Subterranea is the only album I like from IQ's catalog.
I can't think of a band that really meets the criteria of this thread.
I had not thought about The Police, but I would agree with that one. I thought each of their albums got better with the last one being my favorite.
Not many actually.
Most of my favourite artists released their best stuff early on OR peaked mid-career.
I'd put a vote in for Iron Maiden though.
Also, I'd agree on The Beatles if it weren't for their horrible final release, Let It Be. Because Abbey Road is perfect, my favourite Beatles album.
Totally agree. I decided to buy the remastered Visitors a few years ago and it was the first time I'd heard the album and I was blown away. The Visitors, Soldiers and Slipping Through My Fingers are my other favs on the album. The album as a whole is as proggy as anything released in the 80s by most of the so-called prog bands.
The only thing about Maiden would be that they did have the Blaze Baily years in the middle of their career and just before that albums like “Fear Of The Dark” were not all that great.
As for The Beatles, I guess I don’t really count “Let It Be” as an official album. It was actually recorded before “Abby Road” and was kind of thrown together after the fact.
Steven Wilson
Not for me. I like all his solo albums, but I don't think The Raven was as consistently good as his other three.
I assume you're not including "Cover Version", which is fair enough since the songs on it were recorded over a number of years, some of them before Insurgentes.
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In thinking about this, it seems that most bands undergo somewhat of a bell curve, starting and ending their careers with music that doesn't approach the peak of their greatness.
Iron Maiden comes to mind. Starting off slow with the debut, a nice boost with the second, classic albums through Powerslave, and then a descent. Yes fits this mold, too.
Other bands exhibit the ramp effect: start out with stone cold classics and then ramp down to various levels of bottom. ELP?
A corollary would be the upward ramp effect. The Beatles exemplify this. A slow start with more or less consistent brilliance to the end! They may be the closest to the OP's mark. I can't really think of any band or musician that consistently outdid his previous work. Beethoven?
I'll say The Dixie Dregs. Because Industry Standard has their best songwriting on it and every note "says it". It's a perfect album in my book.
Well let's not get carried away. But fwiw, I agree about Abbey Road; the only song I really like on side 1 is "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and it's a little too long for it's own good. I do think side 2 is excellent from start to finish; possibly their best work ever. But they've certainly made more consistent albums than Abbey Road.
Agreed. And it was not only incomplete, they simply didn't want it released.
Surprised nobody mentioned Hendrix. Sure, it was three albums, but they certainly did progress.
Of course, based on the Beatles comments alone, this is subjective like any other thread of this type.
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Three if you don't count "First Rays of the New Rising Sun." And maybe it's not fair to count it because Jimi passed away before it was finished and despite Eddie Kramer's noble attempts to stick to Jimi's plan... well, he wasn't Jimi, for whom mixing and post production was very important. It's interesting that the album saw Hendrix revisiting his soul roots, but in general, I don't think his songwriting or his playing was at his usual par, despite a few gems like "Freedom," "Angel" and "Drifting."
Getting back to the other three albums, I think his songwriting actually peaked on "Axis: Bold As Love," but his playing and arranging was at it's finest on "Electric Ladyland." YMMV.
I'd love 'clunkers' such as 'Come Together' and 'Something'.
With Hendrix, I think the Band Of Gypsys album is patchy. The First Rays... material is strong though IMHO.
I didn't actually call them "clunkers." But we all have our tastes. "Come Together" is okay, not great (imo of course). And though "Something" is a well loved song, I never cared for it much; I think it's pretty hokey. Maybe this is weird, but I think the best tune George Harrison wrote for The Beatles is "Don't Bother Me."
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