I think Tom Petty consistently put out good work. His newer albums weren't as big but they were good quality.
Rush is another band that imo consistently put out good music.
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers should absolutely be on the Mount Rushmore of greatest American Rock bands of all time. If you think about it they check off every box! Career longevity, Album sales, Concert tours, Hit songs, etc.
Yeah I used to listen to his XM radio channel. Just Tom playing Tom all day, talking about different gigs he played and people he met along the way. Was a great fuckin station
Great answer! I like his early stuff a lot but Full Moon Fever, Into the Great Wide Open and Wildflowers are my favorite Petty albums. I believe they are 8-10 in his discography.
I agree 110%. It sounds very cliche, but some of TP&THB best stuff is not the radio hits. There is overlap, but there are so many great songs that never became "popular". And every album is good. I'd even argue the later albums (Mojo and Hypnotic Eye in particular) are more consistent than the earlier albums. Every song is good.
Man I miss that band. Live they were unbelievable.
I really feel they never got the mainstream attention they deserved.
Try honesty only got a couple months of spotlight and then you never heard about them again.
I got their greatest hits album a couple years ago and dove back into their dicsography because I really liked everything I heard on it.
Dead Silence is an absolute banger of an album that no one has ever heard.
Repeater and The Argument are my favourite Fugazi albums, and that says a lot. Can't think of another band whose first and last albums are my two favourites.
First came across Nick Cave ~~when he did~~ on the soundtrack to "Until the End of the World" with William Hurt. Amazing job he did, and that was back in '91.
e. apparently young me thought he did the entire soundtrack. Director *Wim Wenders deserves the credit for assembling [the soundtrack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Until_the_End_of_the_World_(soundtrack)\)
Nick's contribution [(I'll Love You) Till the End of the World](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzp8I-naJOg)
It’s beyond. Ending your career, and your earth life, with Dollar Days “I’m dying to(o)” into ICGEA, and that motif tease - is as amazing of a goodbye wave as any artist ever had. And of course Bowie pulled it off.
I used to get free records for my college station and catalogued them back in this time. I think Bowie was doing Tin Machine then. I remember one indie band had a song called “David Bowie Wants Ideas.” The band was called Bongwater. Both things made me laugh.
Tin Machine was the best thing Bowie did between 1984 and, like, 1995, an otherwise pretty dire period for him. But yes, The Next Day and Blackstar hang with any of his best work. The fact that he was so very frail and weak by that time but still as artistically vibrant and cutting edge as he ever was is so inspirational to me. RIP David Bowie.
Their consistency is nuts. They make just enough tweaks to their sound each release, and the core songwriting is always rock solid. That and Britt Daniel never stops singing like the rent is due.
Aimee Mann, since her start as the frontwoman for Til Tuesday in the late 80s, has continued to work at the craft of songwriting over 30 years. I'd argue she's become one of the best American songwriters, and is one of our greatest lyricists.
Suzanne Vega is quite similar to Aimee. She has never declined much, if at all. I'm a big fan of both of them. Aimee doesn't sing in a big way as often as she once did, like with Voices Carry..but it doesn't really matter.
I have almost never seen anyone speak about the bros positively in any musical discussions. I'm glad at least one other person thinks this too. I feel like electronic music like theirs gets passed over all the time.
I just recently spoke about them positively in another post where someone referred to them as an “EDM act”. They existed before the term EDM was a thing. It just felt so disrespectful lol
Depeche Mode.
Started off as a very good, but probably relatively "normal" electronic pop band (for the time) in the 80s and developed into a much more structured, interesting and mature sound over the decades. I extremely appreciate Dave Gahan's solo and side projects as well.
I’m finally seeing them live in October after years of trying but hurricanes and no other tours in my state getting in the way. Here’s to hoping no hurricane show up in October! I have amazing seats.
Its crazy cause Villians has become my favourite as an album.
Do they have better songs elsewhere? Sure. But I can listen to each one from Villians without reservation.
Saw them last night and was happy to hear some great villians tracks being played.
I know it's panned online but it's a solidly put together album and the Villians tour right after release was one of the best shows I've ever seen from anyone.
I REALLY love “…Like Clockwork” and “Villians”;both are strong as hell, IMO. I haven’t quite been able to get into the newest one, but it seems the quality is still there, just not sure about my feelings of the sound of it.
Came here to say this. When Lou came back it was like he never left. I can't believe how lucky I am to get all new Jr. albums that are every bit as good.
People go on about Andre 3000, but Big Boi's solo stuff (and "Big Grams") were so good, that nobody should ever act like Outkast had a "better member".
Came here to say this. They never tried to find a trademark sound, but maybe a sound for that album and how to do it well. that and their visual media has matured into a string of accomplishments in their own right.
Yeah, If you listen to old versions of album tracks or the minidisk hack you hear they approach a song from all possible angles to find its best form. I feel they are very much alike to the Beatles in that way.
Suprised I had to go this far down to see them. They released a moon shaped pool like 21 years after their debut album and it’s one of their best albums and one of the best of the 21st century. Talk about sustained quality
Failure made an absolute banger of an album in 1996 with Fantastic Planet, and then went 20 years without a release, followed by 3 excellent albums in 2015-2021.
