Everything Better Than Everything Else

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Japan
adolescent sex, obscure alternatives, quiet life, gentlemen take polaroids, tin drum
musically and compositionally, these guys made enormous strides in the space between album releases.

― bahtology, Thursday, 27 November 2003 23:18 (twenty years ago) link

mr bungle!!!!

― Pablo Cruise (chaki), Thursday, 27 November 2003 23:25 (twenty years ago) link

So in summary:

My Bloody Valentine (only arguable on the basis that I havent heared any previous to isnt anything. But I can believe this one)

Nirvana (everyone thinks so. except u)

Nick Drake (for 30% of people...)

White Stripes (10%?)

and a bunch of people whos albums are slightly less crap than previous.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 28 November 2003 09:20 (twenty years ago) link

Don't gloat Ned - that first MBV album is nothing to be proud of!

Japan - Adolescent Sex was better than Obscure Alternatives, wasn't it?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Friday, 28 November 2003 09:21 (twenty years ago) link

Aaliyah
Elephant Man
Radiohead up to Amnesiac

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 28 November 2003 09:37 (twenty years ago) link

Hail to the thief is better than amnesiac. But Kid A is better than both...

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 28 November 2003 09:39 (twenty years ago) link

I second Talk Talk.

― man, Friday, 28 November 2003 09:44 (twenty years ago) link

Scott Walker

― NickB (NickB), Friday, 28 November 2003 09:50 (twenty years ago) link

a ha ha ha ha ha. Scott Walker. a ha ha ha ha.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 28 November 2003 10:00 (twenty years ago) link

Outkast is so the answer, as someone pointed out.

― Shmuel (shmuel), Friday, 28 November 2003 10:06 (twenty years ago) link

oh please! the new one's nowhere near as good as the last two

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 28 November 2003 10:08 (twenty years ago) link

yeah, but it works for the first four

― Shmuel (shmuel), Friday, 28 November 2003 10:18 (twenty years ago) link

There's lots of qualifiers to this, but, eno vocal~
4. Here Come the Warm Jets
3. Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
2. Another Green World
1. Before and after Science

― otto j, Friday, 28 November 2003 18:44 (twenty years ago) link

sorry, eno vocal i rate in the opposite direction. it's ALL great, but warm jets is too delightfully twisted thru n thru.
Agree with MBV, Fugazi, Bungle
Add Cornelius, Black Dice
Wish I could say Talking Heads (spoiler the last two) and Unwound (spoiler challenged)
So far everything !!! has put out is getting better, but there's only one full LP.

― Dr. Annabel Lies (Michael Kelly), Friday, 28 November 2003 20:05 (twenty years ago) link

Outkast seems like a good answer, but I like Southernplayalistic.. and ATLiens more than Aquemini. If I pretend that Aquemini doesn't exist, then they totally fit with this.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Friday, 28 November 2003 20:16 (twenty years ago) link

one year passes...

Not only did Sonic Youth improve with every release, they also moved to a larger record label (nearly) each time out! (Well, higher-profile label, anyways.) If only Goo (DGC debut) hadn't reversed the trend by not being nearly as good as Daydream Nation...

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Sunday, 8 May 2005 12:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Yes from "Yes" through "Close To The Edge" (5 albums)
The Beatles from "Help!" through "Sgt. Pepper" (4 albums)
Kent from "Verkligen" through "Våpen & Ammunition" (4 albums)
Depeche Mode from "Speak And Spell" through "Construction Time Again" (3 albums)
Radiohead from "Pablo Honey" through "OK Computer" (3 albums)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 8 May 2005 12:50 (nineteen years ago) link

Kate Bush The Kick Inside through to The Dreaming (if, like me, you slightly prefer her second album to her first due to its gonzo qualities) - 5 albums

OMD Organisation through to Dazzle Ships - 4 albums

The Auteurs New Wave through to How I Learned To Love The Bootboys - 4 albums and band's entire ouevre.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 8 May 2005 13:00 (nineteen years ago) link

OMD Organisation through to Dazzle Ships - 4 albums

Just three. You sure you don't mean from their debut onwards?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 8 May 2005 17:26 (nineteen years ago) link

