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Consecutive Good Album Streaks

As the PJ Harvey and Radiohead threads illuminate, people like rating things here, and talking about streaks, myself included.

So what are your notable streaks of good albums? I'll let you decide what constitutes notable both in minimum rating and in length.

I'll go with streaks of albums that I rate as at least an 8.0.

10-album streaks:

Prince:

Prince: 8.2
Dirty Mind: 9.2
Controversy: 9.6
1999: 10.0
Purple Rain: 9.4
Around the World in a Day: 9.0
Parade: 9.5
Sign o' the Times: 10.0
Lovesexy: 10.0
Batman: 8.5

The Cure:

Three Imaginary Boys: 8.1
Seventeen Seconds: 9.7
Faith: 8.6
Pornography: 8.7
Japanese Whispers: 9.5
The Top: 8.5
The Head on the Door: 9.4
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me: 9.0
Disintegration: 10.0
Wish: 8.8

9-album streaks:

Eurythmics:

In the Garden: 9.3
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This): 10.0
Touch: 9.8
1984: For the Love of Big Brother: 9.8
Be Yourself Tonight: 8.8
Revenge: 9.1
Savage: 9.1
We Too Are One: 8.5
Peace: 9.4

6-album streaks:

Björk (not counting Selmasongs):

Debut: 9.1
Post: 9.6
Homogenic: 9.7
Vespertine: 10.0
Medulla: 8.2
Volta: 8.0

Kylie Minogue:

Impossible Princess: 9.4
Light Years: 8.8
Fever: 9.7
Body Language: 9.7
X: 8.2
Aphrodite: 8.2

5-album streaks:

Madonna (not counting I'm Breathless or Evita):

True Blue: 8.2
Like a Prayer: 10.0
Erotica: 8.9
Bedtime Stories: 8.5
Ray of Light: 9.9

David Bowie:

Station to Station: 9.0
Low: 9.4
"Heroes": 8.7
Lodger: 8.7
Scary Monsters: 9.6

Janet Jackson:

Control: 8.4
Rhythm Nation 1814: 10.0
janet.: 8.1
The Velvet Rope: 9.4
All for You: 9.4

Siouxsie and the Banshees:

Kaleidoscope: 9.5
Juju: 9.3
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse: 9.2
Hyaena: 8.3
Tinderbox: 8.0

4-album streaks:

Blondie:

Parallel Lines: 9.3
Eat to the Beat: 9.5
Autoamerican: 8.5
The Hunter: 8.2

Depeche Mode:

Some Great Reward: 8.5
Black Celebration: 8.7
Music for the Masses: 8.0
Violator: 9.7

3-album streaks:

LCD Soundsystem:

LCD Soundsystem: 8.7
Sound of Silver: 9.7
This Is Happening: 9.0

Prince:

Symbol: 9.6
Come: 8.0
The Gold Experience: 9.8

Roxy Music:

Roxy Music: 9.1
For Your Pleasure: 9.5
Stranded: 8.7

David Bowie:

Hunky Dory: 8.5
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: 9.3
Aladdin Sane: 9.5

The Strokes:

Is This It: 9.1
Room on Fire: 9.5
First Impressions of Earth: 8.2

Sufjan Stevens:

Seven Swans: 8.1
Illinois: 8.9
The Age of Adz: 9.7

Grace Jones:

Warm Leatherette: 8.8
Nightclubbing: 9.2
Living My Life: 8.4

Kraftwerk:

Trans Europe Express: 8.1
The Man Machine: 9.0
Computer World: 9.1

Kim Wilde:

Kim Wilde: 8.3
Select: 9.0
Catch As Catch Can: 8.0

!!!:

Louden Up Now: 8.3
Myth Takes: 9.0
Strange Weather, Isn't It?: 8.0

Talking Heads:

Fear of Music: 8.0
Remain in Light: 8.2
Speaking in Tongues: 8.9

T. Rex:

Electric Warrior: 8.2
The Slider: 8.0
Tanx: 8.3

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

The Beatles (excluding "Yellow Submarine" which is really a soundtrack album anyways)

Please Please Me- 8.8
With The Beatles- 8.6
A Hard Day's Night- 9.3
Beatles for Sale- 8.0
Help!- 9.0

And now is when the godly album streak begins.....

