The Best Four-Album Run in Rock: Roundtable

The
only
thing
harder
than
starting
a
hot
streak
is
maintaining
one.
Rock
history
is
filled
with
artists
who
failed
to
improve
upon
or
even
match
the
promise
of
a
particularly
successful
album.

Of
course,
rock’s
true
legends
have
proven
themselves
to
be
capable
of
repeatedly
surpassing
themselves,
sharpening
and
refining
their
skills
while
conquering
exciting
new
creative
territory.
We
asked
seven
UCR
writers
to
pick
the
best
four-album
streaks
in
rock
history,
and
here’s
what
they
chose:

The
Who:

Tommy
(1969),

Who’s
Next
(1971),

Quadrophenia
(1973),

The
Who
by
Numbers
(1975)

It’s
almost
shocking
to
consider
the
ground
covered
by
the

Who
in
the
course
of
their
career,
who
started
out
as
a
relatively
typical
English
mod-rock
band
whose
sound
mirrored
that
of
acts
like
the

Beatles
and
the

Rolling
Stones.
But
by
1969,

Pete
Townshend
decided
to
really
let
his
freak
flag
fly
with
the
rock
opera
that
is


Tommy,
a
release
that
now
stands
as
a
turning
point
in
the
history
of
rock ‘n’
roll
songwriting.
That
was
the
tip
of
the
iceberg,
though.
This
was
followed
by
the
stunningly
powerful


Who’s
Next
(1971),
the
slightly
more
convoluted
yet
still
robust


Quadrophenia
(1973)
and
the
surprisingly
personal
and
sophisticated


The
Who
by
Numbers
(1975).
If
there
was
one
thing
proved
by
this
run
of
albums,
it
was
that
Townshend
was
one
of
the
era’s
most
proficient
and
imaginative
songwriters
and
there
was
practically
nothing

Roger
Daltrey
couldn’t
sing.
(Allison
Rapp)

 

Stevie
Wonder: Talking
Book
(1972),

Innervisions
(1973),

Fulfillingness’
First
Finale
(1974)
and

Songs
in
the
Key
of
Life
(1976)

Stevie
Wonder
had
released
a
series
of
youthful,
very
uneven
albums
before
1972’s


Music
of
My
Mind
hinted
at
greatness.
Then
came


Talking
Book,
a
crystallization
of
Wonder’s
self-contained
genius
–
and
the
beginning
of
one
of
the
best
four-album
runs
in
music
history.


Innervisions,
with
its
very
adult
themes,
was
where
he
became
a
man
in
full:
Wonder
had
begun
to
delve
deeply
into
the
failure
of
the ’60s
and
then
constructed
a
path
out
of
that
crushing
disappointment.
He
got
personal
with
1974’s
more
intimate

Fulfillingness’
First
Finale,
opening
his
heart
as
he’d
earlier
opened
minds.
Then
came
his
undisputed
masterpiece,
1976’s


Songs
in
the
Key
of
Life.
These
were
tales
told
like
no
other
could,
with
such
boundless
joy,
grit,
honesty,
funk
and
fire.
He’d
tentatively
titled
this
project

Let’s
See
Life
the
Way
It
Is,
and
–
as
always
–
that’s
just
what
Wonder
did.
(Nick
DeRiso)

 

The
Beatles: Rubber
Soul
(1965), Revolver
(1966), Sgt.
Pepper’s
Lonely
Hearts
Club
Band
(1967), The
Beatles
(1968)

You
won’t
find
another
four-album
run
in
history
that
altered
the
course
of
popular
music
like
the
Beatles’


Rubber
Soul
through
the

White
Album.

Rubber
Soul
marked
a
quantum
leap
in
songwriting
for
the
Fab
Four
and
four
rock ‘n’
roll
at
large,
incorporating
exotic
instrumentation
and
shifting
the
genre’s
focus
from
singles
to
albums.


Revolver
pushed
the envelope
even
further,
delving
into
acid
rock,
chamber
pop,
raga
rock
and
the
nascent
psychedelic
movement.
An
impossibly
high
bar
for
any
other
band
to
clear,
but
it
was
just
a
warmup
for


Sgt.
Pepper’s
Lonely
Hearts
Club
Band,
an
album
so steeped in hyperbole
it
feels
tired
to
list
its
achievements.
Nevertheless:
It
turned
rock ‘n’
roll
into
a
high
art
form,
epitomized
the
counterculture
and
became
a
standard-bearer
for
concept
albums
(even
though
its
concept
is
flimsy
at
best).
Just
when
it
seemed
like
the
Beatles
had
achieved
everything
they
possibly
could,
they
returned
with
their
self-titled
album
—
a
sprawling,
messy,
joyful,
anguished,
introspective
masterpiece
that
displayed
all
four
musicians’
personalities across
blues,
music
hall,
ska,
heavy
metal
and
more.
The
Beatles
didn’t
just
pull
off
these
styles
better
than
their
peers;
they
proved
they
were
possible
in
the
first
place.
(Bryan
Rolli)

 

The
Rolling
Stones:

Beggars
Banquet
(1968),

Let
It
Bleed
(1969),

Sticky
Fingers
(1971),

Exile
on
Main
St.
(1972)

Like
the
Beatles’
historic
run
during
the
mid-
and late-’60s,
the
Rolling
Stones’
equally
momentous
four-album
streak
–
coincidentally
started
just
as
the
Beatles’
was
ending
–
defined
an
era
through its
progression.
And
like
the
Fab
Four,
the
Stones
ended
their
four
classic
records
with
a
sprawling
double
album
that
revealed
the
scattered
pieces left
in
their
wake. Beggars
Banquet was
a
back-to-basics
reaction
to
1967’s
psychedelic
splatter


