greatest period in an artist's oeuvre

[ed miliband]

like...

bowie's 'berlin trilogy': low, "heroes" and lodger. bowie could not top that shit, few could. such an incredible mix of melancholia, soul/funk and experimental electronic music. maybe we should include 'station to station' in the same period.

have any other artists managed to release a string of brilliant albums so coherently (pretty good feat considering bowie's coke and booze addictions)? idk....

[Yuppie Grinder]

Sly and the Family Stone from 68-70. Lil B 2009-Present. Current 93 92-97.

[the Left™]

Radiohead 95-98

[GoddessCleoLover]

How about the albums released by The Who from The Who Sell Out in 1967 through Quadrophenia in 1973. Am I dating myself?

[Yuppie Grinder]

Nah I agree. The Who fell off after Quadrophenia.

[zoot_allures]

I prefer Bowie's 90s work. I don't think he ever did anything better than Black Tie White Noise, 1. Outside, or Earthling.

As for the longest string of brilliant albums, the winner so far seem to be Frank Zappa:

41 albums from 1966 - 1984 (the run is broken by "Francesco Zappa", which was a great album, but not a masterpiece as usual. I don't blame Frank though, since he didn't compose any of it and his arrangements were lovely.)

and then 27 albums from 1985 - 2004 (I couldn't quite get over the crummy sound quality on "Joe's Domage"... again, hardly Zappa's fault.)

Anyway, I give the vast majority of his albums 10/10.

[Yuppie Grinder]

I prefer Bowie's 90s work. I don't think he ever did anything better than Black Tie White Noise, 1. Outside, or Earthling.



woah man
that is a controversial opinion if i've ever heard one

[ed miliband]

I prefer Bowie's 90s work. I don't think he ever did anything better than Black Tie White Noise, 1. Outside, or Earthling.



what. just... what? how. fuck.

[blake 3:17]

Dylan's Bring It All Back Home, Highway 61, and Blonde On Blonde.

I like everything Joy Division recorded.

Sonic Youth? Hard to say what starts and stops when.

Public Enemy's 2nd, 3rd & 4th.

[ed miliband]

listening to the 'berlin trilogy' again; really don't get how anyone could think bowie's 90s shit beats this.

what's also amazing is how bowie released this during the 'punk period', but how much it all sounds like post-punk...

[Ostrinski]

Bob Dylan- I might be met with some disagreement here but I'm going to extend blake 3:17's point on Dylan. I'd say from Freewheelin' to Blonde On Blonde - that is, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin', Another Side of Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde. I think that's the largest string of truly superb records every released*. While I would only consider the first and last three "classics" - still a lot for an artist, they're all very stellar records. And you know, John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline, the next two released, aren't even that bad. I'd say they're "good" but don't belong on the same list as the previous six. After those two he really came out with a few piles of unadulterated shit, until Blood On the Tracks (also a classic) and Desire which is quite good as well.

Radiohead- Again, I'd probably extend this one. Everything from The Bends until In Rainbows kicks ass. Sure Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief weren't on par with The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A but they're still great records in their own right. I too would probably make the cutoff at Kid A but the fact that In Rainbows is equally as good as those three as well as the fact that Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief kick plenty of their own ass.

Agree on what GourmetPez and Gramsci Guy are saying on The Who. Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia are generally considered to be their trifecta of greatness.

Joy Division isn't really fair. Their two studio albums are undisputed classics but Ian committed suicide before Closer was even released.

Agree with blake on PE but would also put the overlooked Y!BRtS in with them.

With Sonic Youth I mainly just like EVOL, Sister, and Daydream Nation. I hear Goo is also a solid album but haven't felt like giving it a spin.

*I think it's actually a tie with Elliott Smith. All of his six studio albums are gems to me although some are more critical toward a couple of them I love them all. Elliott Smith in general is probably my favorite artist. Hell, From a Basement On the Hill wasn't even finished at the time of its release and its still one of my favorite albums with some of my favorite songs of his on it (King's Crossing, Twilight, Memory Lane, Don't Go Down.. damn). It's no question that if he lived he would have continued to drop masterpieces.

[Yuppie Grinder]

The golden age of Sonic Youth for me was when Steve Shelly was drumming but Lee Renaldo wasn't allowed to sing, holy shit is his voice awful. So basically Bad Moon Rising and Evol.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Dead Kennedys 1st, 2nd and 3rd albums were all good IMO.

[Ostrinski]

Frankenchrist was good except for At My Job. That is such an awful song.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I don't remember much about Frankenchrist except for the fact that it was somewhat more "serious" than their previous albums, which was something I didn't much care for.

[Ostrinski]

Were you counting In God We Trust, Inc. as their second album? I have a tendency to skip over EPs, but that one is good. Not as good as Plastic Surgery Disasters though.

[Yuppie Grinder]

When Hardcore bands "mature" they get boring. The whole point is to be as teenaged as possible.

[zoot_allures]

Bob Dylan- I might be met with some disagreement here but I'm going to extend blake 3:17's point on Dylan. I'd say from Freewheelin' to Blonde On Blonde - that is, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin', Another Side of Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde. I think that's the largest string of truly superb records every released*. While I would only consider the first and last three "classics" - still a lot for an artist, they're all very stellar records. And you know, John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline, the next two released, aren't even that bad. I'd say they're "good" but don't belong on the same list as the previous six. After those two he really came out with a few piles of unadulterated shit, until Blood On the Tracks (also a classic) and Desire which is quite good as well.
I give the vast majority of Dylan's discography 10/10 - I give all his "main sequence" albums (so ignoring albums like the Bootleg Series, compilation albums, etc) at least 8/10. I certainly don't agree that he ever released "piles of unadulterated shit" (now there's an opinion that'll be "met with some disagreement". I do find it odd that most Bob Dylan fans seem to dislike a significant chunk of his discography).

His earlier stuff, from Bob Dylan to Another Side, is brilliant, but probably his least interesting in my opinion. BIABH and H61 would probably be in the bottom half of his work, too.

I'm not sure what I'd pick as his strongest string of albums... it's either Blonde on Blonde to New Morning, Hard Rain to Infidels, or Time Out of Mind to Tempest. Again, that's counting just his "main sequence" albums. If we widen the net, some of Dylan's best bootleg albums (I'm talking about genuine bootleg albums, not the Bootleg Series) are from the Hard Rain to Infidels set, especially during the gospel period. His religious shows were absolutely fascinating.

[Rugged Collectivist]

Radiohead 95-98

I haven't listened to Radiohead extensively but I find it hard to believe that anything else they did could top Kid A.

[zoot_allures]

listening to the 'berlin trilogy' again; really don't get how anyone could think bowie's 90s shit beats this.
It has something to do with the fact that not everybody has the same tastes.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

I haven't listened to Radiohead extensively but I find it hard to believe that anything else they did could top Kid A.

The Bends, OK Computer > Kid A

I'd say that "Situationist Comedy" was totally Dillinger Four's high point. Eh?

[blake 3:17]

When Hardcore bands "mature" they get boring. The whole point is to be as teenaged as possible.

The only recent hardcore band that really does it for me is the Tdot's own Fucked Up. The best local music critic called their Chemistry of Common Life hardcore's Ok Computer. It's a fantastic record.

I can't really listen to Radiohead for personal reasons. They were my ex-wife's favourite band and when I hear Thom Yorke's voice I just get totally stressed out. I do love that crazy track with PJ Harvey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99k8w65v3_I

Yeah, I could well be wrong on neglecting the earlier Dylan stuff, just never listened to it as albums.