Rubber Soul- 10.0
Revolver- 10.0
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band- 10.0
Magical Mystery Tour- 8.6
The Beatles (The White Album)- 10.0
Abbey Road- 10.0
Let it Be- 9.1

I don't just throw around 10.0's either. Only about 40 or so albums have them out of the many many hundreds of albums I've heard.

Radiohead

The Bends- 9.9
OK Computer- 10.0
Kid A- 10.0
Amnesiac- 9.3
Hail to the Thief- 8.8
In Rainbows- 9.7

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin I- 9.1
Led Zeppelin II- 9.5
Led Zeppelin III- 8.8
Led Zeppelin IV- 10.0
Houses of the Holy- 9.6
Physical Graffiti- 9.6

Kanye West

The College Dropout- 9.3
Late Registration- 9.8
Graduation- 9.0
808s and Heartbreak- 8.1
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy- 9.8

The Rolling Stones

Beggars Banquet- 9.6
Let it Bleed- 9.6
Sticky Fingers- 9.6
Exile on Main Street- 10.0

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground and Nico- 10.0
White Light/ White Heat- 8.8
The Velvet Underground- 9.6
Loaded- 9.6

Talking Heads

Talking Heads: 77- 8.6
More Songs About Buildings and Food- 8.6
Fear of Music- 8.6
Remain in Light- 9.9

Bob Dylan

Bringing it All Back Home- 9.6
Highway 61 Revisited- 10.0
Blonde on Blonde- 10.0

LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem- 9.1
Sound of Silver- 10.0
This is Happening- 9.6

Wilco

Summerteeth- 10.0
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot- 10.0
A Ghost is Born- 8.8

Arcade Fire

Funeral- 10.0
Neon Bible- 9.2
The Suburbs- 9.5

Neil Young

Everybody Knows This is Nowhere- 8.7
After the Goldrush- 9.7
Harvest- 9.2

The Stooges

The Stooges- 9.2
Fun House- 9.6
Raw Power- 9.3

And there are other artists like Bruce Springsteen or David Bowie who have a good amount of awesome albums in a row, separated right in the middle by an album I haven't heard yet.

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

That's a lot of streaks right there. I'll join in with a few of my own, 5+ streaks.

Because of Self Portrait, Bob Dylan is just shy of 10 albums:
Bob Dylan: 8.0
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan: 9.0
The Times They Are A-Changin': 8.5
Another Side of Bob Dylan: 8.0
Bringing it all Back Home: 10.0
Highway 61 Revisited: 10.0
Blonde on Blonde: 10.0
John Wesley Harding: 9.0
Nashville Skyline: 8.5

The Rolling Stones (9):
The Rolling Stones No. 2: 8.0
Out of Our Heads: 8.0
December's Children (And Everybody's): 8.0
Aftermath: 8.5
Between The Buttons: 8.0
Their Satanic Majesties Request: 8.0 (although barely)
Beggars Banquet: 10.0
Let It Bleed: 9.5
Sticky Fingers: 9.5
Exile on Main St.: 9.5

R.E.M. (8):
Murmur: 8.5
Reckoning: 8.5
Fables of the Reconstruction: 8.0
Lifes Rich Pageant: 8.0
Document: 8.5
Green: 8.0
Out of Time: 9.0
Automatic For the People: 9.5

Bruce Springsteen (7):
The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle: 8.5
Born To Run: 10.0
Darkness on the Edge of Town: 9.0
The River: 9.5
Nebraska: 9.0
Born In The U.S.A.: 9.5
Tunnel of Love: 8.5

Elvis Costello (7)
My Aim Is True: 9.0
This Year's Model: 8.5
Armed Forces: 8.0
Get Happy!!: 8.0
Trust: 8.0
Almost Blue: 8.0
Imperial Bedroom: 8.0

