Best "runs of albums" by artists

I guess you can only scream like that for so long.

 

I'd even extend this through Dirty. If Experimental Jet Set hadn't have happened, then EVOL -> A Thousand Leaves would have been an awesome 7 album streak.

 

Dinosaur Jr: You're Living All Over Me/Bug/Green Mind

Gary Numan: Replicas/The Pleasure Principle/Telekon

The Monkees: Pisces/Birds & Bees/Head

Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left/Bryter Layter/Pink Moon

Meat Puppets: I/II/Up On The Sun

 

I'd add Where You Been to this list. I have a soft spot for it, because it was the album that got me into Dinosaur Jr.

 

Jethro Tull: Stand Up - A Passion Play

 

Flaming Lips: Soft Bulletin through At War with the Mystics. (It should start earlier, but I can't personally include Zaireeka in my list.)

Fugazi: Pretty much their entire run of "proper" (non-comp) studio albums, starting with Repeater.

Sleater Kinney: Dig Me Out through The Woods.

Can: Tago Mago through Soon Over Babaluma.

The Clash: UK Debut through Combat Rock.

Radiohead: The Bends through Amnesiac.

 

Sparks' run of four in the mid-1970s - Kimono My House/Propaganda/Indiscreet/Big Beat

 

Nice list. For Prince I would start with Dirty Mind as it and Controversy are classics as well.

 

David Sylvian - Brilliant Trees, Gone To Earth, Secrets of The Beehive

 

Motorhead: S/T --> Another Perfect Day

 

The Smiths from 1984 to 1987. Impressive.

 

The Smiths from start to finish.

 

I'm pretty sure I already put this in another thread, but
Tears for Fears
The Seeds of Love->Elemental->Raoul and the Kings of Spain

plus you could also tag on Orzabal's "Tomcats Screaming Outside" at the end, since it's basically another Orzabal/Griffiths collaboration (like Elemental and Raoul).

 

I don't think JA himself holds animosity about the way he left the band.
He obviously did at first, but you gotta figure the guy was in ill health and probably didn't feel well, and probably said things at interviews that he feels differently about after regaining his health.
And I don't think he was dropped from the band so much as that he was simply not available. Interviews I have read with him more recently where he describes his short tours with RW seem to imply that he hasn't been up to the rigors of Yes tours.
Yes is a corporation, and no doubt when JA got sick the band had huge obligations. It isn't like they can just toss their hands up and say "oh well, lets just call it off and go home". Tours and recording contracts involve a lot of people who are relying on the corporations ( IE the bands) activity to make a weekly living.
I suspect if a band cancels a tour it stands to cost them a hell of a lot of money. Not just in tour money lost, but in wages they would owe that are not fruitful.
Imagine getting a job as a mechanic and going out and buying 10k worth of tools then be told "never mind". No doubt Yes employs a LOT of people to do a tour.

 

I didn't go through all 9 pages of the thread, so this may have been covered, but I'll post 3 different runs:

The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, Amorica and Three Snakes, One Charm
The Drive-By Truckers - Southern Rock Opera, Decoration Day, The Dirty South, A Blessing and a Curse
Aerosmith - Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, Toys in the Attic, Rocks

 

Led Zeppelin 1 to 4 is exactly right!

I'd add -
DEEP PURPLE - In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head
BLACK SABBATH - The first three
JETHRO TULL - The first four - This Was, Stand Up, Benefit, Aqualung

 

I'd say "kinda lost it" on 'Houses of the Holy' and continued to get worse until the very end.
Gee whiz, I thought I was alone in this.

 

Although I'd agree that maybe not all of those albums mentioned are perfect, they are all way better albums than most fans give them credit for. There is so much good music amongst those albums, I can't imagine the whole Yes story without them.

 

I prefer their later stuff to a lot of the earlier stuff. I think starting with Tormato they started getting a really nice slick sound ( like a lot of bands did) and production took a huge leap in the late 70s. Sadly with most bands it didn't last long, but Yes seems to have hung in there with the nice airy wide frequency range production.
And the music seemed to have a more specific direction, which I also like.

 

I'm not unfamiliar w/ the economics of a large band. How much of the need to tour was supporting "the corporation" and how much was band members' needing the cash and tour to continue their living large lifestyle (I'm thinking esp. CS here) is unknown to me. I'm also aware that the situation was complicated and that JA has come to peace w/ it. Understand that musically, Howe and Squire have been my heroes for years. But I think their decision-making has been quite suspect.

If they HAD to tour when JA became sick, they still had the responsibility to put a band on the stage that didn't tarnish the Yes name; imo, they did not. Once JA recovered, they had the choice to seek his return. You are correct that JA did not want the heavy tour schedule that Yes has traditionally had, Wakeman had been complaining about that for years and had stated he was physically unable to handle it. So, Yes could continue w/ a tribute-band singer or find another singer and continue their hectic schedule- or they could take a more leisurely approach to touring (something not unreasonable for musicians their age), get Jon back and likely RW too.

They chose to keep their rigorous touring schedule. Why? It's more lucrative, of course- maximize the intake while minimizing what you have to pay the rest of the "corporation." Bottom line- they chose the bottom line- over the quality of the music. I refuse to support this version of the band for that reason.

JA may return at some point; it's actually likely in my book. Makes for great marketing. Will it result in recapturing the old magic? Who knows- none of them are getting any younger and it may come too late (or the Fish could go any day; given his apparent disregard for healthy habits ).

It used to really piss me off- harming the legacy, missing those last golden opportunities, etc. But hey, it's not what I want, but it's nothing I have any control over. So, I choose to ignore them and not dwell on the current sad state. I just consider myself lucky that I got to see so many great Yesshows over the years, that they remained a live band of immense power for over 40 years and that I got to experience them full-glory for over 30 years. If they do put a Yes band back on the stage that can deliver the 'ol magic, that will come as an unexpected, but highly appreciated surprise.

 

Steely Dan - Katy, Scam, Aja
Rush - Hemispheres, Perm Waves, Moving Pictures

 

Michael Nesmith - Magnetic South to ... And the hits just keep on comin'

Paul McCartney - Chaos, Electric Arguments, Ocean's Kingdom, Kisses, to New

 

I'd throw in Rush - Signals

 

It would be fine if JA returns, but if not I am good with that too. The lineup changes hasn't made the music suffer as far as I can tell, and I think FFH is a really good album.
So I guess change is something I consider to be the one consistent thing about Yes, and change that doesn't change the bands style or quality drastically.
Yes is one band that I don't try to second guess what is going on behind the scenes. Because I think that would be impossible. Even with the steady output of interviews, the band members past and present seem to keep their cards close to their chest.

 

The Stooges > Fun House > Raw Power