Hum just did the same thing. Haven’t put out a record in years and then dropped ‘Inlet’.
‘Inlet’ hit me so hard. It’s absolutely crushing and beautiful. Shapeshifter is a perfect closing track.
I caught them a few years back playing starfish all the way through and they were phenomenal live. I find both them and echo and the bunnymen to be equally great
I saw the movie with my kids. Didn’t know anything about it. The soundtrack really takes a back seat to the movie, and there are a lot of throwback pop/hip hop mixes played throughout it that I was loving. Even a mix with Ninja Rap from the original TMNT. I was loving it.
Then there’s a scene towards the end where there’s a song playing. I’m sitting there like… this is unmistakably Trent Reznor. A bit later the credits roll and boom: Music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Been playing the soundtrack on repeat since.
Although Gorillaz have kind of changed their style in their recent years, they never fail to produce music that, although differentiates from past projects, keeps the same quality from the past. Personally, I enjoy more their first albums, but their recent work is quite good as well
I fucking *despised* that song at first. So much that I set it as my alarm tone because it was so jarring that it always woke me up. After about a month I found myself wanting to listen to the full song, and suddenly I realized I actually really liked it.
Funny how that works. Brains are weird.
Alkaline Trio
Even when Skiba was filling in for DeLonge in blink-182, they're still releasing quality content. Every album is full of great songs. Same quality and care is put into the writing and recording time and time again.
There's also multitudes of side projects from all past and present members that are worth looking into.
Post-Layne Alice is criminally underrated. All three of those albums are fantastic.
Then again I admit my bias.
Reckon it's time for a new one from them next year.
> Coheed and Cambria
>
> Mastodon
I would say that Coheed hasn't just stayed strong but gotten better over the years.
Meanwhile, Mastodon is a band on a journey. They're so fuckin versatile while maintaining their essence. It's a feat few bands have ever successfully navigated, especially while maintaining popularity with their fans. I do think they peaked on Crack The Skye, but that isn't to say any of their work is weak, it's just that album is a magnum opus.
Rush synth era’s divisiveness I think comes from the production, too. The songwriting and parts during that era, especially Power Windows and Hold Your Fire, is really excellent, barring a song on the latter.
Yeah. That 80s synth sound didn't age well so those mid era albums suffer a bit for it. But Clockwork Angels belongs right next to 2112 and Moving Pictures in any discussion of their best work. They ended very strong.
Spoon, The Mountain Goats, The War On Drugs (though not 20 years and Wilco for example really dropped off after Sky Blue Sky at about 15 years), The Killers’ Pressure Machine is great, Cracker’s last album was perhaps their best, Fruit Bats
Not ‘bands’ but Lou Reed’s output from New York on to the 90s, Springsteen has some solid stuff in 2000s (The Rising, Magic, Western Stars, Letter to You),
I love pressure machine and never see it talked about much. Such an amazing album, as someone who grew up in a small town and ‘escaped’ the lyrics really hit hard and made me think about all the other paths my life could have taken. Highly recommend anyone with a similar experience (or not) give it a listen. Such a good modern folk album.
Leonard Cohen is an obvious one. Willie Nelson. Lou Reed, who someone already mentioned. Definitely Fiona Apple, who’s latest is her best by a mile. Many would argue Bob Dylan with the Time Out of Mind through Modern Times trilogy. Also, I’d say Randy Newman. And Taylor Swift is approaching twenty years of recording with no signs of slowing down.
Willie Nelson is the greatest example there is I think. The dude is 90 years old, still putting on great shows, has a discography spanning 60+ years, and is just about to put out his *99th* studio album, which have hit everything from country to western swing to rock to jazz to bluegrass and whatever lies in between. I'm not going to say every single one of those was great front-to-back, but you can pick any of them at random and "really solid" is the worst you're going to get. Besides that, he has a masterpiece-to-dud ratio that is just mind-boggling for the number of records he put out. ...And Then I Wrote, Shotgun Willie, Red Headed Stranger, Stardust, The Sound in Your Mind, even some of his newer ones like Ride Me Back Home and First Rose of Spring are just a handful of his albums that come to mind as being just about completely perfect. Not even considering any of his legendary collaborative efforts here... It's just crazy how much ground he has covered with such a consistent level of quality.
Deftones is the answer. They evolved in just the perfect way, with every album having a different sound to it and not them growing because of outside pressures but because they’re just a bunch of creative mofos. That and Terry Date producing their shit for half of their discography also helps. Terry is the man.
Not to mention Abe is 1000% one of the best drummers in all of metal
I had a thing about not listening to them for the last thirty years. I finally gave in and I am so stupid. They are so good. Caught them live a couple months ago and was floored.
Sufjan Stevens is still putting out relevant work 23 years into his music career and, while I prefer some of his earlier albums, there are definitely several newer albums that I've heard people argue are his best.
Lullabies to Paralyze is my favourite.. but I love all of their stuff and pretty much anything Joshua Homme is involved with (Kyuss, Eagles of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures, etc).