Leonard Cohen (6):
Songs of Leonard Cohen: 9.5
Songs from a Room: 9.0
Songs of Love and Hate: 8.0
New Skin for the Old Ceremony: 8.0
Death of a Ladies' Man: 8.0
Recent Songs: 8.0

Neil Young (6):
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere: 8.5
After the Gold Rush: 9.0
Harvest: 9.0
On The Beach: 8.5
Tonight's The Night: 8.5
Zuma: 8.5

Creedence Clearwater Revival (5):
Creedence Clearwater Revival: 8.0
Bayou Country: 8.0
Green River: 8.5
Willy and the Poor Boys: 8.5
Cosmo's Factory: 9.0

The National (all 5):
The National: 8.0
Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers: 8.0
Alligator: 8.5
Boxer: 9.5
High Violet: 8.5

Johnny Cash (5 (or 4))
American III: Solitary Man: 8.5
American IV: The Man Comes Around: 9.0
(Unearthed: 8.0)
American V: A Hundred Highways: 8.0
American VI: Ain't No Grave: 8.0

Most surprising to me is Costello, but as you can see there's a lot of 8.0's in that list.. he's just incredibly consistent.

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

The Kinks have my favorite, this streak is just ridiculous:

Face to Face 8.0
Something Else 8.5
The Village Green Preservation Society 10.0
Arthur 9.5
Lola 8.5
Muswell Hillbillies 8.5

Brian Eno's first four albums:

Here Come the Warm Jets 9.0
Taking Tiger Mountain 10.0
Another Green World 9.5
Before and After Science 8.5

Wire's first three:

Pink Flag 9.0
Chairs Missing 9.5
154 8.5

Public Enemy:

It Takes a Nation 10.0
Fear of a Black Planet 8.5
Apocalypse `91 8.5

Black Sabbath's first six:

Black Sabbath 8.0
Paranoid 8.5
Master of Reality 9.0
Volume 4 8.5
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 8.5
Sabotage 8.5

I also second a lot of the ones already mentioned, like the VU's first four, the Stooges' first three, and Dylan and Bowie's streaks.

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

Mark E. Smith has you all beat - 11:
Live At The Witch Trials: 8.5
Dragnet: 8.5
Grotesque: 9.0
Slates: 9.5
Hex Enduction Hour: 9.5
Room To Live: 8.0
Perverted By Language: 9.0
The Wonderful & Frightening World Of The Fall: 9.0
This Nation's Saving Grace: 9.5
Bend Sinister: 8.5
The Frenz Experiment: 8.0

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

Stephan

Neil Young (6):
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere: 8.5
After the Gold Rush: 9.0
Harvest: 9.0
Time Fades Away
On The Beach: 8.5
Tonight's The Night: 8.5
Zuma: 8.5



I consider Time Fades Away a great album, but for me Harvest breaks the streak.

Let's see. Led Zeppelin's 6 album run, the Beatles' 5 album run.

I have too many random holes in my listening history for artists with a lot of less known albums in between their great albums to be good at this thread. Like, Sleater-Kinney I haven't heard Hot Rock. Tom Waits I would probably have a huge streak, only I haven't heard more than two albums in a row.

White Stripes:
De Stijl
White Blood Cells
Elephant
Get Behind Me Satan
Icky Thump

Nick Cave:
Abbatoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus
Grinderman
Dig Lazarus, Dig!!!
Grinderman 2

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

NO MENTION OF THE SMITHS??!!

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

I mean...THE SMITHS PEOPLE!!

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

musictoad
I mean...THE SMITHS PEOPLE!!

The Smiths 9.5
Hatful Of Hollow 9.5
Meat Is Murder 9.0
The Queen Is Dead 10.0
Strangeways,Here We Come 9.5

Only a couple of songs in their entire catalogue are less than 6/10 ranking...

Oh, Moon...

you regard All For You in the same league as the four albums before that? Shame on you. That's where the janet decline started. it wasn't a BAD album, and it did have a few noteworthy tracks (especially "Trust a try" and "Better Days"), but so not up to par with the previous four.

As for Kylie, she does disposable pop very well. But I never really got into Body Language or X.

