# List of UK top-ten albums in 1972

The UK Albums Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling albums of the week in the United Kingdom. Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical albums. This list shows albums that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart during 1972, as well as albums which peaked in 1971 and 1973 but were in the top 10 in 1972. The entry date is when the album appeared in the top ten for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).
The first new number-one album of the year was by The Concert for Bangladesh by George Harrison & Friends. Overall, fourteen different albums peaked at number one in 1972, with Various artists (4) having the most albums hit that position.

## Top-ten albums
### Key

| Symbol | Meaning |
| ‡ | Album peaked in 1970 or 1971 but still in chart in 1972. |
| ♦ | Album released in 1972 but peaked in 1973. |
| Entered | The date that the album first appeared in the chart. |
| Peak | Highest position that the album reached in the UK Albums Chart. |
| Entered (week ending) | Weeks in top 10 | Single | Artist | Peak | Peak reached (week ending) | Weeks at peak |
| Albums in 1970 |||||||
| 21 February 1970 | 135 | Bridge Over Troubled Water ‡ | Simon & Garfunkel | 1 | 21 February 1970 | 33 |
| Albums in 1971 |||||||
| 31 July 1971 | 26 | Every Picture Tells a Story ‡ | Rod Stewart | 1 | 2 October 1971 | 6 |
| 28 August 1971 | 18 | Tapestry ‡ | Carole King | 4 | 4 September 1971 | 1 |
| 18 September 1971 | 7 | Fireball ‡ | Deep Purple | 1 | 25 October 1971 | 1 |
| 2 October 1971 | 19 | Teaser and the Firecat | Cat Stevens | 2 | 22 January 1972 | 1 |
| 9 October 1971 | 29 | Electric Warrior ‡ | T. Rex | 1 | 18 December 1971 | 8 |
| 23 October 1971 | 12 | Motown Chartbusters Volume 6 ‡ | Various artists | 2 | 23 October 1971 | 1 |
| 30 October 1971 | 19 | Imagine ‡ | John Lennon | 1 | 30 October 1971 | 2 |
| 27 November 1971 | 13 | Led Zeppelin IV ‡ | Led Zeppelin | 1 | 4 December 1971 | 2 |
| 11 December 1971 | 4 | Twelve Songs of Christmas (RCA Camden Reissue) ‡ | Jim Reeves | 3 | 25 December 1971 | 2 |
| 18 December 1971 | 3 | Hot Hits 8 ‡ | Various artists | 2 | 18 December 1971 | 3 |
| 25 December 1971 | 2 | Elvis' Christmas Album (RCA Camden Reissue) ‡ | Elvis Presley | 7 | 25 December 1971 | 2 |
| 25 December 1971 | 12 | A Nod Is As Good As a Wink... to a Blind Horse | Faces | 2 | 5 February 1972 | 1 |
| Albums in 1972 |||||||
| 8 January 1972 | 1 | Words and Music | Benny Hill | 9 | 8 January 1972 | 1 |
| 15 January 1972 | 1 | Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy | The Who | 9 | 15 January 1972 | 1 |
| 15 January 1972 | 21 | Fog on the Tyne | Lindisfarne | 1 | 25 March 1972 | 4 |
| 22 January 1972 | 3 | Jesus Christ Superstar | Various artists | 6 | 22 January 1972 | 1 |
| 22 January 1972 | 8 | Himself | Gilbert O'Sullivan | 5 | 8 April 1972 | 1 |
| 22 January 1972 | 5 | The Concert for Bangladesh | George Harrison & Friends | 1 | 29 January 1972 | 1 |
| 5 February 1972 | 10 | Neil Reid | Neil Reid | 1 | 19 February 1972 | 3 |
| 12 February 1972 | 4 | Hendrix in the West | Jimi Hendrix | 7 | 19 February 1972 | 2 |
| 26 February 1972 | 14 | Paul Simon | Paul Simon | 1 | 18 March 1972 | 1 |
| 26 February 1972 | 12 | Nilsson Schmilsson | Nilsson | 4 | 25 March 1972 | 3 |
| 4 March 1972 | 12 | Harvest | Neil Young | 1 | 11 March 1972 | 1 |
| 18 March 1972 | 4 | Thick as a Brick | Jethro Tull | 5 | 1 April 1972 | 1 |
| 25 March 1972 | 2 | Who Will Save the World? The Mighty Groundhogs | The Groundhogs | 8 | 25 March 1972 | 1 |
| 1 April 1972 | 1 | Baby I'm-a Want You | Bread | 9 | 1 April 1972 | 1 |
| 8 April 1972 | 7 | We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing | The New Seekers | 2 | 8 April 1972 | 2 |
| 8 April 1972 | 16 | American Pie | Don McLean | 2 | 24 June 1972 | 3 |
| 15 April 1972 | 8 | Machine Head | Deep Purple | 1 | 22 April 1972 | 3 |