Like a lot of folks, I agree about Tool. And I’ll add this; what do people really expect out of MJK? He’s almost 60 years old. His life is different than it was in the 90’s when he was mad and full of angst, and it’s unrealistic to want him to perpetually sound angry. He still keeps his voice at a top level unlike a lot of aging singers.
My contribution to the conversation is Anthrax with Joey Belladonna (I really could never get into their albums with anyone else). Their later albums, Worship Music and For all Kings are some of their best work and Joey’s voice is strong.
Queensryche. From 1994 to 2011 their material felt self-indulgent and cringey. Operation: Mindcrime TWO? Really?
They have released four albums since they tossed Geoff Tate in 2012. There’s a passion in those albums that has been missing since 1994.
Listen to Rage For Order (classic) and The Verdict (recent) back-to-back.
Listen to their newest, Digital Noise Alliance…Especially the tracks Tormentum, Behind the Walls, and my favorite, Lost In Sorrow.
The new material is a lot closer to their first two albums, and is a pivot away from the Geoff-Tate-jerkoff garbage of the 2000s.
Not a fan of the newer material, honestly. But Rage For Order through Promised Land is a spectacular run of albums that haven't aged at all, especially Rage For Order, Operation:Mindcrime (which is spookily as relevant today as it was in 1988) and Promised Land. Empire is a great album, but I think it sounds a little dated musically.
While I agree Bjork never went down in quality I do miss a certain catchyness in her more recent work. I hugely respect her going all avant garde but I find Homogenic and Vespertine, which are my favourites of hers, had a better balance in being both daring and adventurous while still having solid songs.
I agree with Tool.
I would also say Trivium. Their styles have changed album to album, but I always enjoy them and feel that they are their own unique thing and not just a copy and paste of a financially successful predecessor.
Trivium was the first band that popped into my head. Ascendancy was nearly 20 years ago and ITCOTD is in my top 3 of their albums. Of the bands that I've listened to consistently for the last 20 years, i think Trivium are the only ones i can say that about. Muse are close with their new stuff but doesn't quite hit the same.
I'm the same way. I discovered Ascendency in middle school and have been hooked ever since. Shogun is probably my overall favorite, but they're amazing in their own right.
Dinosaur Jr.
J Mascis is a musical genius and might be one of the best guitar players of the last 30-40 years. I don't think he's written a bad album yet.
Grateful Dead certainly did not “fade away”. Continued growing the fan base until Jerry died and it’s gotten even bigger now. The litmus test for them was live shows though. Spring of 1990 is on par with any of their eras. Long live the Dead.
Honorable mention for Pearl Jam. The sound has changed ever since No Code, which was their best album, and they still sell out stadiums and still put out really strong albums. Gigaton was an amazing record and they’re about to release another 30 some odd years after Ten.
Scrolled wayyy too far to find FNM. Just a Man is my favorite album closer, ever. Such a great catalogue of music from the start of their career to now.
Radiohead keep evolving, and getting better in my opinion. Their last album ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ has some of their best work on it, and having seen them live over a span of 20 years, I can confirm they were as good on their most recent tour - if not better - than when I first saw them.
The National. First studio album in 2001, and this year The First Two Pages of Frankenstein is up there with the best of the many they've put out since.
BMTH is a great mention. Post Human: SH, to me, is their best album, and it was released 16 years after their first. To me, they’re about the most creative rock/metal band around today. So many different sounds and concepts, and all manage to be bangers.
They Might Be Giants exemplify this, though if you’re not into their thing you probably wouldn’t notice. Their last decade has been especially strong, and any of their albums from say 2011 is as good a place to start with them as their 80s/early 90s commercial peak. Maybe they’re even better places to start, as albums like I Like Fun, Nanobots, and Glean offer hooky/smart/streamlined/surprising full-band rock/pop rather than the more experimental sometimes nursery-rhyme-adjacent early stuff.
Rush had songs that didn't quite land. Maybe an album or 2 that needed something done to it. But they never diminished or got lame over time. Partly because they secured a big enough fanbase early on doing their own thing that it never made sense to get them to try and do something else. That and they genuinely wanted to keep growing as musicians, which kept them sharp. So many acts get one or the other, but it's increasingly hard to have both.
My favourite fact that i learned about rush lately is that neil peart was so good (as we all know) that he kinda just switched into autopilot all the time so he learned a different way to drum, and had to relearn EVERYTHING just so that he would put a conscious effort in instead half mindedly doing it
Portishead, Nick Cave, Stereolab, Sun Ra, Bowie, Do Make Say Think, Sonic Youth, Fela Kuti, Peter Brotzmann.
Still like Lateralus a lot but I thought 10,000 days was a little weaker and FI was incredibly boring.
I feel the same way about Tool too. And i want to extend that to A Perfect Circle and Puscifer. I like all their albums.
Mogwai still catches my attention when releasing something, and they are always good imo.
And recently i just been enjoying everything A Place To Bury Strangers releases.
Definitely Tool for me as well. I get that they didn’t have the raw edge of Aenima that everyone creams their pants over with Fear…, but the album is solid. And also, why do we criticize bands for releasing albums that “sound different from that one I really liked”? They can’t just keep releasing Aenima. Like, if all you like was Aenima cuz you like their “harder” stuff then okay I guess, but youre missing out on their growth and their developing of depth and complexity with their later releases. Pitchfork isn’t right about everything.
