Listener Clapback #2*: Fifdom’s Fave Four-Album Runs

Rewarding you people for your monomania

(*What, you thought the first time was some kinda one-off?)

Before addressing the Martyr Made unpleasantness in Members Only #223, Moynihan & I thought we’d loosen our vocal chords with some listener mail, particularly in response to Mark wanting us to address (starting at 20:20 mark) the contention that “no band or artist has ever produced four truly great albums in a row.” I quickly provided the correct answer—it’s the Stones, son—and Michael did his usual fey prevarications about The Clash and The Smiths, until we moved on, considering the matter settled.

Ha ha, no.

We will get to your many, many, MANY nominations—presented in alphabetical order of artist; we’re not savages here—in a moment. BUT FIRST! Since this an official Clapback, let’s enjoy a solid piss-take from Jon S., who subject-lined his email, “WOW! Your ‘4 Album Streak’ discussion made me check whether you had both become 60+ y.o. boomers!! 🤮”

Fellas,

Jon here -- Melbourne, Australia. Love the show, I am a subscriber yada yada.

Holy shit, though. Your discussion re: 4-album streaks was almost ... almost ... as bad as Moynihan’s Aussie accent.

I thought I was listening to two 65-year-olds. Bob Dylan? The Beatles??? What was going to come next? An exposition on The Byrds, or maybe a Creedence retrospective and how their tunes inspired you both to DODGE the FUCKEN draft???

And to then open the “white elite music playbook” and speak about The Clash in such reverent tones? And R.E.M.? 😂 I was shocked you then didn’t move on to maybe U2 or The Jam. Did Moynihan get molested by a library of fucking Q Magazines from the ‘90s?

Let’s do some justice to the “four album streak” from a suitably Gen X perspective. And let’s strip away the “good taste” sensibilities that invariably line The Clash up as some kind of poster child for “important music.” 

Here’s what “the people” would rank as OBVIOUS purple patches that actually go beyond just 4 albums:

Iron Maiden:

1.    Killers

2.    The Number of the Beast

3.    Piece of Mind

4.    Powerslave

5.    Somewhere in Time

6.    Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Ronnie James Dio (across multiple bands, but key to all of these records):

1.    Rainbow Rising

2.    Rainbow Long Live Rock’n’Roll

3.    Black Sabbath Heaven & Hell

4.    Black Sabbath The Mob Rules

5.    Dio Holy Diver

6.    Dio The Last in Line

There you go. Two examples of TOWERING artists, that strung 6 monster albums back-to-back, that would never be mentioned amongst the good company you, sirs, clearly inhabit. And don’t get me started on Priest’s run from 1976’s Sad Wings of Destiny.

Keep up the great work but let’s do some serious course corrections.

Oh, and can Moynihan please please please stop saying “literally” so much?

With love.

It’s amazing how much smack we’ll let you talk for a couple of well-placed emojis….

I give Jon here privilege of first crack in part because he illustrates what not to do when answering the four-album challenge, which is to say, HE DOESN’T NAME, OR STICK BY, FOUR CONSECUTIVE ALBUMS. In the second instance, he doesn’t even stay on the same act.

So! The list below is a compendium of your nominations, sent via comments, email, chat, Twitter, and text, of exactly FOUR consecutive records. No live albums, no collections, no EPs. Most of the greater-than-four recommendations ended up in the round file (feel free to re-include in the comments), though if I knew enough about the artist I did the editing for you, appending an asterisk.

Mostly though, this is just … fun! More than 100 acts, including a half-dozen I’d never heard of; every letter in the alphabet represented except “Z.” A lot of Floyd/Bowie/Stones, sure, but also big ups for Metallica, Beasties, Kanye, Joni Mitchell, Radiohead, Miles Davis; even Pearl Jam….

Let this be an excuse to sample new product, to wander outside our musical comfort zones. I have already marked the occasion by belatedly binge-listening new fave Sturgill Simpson…. And thanks for being weird!

***

AC/DC: Let There Be Rock / Powerage / Highway to Hell / Back in Black (Allen)

And So I Watch You From Afar: And So I Watch You From Afar / Gangs / All Hail Bright Futures / Heirs (Randolph Carter)

Arcade Fire: Funeral / Neon Bible / The Suburbs / Reflektor (Robert Showah)

A Tribe Called Quest: People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm / The Low End Theory / Midnight Marauders / Beats, Rhymes and Life (Andy Hasselwander)

The Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill / Paul’s Boutique / Check Your Head / Ill Communication (Silas, Zzzzzxx, Tony Biasotti, Damon Root)

Ben Folds Five: Ben Folds Five / Whatever and Ever Amen / The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner / The Sound of the Life of the Mind (Jeremy Kareken)

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: B.R.M.C. / Take Them On, On Your Own / Howl / Baby81 (GeneXit Strategizer)

Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath / Paranoid / Master of Reality / Vol. 4 (Bored Nihilist, Silas, isaac w.)