Their
Satanic
Majesties
Request,
blues
for
the
post-Summer
of
Love
comedown;
by
1969’s


Let
It
Bleed,
they were
saying
goodbye
to
the ’60s
altogether
with
a
set
of
scarred
songs
about the
decade’s
dark
side. Sticky
Fingers is
more
hopeful,
soul
music
spun
through
the
Stones’
filter,
but
it’s
on
1972’s Exile
on
Main
St.
where
the
band
reached
its
zenith.
Darker
than
any
record
they’ve
ever
made,
the
two-record
collection
was
made
amid
addiction
and
creative
struggle
–
no
surprise
they’d
never
sound
this
raw
and vital
again.
It’s
the
culmination
of
a
four-year
and
-album
run
that
hasn’t
been
matched
since.
(Michael
Gallucci)

 

Queen:

Sheer
Heart
Attack
(1974),

A
Night
at
the
Opera
(1975),

A
Day
at
the
Races
(1976),

News
of
the
World
(1977)

Queen
spent
their
first
few
years
figuring
out
exactly
who
they
were.
By
the
time
1974’s


Sheer
Heart
Attack
arrived,
they
were
ready
to
announce
their
presence
to
the
world.
The
LP
found
the
band
combining
its
early
progressive
influences
with
pop
structures.
“Killer
Queen”
was
the
breakout
single,
as

Freddie
Mercury
and
company
suddenly
found
themselves
as
worldwide
stars.
They
were
just
getting
started.
Next
came


A Night
at
the
Opera,
a masterpiece
that
found
the
band
at
its
bombastic
best.
No
other
rock
group
was
bold
enough
to
try
anything
as
grandiose
as
“Bohemian
Rhapsody,”
the
sprawling
operatic
tune
that
remains
beloved
by
generations.
1976’s


A
Day
at
the
Races
kept
the
hits
coming,
with
“Somebody
to
Love”
and
“Tie
Your
Mother
Down”
ranking
among
Queen’s
biggest
tracks.
The
fourth
and
final
album
in
this
incredible
run
was
1977’s


News
of
the
World,
a
powerful
LP
that
saw
the
band
stripping
away
their
glam
sheen
for
some
of
the
hardest
hitting
rock
songs
in
their
catalog
(including
“We
Will
Rock
You”
and
“We
Are
the
Champions”).
That’s
four
incredible
albums
in
four
years,
a
run
that’s
almost
impossible
to
match.
(Corey
Irwin)

 

Foreigner:

Foreigner
(1977),

Double
Vision
(1978),

Head
Games
(1979),

4
(1981)

On
paper,

Foreigner
hardly
seemed
like
a
sure
bet.
But
guitarist

Mick
Jones
quickly
proved
the
naysayers
wrong
once
the
British/American
band’s
self-titled
debut
hit
the
shelves
in
1977.
Powered
by
the
soaring
and
at
times,
emotional
vocals
of

Lou
Gramm,
the
fledgling
group
notched
three
straight
Top
20
hits,
starting
with
“Feels
Like
the
First
Time”
—
which
featured
a
drum
breakdown
that

Dave
Grohl later
nicked
with

his
own
drumming.


Foreigner
eventually
sold
more
than
five
million
copies.


Double
Vision
(1978)
continued
their
chart
reign
with
the
muscular
“Hot
Blooded”
leading
the
charge
for
three
additional
Top
20
singles.
Though
their
success
at
radio
faded
slightly
with


Head
Games
(1979),
it
was
only
a
momentary
lull.


4
(1981)
found
Foreigner
scaling
back
from
six
members
to
four
with
the
departure
of
co-founders
Ian
McDonald
and
Al
Greenwood.
But
paired
with
producer
“Mutt”
Lange,
Foreigner
notched
their
first
and
only
number
one
album
with

4,
thanks
in
part
to
the
mega-success
of
their
power
ballad,
“Waiting
for
a
Girl
Like
You.”
(Matt
Wardlaw)

 

Led
Zeppelin:

Led
Zeppelin
III
(1970),

Led
Zeppelin
IV
(1971),

Houses
of
the
Holy
(1973),

Physical
Graffiti
(1975)

Led
Zeppelin‘s
first
six
albums
are
all
essential,
so
the
challenge
here
is
picking
which
two
to
leave
out.


Led
Zeppelin
and


Led
Zeppelin
II,
released
just
nine
months
apart
in
1969,
created
the
template
for
pretty
much
every
hard
rock
and
heavy
metal
album
that
has
followed
them.
But
when
the
group
shifted
away
from
bombastic
blues
covers
and
began
writing
more
sophisticated
original
material,
things
got
even
more
interesting.
1970’s


Led
Zeppelin
III
brought
acoustic
guitars
and
the
group’s
folk
influences
to
the
forefront,
and
1971’s

untitled
fourth
album
merged
the
heavy
and
delicate
sides
of
their
sound
together
along
with
their
most
consistent
songwriting.
1973’s


Houses
of
the
Holy
found
Led
Zeppelin
exploring
a
dazzling
array
of
new
styles
and
sophisticated
arrangements.
Two
years
later,
they
capped
off
this
incredible
run
with
the
double
album


Physical
Graffiti,
which
revisited
all
of
their
past
phases
while
also
pushing
into
exciting
new
territory
with
songs
such
as “Kashmir”
and “Trampled
Underfoot.”
(Matthew
Wilkening)