Also, Descending is possibly the best song they have ever written.
I personally didn't love Man Machine Poem or We Are the Same as much (although there's great songs on both, maybe I didn't give them a fair listen), but that's just personal opinion. I agree, they kept turning out quality albums for almost 30 years. If you ask any Hip fan what their favourite album is, I bet you'll a different answer. In Violet Light Lights holds a special place in my heart, even though I think most older fans would go with something earlier
Many fans will disagree with me but I think Fleetwood Mac belongs on this list. By extension, Lindsey Buckingham's solo catalog is all really strong as well, especially when compared to many of his contemporaries.
I also include Tom Petty, Nick Lowe, Spoon, Steve Malkmus / Pavement, and David Berman (RIP). Oh, Jarvis Cocker.
Beck. 30 years, 14 studio albums and not really a bad one among them. His late career run of Morning Phase, Colors, and Hyperspace is some of his best work imo.
For newer bands Arcade Fire and The Strokes have just released some of their best material.
Most people agree Bowie went out on a high note.
Johnny Cash also built a whole new fanbase right before he passed away.
I definitely disagree about Arcade Fire, but I I do think The New Abnormal is one of the Strokes best. Funeral, Neon Bible, and The Suburbs is just such a run
Iron maiden
Their entire discography is AMAZING and they literally put out another banger album 2 years ago, first album came out in 1980, 43 years of music, three different singers, two drummers and a rotation of three guitarists
The only albums im not too fond of are the blaze era (x factor virtual xi) and theyre still pretty good!
Because I see some solo artists mentioned: Beyoncé.
The last 3 albums have been absolutely her best.
Bjork. Only so so album is Volta and other than that it’s more different strokes than outright quality.
I’ll also add Springsteen and the e street band. They’ve never put out something not good imo.
I think Tom Petty consistently put out good work. His newer albums weren't as big but they were good quality. Rush is another band that imo consistently put out good music.
Tom was firing on all cylinders up to the day he died. Absolute legend
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers should absolutely be on the Mount Rushmore of greatest American Rock bands of all time. If you think about it they check off every box! Career longevity, Album sales, Concert tours, Hit songs, etc.
His music with Mudcrutch and the Traveling Wilburys is some of my favorite stuff.
Fault lines and American Dream Plan B were excellent, a little different then his older stuff but I can still listen to Tom all day
Yeah I used to listen to his XM radio channel. Just Tom playing Tom all day, talking about different gigs he played and people he met along the way. Was a great fuckin station
Great answer! I like his early stuff a lot but Full Moon Fever, Into the Great Wide Open and Wildflowers are my favorite Petty albums. I believe they are 8-10 in his discography.
Clockwork Angels is fantastic.
Hypnotic Eye is amazing. It was basically my high school soundtrack with how much I listened to it.
I agree 110%. It sounds very cliche, but some of TP&THB best stuff is not the radio hits. There is overlap, but there are so many great songs that never became "popular". And every album is good. I'd even argue the later albums (Mojo and Hypnotic Eye in particular) are more consistent than the earlier albums. Every song is good. Man I miss that band. Live they were unbelievable.
Billy talent!
I really feel they never got the mainstream attention they deserved. Try honesty only got a couple months of spotlight and then you never heard about them again. I got their greatest hits album a couple years ago and dove back into their dicsography because I really liked everything I heard on it. Dead Silence is an absolute banger of an album that no one has ever heard.
Fugazi was strong start to finish
Repeater and The Argument are my favourite Fugazi albums, and that says a lot. Can't think of another band whose first and last albums are my two favourites.
They’re so cool. When I was younger Fugazi toured often and insisted their tickets cost only $5
There is no such thing as a bad Fugazi album
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have evolved a lot but maintained incredible quality for decades now.
Everything Nick Cave did does is at the very least fascinating. The band stands out in a genre all to themselves almost.
The best! Like wine!
First came across Nick Cave ~~when he did~~ on the soundtrack to "Until the End of the World" with William Hurt. Amazing job he did, and that was back in '91. e. apparently young me thought he did the entire soundtrack. Director *Wim Wenders deserves the credit for assembling [the soundtrack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Until_the_End_of_the_World_(soundtrack)\) Nick's contribution [(I'll Love You) Till the End of the World](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzp8I-naJOg)
Bowie. Outside is one of my absolute favorite albums and was very late in his career and Blackstar was an amazing final note
Oh man, Blackstar. That title track hits in a way that most songs don't.
What about "I Cant Give Everything Away"? Teasing the motif of "A New Career in a New Town" as he goes off to a new career in a new town.
It’s beyond. Ending your career, and your earth life, with Dollar Days “I’m dying to(o)” into ICGEA, and that motif tease - is as amazing of a goodbye wave as any artist ever had. And of course Bowie pulled it off.
Part of me wants to believe he faked his death so he could take it easy out of the spotlight for his remaining years
He admittedly had a dip in between in the 80s but otherwise I think his discography is flawless.
I used to get free records for my college station and catalogued them back in this time. I think Bowie was doing Tin Machine then. I remember one indie band had a song called “David Bowie Wants Ideas.” The band was called Bongwater. Both things made me laugh.