David Bowie: David Bowie / The Man Who Sold the World / Hunky Dory / The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (You’re ol’ buddy, Norm); The Man Who Sold the World / Hunky Dory / The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars / Aladdin Sane (ColtenInTheRye); Young Americans / Station to Station / Low / Heroes (Craig Mahoney); Station to Station / Low / Heroes / Lodger (Derek Robertson); Low / Heroes / Lodger / Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (You’re ol’ buddy, Norm, Hot-Fingers Peroni); Heathen / Reality / The Next Day / Blackstar (You’re ol’ buddy, Norm)

The Brian Jonestown Massacre: Their Satanic Majesties’ Second Request / Thank God for Mental Illness / Give it Back! / Strung Out in Heaven (Alex)

The Cars: The Cars / Candy-O / Panorama / Shake It Up  (You’re ol’ buddy, Norm)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: The Good Son / Henry’s Dream / Let Love In / Murder Ballads (Robin Wallace); Let Love In / Murder Ballads / The Boatman’s Call / No More Shall We Part (Michael)

Leonard Cohen: Recent Songs / Various Positions / I’m Your Man / The Future  (Kahve)

Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True / Armed Forces / This Year’s Model / Get Happy! (Bill Duross, kkmoresi)

The Cramps: Songs the Lord Taught Us / Psychedelic Jungle / A Date With Elvis / Stay Sick! (Busty Wimsatt)

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Bayou Country / Green River / Willy and the Poor Boys / Cosmo’s Factory (Leonard Goodnight, Kurt Sleep)

The Cure: The Head on the Door / Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me / Disintegration / Wish (smilerz)

Miles Davis: Porgy and Bess / Kind of Blue / Sketches of Spain / Someday My Prince Will Come (Craig Mahoney); In a Silent Way / Bitches Brew / Jack Johnson / On the Corner (Matt Ness)

The Dear Hunter: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading / Life and Death / Rebirth in Reprise / Hymns with the Devil in Confessional (Joseph Clerici)

The Decembrists: Picaresque / The Crane Wife / The Hazards of Love / The King Is Dead (kkmoresi, John Covil)

Deicide: Deicide / Legion / Once Upon the Cross / Serpents of the Light (isaac w.)

Lana del Rey: Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Chemtrails Over the Country Club / Blue Bannisters, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. (Megan A)

Depeche Mode: Some Great Reward / Black Celebration / Music for the Masses / Violator (Xaq Fixx)

Disturbed: Ten Thousand Fists / Indestructible / Asylum / Immortalized (Liam)

Bob Dylan: Another Side of Dylan / Bringing it All Back Home / Highway 61 Revisited / Blonde on Blonde (BMF, Stu Levitan) Bringing it All Back Home / Highway 61 Revisited / Blonde on Blonde / John Wesley Harding (John McFerrin, Robert Showah)

Steve Earle: I Feel Alright / El Corazón / The Mountain / Transcendental Blues (Jesse Walker*)

Electric Light Orchestra: Eldorado / Face the Music / New World Record / Out of the Blue (Arachnapocalypse)

The Fall: Grotesque (After the Gramme) / Hex Enduction Hour / Room to Live / Perverted by Language (mark propp)

Fall Out Boy: Take This to Your Grave / From Under the Cork Tree / Infinity on High / Folie à Deux (Ricker75)

Father John Misty: I Love You, Honeybear / Pure Comedy / God’s Favorite Customer / Chloë and the Next 20th Century  (Megan A)

Fugazi: 13 Songs / Repeater / Steady Diet of Nothing / In on the Kill Taker (Herbert Tecumpseh Jr.)

Genesis: Nursery Cryme / Foxtrot / Selling England by the Pound / The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (Chris R); Foxtrot / Selling England by the Pound / The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway / A Trick of the Tail (John McFerrin)

The Gourds: Shinebox / Cow Fish Fowl or Pig / Blood of the Ram / Heavy Ornamentals (Mike O’Connor)

The Grateful Dead: Anthem of the Sun / Aoxomoxoa / Workingman’s Dead / American Beauty (Mark)

Emmylou Harris: Pieces of the Sky / Elite Hotel / Luxury Liner / Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town (Tony Biasotti)

High on Fire: Blessed Black Wings / Death Is This Communion / Snakes for the Divine / De Vermis Mysteriis (Randolph Carter)

Iron Maiden: Iron Maiden / Killers / The Number of the Beast / Piece of Mind (Isaac W.,); The Number of the Beast / Piece of Mind / Powerslave / Somewhere in Time (Doug Danger)

The Jam: In the City / The Is the Modern World / All Mod Cons / Setting Sons (Joseph Marble)

Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow / After Bathing at Baxter’s / Crown of Creation / Volunteers (Mark)

The Jesus Lizard: Head / Goat / Liar / Down (Ted Hand is available for Tarot readings)

Billy Joel: The Stranger / 52nd Street / Glass Houses / The Nylon Curtain (Michelle Morgante Del Rio)

Elton John: Madman Across the Water / Honky Château / Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player / Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Stacey Seeks*, Mark W.)