| 15 April 1972 | 22 | Slade Alive! | Slade | 2 | 8 July 1972 | 1 |
| 29 April 1972 | 5 | Prophets, Seers & Sages/My People Were Fair | Tyrannosaurus Rex | 1 | 6 May 1972 | 1 |
| 13 May 1972 | 1 | A Song for You | Jack Jones | 9 | 13 May 1972 | 1 |
| 20 May 1972 | 9 | Bolan Boogie | T. Rex | 1 | 20 May 1972 | 3 |
| 20 May 1972 | 4 | Argus | Wishbone Ash | 3 | 20 May 1972 | 1 |
| 20 May 1972 | 10 | Cherish | David Cassidy | 2 | 27 May 1972 | 1 |
| 27 May 1972 | 1 | Live in Europe | Rory Gallagher | 9 | 27 May 1972 | 1 |
| 27 May 1972 | 1 | The Music People | Various artists | 10 | 27 May 1972 | 1 |
| 3 June 1972 | 7 | Honky Château | Elton John | 2 | 3 June 1972 | 2 |
| 3 June 1972 | 1 | A Thing Called Love | Johnny Cash | 8 | 3 June 1972 | 1 |
| 3 June 1972 | 2 | Nicely Out of Tune | Lindisfarne | 8 | 24 June 1972 | 1 |
| 10 June 1972 | 5 | Exile on Main St. | The Rolling Stones | 1 | 10 June 1972 | 1 |
| 10 June 1972 | 15 | 20 Dynamic Hits | Various artists | 1 | 17 June 1972 | 8 |
| 10 June 1972 | 4 | Bread Winners | Jack Jones | 7 | 17 June 1972 | 1 |
| 17 June 1972 | 4 | Obscured by Clouds | Pink Floyd | 6 | 1 July 1972 | 1 |
| 24 June 1972 | 1 | Free at Last | Free | 9 | 24 June 1972 | 1 |
| 8 July 1972 | 20 | The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars ♦ | David Bowie | 5 | 10 February 1973 | 1 |
| 15 July 1972 | 5 | Trilogy | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | 2 | 15 July 1972 | 1 |
| 15 July 1972 | 2 | Living in the Past | Jethro Tull | 8 | 15 July 1972 | 1 |
| 22 July 1972 | 3 | Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden | Elvis Presley | 3 | 22 July 1972 | 1 |
| 22 July 1972 | 59 | Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits | Simon & Garfunkel | 2 | 29 July 1972 | 3 |
| 22 July 1972 | 11 | School's Out | Alice Cooper | 4 | 9 September 1972 | 1 |
| 29 July 1972 | 15 | 20 Fantastic Hits | Various artists | 1 | 12 August 1972 | 6 |
| 5 August 1972 | 7 | The Slider | T. Rex | 4 | 5 August 1972 | 1 |
| 5 August 1972 | 20 | Never a Dull Moment | Rod Stewart | 1 | 16 September 1972 | 2 |
| 12 August 1972 | 5 | Moods | Neil Diamond | 7 | 16 September 1972 | 2 |
| 30 September 1972 | 4 | Close to the Edge | Yes | 4 | 30 September 1972 | 1 |
| 30 September 1972 | 5 | Dingly Dell | Lindisfarne | 5 | 30 September 1972 | 1 |
| 30 September 1972 | 7 | Sing Along with Max | Max Bygraves | 4 | 28 October 1972 | 2 |
| 30 September 1972 | 1 | Roxy Music | Roxy Music | 10 | 30 September 1972 | 1 |
| 7 October 1972 | 15 | 20 All Time Greats of the 50s | Various artists | 1 | 7 October 1972 | 11 |
| 7 October 1972 | 10 | Catch Bull at Four | Cat Stevens | 2 | 14 October 1972 | 2 |
| 7 October 1972 | 5 | Black Sabbath Vol. 4 | Black Sabbath | 8 | 7 October 1972 | 1 |
| 21 October 1972 | 9 | 20 Star Tracks | Various artists | 2 | 4 November 1972 | 2 |
| 4 November 1972 | 2 | Glitter | Gary Glitter | 8 | 4 November 1972 | 2 |
| 4 November 1972 | 3 | The Best of Bread | Bread | 7 | 4 November 1972 | 1 |
| 18 November 1972 | 22 | Back to Front ♦ | Gilbert O'Sullivan | 1 | 20 January 1973 | 1 |
| 18 November 1972 | 1 | The Last Goon Show Ever | The Goons | 8 | 18 November 1972 | 1 |
| 25 November 1972 | 9 | 22 Dynamic Hits Vol. 2 | Various artists | 2 | 23 December 1972 | 2 |
| 25 November 1972 | 10 | 20 Fantastic Hits Vol. 2 | Various artists | 2 | 9 December 1972 | 3 |
| 25 November 1972 | 1 | Caravanserai | Santana | 6 | 25 November 1972 | 1 |
| 2 December 1972 | 15 | 25 Rockin' and Rollin' Greats | Various artists | 1 | 2 December 1972 | 11 |
| 2 December 1972 | 3 | Seventh Sojourn | The Moody Blues | 5 | 2 December 1972 | 1 |
| 2 December 1972 | 11 | Portrait of Donny ♦ | Donny Osmond | 5 | 20 January 1973 | 1 |
| 9 December 1972 | 16 | Slayed? ♦ | Slade | 1 | 13 January 1973 | 3 |
| 9 December 1972 | 1 | Motown Chartbusters Volume 7 | Various artists | 9 | 9 December 1972 | 1 |
| 23 December 1972 | 8 | Too Young | Donny Osmond | 7 | 23 December 1972 | 5 |