Top Ten Best Years in Rock Music

-Black Sabbath : Self-titled AND "Paranoid"
-Neil Young : "After the Gold rush"
-John Lennon : "Plastic Ono band"
-Zeppelin : "Led Zeppelin III"
-Beatles : "Let it Be"
-The Doors : "Morrison Hotel"
-David Bowie : "The man who sold the world"
-Pink Floyd : "Atom heart mother"

Black Sabbath, In Rock, Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs, Led Zeppelin III, Let it Be

Physical Graffiti, Horses, Blood on the Tracks, A Night at the Opera, Wish You Were Here

A Night at the Opera (Best album ever), Wish You Were Here, too many to list...

A Night At The Opera, Physical Graffiti, Wish You Were Here, Toys in the Attic.

Pink Floyd : "Wish you were here"
Zeppelin : "Physical Graffiti"
Queen : "A night at the opera"
Black Sabbath : "Sabotage"

Slippery When Wet, Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood, The Queen is Dead, Turbo

Led Zeppelin 1 and 2. , Abbey Road, The Who: Tommy, Rolling Stones: Let it bleed, The Band, King Crimson, Creedence C Revival, Crosby Stills and Nash, Pink Floyd, Cream

Abbey Road by The Beatles, Let it Bleed by The Rolling Stones, several albums by Creedence Clearwater Revival, several albums by Led Zeppelin, Hot Buttered Soul by Isaac Hayes, plus albums by Stevie Wonder, The Kinks, Joe Cocker, Elvis, Aretha Franklin etc. Beat that, any other year ever!

This year saw The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Who,
And the final week of 1969 saw the very first chart entry from the Jackson 5, plus the summer of 1969 featured a little concert event called Woodstock.

Great year. ITCOTKC was probably the highlight. Also no one's mentioned Frank Zappa

Pink Floyd : DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (Greatest album in music history)
Zeppelin : Houses Of the Holy
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Queen first album

You forgot Selling England By the Pound, Future Days, Larks' Tongues in Aspic and Aladdin Sane

You forgot Houses of the Holy

Queen’s first album was awesome and criminally underrated!

Boston, Rocks, Jailbreak, 2112, Rising

Pyromania, Kill 'em All, Peace of Mind, Murmur, War

2 Jimi Henrix albums, SGT PEPPERS, The Doors, Cream, Pink Floyd : Piper at the gates of dawn . Why is 1967 down at #9

Are You Experienced, The Doors, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Velvet Underground & Nico, Disraeli Gears

One word: Cream

Modren rock is defined by 2002.

Really?
Led Zeppelin IV, Who's Next, Sticky Fingers, Meddle, Fragile, Concert for Bangladesh, Imagine, Hunky Dory, What's Going On, Harvest, Tapestry…
I say again…Really? Does any other year come close?
I must admit, though, it is difficult to pick a year in which the neither the Beatles nor Van Halen nor Rush nor Michael Jackson put out material. Oh well.

Actually, most of the albums you mentioned are mediocre and the journalist overrate them.
There were years way better than 1971.

Led Zeppelin 4, The Who: Who's next, Imagine, Black Sabbath : Master of reality
Pink Floyd : Meddle

Elton John, Todd Rundgren, Cat Stevens, Grand Funk. Led Zeppelin, Jackson Browne, Doobie Brothers, Yes, C,S,N, Sly & the Family Stone,

Zoso, Master Of Reality, The Yes Album, RAM, Aqualung, Tarkus, Fireball, Nursery Cryme, Fragile, Meddle, LA Woman, Sticky Fingers, Who's Next, Hunky Dory, Madman Across The Water, Blue, Surf's Up, Imagine, The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, Killer, ZZ Top's First Album, Straight Up, Electric Warrior...too good.

Chirping Crickets, Here's Little Richard, After School Session, Jailhouse Rock, Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps

Nevermind, Ten, Achtung Baby, Out of Time, Innuendo, Screamadelica, Spiderland, Loveless, Use Your Illusion I & II, Human, Badmotorfinger, The Black Album, etc.

Nirvana: Nevermind
Soundgarden: BADMOTORFINGER
Metallica : Black Album
Pearl Jam : Ten
Chili Peppers : Blood sugar sex magik
U2 : Achtung baby
REM : Out of time
Guns N Roses : Use your illusion
Temple of the dog (Pearl Jam + Soundgarden supergroup) : self titled
Primus : Sea of cheese
Dinosaur Jr : Green Mind

The year Grunge became mainstream, Green Day's debut album, and new albums and hits from Nirvana, RHCP, and R.E.M.

U2 "Achtung Baby"
R.E.M. "Out of Time"
Nirvana "Nevermind"
Metallica "Metallica"
RHCP "Blood Sugar Sex Magik"
Guns N' Roses "Use Your Illusion"

Jeff beck Truth, Led Zeppelin 1, Waitin for the Sun, The Beatles White album, beggars banquet,

Beggars Banquet, The Beatles (or the white album), waiting for the sun

Grunge rock and alternative rock defined

These days - Bon Jovi!

Grace, Weezer, Definitely Maybe, The Downward Spiral

My Generation, Out of Our Heads, Rubber Soul, Here Are The Sonics, Highway 61 Revisited

Crush by Bon Jovi!

Evanescence and Linkin Park released their albums "Fallen" (Evanescence) and "Meteora" (Linkin Park) only weeks apart. It was also the year Three Days Grace's self titled album was released.

The Modern rock at it's finest!

2007 was the by far the best year for modern rock music some of the best albums and songs came from this year!

Keep the faith - Bon Jovi!

Rage Against the Machine - RATM
Core-Stone - Temple Pilots
Dirt- Alice in Chains
Check Your Head- Beastie Boys
40oz to Freedom- Sublime
Harvest Moon- Neil Young
Southern Harmony and Musical Companion- Black Crowes
Vulgar Display of Power- Pantera