Maybe I have the order that these were released in wrong but:
A Love SupremeAscensionThe John Coltrane Quartet PlaysMeditations
― Valéry Giscard d'Staind (NickB), Friday, 23 March 2012 14:58 (twelve years ago) link
Miles Davis:
In A Silent WayBitches BrewA Tribute To Jack JohnsonOn The Corner
― Valéry Giscard d'Staind (NickB), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:01 (twelve years ago) link
Oh wait "in rock history" duh. Scratch those.
nakh you have prompted me to give Draft 7.30 yet one more spin.
― ledge, Friday, 23 March 2012 15:03 (twelve years ago) link
Station To Station, Low, Heroes, Lodger.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:03 (twelve years ago) link
nice...it's awesome, not a glorious spring day sort of record though
― The term “hipster racism” from Carmen Van Kerckhove at Racialicious (nakhchivan), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:05 (twelve years ago) link
<q>Ween - The Mollusk, White Pepper, quebec, Shinola vol. 1</q>
bow to frogbs, stevie wonder
― action bronieson (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:06 (twelve years ago) link
If only Talk Talk had done something as a group after Laughing Stock.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:07 (twelve years ago) link
also, Stevie Wonder is not rock n roll, sorry
― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, October 26, 2005 3:22 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
smfh
― action bronieson (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:07 (twelve years ago) link
Someone upthread had a problem with Kraftwerk because Radioactivity sits in the middle of Autobahn, Trans Europe Express, The Man Machine and Computer World. I would say this isn't a problem because Radioactivity is a better album than Computer World anyway. Therefore, Kraftwerk is the correct answer.
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:08 (twelve years ago) link
It's hard to pick a Genesis run. I slightly prefer the run starting from Selling England... maybe second side of Foxtrot to first side of Trick!
― Träumerei, Friday, 23 March 2012 15:15 (twelve years ago) link
Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, LP5, Confield― ledge, Friday, 23 March 2012 14:53 (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― ledge, Friday, 23 March 2012 14:53 (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Can't really agree with this, and I'm a massive Ae fan. Add EP7 in there and we can talk.
― Scary Move 4 (dog latin), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:17 (twelve years ago) link
Led Zeppelin IV - Houses - PG - Presence
― any major prude will tell you (WmC), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:18 (twelve years ago) link
MLIR, Parklife, The Great Escape, Blur
^ tempted to say this is a strong contender. TGE is the weakest link, but seems to have undergone a bit of a reassessment of late.
― Scary Move 4 (dog latin), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:18 (twelve years ago) link
Eep, I made a math error.
― Träumerei, Friday, 23 March 2012 15:19 (twelve years ago) link
If you count Band of Gypsys (all-new material, not a posthumous/archival release), Hendrix:
Are You Experienced?Axis: Bold As LoveElectric LadylandBand of Gypsys
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:22 (twelve years ago) link
Black Sabbath wins this. In fact they had the best 6 record run in rock history.
― You're a notch, I'm a legend (Bill Magill), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:23 (twelve years ago) link
I’d go with Dylan whether you cheat a little (BIOBH to Basement Tapes) or not (BIOBH to JWH). The only thing more amazing about that body of work — the equivalent of at least seven single discs, all of it gold — is the fact that it was all recorded within a three-year period.
― Jazzbo, Friday, 23 March 2012 15:30 (twelve years ago) link
Was going to say Sabbath, but the right dude got there with it.
― Mark G, Friday, 23 March 2012 15:30 (twelve years ago) link
Van der Graaf Generator - H to He Who Am The Only One, Pawn Hearts, Godbluff, Still Life
All the more remarkable when you add the fact that Peter Hammill also had an awesome run of solo albums in parallel with these – The Silent Corner and the Emty Stage, In Camera, Nadir's Big Chance, Over
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:33 (twelve years ago) link
that reminds me , I definitely need to pick up a copy of Over
― Estimate the percent chance that a whale has ever been to the moon? (frogbs), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:38 (twelve years ago) link
Crazy RhythmsThe Good EarthOnly LifeTime For A Witness
― doug watson, Friday, 23 March 2012 15:49 (twelve years ago) link
Giants walk among us:
Wussy: Funeral Dress, Left for Dead, Wussy, StrawberryImperial Teen: Seasick, What Is Not to Love, On, The Hair the TV the Baby and the BandYo La Tengo: Painful, Electr-O-Pura, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
(Also second the Feelies.)
― clemenza, Friday, 23 March 2012 15:55 (twelve years ago) link
Moby Grape?
― Mark G, Friday, 23 March 2012 16:02 (twelve years ago) link
^i honestly dont think ive heard a note from any of those bands. Ive heard OF Yo La Tengo, but not the other two.
xpost
― You're a notch, I'm a legend (Bill Magill), Friday, 23 March 2012 16:02 (twelve years ago) link
Imperial Teen: Seasick, What Is Not to Love, On, The Hair the TV the Baby and the Band
^^^ excellent sequence
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 23 March 2012 16:06 (twelve years ago) link
My Yo La Tengo (since we're including EPs) would beMay I Sing With Me, Shaker EP, Painful, Electr-O-Pura. After that, cracks started to appear, and they got overwhelmed by crapulence.
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 23 March 2012 16:29 (twelve years ago) link
Wussy: Funeral Dress, Left for Dead, Wussy, Strawberry
Yes Yes Yes Yes! There's not a bad song on any of those records.
