Top 5 of 1971!!

Yup, we're starting this over again!  Back when I did my Anniversary Article, I focused on who both prog rock and hard rock were evolving, and this Top 5 reflects that!  While Black Sabbath, with their detuned guitars, and Deep Purple, who cemented their Mark II sound, were considered, they couldn't quite make it in as those albums also have some lackluster tracks.  Remember: a few great songs do not a great album make.  As always, I couldn't listen to everything, and this is super subjective, but these are my Top 5 albums of 1971!

5. Jethro Tull - Aqualung

This band has always been on the weird side, even among their prog rock contemporaries.  Featuring curious folk melodies and quirky lyrics, this album squeezes into the Top 5 primarily because the songs feel very well thought out.  For all their fanciful strangeness, these songs are exactly what they need to be, and the title track is a classic for these same reasons.

4. Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself

When I first listened to this, I thought it was alright, but upon revisiting both of their 1971 albums, this one stood out as the stronger of the two, mainly because it had a more focused rock approach.  The title track is a great start and "July Morning" really builds well, and the rest of the album just has the right touches to help put this one in the Top 5.

3. Led Zeppelin - IV

I've been relistening to a lot of Zeppelin lately, and as cliche as it may be, I do think this is their best album.  Not only featuring some of their most iconic tracks like "Black Dog" and "Stairway to Heaven," I was more recently blown away with the droning blues song "When the Levee Breaks."  I know I had heard it before, but this last time, it stayed in my mind much longer than I expected!

2. Pink Floyd - Meddle

It took them more than a few albums, but Pink Floyd finally pull themselves together and make some great music. While there are a few goofy tracks here and there, they arrive at excellence with the dark and brooding "One of These Days" and the epic underwater journey "Echoes."  Absolutely beautiful stuff.

1. Yes - The Yes Album & Fragile

I know this is cheating again, like I did with my Top 5 of 1985, but when my favorite band brings out two incredible albums in a year, this is just gonna happen!  Seriously, though, this is some of their best material.  Getting Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman on board expanded their sound considerably.  While I do think The Yes Album is probably better as a whole, Fragile does have my favorite Yes song "Heart of the Sunrise," so it's a close match.  In any case, Yes is certainly the best of the year, and I'm not ashamed to say it!