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

Moonbeam
Prince:

Prince: 8.2
Dirty Mind: 9.2
Controversy: 9.6
1999: 10.0
Purple Rain: 9.4
Around the World in a Day: 9.0
Parade: 9.5
Sign o' the Times: 10.0
Lovesexy: 10.0
Batman: 8.5

Prince:

Symbol: 9.6
Come: 8.0
The Gold Experience: 9.8


You give BATMAN a better ranking than Diamonds & Pearls? Say WHAAAT?!

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

Wilco

Being There: 9.5
Mermaid Avenue: 9.0
Summerteeth: 10.0
Mermaid Avenue Vol 2: 8.0
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: 10.0
A Ghost is Born: 9.0
Kicking Television: Live in Chicago: 9.0

Nirvana

Bleach- 8.5
Nevermind- 10.0
In Utero- 10.0
MTV Unplugged- 10.0


Van Morrison

Astral Weeks- 10.0
Moondance- 10.0
His Band and the Street Choir- 8.5
Tupelo Honey- 9.0
St. Dominic's Preview- 10.0

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

BillAdama
I consider Time Fades Away a great album, but for me Harvest breaks the streak.
You are quite right, that makes a 7-album streak for Neil Young. I was using the discography list on wikipedia and it lists the live albums separately. Interesting how you think Harvest breaks the streak; it's a top 100 album on AM from an artist you like and you wouldn't rate it more than a 7.5?

Re: Oh, Moon...

JR
you regard All For You in the same league as the four albums before that? Shame on you. That's where the janet decline started. it wasn't a BAD album, and it did have a few noteworthy tracks (especially "Trust a try" and "Better Days"), but so not up to par with the previous four.

As for Kylie, she does disposable pop very well. But I never really got into Body Language or X.


I love All for You. I know it's not a popular pick, but to hear her happy again making fun pop songs was actually quite refreshing at the time, and her voice hadn't dwindled away into a series of whispers yet. You pinpoint the two best tracks in "Better Days" and "Trust a Try". The former is in my top 5 Janet songs, and the latter close to my top 10. But really, I like it all!

As for Kylie, she does have great disposable pop, but I'd argue that her best moments see her do more than that. Body Language, in particular, is fantastic. Her vocals are so different on that record, and it sounds so much sexier and more adult while being her most experimental sonically. That insistent groove that beckons throughout goes straight to the hips! X is indeed a mish-mash, but it's a rather beautiful mess of an album!

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

ChakaKhan

You give BATMAN a better ranking than Diamonds & Pearls? Say WHAAAT?!


Graffiti Bridge broke the streak. It would have made it if it was only Prince songs. As for Diamonds and Pearls, I find that album to have some highlights scattered around some sub-par material. I like it well enough, but I feel like most of his 90s albums are better.

D&P...

I remember really enjoying that album when it came out- got it on cassette and everything. Then again, Prince does more right than wrong, so what else is expected. :)

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

Stephan
BillAdama
I consider Time Fades Away a great album, but for me Harvest breaks the streak.
You are quite right, that makes a 7-album streak for Neil Young. I was using the discography list on wikipedia and it lists the live albums separately. Interesting how you think Harvest breaks the streak; it's a top 100 album on AM from an artist you like and you wouldn't rate it more than a 7.5?


A lot of Neil fans don't like Harvest. For me, personally, it's like my #7 Neil album.


If life were fair, On the Beach and Harvest would switch AM rankings.

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

My streak is for "Albums in My Top 200":

10
Beatles: A Hard Day's Night (187), Beatles for Sale (130), Help! (84), Rubber Soul (168), Revolver (14), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (36), Magical Mystery Tour (90), White Album (27), Abbey Road (48), Let It Be (142)

6
Bob Dylan: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (24), The Times They Are a-Changin' (95), Another Side of Bob Dylan (160), Bringing It All Back Home (37), Highway 61 Revisited (6), Blonde on Blonde (85)
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin (29), Led Zeppelin II (70), Led Zeppelin III (63), Led Zeppelin IV (5), Houses of the Holy (67), Physical Graffiti (46)