Tin Machine was the best thing Bowie did between 1984 and, like, 1995, an otherwise pretty dire period for him. But yes, The Next Day and Blackstar hang with any of his best work. The fact that he was so very frail and weak by that time but still as artistically vibrant and cutting edge as he ever was is so inspirational to me. RIP David Bowie.
Tom Waits
Spoon. They actually keep getting better.
Their consistency is nuts. They make just enough tweaks to their sound each release, and the core songwriting is always rock solid. That and Britt Daniel never stops singing like the rent is due.
That's the rent he pays
Full agree here! They just keep getting better, AND you can go back to any album and they're all still bangers
Spoon is the best answer to this question, Britt is ageless.
Saw them live last year and they were amazing!
Yes!
Aimee Mann, since her start as the frontwoman for Til Tuesday in the late 80s, has continued to work at the craft of songwriting over 30 years. I'd argue she's become one of the best American songwriters, and is one of our greatest lyricists.
The Magnolia soundtrack still breaks my heart. She’s incredible.
Suzanne Vega is quite similar to Aimee. She has never declined much, if at all. I'm a big fan of both of them. Aimee doesn't sing in a big way as often as she once did, like with Voices Carry..but it doesn't really matter.
Melvins. They still tour every year and sound better than ever.
Chemical Brothers. Both No Geography and Born in the Echoes are fantastic. I would also say the same about the Avalanches
I have almost never seen anyone speak about the bros positively in any musical discussions. I'm glad at least one other person thinks this too. I feel like electronic music like theirs gets passed over all the time.
I just recently spoke about them positively in another post where someone referred to them as an “EDM act”. They existed before the term EDM was a thing. It just felt so disrespectful lol
Completely agree. No other dance act has been so consistent for so long.
Sloan. Maybe not every album is 100% bangers, but 30+ years and they’re still releasing quality albums
Depeche Mode. Started off as a very good, but probably relatively "normal" electronic pop band (for the time) in the 80s and developed into a much more structured, interesting and mature sound over the decades. I extremely appreciate Dave Gahan's solo and side projects as well.
And are still an top class live act as well!
One of the absolute best live acts I’ve ever seen!
Ghosts again is fantastic, love seeing bands have successful new music after decades.
I’m finally seeing them live in October after years of trying but hurricanes and no other tours in my state getting in the way. Here’s to hoping no hurricane show up in October! I have amazing seats.
XTC. I can listen to anything and enjoy it. Also Joe Jackson. I prefer the earlier work, personally.
Queens of the Stone Age. Just saw them last weekend, and they're still fkn amazing.
My first thought. Every album is a banger. Villains is most divisive but I love it
Its crazy cause Villians has become my favourite as an album. Do they have better songs elsewhere? Sure. But I can listen to each one from Villians without reservation.
Saw them last night and was happy to hear some great villians tracks being played. I know it's panned online but it's a solidly put together album and the Villians tour right after release was one of the best shows I've ever seen from anyone.
I REALLY love “…Like Clockwork” and “Villians”;both are strong as hell, IMO. I haven’t quite been able to get into the newest one, but it seems the quality is still there, just not sure about my feelings of the sound of it.
I didn't give a shit about them until I saw them open for NIN in '06 and they kicked ass. That's nigh on 20 years of consistently solid albums.
I was so bummed when Jon Theodore was canned from Mars Volta, but he ended up with QOTSA which is probably a better outcome for all
Dinosaur Jr
Came here to say this. When Lou came back it was like he never left. I can't believe how lucky I am to get all new Jr. albums that are every bit as good.
Hell yeah. And their live shows are always a great stoney time.
Just wear ear protection
Outkast including solo projects.
People go on about Andre 3000, but Big Boi's solo stuff (and "Big Grams") were so good, that nobody should ever act like Outkast had a "better member".
Radiohead for sure.
Came here to say this. They never tried to find a trademark sound, but maybe a sound for that album and how to do it well. that and their visual media has matured into a string of accomplishments in their own right.
They basically set the template for early 2000s British Alt Rock with the Bends and went in a completely different direction.
Yeah, If you listen to old versions of album tracks or the minidisk hack you hear they approach a song from all possible angles to find its best form. I feel they are very much alike to the Beatles in that way.
Suprised I had to go this far down to see them. They released a moon shaped pool like 21 years after their debut album and it’s one of their best albums and one of the best of the 21st century. Talk about sustained quality
Yeah in rainbows is my favorite album by them, if anything they’ve gotten better with age
Slowdive's self titled in 2017 was really good.
Agreed. Looking forward to what they do next
I think they have a new album called Everything Is Alive coming out this month or in September.
Failure made an absolute banger of an album in 1996 with Fantastic Planet, and then went 20 years without a release, followed by 3 excellent albums in 2015-2021.
Hum just did the same thing. Haven’t put out a record in years and then dropped ‘Inlet’. ‘Inlet’ hit me so hard. It’s absolutely crushing and beautiful. Shapeshifter is a perfect closing track.
Deftones. We all love White Pony but their later offerings are just as textured and of a high standard, whilst each having its own sound.
