Pick three records to summarize your favorite artists whole career

Harder for long-spanning careers I know, but let's try!

Not necessarily your favorites, you know what I mean. And, of course, no compilations of any kind are allowed.

Rolling Stones:

Aftermath
Sticky Fingers
Some Girls

 

With The Beatles
Rubber Soul
The White Album

 

Led Zeppelin I
Physical Graffiti
The Song Remains The Same(1976)

 

The Who
" Who's Next "
" Quadrophenia "
" Tommy "

 

Bill Nelson
Sunburst Finish (w/Be Bop Deluxe)
The Love That Whirls (Diary Of A Thinking Heart)
And We Fell into a Dream

Sparks
Propaganda
No. 1 in Heaven
Lil' Beethoven

 

Beach Boys:
Pet Sounds
Smiley Smile
Smile

Aphex Twin:
SAW II
Druqks
...I Care Because You Do

The Mothers of Invention:
Uncle Meat
Absolutely Free
We're Only In It For The Money

John Coltrane:
Giant Steps
A Love Supreme
Ascension

Radiohead:
Amnesiac
OK Computer
In Rainbows

 

MOTHER'S FINEST
Another Mother Further
Mother Factor
Iron Age
If you haven't heard these albums, you are seriously missing out!

 

Kate Bush:

The Kick Inside
Hounds Of Love
Ariel

Roxy Music:

Roxy Music:
Country Life
Avalon

Talk Talk:

The Party's Over
The Colour Of Spring
Spirit Of Eden

 

We agree on 2 of the 3. I'd actually replace Quadrophenia with Live At Leeds. I think it's the only live album (well...one of the very very few) which represents a band as well as any of their studio albums both in terms of song quality as well as performance.

 

..just to comment on your Stones list...great musical overview on those three albums given, as you say, their longer life-span...but even given *that*, I'd have to go with Beggars, Bleed and SF.

 

R.E.M.
Murmur
Automatic For The People
Up

The Replacements
Let It Be
Tim
Pleased To Meet Me

Ramones
Ramones
Pleasant Dreams
Brain Drain

 

But you miss the "urban" rock sound that began with Some Girls that is pretty much the sound they have kept till today.

 

Tough but here goes my totally subjective lists:

John Lennon

Plastic Ono Band
Walls and Bridges
Double Fantasy

Paul McCartney

McCartney
Venus and Mars
Flowers In The Dirt

 

Talk Talk

Color of Spring

Spirit of Eden

Laughing stock

Hendrix

Axis

EL

BOG

Coltrane

A love Supreme

Cresent

Live at the Village Vangard

Beatles

Abbey Rd

Revolver

Pepper

 

lou reed
transformer
the bells
ecstasy

 

ELO
Face The Music
Out of the Blue
Time

Cheap Trick
In Color
Cheap Trick ('97)
At Budokan

McCartney
Ram
Band On the Run
Chaos and Creation In the Back Yard (this one just edged out "New" for me)

 

Byrds
Mr. Tambourine Man
Fifth Dimension
Sweetheart Of The Rodeo

 

That was my first thought, too, BUT....I think this might be more representative of their entire career:

Sorry, Ma Forgot to Take Out the Trash
Let it Be
Don't Tell a Soul

All 3 Mats Phases represented....warts and all.

 

George Harrison

ATMP-showing everyone how L&M were mean girls to him
331/3-reborn on A&M Records. Oops I mean the WB.
Cloud 9- thank you Jeff for showing him he still had something left in the tank

 

PAUL McCARTNEY
Wings Over America
Memory Almost Full
Flaming Pie

 

Bob Dylan

1. Bringing it All Back Home
2. Blood on the Tracks
3. Time out of Mind

 

Neil Young

Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
After the Goldrush
Rust Never Sleeps

 

Dylan

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde on Blonde

 

King Crimson

In the Court of the Crimson King
Red
Discipline

 

David Bowie

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Station to Station
Let's Dance

These aren't necessarily the Top 3 personal favorites, but I do think they define his career.