Bundle 5 studio albums together by an artist for an "Original Album Series" box...

I'm sure we are all familar with the "Original Album Series" sets that gather 5 albums from an artist. Such as this one...



Simply put, pick any artist and choose 5 studio albums that you feel best represents both the greatness and scope of the artist.

For fantasy purposes, you can either bundle your set in a 5 CD box or a fantasy 5 LP slipcase.

For example, here are the three sets I would put together for three of my all-time favorite artists:

Kiss
Kiss 1974
Rock And Roll Over 1976
Love Gun 1977
Alive II 1977 (Part studio material so I'm allowing it)
Unmasked 1980

Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II 1969
Led Zeppelin III 1970
Led Zeppelin IV 1971
Houses Of The Holy 1973
In Through The Out Door 1979

Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley 1956
King Creole 1958
Blue Hawaii 1961
Viva Las Vegas (Reissued LP configuration) 1964
That's The Way It Is 1970 (Part studio material so I allowed it)

 

...and here's three sets I'd produce for a few of my favorites:


Stray Cats
Stray Cats 1981
Gonna Ball 1981
Rant and Rave 1983
Blast Off! 1989
Choo-Choo Hot Fish 1992

Asia (original lineup)
Asia 1982
Alpha 1983
Phoenix 2008
Omega 2010
XXX 2012

The Lovin' Spoonful (original lineup)
Do You Believe In Magic 1965
Daydream 1966
What's Up Tiger Lily? (soundtrack) 1966
Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful 1966
You're A Big Boy Now (soundtrack) 1967

 

The Fall

Live At The Which Trials
Bend Sinister
Hex Enduction Hour
The Marshall Suite
Your Future Our Clutter

 

KISS

s/t
Dressed to Kill
Destroyer
Love Gun
Dynasty

Elvis

Golden Records
Elvis Is Back
Golden Records 3
From Elvis in Memphis
That's The Way It Is

Elvis Soundtracks

King Creole
GI Blues
It Happened at the Worlds Fair
Harum Scarum
Clambake


Johnny Cash

Sings Songs That Made Him Famous
Blood Sweat Tears
Ballads of True West
EveryBody Loves a Nut
Hello, I'm Johnny Cash

Neil Young

Everybody Knows...
Harvest
Zuma
Comes a Time
Rust Never Sleeps


The Beach Boys

Surfer Girl
Summer Days
Smiley Smile
Sunflower
Holland


Genesis

Foxtrot
Selling England
Trick of the Tail
Duke
s/t


Stones

December's Children
Aftermath
Buttons
Beggars Banquet
Let It Bleed


Tom Waits

Rain Dogs
Bone Machine
Mule Variations
Blood Money
Real Gone

 

The flip side:

Neil Young
Journey Through the Past
Arc
Weld
Everybody's Rockin'
Trans

 

Rush -

2112
A Farewell To Kings
Permanent Waves
Moving Pictures
Signals

 

The Cure

Pornography
The Head On The Door
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Disintegration
Wish

 

Ok, I'll bite...

Oingo Boingo

Nothing to Fear - 1982
Good for Your Soul - 1983
So-Lo - 1984
Dark at the End of the Tunnel - 1990
Boingo -1994


King Crimson

In the Court of the Crimson King - 1969
Islands - 1971
Red - 1974
Discipline - 1981
Thrak - 1995


And for the trifecta (that nobody will agree with):

Jethro Tull

Minstrel in the Gallery - 1975
Songs from the Wood - 1977
Broadsword and the Beast - 1982
Crest of a Knave - 1987
Roots to Branches - 1995

 

Deep Purple

In Rock
Fireball
Machine Head
Who Do We Think We Are
Stormbringer

 

Joe Jackson

Look Sharp
I'm The Man
Beat Crazy
Jumpin' Jive
Night and Day

 

Squeeze

Argy Bargy
East Side Story
Babylon and On (because of the hits)
Frank
Some Fantastic Place

 

Sweet

(the US versions of)
Desolation Boulevard
Give Us a Wink
Off the Record
Level Headed
Cut Above the Rest

 

Black Sabbath: their first 5 albums

 

Crowded House:

Crowded House
Temple of Low Men
Woodface
Together Alone
Afterglow (+ the new cuts on Recurring Dream)

 

Love;

`Love`
`Da Capo`
`Forever Changes`
`Four Sale`
`Out Here`

That box set will probably sell better than the next one!

 

Bowie

Diamond dogs
Station to station
Low
Scary monsters
* blackstar

 

Alice Cooper
Love It To Death
Killer
School's Out
Billion Dollar Babies
Muscle Of Love

Rolling Stones
Beggars Banquet
Let It Bleed
Sticky Fingers
Exile On Main St.
Goat's Head Soup

The Who
Tommy
Live At Leeds
Who's Next
Quadrophenia
The Who By Numbers

David Bowie
Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust
Aladdin Sane
Pinups
Diamond Dogs

Jethro Tull (Vol. 1)
This Was
Stand Up
Benefit
Aqualung
Thick As A Brick

Jethro Tull (Vol. 2)
A Passion Play
War Child
Minstrel In The Gallery
Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll
Songs From The Wood

 

The Beatles

A Hard Days Night
Rubber Soul
Sgt. Pepper
The Beatles (The White Album)
Abbey Road

I have a feeling that Im gonna be crucified for not including Revolver, but I don't care

 

Chicago
I
II
III
IV
V

Chicago
VI
VII
IX ....

Ok, I stop at IX.

 

Classic Wilco- due for release around 2025, I reckon:

Being There
Summerteeth
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
A Ghost Is Born
Sky Blue Sky

 

Zappa

We're Only in it for the Money
Chunga's Revenge
Waka Jawaka
Overnite Sensation
One Size Fits All

 

I tried to do a few that weren't simply 5 consecutive albums in a catalog (i.e. the first 5 Pearl Jam albums, the first 5 Tori Amos albums):

Ryan Adams (i.e. no Cardinals albums)
Heartbreaker
Gold
Love is Hell
Ashes & Fire
Ryan Adams

Yo La Tengo
Painful
Electr-O-Pura
I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Popular Songs

 

The Sports
Reckless
Don't Throw Stones
Suddenly
Sondra
Sing Dylan (and Donovan)

Skyhooks
Living in the 70s
Ego is Not a Dirty Word
Straight in a Gay Gay World
Guilty until Proven Insane
Hot for the Orient

The Easybeats
Easy
It's 2 Easy
Volume 3
Friday on My Mind
Vigil

Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel
Breakfast at Sweethearts
East
Circus Animals
Twentieth Century

The Clouds
Pre-Raphaelite
Penny Century
Octopus
Thunderhead
Futura

 

I'd go for the UK:

The Sweet's Biggest Hits (covers the early bubblegum pop stuff well)
Sweet Fanny Adams
Desolation Boulevard
Strung Up
Give Us A Wink

 

Dark Side of the Moon
Wish You Were Here
Animals
The Wall

err... oh...

err... the second record in The Wall...?