3
Arcade Fire: Funeral (2), Neon Bible (28), The Suburbs (1)
Belle & Sebastian: Dear Catastrophe Waitress (112), The Life Pursuit (39), Belle & Sebastian Write About Love (10)
Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP (145), The Eminem Show (198), Encore (188)
Girl Talk: Night Ripper (179), Feed the Animals (131), All Day (12)
Milkman: Lactose and THC (164), Circle of Fifths (108), Algorithms (13)
Oasis: Definitely Maybe (158), (What's the Story) Morning Glory (71), Be Here Now (61)
Radiohead: The Bends (21), OK Computer (9), Kid A (89)
The Shins: Oh, Inverted World (107), Chutes Too Narrow (122), Wincing the Night Away (11)
The Strokes: Is This It (23), Room on Fire (53), First Impressions of Earth (102)
The Who: Tommy (17), Who's Next (200), Quadrophenia (121)
Wilco: Being There (120), Summerteeth (76), Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (69)

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

*Joni Mitchell had 6 albums:

Ladies of the Canyon
Blue
For the Roses
Court and Spark
The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Hejira


*PJ Harvey have 8 albums:

Dry
Rid of Me
To Bring You My Love
Is This Desire?
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
Uh Huh Her
White Chalk
Let England Shake


*Blondie had 4 albums:

Blondie
Parallel Lines
Plastic Letters
Eat to the Beat

*Blur have 6 albums

Modern Life is Rubbish
Parklife
The Great Escape
Blur
13
Think Tank

6 albums: Elliott Smith
3 albums: Joanna Newsom, TV on the Radio, The Chemical Brothers, Fiona Apple

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

HRS

*Blur have 6 albums

Modern Life is Rubbish
Parklife
The Great Escape
Blur
13
Think Tank




In my book, Blur were the best band of the last 20 years after Radiohead.

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

All of my top 5 artists have at least seven albums with at least a 3/5 rating.

Beatles:

Please, Please Me: 3/5
Meet the Beatles: 5/5
Hard Day's Night: 4/5
Help!: 5/5
Rubber Soul: 5/5
Yesterday and Today: 4/5
Revolver: 5/5
Sgt. Pepper: 5/5
Magical Mystery Tour: 4.5/5
White Album: 5/5
Abbey Road: 5/5
Let it Be: 4.5/5

The Who:

My Generation: 4/5
Quick One: 3/5
The Who Sell Out: 4/5
Tommy: 4.5/5
Who's Next: 5/5
By the Numbers: 4.5/5
Who Are You: 5/5

Rush:

Fly by Night: 4/5
Caress of Steel: 3/5
Farewell to Kings: 4/5
2112: 5/5
Permanent Waves: 4.5/5
Moving Pictures: 5/5
Signals: 4/5

Led Zeppelin:

Led Zeppelin: 4.5/5
Led Zeppelin II: 4/5
Led Zeppelin III: 3.5/5
Led Zeppelin IV: 5/5
Houses of the Holy: 5/5
Physical Graffiti: 5/5
Presence: 4/5

Radiohead is the only artist to have all albums score this high:

Pablo Honey: 3.5/5
The Bends: 5/5
OK Computer: 5/5
Kid A: 5/5
Amnesiac: 4/5
Hail to the Thief: 4/5
In Rainbows: 5/5


Other Artists with more than three 3/5 albums:

John Butler Trio:

Three: 4/5
Sunrise over the Sea: 4.5/5
Grand National: 4.5/5
April Uprising: 4.5/5

Jimi Hendrix:

Are You Experienced: 5/5
Axis Bold as Love: 5/5
Electric Ladyland: 4.5/5
Valleys of Neptune: 5/5 (The only such album of 2010)

White Stripes:

White Blood Cells: 5/5
Elephant: 5/5
Get Behind me Satan: 4/5
Icky Thump: 4.5/5

And I don't just dish these out, either. These are only a few of the albums I've heard, and few of the artists I know can achieve these sorts of rankings.

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

W, you missed Quadrophenia on your Who streak! Hopefully you've heard that one.

Re: Consecutive Good Album Streaks

Yes, I have heard it. 4.5/5 for Quadrophenia.