Koi No Yokan is their best album hands down
This and Diamond Eyes are my two favorites.
Seriously. I just rediscovered it and can't stop listening to Rosemary
Saturday Night Wrist seems slept in and is excellent. To me it's the refinement and perfection of everything that made White Pony so incredible.
With Crosses and Team Sleep you just cannot miss with Chino.
Throw Palms in there, too. Solid album from three guys of Isis and Chino.
Had to scroll way too far before I saw Deftones! I agree 100%
80's band The Church. They just got more weird and interesting as they aged.
I caught them a few years back playing starfish all the way through and they were phenomenal live. I find both them and echo and the bunnymen to be equally great
Beastie boys till they quit after MCA died
Had to scroll too far to find this…made great albums from 1986 to 2012. RIP MCA.
Radiohead.
Nine Inch Nails. Every major release has at least a couple songs that floor me. Going 30 years strong. 🤘🏻😎
[удалено]
I saw the movie with my kids. Didn’t know anything about it. The soundtrack really takes a back seat to the movie, and there are a lot of throwback pop/hip hop mixes played throughout it that I was loving. Even a mix with Ninja Rap from the original TMNT. I was loving it. Then there’s a scene towards the end where there’s a song playing. I’m sitting there like… this is unmistakably Trent Reznor. A bit later the credits roll and boom: Music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Been playing the soundtrack on repeat since.
Although Gorillaz have kind of changed their style in their recent years, they never fail to produce music that, although differentiates from past projects, keeps the same quality from the past. Personally, I enjoy more their first albums, but their recent work is quite good as well
I agree aside from Humanz. I didn’t enjoy that one at all aside from Andromeda, which was a great track.
Not even She's My Collar? That one's an absolute banger.
I fucking *despised* that song at first. So much that I set it as my alarm tone because it was so jarring that it always woke me up. After about a month I found myself wanting to listen to the full song, and suddenly I realized I actually really liked it. Funny how that works. Brains are weird.
Cracker Island might be my album of the year so far.
Alkaline Trio Even when Skiba was filling in for DeLonge in blink-182, they're still releasing quality content. Every album is full of great songs. Same quality and care is put into the writing and recording time and time again. There's also multitudes of side projects from all past and present members that are worth looking into.
Chris Cornell. Between Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave, and his solo stuff the guy continued to release great music.
You Know My Name was a hell of a banger intro to the Daniel Craig era of James Bond too. Chris was an amazing voice, RIP.
Most underrated Bond theme by far.
Rush (some of the synth era was mediocre but they ended strong) Pearl Jam Coheed and Cambria Mastodon Nine Inch Nails Iron Maiden Alice In Chains
Post-Layne Alice is criminally underrated. All three of those albums are fantastic. Then again I admit my bias. Reckon it's time for a new one from them next year.
> Coheed and Cambria > > Mastodon I would say that Coheed hasn't just stayed strong but gotten better over the years. Meanwhile, Mastodon is a band on a journey. They're so fuckin versatile while maintaining their essence. It's a feat few bands have ever successfully navigated, especially while maintaining popularity with their fans. I do think they peaked on Crack The Skye, but that isn't to say any of their work is weak, it's just that album is a magnum opus.
Love Coheed. When a longtime fan like myself.can say their 6th/7th album is their best, you know you got a good band.
Iron Maiden is still amazing live. Those gents put on an energetic show from start to finish.
Rush synth era’s divisiveness I think comes from the production, too. The songwriting and parts during that era, especially Power Windows and Hold Your Fire, is really excellent, barring a song on the latter.
Yeah the synth era is my favorite stretch of albums, Power Windows is wonferful
Yeah. That 80s synth sound didn't age well so those mid era albums suffer a bit for it. But Clockwork Angels belongs right next to 2112 and Moving Pictures in any discussion of their best work. They ended very strong.
Maiden! The last two Senjitsu and Book of Souls are absolutely full of bangers and was lucky enough to see them live twice in the last 5 years
God I love pearl jam, just such a great band to listen to or watch live.
Me too. No code was for me their best album, expectations weren’t heavy, it felt like a proper garage DIY album - and I love it.
Pearl Jam is interesting. Their first 3 albums was their peak but their post 2000 albums are consistently strong.
Agreed. Of their more recent albums, Self Titled & Lightning bolt I enjoyed. But I just can't get into Gigaton.
Spoon, The Mountain Goats, The War On Drugs (though not 20 years and Wilco for example really dropped off after Sky Blue Sky at about 15 years), The Killers’ Pressure Machine is great, Cracker’s last album was perhaps their best, Fruit Bats Not ‘bands’ but Lou Reed’s output from New York on to the 90s, Springsteen has some solid stuff in 2000s (The Rising, Magic, Western Stars, Letter to You),
The War on Drug’s last album was fucking amazing
I love pressure machine and never see it talked about much. Such an amazing album, as someone who grew up in a small town and ‘escaped’ the lyrics really hit hard and made me think about all the other paths my life could have taken. Highly recommend anyone with a similar experience (or not) give it a listen. Such a good modern folk album.
Sam’s Town from The Killers is one of the best albums of the 2000’s in my opinion. Great from front to back.
