20 albums turning 50 in 2024

On the first day of 1974, a soundtrack album for the 1973 hit film “The Way We Were” came out, and so did an album from one of the stars of that film, Barbra Streisand. Yeah, it was maybe a bit confusing, but Babs still sold plenty of records. In fact, the titular single was the top-selling single of the year when all was said and done.

Brian Eno left Roxy Music and struck out on his own with his debut album as a solo artist. “Here Come the Warm Jets” was an introduction to what Eno would do musically, a mix of artistic experiments and well-crafted pop music. Eventually, this impulse would lead to him releasing an album literally subtitled “Music for Airports.”

Given the iconic nature of the titular song, we likely don’t need to tell you who released “Jolene” the album. That would be Dolly Parton, of course. While the album is not packed with memorable Dolly songs, the first song is clearly notable, and the start of side B is no slouch either: “I Will Always Love You.”

In 1974, Kiss debuted. The costume-and-makeup-based band was musically not sorted out yet, though many would argue they never really were. As the story goes, Kiss didn’t really start to click until they began to release live albums, as those helped capture what made the rock bands so beloved to many.

Big Star, led by Alex Chilton, was not popular in their time. Since then, the band is considered one of the most influential ever, a cult band with fervent admirers. “Radio City” is, in turn, now deemed one of the best power pop albums ever recorded. It also featured the most-well-known song the band released, “September Gurls.”

If you consider the ‘70s a musical decade associated with disco, here’s one for you. “Waterloo” is the second album from ABBA. The title track won Eurovision and helped turn the group into a worldwide smash success. To that end, the album begins with the Swedish version of the song and ends with the English version.

Where was David Bowie, iconography-wise and style-wise, when he released “Diamond Dogs?” The Spiders from Mars had been disbanded. It’s considered his last glam rock album, and features some of the musical influences that would color his next album, “Young Americans.” “Diamond Dogs” also gave us “Rebel Rebel,” which is sufficient enough.

Maybe Bad Company didn’t end up as big as Kiss, but their debut album is worth recognizing as well. They certainly encompass the hard rock sound of 1974. Plus, “Can’t Get Enough,” the band’s biggest song, is on the English supergroup’s debut. Also, did you know Bad Company is considered a supergroup? Fun fact!

Neil Young’s fifth album has great artwork on the cover. It’s maybe the most chill album ever made about being searingly angry, perhaps owing to the fact that apparently Young and company were consuming a mixture of honey and marijuana during the recording session. Side B consists of only three songs, but is beloved. In fact, the whole album is considered a folk rock classic.

1974 was a good year for funk. That includes “Machine Gun,” the debut album from the Commodores. The group shared writing credits through the album, but the last two songs, notably, are written by Lionel Richie, who became the breakthrough star of the band.

Apparently 1974 brought us several notable debut albums. “Rocka Rolla” came to us from Judas Priest. Now, the album didn’t hit, but every band begins somewhere. In time, Judas Priest would become one of the biggest British heavy metal bands ever.

Does the album title “Good Old Boys” evoke a certain image? Well, mission accomplished then. This album was released by Randy Newman, who was doing his usual sardonic take on matters. Something of a concept album, and thorny as much of Newman’s non-Pixar work is, it was a critical darling, particularly the scathing “Louisiana, 1927.”

For a guy famous for his songwriting skills, Barry Manilow phoned in the album names several times in his career. Also, oddly given Manilow’s chops as a songwriter, the big hit on “Barry Manilow II” was not written by him. That would be “Mandy,” which became a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song.

If you’re on Kraftwerk’s vibe, the German electronic band gives you something few bands can. “Autobahn” is considered their masterpiece by many, both the album and the song. To be fair, the song is 22 minutes long. It literally takes up half the album.

We’ve had several albums that began eras on this list, but here is one that ended an era. This is the last Genesis album featuring Peter Gabriel. At least the prog rock outfit went out with a bang, as this is a double album.

Chicago’s whole thing was naming their albums with Roman numerals indicating the album number, so we won’t talk the same trash we did about Barry Manilow. The band is all about instrumentation and cohesion, even if the members have changed extensively over the years. Peter Cetera was still in Chicago at the time, and he played a key role in what is the band’s final double album.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is divisive, but this much is true. “Sweet Home Alabama” is on “Second Helping.” It was a massive hit. It became a classic Southern rock song. That much is undeniable.

No R&B album was bigger in 1974 than Barry White’s “Can’t Get Enough.” His soulful, deep voice was one of a kind. “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” is probably his definitive song. Also, he was on “The Simpsons,” which is cool.

As far as album titles go, Ronnie Wood may have delivered the best of 1974. Some believe that “I’ve Got My Own Album to Do” was a dig at his Faces bandmate Rod Stewart, who had been busy doing his own thing. Wood has said that it stemmed from some of his friends and compatriots he got to work on his solo debut complaining that, well, they had their own albums to do. Oh, by the way, those collaborators included Keith Richards and George Harrison. Also, Stewart did provide backing vocals on a few songs.

When a Beatle releases a solo album, it makes sense to highlight it (so we will also note Ringo released an album in 1974 as well). “Dark Horse” is the fifth solo album by George Harrison, who ended up courting some controversy in the wake of the album. That mostly came from his tour, as he was the first former Beatle to tour after the band broke up, and also Ravi Shankar was at the forefront of the tour, as opposed to Harrison. At the time, “Dark Horse” was not well-received. Now, 50 years later, maybe it is time for a reassessment.