The AV Club posits a method for determining if a band is great or not: did the band release five, consecutive, great albums ?
They list some obvious examples from the days of yore: including Zepplin, The Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd; they list some examples of bands who just fall short: Dylan, Stones; they list some newer examples: U2, REM, Yo La Tengo, etc.; and they list some modern examples: Wilco, Spoon, etc.. They list quite a few, but they missed a few, too.
I suppose people may have caught some of these in the 200+ comments, but I'm not going to read them all...
Greats:
- The Police. Only five albums, but each one is great.
- Miles Davis. Multiple times.
- Sea And Cake. Their first five = awesome.
- Van Halen. All six of their David Lee Roth albums are classics.
"Not greats":
- The Cure. They started out strong with "Three Imaginary Boys", "Seventeen Seconds" and "Faith", but "Pornography" and "The Top" aren't quite as great. They picked it back up with "Head On The Door", "Kiss Me..." and "Disintegration", though.
- Sonic Youth - "Sister", "Daydream Nation", "Goo", and "Dirty" are all strong, but "EVOL" and "Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star" just don't measure up.
What say you?
Love the Radiohead debate in the comments. I’m sure you know which side I’m taking. Hail To The Thief *is* too long but is still a great album.
Talking Heads would be great depending on how you feel about ‘Speaking in Tongues’. It has Swamp, Burning Down The House and This Must Be The Place which are veritable classics.
David Bowie has made 5 great albums but 5 in a row is debatable. YMMV.
The White Stripes: De Stijl, White Blood Cells, Elephant, Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump. Again, open to debate but 5 bloody good records.
Supergrass never released a bad record IMHO. Nor Muse. Both have 5 records that I love to bits.
“Talking Heads”
they came to mind. but for me “Remain”, “Speaking” and “Little Creatures” dominate. i don’t get great out of “Naked” or “Fear of Music”. lots of good songs on them, but the big three seem so much better than the others.
“The White Stripes”
i’m getting there.
The Pogues:
Red Roses for Me (1984)
Rum Sodomy & the Lash (1985)
If I Should Fall from Grace with God (1988)
Peace and Love (1989)
Hell’s Ditch (1990)
Ugh, but does Peace & Love really squeak in?
Camper Van Beethoven
Telephone Free Landslide Victory (1985)
II & III (1986)
Camper Van Beethoven (1986)
Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (1988)
Key Lime Pie (1989)
Unequivocally, yes.
“The Pogues”
a big hole in my knowledge.
“Camper Van Beethoven”
another. loved everything i’ve heard on the radio. but never bought an album. lots of friends love them.
I’d recommend starting with the Elvis Costello produced Rum Sodomy and the Lash for the Pogues. Camper Van Beethoven’s eponymous 3rd album is a good entry point for them.
But if they are all great, you can’t go wrong with any of them, right?
Metallica (mentioned in the AV Club comments):
Kill ’em All (1983)
Ride the Lightning (1984)
Master of Puppets (1986)
…And Justice For All (1988)
Metallica (1991)
I think the “five in a row” criterion is pretty stupid, actually. A band could have released nine total albums, 8 of them absolute masterpieces, but if there’s one clunker right in the middle, they’re not “great”.
“I think the “five in a row” criterion is pretty stupid, actually”
undoubtedly true.
a fun exercise, though.
Fishbone passes. On paper, “In Your Face” though “Reality” is only 3 albums, but “Truth and Soul” is worth 5 albums alone.