Which band has the best discography?

And if we're having Prince and the Revolution - and we should! - then are many many jazz bands, large and small, that maybe didn't stay together too long but released only gold (and whose legit live recordings are p smoking too)

If The Cure hadn't released Wild Mood Swings, I'd be making such an ass of myself in this thread

Oh, and Isis!

surprised no one's said My Bloody Valentine yet tbh

Harry Pussy are disqualified for Let's Build A Pussy, 80 minutes of timestretched nonsense

Maybe because of those early EPs?

xp

Have we discussed Warren Zevon, Ray Stevens and Weird Al? There’s something to be said for being an auteur who has a love/hate with music.

imo every Deftones album is at least "very good" which is something I don't think I can say for any other nu metal act

first few mbv eps and singles disqualify them

xpost to Tombot
^Careful you're opening the Zappa window

Let's Build a Pussy is cool, sleeve!

YMO is a ton of fun but I wouldn’t nominate them because I’m not a prick who thinks his second favorite band made only good records

I would

though I admit that 90s reunion album kinda fucks it up

Has anyone brought up Sade yet?

And if we're having Prince and the Revolution - and we should! - then are many many jazz bands, large and small, that maybe didn't stay together too long but released only gold (and whose legit live recordings are p smoking too)

― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, January 29, 2020 2:42 PM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

On that tip I would nominate Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi.

P sure I agree w u on Gastr Del Sol, as well. Including the fact that it's a niche nomination.

Yes to Mwandishi!

PAPERCLIP PEOPLE

sade otm

From upthread: Nina Nastasia also otm.

Tim Hecker

And I have no way of knowing whether this is entirely true but I suspect that Steve Roach also qualifies.

need collab album w Sade & Portishead

Has anyone mentioned Severed Heads?

The original REM lineup is ten very good-to-great albums in a row, several of which came out annually, that is dotted with terrible songs. All goes to shit after that obviously which probably disqualifies them.

I love Portishead but releasing three albums in 25 years is not really what we're talking about here.

What are the exact criteria?

All this MBV disqualification talk due to the "early EPs" makes me wonder if these people ever heard them (not the first obviously, because that's almost a different band), but the 2nd one and the singles around then are some of my favorite output of theirs:

30 years on: My Bloody Valentine - Ecstasy & Wine POLL

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have a remarkably solid discography for having so many album stretched out over 4 decades

I was thinking of This Is My Bloody Valentine really, which is actually just one mini-LP, yeah

xp

The Field Mice
Solid Doctor
Sabres of Paradise

Geek isn't that great either to be honest haha (xps)

my bloody valentine surely not eligible because m b v the album is bobbins

I choose to believe that regionalism I just had to look up means 'their best by a mile'.

I absolutely adore every single song I've heard from Laura Nyro, which is pretty much all of them.

Same with Harry Nilsson.

m b v the album is bobbins

Dunno about that but Instrumental No. 1 (or is it No.2?) from the EPs compilation really is bobbins.

This is a challops thread. That’s all that’s happening here.

I know we've talked about them a lot but Big Thief have released a lot of amazing material in such a short space of time. I hear their solo stuff is worth having too

if Worldwide Underground is her weakest, then otm

I regard the mixtape below everything else, but it's obv still awfully good. WU still has "I Want You" and "Back in the Day," both of which are all-time.

Big Thief totally belongs -- four incredible albums, all very different, couldn't pick a favorite.

wussy

bands that put out only one great album:

the Vaselines
Althea and Donna

― Οὖτις

Young Marble Giants

― kitchen person

X-Ray Spex

^The Heartbreakers (you just gotta hear the right mix!)

Sonic Youth had an amazing recording history from the mid 80s to the mid 00s

This question of a perfect discography can really only be answered by die-hard fans of whichever artist offered so I doubt we'll reach a consensus, though I'll agree with Sade, D'Angelo, and Death and offer Nirvana and the Dead C.

I've also likely heard every original Sonic Youth song and like to love them all.

cosign that

A worthwhile related question may be which label has a flawless discography.

sometimes i need a stinker in the catalog, because when a band is consistently amazing, I start to take their craftsmanship for granted, like it's automated. I need to see a band hit rock bottom sometimes - helps me appreciates the highs in their catalog.

plus it's always fun to have one album to jokingly shout requests from at shows and have people try to deck you

through 2009? Ghostface.

does E-40 have any stinkers? even the lesser of the "I released six albums" today albums I heard of his in recent years were usually pretty fire. but there's a lot of his 90s catalog I haven't heard.

almost every favorite band I have, or rapper seems to have one that rules them out.