Collider has published a list ranking the best rock album released in each year of the 1970s, a decade the author credits with transforming rock through technical innovation and a shift towards albums as unified artistic statements rather than singles collections. The selection highlights how the era's leading musicians pushed studio experimentation to new limits, producing work that continues to influence artists today.

– 1970: "All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison, his triple-album solo debut blending folk, rock, blues, gospel and Indian classical influences
– 1971: "Blue" by Joni Mitchell, a stripped-down, confessional record exploring loneliness and personal upheaval
– The full list continues through the remaining years of the decade, though only the first two entries are detailed in the available text