Kanye: The College Dropout / Late Registration / Graduation / 808s & Heartbreak (Aloicious Jenkins the Third, Megan A); My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy / Yeezus / The Life of Pablo / Ye (Jake S.)

Kraftwerk: Autobahn / Radio-Activity / Trans-Europe Express / The Man Machine (Stasi Call Center*)

Kendrick Lamar: Section.80 / Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City / To Pimp a Butterfly / Damn (Robert Showah)

Led Zeppelin: I / II / III / IV (Jakotak, Andrew Wasserman); III / IV / Houses of the Holy / Physical Graffiti (Tod Humphrey, JM, AW)

Little Feat: Little Feat / Sailin’ Shoes / Dixie Chicken / Feats Don’t Fail Me Now (Jamie Ross)

Metallica: Kill ‘Em All / Ride the Lightning / Master of Puppets / …And Justice for All (Jmac OnSummerBreak, Graham Rollins, Dave Lenhart, mayor mickey macaroni); Ride the Lightning / Master of Puppets / …And Justice for All / Metallica (DS, Denveroosky, Amir Pars, Joseph Seybert, Tim S.)

Minutemen: The Punchline / What Makes a Man Start Fires? / Double Nickles on the Dime / 3-Way Tie for Last (Joe Alvarez)

Joni Mitchell: Ladies of the Canyon / Blue / For the Roses / Court and Spark (John McFerrin, Stephen Cox); Blue / For the Roses / Court and Spark / Hissing of Summer Lawns (Rhohidan*, Catherine Becker)

Morbid Angel: Altars of Madness / Blessed Are the Sick / Covenant / Domination (isaac w.)

Randy Newman: Twelve Songs / Sail Away / Good Old Boys / Little Criminals (Blah)

Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine / Broken / The Downward Spiral / The Fragile (Xaq Fixx)

Oceansize: Effloresce / Everyone Into Position / Frames / Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up (Joseph Clerici)

Old 97’s: Wreck Your Life / Too Far to Care / Flight Songs / Satellite Rides

 (robert)

Outkast: Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik / ATLiens / Aquemini / Stankonia (Jason H, R. DeAl)

Pavement: Slanted and Enchanted / Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain / Wowee Zowee / Brighten the Corners (Randolph Carter, internetteuser*)

Pearl Jam: Ten / Vs. / Vitalogy / No Code  (Tony Biasotti, Derek Thomas)

Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon / Wish You Were Here / Animals / The Wall (Mark, Joseph Clerici, Rageforthemachine, Maria Teresa Agurcia, Gottfried Geiger, Dennis W Moore, Virky Dormit, NicksProps, StevoVFL, Jim Brown)

The Pixies: Surfer Rosa / Doolitte / Bossanova / Trompe Le Monde (Robert G.)

The Police: Outlandos D’Amour / Regatta de Blanc / Zenyatta Mondatta / Ghost in the Machine (Joe W*, Lynne Kiesling*, SonofGeo, isthismyburner*); Regatta de Blanc / Zenyatta Mondatta / Ghost in the Machine / Synchronicity (Colin)

Prince: Dirty Mind / Controversy / 1999 / Purple Rain (kkmoresi, Michelle Morgante Del Rio); Purple Rain / Around the World in a Day / Parade / Sign o’ the Times (Rhohidan*)

John Prine: John Prine / Diamonds in the Rough / Sweet Revenge / Common Sense (Matt Constantine)

Queen: Queen II / Sheer Heart Attack / A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races (Mandy Albert); Sheer Heart Attack / A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races / News of the World (Adam)

Radiohead: Pablo Honey / The Bends / OK Computer / Kid A (Adam Sher); The Bends / OK Computer / Kid A / Amnesiac (William Saalfeld, Kyle in Idaho, Aleks); OK Computer / Kid A / Amnesiac / Hail to the Thief (Minarchist Pig)

The Ramones: Ramones / Leaving Home / Rocket to Russia / Road to Ruin (David Kanon, John McFerrin, Tuck Won Do)

R.E.M.: Murmur / Reckoning / Fables of the Reconstruction / Lifes Rich Pageant (Jim, M.W.); Fables of the Reconstruction / Lifes Rich Pageant / Document / Green (Jim Dozier); Out of Time / Automatic for the People / Monster / New Adventures in Hi-Fi (Write In Barry Goldwater 2024)