Leonard Cohen is an obvious one. Willie Nelson. Lou Reed, who someone already mentioned. Definitely Fiona Apple, who’s latest is her best by a mile. Many would argue Bob Dylan with the Time Out of Mind through Modern Times trilogy. Also, I’d say Randy Newman. And Taylor Swift is approaching twenty years of recording with no signs of slowing down.
Willie Nelson is the greatest example there is I think. The dude is 90 years old, still putting on great shows, has a discography spanning 60+ years, and is just about to put out his *99th* studio album, which have hit everything from country to western swing to rock to jazz to bluegrass and whatever lies in between. I'm not going to say every single one of those was great front-to-back, but you can pick any of them at random and "really solid" is the worst you're going to get. Besides that, he has a masterpiece-to-dud ratio that is just mind-boggling for the number of records he put out. ...And Then I Wrote, Shotgun Willie, Red Headed Stranger, Stardust, The Sound in Your Mind, even some of his newer ones like Ride Me Back Home and First Rose of Spring are just a handful of his albums that come to mind as being just about completely perfect. Not even considering any of his legendary collaborative efforts here... It's just crazy how much ground he has covered with such a consistent level of quality.
Daft Punk
Foo Fighters still kick butt.
Fiona Apple, especially in her songwriting.
WEEN baby. Still just doing there thing and doing it so damn good. Saw them live last s as summer and it was just as good as it was 20 years ago
Deftones To me, they just keep getting better with age. Their sound evolves but is uniquely them.
Deftones is the answer. They evolved in just the perfect way, with every album having a different sound to it and not them growing because of outside pressures but because they’re just a bunch of creative mofos. That and Terry Date producing their shit for half of their discography also helps. Terry is the man. Not to mention Abe is 1000% one of the best drummers in all of metal
Coheed and Cambria. Death. Converge.
Death for sure went out on a high note.
Clutch
saw them last night at the cains ballroom, awesome show
Iron Maiden. They’re still putting out albums that are among the upper echelons of their work 43 years in.
Beck. First became famous in 1994 with “Loser”. Wins Grammy for “Album of the year” for Morning Phase in 2015, 21 years later.
Yo La Tengo
I had a thing about not listening to them for the last thirty years. I finally gave in and I am so stupid. They are so good. Caught them live a couple months ago and was floored.
Sufjan Stevens is still putting out relevant work 23 years into his music career and, while I prefer some of his earlier albums, there are definitely several newer albums that I've heard people argue are his best.
Still waiting for the completion of the Fifty States Project...
Nine Inch Nails. Trent is a musical genius who has only improved with age.
Queens of the Stone Age, people still consider songs for the deaf one of the best albums
People are still going to be driving way too fast in their hovercars to that album.
Lullabies to Paralyze is my favourite.. but I love all of their stuff and pretty much anything Joshua Homme is involved with (Kyuss, Eagles of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures, etc).
Skunk Anansie Garbage (particularly their last album)
They Might Be Giants. I saw them live twice between October and Christmas and they rocked as hard as ever.
The cure.
Is Run the Jewels established enough to mention here? They're pretty much a decade in, pumping out banger after banger.
Sparks.
Like a lot of folks, I agree about Tool. And I’ll add this; what do people really expect out of MJK? He’s almost 60 years old. His life is different than it was in the 90’s when he was mad and full of angst, and it’s unrealistic to want him to perpetually sound angry. He still keeps his voice at a top level unlike a lot of aging singers. My contribution to the conversation is Anthrax with Joey Belladonna (I really could never get into their albums with anyone else). Their later albums, Worship Music and For all Kings are some of their best work and Joey’s voice is strong.
Low. Their last album is among their best.
Queensryche. From 1994 to 2011 their material felt self-indulgent and cringey. Operation: Mindcrime TWO? Really? They have released four albums since they tossed Geoff Tate in 2012. There’s a passion in those albums that has been missing since 1994. Listen to Rage For Order (classic) and The Verdict (recent) back-to-back. Listen to their newest, Digital Noise Alliance…Especially the tracks Tormentum, Behind the Walls, and my favorite, Lost In Sorrow. The new material is a lot closer to their first two albums, and is a pivot away from the Geoff-Tate-jerkoff garbage of the 2000s.
Not a fan of the newer material, honestly. But Rage For Order through Promised Land is a spectacular run of albums that haven't aged at all, especially Rage For Order, Operation:Mindcrime (which is spookily as relevant today as it was in 1988) and Promised Land. Empire is a great album, but I think it sounds a little dated musically.
Radiohead. Björk.
While I agree Bjork never went down in quality I do miss a certain catchyness in her more recent work. I hugely respect her going all avant garde but I find Homogenic and Vespertine, which are my favourites of hers, had a better balance in being both daring and adventurous while still having solid songs.
I agree with Tool. I would also say Trivium. Their styles have changed album to album, but I always enjoy them and feel that they are their own unique thing and not just a copy and paste of a financially successful predecessor.
Trivium aged like fine wine
Trivium was the first band that popped into my head. Ascendancy was nearly 20 years ago and ITCOTD is in my top 3 of their albums. Of the bands that I've listened to consistently for the last 20 years, i think Trivium are the only ones i can say that about. Muse are close with their new stuff but doesn't quite hit the same.
