50 Years Later: How 1975’s No. 1 albums hold up after a half-century

In 1975, familiar faces dominated the album charts as artists including Elton John, Chicago, Paul McCartney and Olivia Newton-John — all of whom had No. 1 albums the previous year — returned to the top of the Billboard 200 with new records.

Twenty different albums by 17 different artists reached No. 1 on the album chart in 1975. And as the decade reached its midpoint, the ’60s and early ’70s continued to dominate album sales.

A range of veteran artists from Bob Dylan and a pair of...