Clapton - There’s One in Every Crowd
Various artists - Tommy soundtrack
Bad Company - Straight Shooter
Bob Seger - Beautiful Loser
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Zuma
Patti Smith - Horses
Lou Reed - Coney Island Baby
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Live
I’m going to join rikc and pulykamell picking 1979.
1979, and going back and forth a few years. was the Golden Age of popular music. Rock was still going strong. Motown R&B and Soul were still strong. Disco was still with us. Punk, Ska and New Wave were exploding. Reggae was just getting big in the west. 1979 was also the beginning of the Hip Hop era, with the release of Rapper’s Delight.
Some more great albums from 1979
London Calling - The Clash Van Halen II - Van Halen Look Sharp! - Joe Jackson The Secret Life of Plants - Stevie Wonder The Kids Are Alright - The Who Bad Girls - Donna Summer It’s Alive - The Ramones Labour of Lust - Nick Lowe Candy-O - The Cars Live Killers - Queen Mystic Man - Peter Tosh I Am - Earth, Wind and Fire Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young and Crazy Horse The B52’s - The B52’s Fear of Music - Talking Heads Off the Wall - Michael Jackson Drums and Wires - XTC In Through the Out Door - Led Zeppelin The Raven - The Stranglers Tusk - Fleetwood Mac The Long Run - The Eagles Survival - Bob Marley and The Wailers Regatta de Blanc - The Police The Fine Art of Surfacing - The Boomtown Rats Damn the Torpedoes - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers Eat to the Beat - Blondie Specials - The Specials The Wall - Pink Floyd One Step Beyond - Madness The Great Rock and Roll Swindle - The Sex Pistols Sheik Yerbouti and Joes’s Garage, Act I - Frank Zappa The Best of Chic - Chic Walking on Sunshine - Eddy Grant Morning Dance - Spyro Gyra
1999 (and yes I was in high school), solely because that was the year my favorite album of all time was released: Guster’s “Lost and Gone Forever.”
But I’d get a bunch of other favorites (including Counting Crows’ “This Desert Life” and The Foo Fighters’ “There Is Nothing Left to Lose”), so I think I could manage just fine.
**gatorslap **has me wishing I’d picked '91. I picked 2000.
Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists…
Radiohead - Kid A
Dandy Warhols - 13 Tales from Urban Bohemia
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Shellac - 1000 Hurts
Clinic - Internal Wrangler
Pearl Jam - Binaural
The For Carnation - s/t
Six Organs of Admittance - Dust and Chimes
I like the variety of this year and it’s got 3 of my all time favorites. With more thought, I’d probably end up going with a few other years instead ('91, '94, '95, '99, '04, '06). Oh well.
This. I remember that year distinctly, and it was so much more than the “Summer of Love” . . . due, in large part to the music. No other year can even come close.
Kate Bush: The Dreaming
Prince: 1999
Roxy Music: Avalon
Midnight Oil: 10-1
Dire Straits: Love Over Gold
You’ve also got great tracks from 1982 albums by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Peter Gabriel, Fleetwood Mac, Toto, etc., as well as Michael Jackson’s Thriller (which defined the '80s to a large degree).
1981 and 1983 were also very good years with regard to my tastes.