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 23 March 2012 17:29 (twelve years ago) link
Christgau just wrote a long thing on Wussy--he's given every album an A, maybe the first time ever a band's started off four-for-four with him.
http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/The-Many-Reasons-to-Love-Wussy/ba-p/7259
― clemenza, Friday, 23 March 2012 17:31 (twelve years ago) link
No one's mentioned it yet but X's run of Los Angeles, Wild Gift, Under the Big Black Sun and More Fun in the New World is nothing to sneeze at.
― Jazzbo, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:14 (twelve years ago) link
― clemenza, Friday, March 23, 2012 1:31 PM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Oh good, im glad to know that Christgau likes them, that way i dont have to go out of my way to try to listen to them, cuz I'll know they suck.
― You're a notch, I'm a legend (Bill Magill), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:19 (twelve years ago) link
Consistency is not really the best ideal to shoot for in rock, I think. Good artists are consistent, great artists are not. The best 4-record run would be the one in which each album stands apart from the others as a unique creation in its own right. Too many of these suggestions are bands that hit their stride and then put out 4 examples of their signature style before falling off. Admirable, but not really thrilling. I think the best example so far of a band that reinvented themselves over a series of albums while still able to do no wrong was the Beatles from "Rubber Soul" through "The Beatles".
― o. nate, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:26 (twelve years ago) link
Using that criteria, I'd say the Velvets hands down.
― Jazzbo, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:30 (twelve years ago) link
Wow, in the six years since I last posted, there's at least one band I'd add. Still sort of a cult band that appeals to a small audience I suppose, but hard for me to imagine anyone who likes any sort of guitar rock not appreciating them, and the progress they made with each album.
Colour Haze
Los Sounds de KrautsColour HazeTempelAll
I'd add their earlier albums for a stellar 7 album run, or 8, if She Said ever comes out! I might add Ufomammut soon too...
― Fastnbulbous, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:34 (twelve years ago) link
Using o. nate's criteria, Neil Young's run of Everybody Knows > After The Gold Rush > Harvest > On The Beach totally qualifies.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:39 (twelve years ago) link
they've been mentioned several times, but sonic youth's run from evol through goo is all-time for me, both by o nate's "constant reinvention" criteria, and just as albums i love from front to back
― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:45 (twelve years ago) link
With the Who, I feel like you could start pretty much anywhere, as long as you ended with (or before, I still can't decide) Who Are You (and I'd include Live At Leeds).
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:46 (twelve years ago) link
Using o nate's criteria, I say Black Sabbath.
― You're a notch, I'm a legend (Bill Magill), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:47 (twelve years ago) link
You skipped Time Fades Away, unless you're counting it as a live album--I wouldn't. (Even though it is...)
Bill Magill: whatever you think of Christgau, give this a listen--my favourite Wussy song, and one of my favourite songs ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGCTCi_NU84
― clemenza, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:48 (twelve years ago) link
I will definitely listen.
― You're a notch, I'm a legend (Bill Magill), Friday, 23 March 2012 19:06 (twelve years ago) link
I actually think what o.nate says is really OTM, as easy and fun as it is to list great four-album runs, it's hard to do what he's talking about without skipping stuff, like say In the Court-Lizard-Lark's Tongues-Red
― Estimate the percent chance that a whale has ever been to the moon? (frogbs), Friday, 23 March 2012 19:16 (twelve years ago) link
also, I think the four Eno vocal albums count! none of them are really like the other ones
Orbital's too. I guess it's not that hard
― Estimate the percent chance that a whale has ever been to the moon? (frogbs), Friday, 23 March 2012 19:17 (twelve years ago) link
I am awaiting the fourth Portishead album so I can list them here
― THIS TRADE SERVES ZERO FOOTBALL PURPOSE (DJP), Friday, 23 March 2012 19:25 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, that's easily one of my favorite four-record runs, and the progress from album to album is remarkable
― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Friday, 23 March 2012 19:30 (twelve years ago) link
this wussy song is odd. didn't initially like the dude's vocals or the jingle-jangle guitar style, but i love the female singer and the way their voices work together. and the fuzz guitar provides such a massive lift when it comes in. not an immediate all-favorite song or anything (youtube uploader compares it w "fairytale of new york" ffs), but damn good. now want to hear more wussy.
god, that name
― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Friday, 23 March 2012 19:32 (twelve years ago) link
I actually think what o.nate says is really OTM, as easy and fun as it is to list great four-album runs, it's hard to do what he's talking about without skipping stuff
i dunno, i kind of hate prescriptive music-evaluation rules of that sort. "progress" is or can be of value, but it's not an absolute good, and music isn't necessarily any worse for its apparent absence.
― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Friday, 23 March 2012 19:34 (twelve years ago) link
Wow...I had the exact same reaction. Something about the guy's vocals smacked of folkie earnestness, but I still want to hear more of their stuff.
xp
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 23 March 2012 19:37 (twelve years ago) link
I know what you mean, if an artist has four great albums, I don't care if they're similar, alike, purple, green, as long as they're great, I have enough variety on my 'pod - however it does kinda change leave this as a "post your favorite" thread
― Estimate the percent chance that a whale has ever been to the moon? (frogbs), Friday, 23 March 2012 19:44 (twelve years ago) link
Compare Sabotage or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath to Paranoid. Those were completely different bands. Plus you have the superheavy space-rock psychedelia of Master of Reality and the coked-out California jazz-metal from hell of Vol. 4. Oh, and the debut album that started the most enduring sub-genre of rock music. Take your pick of which four you want to put in a row, and it blows any band on this thread to pieces.
― You're a notch, I'm a legend (Bill Magill), Friday, 23 March 2012 19:54 (twelve years ago) link