"the greatest four-record run in rock history"

(also, stretching of 'rock' definition there for Otis and Missy)

like, because it rocks too hard and lacks silly little-fishies-in-the-water cabaret shtickola where her voice gets louder and quieter for no reason? sorry, i don't buy it. she sounded more adventurous when she wasn't trying so hard to sound "adventurous," seems to me.

"Controversy > 1999, Purple Rain, or Sign of the Times (honest)."

When I moved out, I took almost all of my albums. A small number, due to space issues, stayed behind. Controversy stayed behind, along with diamonds and pearls. Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, Lovesexy, Sign O'The Time, Parade all made the trip.

Was I horribly mistaken?

Xpost

how many 'copycat' threads has this spawned??

more directly on topic...

I find lots of Contrarian-ist suggestions above.
Here's more:
Archers of Loaf - all four of their studio albums
Pooh Sticks - Orgasm (or Multiple Orgasm) ==> Million Seller
Faces - (really stretching the 'rules') the 4 records of the 5 guys .. boxset
Fela Kuti -- take your pick
Tindersticks -- first four

beach boys -- Today!, summer days, pet sounds and smile(y smile)

1. Stevie Wonder
2. War
3. Gladys Knight & the Pips
4. Isley Brothers
5. Temptations

my new nomination, might even beat John Cougar!:

The Best of ZZ Top
Deguello
El Loco
Eliminator

(And you could probably substitute Tejas for Best of, or Fandango! and Tejas {or Tres Hombres and Tejas} for Best Of and Eliminator if you want).

Also, Don't Take Me Alive....also Haitian Divorce! ....Royal Scam is their "Presence"! Love it.

Agreed, UK Squeeze is surely an underrated album.

d00d, that's SOOOOOO wrong! LtP IS the weakest of the weak...3-4 songs good-10+=VERY BAD!
but, hey, they got 3 great albums out before it went to stinky.

CCR is obviously the winner here...

"Summer's Last Sound"-->"A Rock to Cling To"-->"Last Dance"-->"It's a Kid's World"

And considering that they're bookended by the "Science" and "Second Language" EPs, it could make a strong case as the best run of records in rock history, period.

that's an UBER-NEGATIVE!!!!
adore blows it, hands down, even BC himself admits as much...
now Gish-Mellon Collie (counting Picese Iscariot) work...

OK, third-best, but:

1. THE MOTHERSHIP
2. Stevie
3. Isleys
4. Mayfield
5. O'Jays

x-post.

xp #2 Chuck: and and and James Brown and Isaac Hayes and Sly (and the Family) Stone and man putting together a '70s R&B top five is harder than presidenting

Get Happy is definitely better than my Aim Is True. I don't know about Trust though.

Freak Out!, Absolutely Free, We're Only In It For The Money and Uncle Meat are actually Mothers Of Invention albums, whereas Lumpy Gravy is Frank Zappa solo.

Unfortunately however, Ruben And The Jets came between We're Only In It For The Money and Uncle Meat.

I would.

But I wouldn't describe Get Happy as a great album.

Or Trust for that matter.

Good call!

Couldn't we insert Vs. The Greatest Of All-Time for good measure? Although I'd settle for Icky Mettle getting the remaster treatement...maybe in 2008 for its 15th birthday? I digress.

is one hell of a quartet.

didn't I Am Curious Orange come out before the Frenz Experiment?

"even not counting the singles as an album, the first four stand up as well as the first four talking heads albums."

I love Pere Ubu but I don't think they have actually legitimately managed four truly great records in a row.

David Thomas otoh (if you count his work with The Pedestrians / Two Pale Boys / The Wooden Birds / The Foreigners / whatever as all being essentially "solo") has probably come just as close, if not closer.

Agreed, and Get Happy! is my favorite Elvis Costello record. I feel so out of step.

Still not seeing anything that tops CCR, mainly because of what someone said at the very beginning--they went on a run like crazy.

Maybe the thread helps demonstrate / explain why so many canonical acts are / have become canonical acts?

Pure
Head
Goat
Liar
Lash
Down
Show
Shot
Blue
Bang

Psychocandy
Darklands
Barbed Wire Kisses
Automatic

Maybe this one's pushing it a bit.

I have a small but persistently nagging suspicion that an infinitessimally small minority of ILM's collective girlfriends / boyfriends / partners / wifes / husbands might just disagree with you ever so slightly on a couple of extremely minor points of detail....

The rest of them would most definitely tell you that you're talking complete arse.

No. (And I like Frenz more anyway, personally!)

Twin Infinitives
Royal Trux
Cats and Dogs
Thank You

You've got a hell of a lot of support for Head through Down, at least

The Genesis run of no less than 9 most excellent albums in a row ended with "Duke".

beat that progression?

transmissions from the satellite heart
clouds taste metallic
zaireeka
the soft bulletin

69 love songs
i

soul rebels
catch a fire
burnin'
natty dread