Top 10 Three Consecutive Album Releases By a Band

by Todd L. Frank

1. Bob Dylan
Bringing it All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde. If you don't automatically nod your head in knowing concurrence with the greatness of these three releases, stop wasting time on the computer and go buy these CD's.

2. Rolling Stones
Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street. Steven Van Zandt (Soprano, E Street guitarist, and underground garage rock DJ extraordinaire) once said, "Beggars Banquet to Exile on Main Street make up the greatest run of albums in history - all done in three and a half years." Sorry Little Steven, we only have room for three on this list.

3. The Beatles
Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Or: Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, and White Album. Or... or... you get the idea.

4. Jimi Hendrix
Are You Experienced?, Axis Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland. Not bad considering this was basically his whole studio output during his lifetime. Incredible considering this was all done within approximately two years.

5. Neil Young
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush, and Harvest. Once again, with an artist this good you could pick a different three. I picked these.

6. Bruce Springsteen
The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, Born to Run, and Darkness on the Edge of Town. This has it all, from funky seaside sound and rambling lyrics of the early days, to his definitive classic, and on into Darkness, where the dreams imagined on Born to Run awoke to stark realities. (A more consistent thematic trilogy might be BTR, Darkness, and The River, but for overall quality I'll stick with these three.)

7. U2
Under a Blood Red Sky, Unforgettable Fire, and The Joshua Tree. I skipped Wide Awake in America because it's an EP. While many people hail War as one of their best (and I agree), I think Under a Blood Red Sky is a good live representative of most of War's tunes. If I could skip Rattle and Hum for not being a "real" proper studio release, then Unforgettable, Joshua, and Achtung Baby would be quite the trifecta.

8. A Tribe Called Quest
Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, Low End Theory, and Midnight Marauders. Depending on your preference, this could start with Low End Theory and go thru Beats, Rhymes, and Life.

9. Radiohead
The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A. Boy, I was tempted to start with OK and go through Amnesiac. And some people might start with Kid A, skip the Live Recordings release and go through Hail to the Thief.

10. Outkast
Aquemini, Stankonia, and Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. No explanation necessary.


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