If Vespertine wasn't such a cluker, Björk would be the definitive example, as Medulla is her best IMO.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Sunday, 8 May 2005 17:47 (nineteen years ago) link

Rammstein! (Reise, Reise > Mutter > Sehnsucht > Herzeleid)

― Siegbran (eofor), Sunday, 8 May 2005 18:02 (nineteen years ago) link

This is a controversial one, but R.E.M. have IMO now improved on five albums in a row since "Monster".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 8 May 2005 18:05 (nineteen years ago) link

"Ummagumma" - "Atom Heart Mother" - "Meddle" - "Dark Side Of The Moon" - "Wish You Were Here". That is five. (Those movie soundtracks just don't count)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 8 May 2005 18:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Pixies

― donut debonair (donut), Sunday, 8 May 2005 18:21 (nineteen years ago) link

(granted, my opinion, not the masses)

― donut debonair (donut), Sunday, 8 May 2005 18:21 (nineteen years ago) link

True dat, donut — at least as far as Tromple Le Monde being their masterstroke. (I dunno about Bossanova though...)

― Dr. Gene Scott (shinybeast), Sunday, 8 May 2005 20:51 (nineteen years ago) link

I might say this of GYBE!. Possibly Radiohead, though the last three are fairly equal in my eyes.

― Sundar (sundar), Sunday, 8 May 2005 21:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Radiohead have done this twice. First with their first three albums. Then "Kid A" was an absolute disaster compared to "OK Computer", but later on they have again improved with each album.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 8 May 2005 22:51 (nineteen years ago) link

But Kid A is so much more melodic than Amnesiac?

― wiffle, Sunday, 8 May 2005 23:00 (nineteen years ago) link

But Kid A is so much more melodic than Amnesiac?

Snap!

― giboyeux (skowly), Sunday, 8 May 2005 23:06 (nineteen years ago) link

In fact, no. For instance, "Knives Out" is by far the most melodic moment on either.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 8 May 2005 23:27 (nineteen years ago) link

Amnesiac is probably a bit more complex melodically, e.g. "Life In a Glasshouse". I think the melodies on Kid A are more straightforward, even compared to OK Computer.

― Sundar (sundar), Sunday, 8 May 2005 23:36 (nineteen years ago) link

Maybe it has more to do with the relationship between the main melodies and the rhythm or harmonic motion of the accompaniment than with the melodies themselves? I don't know.

― Sundar (sundar), Sunday, 8 May 2005 23:37 (nineteen years ago) link

The songs on "Amnesiac" are less minimalist and less repetitive. I absolutely despise all kinds of minimalism.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 8 May 2005 23:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Super Furry Animals! *ducks*

― Simon H. (Simon H.), Monday, 9 May 2005 05:01 (nineteen years ago) link

also, Low!

― Simon H. (Simon H.), Monday, 9 May 2005 05:02 (nineteen years ago) link

SFA are for me extremely not OTM in this thread, in that each time I thought they were on their way down, they would always surprise with an excellent album following a less excellent one.

Not that they have ever made a bad album, but their best ones have been scattered across their career chronologically IMO.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 9 May 2005 09:43 (nineteen years ago) link

Super Fury Animals are cacophonous, atonal junkies who cannot sing or write a melody if Himmler were to hold a gun to their heads. It is the overly beneficial supply of drugs in unemployed Wales, no? You need to listen to artists who perform properly constructed and melodic songs, such as Katie Melua and Norah Jones.

― Comstock Carabinieri (nostudium), Monday, 9 May 2005 09:46 (nineteen years ago) link

nine years pass...

I think it's fair game to consider this in terms of incarnations - if so, the first three Wire albums could qualify although they're all great.
and with the potential quibbling over faves, maybe it's easier to look at whether an artist/band keeps evolving (in a good way), in which case Japan (above) fits the bill better than most. they certainly went out on a peak of interest/exposure.

a couple of incarnations that might work are:
Van Der Graaf Generator first incarnation up through Pawn Hearts.
Roxy Music second incarnation Manifesto -> Avalon, at least in the sense of refinement.

― Paul, Monday, 24 November 2014 22:47 (nine years ago) link

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