New Research Finds 1975 the Best for Rock Music
Bruce Springsteen and Queen Classic Albums in Top Year and Decade
Sep 7, 2009
Over 12,000 Planet Rock listeners voted for their favourite ever album in August, and the results were published at the end of the month. Previous research on the top classic rock albums chart found that the 1970s was the most popular decade, followed by the 1980s, and then the 1960s and 1990s were tied for third.
1972 looked the most successful year, with five entries, followed by 1975 and 1970 with four each. However, a more precise research model for the heavy rock list, scoring the entries on their position in the chart instead of just giving each entry a single point wherever they appeared on the list has produced different results.
Most Successful Decade for Music Albums According to Planet Rock Listeners
Giving first position in the Planet Rock chart forty points and the fortieth placed album one point, making a total of 820 points, the results of the research provide the following results:
- 1970s = 544 points (26 entries)
- 1980s = 155 points (8 entries)
- 1960s = 79 points (3 entries)
- 1990s = 42 points (3 entries)
There was clear space between first position (1970s) and second (1980s) in the number of entries, so it is not surprising that the first two decades maintain their positions in the new chart.
However, after just counting the number of entries the 1960s and 1990s were tied in third position. It was likely that this would not be the case after the positions were taken into consideration, and when the results were analysed it became clear that the 1960s was more successful than the 1990s.
This is because Led Zeppelin had 1960s albums at numbers 4 and 21 in the chart, while Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland appeared at #19. In comparison, the 1990s' highest entry was Metallica at number 15, and then came Nirvana at #26 and Pearl Jam at #40.
This meant that the 1960s scored nearly twice as many points as the 1960s in this system.
Most Successful Year for Music Albums According to Planet Rock Listeners
- 1975 = 99 points (4 entries)
- 1972 = 85 points (5 entries)
- 1971 = 70 points (2 entries)
- 1970 = 60 points (4 entries)
- 1979 = 58 points (2 entries)
Using the same system, the most successful year chart above showed some surprise changes to the results from the previous system evaluating the years just on how many entries they had in the rock albums chart.
1972 seemed the most productive year just on number of entries, but after adding position to the quantity it seems as if 1975 was the best year for rock music, as two entries in the top ten and the other two in the top thirty gave it ninety-nine points, whereas 1972's highest entry was at number twenty-five and two of the others were between #30 and #40 on the Planet Rock chart.
There was also a surprise at third place on this chart, with 1971's two top ten entries getting the year above 1970 despite the latter having four entries. 1970's highest entry was at #12, and the next was at #28.
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