Which band has the best discography?

How about Derrick May? He released a bunch of classic singles in the late '80s and early '90s, and after that he hasn't (AFAIK) released any new material at all. Granted, I haven't heard those System 7 collaborations from the '90s, but his solo material and the other collabs are all great.

My answer was going to be the Breeders/Amps but Badu otm

Ellington's discography is too huge to deal with, pre-LP-era artists have such a scattered discography it's basically impossible to properly define it, and with jazz you have to put live stuff in the mix too.

Yeah, I can't imagine there are that many people, even among Ellington fans, who've actually listened to his entire discography.

Some good suggestions but https://www.discogs.com/artist/3001416-The-Fish-Brothers-And-Eastend is the most consistent

Derrick May is an interesting suggestion. I've always assumed (perhaps erroneously) that he's more of a coordinator/collaborator and with his early productions the collaborators took a backseat? Barnett, Craig, Oldham etc. I guess it's still his discography.

I have been listening to everything Ellington did, have so far got to 1932 and let me tell you, there is a lot. Even deciding which version of The Mooche is the definitive one is very contentious.

But I cannot thing of another artist where you could put together a couple of CDs of their work where every track would be sui generis.

This Mortal Coil
Kraftwerk

Obituary
Fire! (including Fire! Orchestra in this)
the Hedvig Mollestad Trio
Coroner
Funkadelic

Magma also seems like a good answer here

as recently discovered, Voivod have been impressively consistent over 30+ years for a band with so many lineup changes.

Broadcast otm. And scrolling through I foolishly thought I'd be the first to say Erykah but that was def who I had in mind when I opened the thread.

Possibly controversial, but I would definitely nominate Cocteau Twins. People can argue about weaker spots in their discography but I have varying amounts of love for all of it, even like BBC Sessions (some of the recordings on which top the original album versions).

Like they're probably the only band with a sizeable catalog whose discography I would (and have, a number of times) happily run through front-to-back without skipping over anything.

Radiohead, Pablo Honey notwithstanding.

*ducks*

I like Badu, D'Angelo (3 classic albums!), and Low (and Radiohead tbh). There's probably a lot of punk Sex Pistols-type examples of bands who broke up quickly, right? Unless they all ruined it with reunions.

And I know it's divisive, but there's a case to be made for Neutral Milk Hotel - one early album, one indie classic, then retire full stop.

Was going to add The Feelies ... but don’t know enough about the later releases.

i think old lunch is otm about cocteau twins

and while i wouldn't say i love everything, felt have one of the coolest discographies ever

Go-Betweens

are we gonna poll these

I would think D'Angelo, Badu and Broadcast (maybe Roxy Music too) would be the consensus front-runners. Maybe Steely Dan too. There's enough Beatles and Zep haters on board to keep them out of the running, I would think.

Current 93

I'm a fan, but no

I love Zep but their discography kinda sags the further you get from the middle. Lop off a couple albums from the front and/or back and it's a pretty unimpeachable run.

Gorguts are pretty damn solid throughout.

gorguts otm

autechre is the right answer, but then it's sometimes hard to be subjective about it, if that's the right word. there sound is so sui generis you can't really gauge it against anything else.

I wanted to say Oval but, oof, the vocals on that first album. Oof.

Was going to add The Feelies ... but don’t know enough about the later releases.

the first comeback album is fine but kind of a snooze. second one is good though

if we're going short but sweet...I guess Soul Coughing had basically a flawless discography. some dud tunes for sure but all 3 of their albums are really great

Big Star

I love Steely Dan but I don’t think this could be any band that has reunion albums which are clearly good but on a lower plane. Maybe ATCQ could be the exception that proves the rule.

Kraftwerk, Drexciya, Shellac

I always forget those Steely Dan reunion albums even exist!

d'oh

Magma also seems like a good answer here

Dunno about that, have you heard their LinnDrum-led funk/soul album from the 80s? Guess it has some fans.

Was going to suggest Kraftwerk but I can’t say I thought much of that Tour De France album they put out

Arthur Russell

Dunno about that, have you heard their LinnDrum-led funk/soul album from the 80s? Guess it has some fans.

I have - I think the first track is very bad but I actually love the second side a lot

xxp I'd call Tour De France solid, certainly not a disgrace. People have differing views on the pre-Autobahn records of course.

wait you mean there are some people who don't like those? madness.

so I've heard!

I'd say the only blot on the Kraftwerk discography is some of the dated-sounding reworkings on "The Mix", if that even counts.

The Mix was the first Kraftwerk album I ever heard and it's still one of my favorites.

Thinks of The Pretenders
Looks up on discogs
Realizes they put out albums after Learning To Crawl
Oh well.

Arthur Russell

― fetter, Wednesday, January 29, 2020 11:53 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Almost said Russell and his discography is the most intriguing and resonant to me has been the most rewarding to revisit over the last few years, but there's still a few things I haven't heard.

xp after the deaths of Honeyman-Scott and Farndon they were a different band anyway

Oneohtrix Point Never came to my mind immediately. there's not a single record of him i don't like. and his last soundtrack for 'uncut gems' is really incredible.

yeh i like that call

the correct answer is Prince and the Revolution

I see what you did there