The Replacements: Let it Be / Tim / Pleased to Meet Me / Don’t Tell a Soul (JeremyfromHbg)

The Rolling Stones: Beggars Banquet / Let it Bleed / Sticky Fingers / Exile on Main Street (Adam, Ross Carey, David Kanon, Kyle in Idaho, M.W., Robert Capozzi, Raul deBeaumarche, Hot-Fingers Peroni)

Roxy Music: Roxy Music / For Your Pleasure / Stranded / Country Life (Desiree); For Your Pleasure / Stranded / Country Life / Siren (Spence Fury)

Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels / 2 / 3 / RTJ4 (Ben Price)

Rush: A Farewell to Kings / Hemispheres / Permanent Waves / Moving Pictures (CKWatt, Mike O’Connor, Bernie Gernie); Hemispheres / Permanent Waves / Moving Pictures / Signals (Stacey Seeks)

Scorpions: Lonesome Crow / Fly to the Rainbow / In Trance / Virgin Killer (isaac w.)

Shellac: At Action Park / Terraform / 1000 Hurts / Excellent Italian Greyhound (Cluis)

Simon and Garfunkel: Sounds of Silence / Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme / Bookends / Bridge Over Troubled Water (Stacey Seeks)

Nina Simone: I Put a Spell on You / Pastel Blues / Let It All Hang Out / Wild Is the Wind (Jacob Sanders)

Sturgill Simpson: High Top Mountain / Metamodern Sounds in Country Music / A Sailor’s Guide to Earth / Sound & Fury (R. DeAl)

Sly and the Family Stone: Life / Stand! / There’s a Riot Goin’ on / Fresh (John McFerrin)

The Smiths: The Smiths / Meat Is Murder / The Queen Is Dead / Strangeways, Here We Come (Stasi Call Center, M.M., Steven Horner)

Sonic Youth: EVOL / Sister / Daydream Nation / Goo (Kurt Sleep)

Bruce Springsteen: The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle / Born to Run / Darkness on the Edge of Town / The River (kkmoresi, Ike Zack); Born to Run / Darkness on the Edge of Town / The River / Nebraska (Ryan Duff, Jim, M.M.)

Steely Dan: Can’t Buy a Thrill / Countdown to Ecstasy / Pretzel Logic / Katy Lied (wallace culver); Pretzel Logic / Katy Lied / Royal Scam / Aja (Alex,); Katy Lied / Royal Scam / Aja / Gaucho (Abe)

Styx: The Grand Illusion / Pieces of Eight / Cornerstone / Paradise Theatre (Stacey Seeks)

Taylor Swift: Fearless / Speak Now / Red / 1989 (Michael Clardy)

Talking Heads: ’77 / More Songs About Buildings and Food / Fear of Music / Remain in Light (Andrew Wasserman, Tony Biasotti, Robert Capozzi)

Torche: Torche / Meanderthal / Harmonicraft / Restarter (Busty Wimsatt)

Tragically Hip: Up to Hear / Road Apples / Fully Completely / Day for Night (Jakotak, Jake O’Finkelstein)

Turnpike Troubadours: Diamonds & Gasoline / Goodbye Normal Street / The Turnpike Troubadours / A Long Way From Your Heart (Jake O’Finkelstein)

U2: Boy / October / War / The Unforgettable Fire (PK)

The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground & Nico / White Light/White Heat / VU / Loaded (Chikki, Robert G., wine dad)

The War on Drugs: Wagonwheel Blues / Slave Ambient / Lost in the Dream / A Deeper Understanding (Robert Showah)

Ween: God Ween Satan / The Pod / Pure Guava / Chocolate and Cheese (Bernie Gernie)

Gillian Welch: Revival / Hell Among the Yearlings / Time (the Revelator) / Soul Journey (Nate)

The Who: The Who Sell Out / Tommy / Who’s Next / Quadrophenia (Damian Penny); Tommy / Who’s Next / Quadrophenia / The Who by Numbers (Terry Fife)

Wilco: Summerteeth / Yankee Hotel Foxtrot / A Ghost Is Born / Sky Blue Sky

 (Taylor)

Lucinda Williams: Happy Woman Blues / Lucinda Williams / Sweet Old World / Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Tony Biasotti)

Stevie Wonder: Talking Book / Innervisions / Fulfillingness First Finale / Songs in the Key of Life (Cafeteria Duty, M.W.)

X: Los Angeles / Wild Gift / Under the Big Black Sun / More Fun in the New World (Donovan Creech, Ben Sullivan)

XTC: Skylarking / Oranges & Lemons / Nonsuch / Apple Venus Volume 1 (Noah Xavier Smits)

Yes: Yes / Time and a World / The Yes Album / Fragile (Mike O’Connor)

Neil Young: After the Gold Rush / Harvest / On the Beach / Tonight’s the Night (Mike Hammer)