10. Michael Jackson - Off The Wall

There were so many incredible soul albums in the 70s. Giants like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Earth Wind & Fire hit creative peaks. But Michael Jackson’s fifth solo album remains an astonishing piece of work. It was his first one produced by Quincy Jones (together they went on to create Thriller and Bad). The ten infectious tracks blended disco, funk and pop, and Jacko showed vulnerability as well as strength in his expressive, maturing vocals.

His soaring falsetto and scat techniques became hallmarks of his signature style. Paul McCartney gave him Girlfriend, Stevie Wonder co-wrote I Can’t Help It. But Jackson wrote the killer single, Don’t Stop 'Til You Get enough, one of three songs here he wrote solo. Energetic dance tracks co-existed with heartfelt ballads, like poignant break-up song She’s Out Of My Life, written by Tom Bahler for Sinatra, that showed how well Jackson conveyed emotion. You hear his voice crack at the end.

This was the album that cemented Michael Jackson’s solo fame and propelled the troubled singer to global superstardom. Quincy’s crisp production was an integral part of its success. Scandal would dampen Jackson’s legacy but in the 80s, nobody equalled his achievements.

9. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Formed in London in the 1960s by the sublime blues guitarist Peter Green, with drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John “Mac” McVie, Fleetwood Mac evolved into an all-conquering British-American pop-rock combo with the addition of distinctive vocalist Stevie Nicks and her future lover, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, both from California.

Lancashire’s own Christine Perfect (vocals, keyboards) joined in 1970, a year after marrying McVie. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac’s 11th studio album, was written while the couple were divorcing, and just after Stevie and Lindsey had separated.

To compound the band’s reputation as “a rock’n’roll soap opera”, Christine was over the side with their lighting director, and Mick’s wife Jenny Boyd was having an affair with his friend, King Crimson drummer Ian Wallace.

On Rumours the band turned all this torrid turmoil into the greatest soft-rock album of all time. Love, loss, heartbreak – it’s all here. Buckingham wrote Go Your Own Way about splitting up with Nicks. Stevie wrote Dreams in response. The Chain and Never Going Back (both Buckingham) were also inspired by the break-up.

Christine’s Don’t Stop, the album’s third hit single, was a much need blast of optimism. Timeless songs from Rumours are still heard on TV and film soundtracks. It inspired newer bands like Haim, Florence & The Machine and Daisy Jones & The Six, the fictional band in the show of the same name.

8. Black Sabbath - Paranoid

‘Finished with my woman cos she couldn’t help me with my mind…’ I was 15 when I saw Black Sabbath performing Paranoid on Top Of The Pops in September, 1970. Ozzy looked demented and the awesome, driving, angst-filled anthem impacted on an entire generation.

Black Sabbath didn’t just widen my tastes, they changed popular music forever by creating the cornerstone for a new kind of rock – heavy metal. Out went middle-class hippies, in came something harder, meaner and altogether more down to earth. Paranoid was Sabbath’s second album, released half a year after their self-titled debut. Although written quickly, the eight tracks include revered classics like War Pigs, an awesome anti-war anthem packed with raw power and delivered over slow, ominous, brutal guitar. Iron Man was similarly dark, built over Tony Iommi’s iconic riff, the lyrics (written by bassist Terry ‘Geezer’ Butler) foresaw a time traveller “turned to steel, in a great magnetic field”.

The faster, catchier Fairies Wear Boots, shifted tempos and delivered baffling lyrics – said to be either a dig at skinheads or a dig by skinheads at Ozzy’s long hair, plus unrelated drug references. Geezer’s bass lines are terrific and Bill Ward’s drumming manages to be both tight and flexible. The music inspired by these working-class yobs from the backstreets of Birmingham, continues to thrive to this day.

7. Prince & The Revolution - Purple Rain 

Prince Rogers Nelson was a platinum-selling artist before his sixth studio album, but it propelled him into the stratosphere. Purple Rain captures him at his best, fusing psychedelic pop with hard rock, funk and R&B and creating classic hits like When Doves Cry, which explores love, loss and family dysfunction – his father is “too bold”, his mother is “never satisfied”, is that why Prince can’t find a love that lasts? The Minneapolis-born pop genius had the ability to steer a song’s mood from intimacy to ecstasy. The title track is masterful, a ballad that builds to an epic crescendo, summoning powerful emotions along the way.

Purple Rain, the album and the film, became cultural milestones, influencing music, fashion, and film. Top-notch compositions gave Prince an enduring appeal. Songs like The Beautiful Ones possess a timeless beauty. Everything about this album is exceptional – Prince’s guitar-playing, his vocal range, the fresh production, his lyrics, his vision. He could go from the bedroom to the church, and from full-on funk to transcendence. A genius.