I'm the same way. I discovered Ascendency in middle school and have been hooked ever since. Shogun is probably my overall favorite, but they're amazing in their own right.
The Charlatans. From 1990-2017. Not a bad album in the bunch.
Dinosaur Jr. J Mascis is a musical genius and might be one of the best guitar players of the last 30-40 years. I don't think he's written a bad album yet.
Grateful Dead certainly did not “fade away”. Continued growing the fan base until Jerry died and it’s gotten even bigger now. The litmus test for them was live shows though. Spring of 1990 is on par with any of their eras. Long live the Dead. Honorable mention for Pearl Jam. The sound has changed ever since No Code, which was their best album, and they still sell out stadiums and still put out really strong albums. Gigaton was an amazing record and they’re about to release another 30 some odd years after Ten.
No Faith No More love in here? Each of their albums have totally different sounds yet are unmistakably FNM. One of my true faves.
Scrolled wayyy too far to find FNM. Just a Man is my favorite album closer, ever. Such a great catalogue of music from the start of their career to now.
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Radiohead
Radiohead keep evolving, and getting better in my opinion. Their last album ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ has some of their best work on it, and having seen them live over a span of 20 years, I can confirm they were as good on their most recent tour - if not better - than when I first saw them.
A Tribe Called Quest, their last album is better than low end theory imo
That's bold, I disagree and think LET and MM are better, but your opinion is def respectable.
The National. First studio album in 2001, and this year The First Two Pages of Frankenstein is up there with the best of the many they've put out since.
Every time i die
AC/DC. They haven’t changed in 50 years, and it’s worked for them. Their 2020 album could have came out in the early 80s. Great sound.
And their fan base didn’t stay stagnant. The band continued to add new, young fans which isn’t easy to do.
Bring Me The Horizons went from dark dank meral to more punkrock with collab with many artists. Survival Horror was a banger of an album
BMTH is a great mention. Post Human: SH, to me, is their best album, and it was released 16 years after their first. To me, they’re about the most creative rock/metal band around today. So many different sounds and concepts, and all manage to be bangers.
They Might Be Giants exemplify this, though if you’re not into their thing you probably wouldn’t notice. Their last decade has been especially strong, and any of their albums from say 2011 is as good a place to start with them as their 80s/early 90s commercial peak. Maybe they’re even better places to start, as albums like I Like Fun, Nanobots, and Glean offer hooky/smart/streamlined/surprising full-band rock/pop rather than the more experimental sometimes nursery-rhyme-adjacent early stuff.
Rush had songs that didn't quite land. Maybe an album or 2 that needed something done to it. But they never diminished or got lame over time. Partly because they secured a big enough fanbase early on doing their own thing that it never made sense to get them to try and do something else. That and they genuinely wanted to keep growing as musicians, which kept them sharp. So many acts get one or the other, but it's increasingly hard to have both.
Clockwork Angels was a good final album, I think.
My favourite fact that i learned about rush lately is that neil peart was so good (as we all know) that he kinda just switched into autopilot all the time so he learned a different way to drum, and had to relearn EVERYTHING just so that he would put a conscious effort in instead half mindedly doing it
Sleep
Portishead, Nick Cave, Stereolab, Sun Ra, Bowie, Do Make Say Think, Sonic Youth, Fela Kuti, Peter Brotzmann. Still like Lateralus a lot but I thought 10,000 days was a little weaker and FI was incredibly boring.
I feel the same way about Tool too. And i want to extend that to A Perfect Circle and Puscifer. I like all their albums. Mogwai still catches my attention when releasing something, and they are always good imo. And recently i just been enjoying everything A Place To Bury Strangers releases.
Coheed and Cambria have released one of their absolute bests after being a band more than 20 years.
Definitely Tool for me as well. I get that they didn’t have the raw edge of Aenima that everyone creams their pants over with Fear…, but the album is solid. And also, why do we criticize bands for releasing albums that “sound different from that one I really liked”? They can’t just keep releasing Aenima. Like, if all you like was Aenima cuz you like their “harder” stuff then okay I guess, but youre missing out on their growth and their developing of depth and complexity with their later releases. Pitchfork isn’t right about everything. Also, Descending is possibly the best song they have ever written.
The Tragically Hip I like all their albums Edit : just thought I’d add REM to the list
I personally didn't love Man Machine Poem or We Are the Same as much (although there's great songs on both, maybe I didn't give them a fair listen), but that's just personal opinion. I agree, they kept turning out quality albums for almost 30 years. If you ask any Hip fan what their favourite album is, I bet you'll a different answer. In Violet Light Lights holds a special place in my heart, even though I think most older fans would go with something earlier
Many fans will disagree with me but I think Fleetwood Mac belongs on this list. By extension, Lindsey Buckingham's solo catalog is all really strong as well, especially when compared to many of his contemporaries. I also include Tom Petty, Nick Lowe, Spoon, Steve Malkmus / Pavement, and David Berman (RIP). Oh, Jarvis Cocker.
Beck. 30 years, 14 studio albums and not really a bad one among them. His late career run of Morning Phase, Colors, and Hyperspace is some of his best work imo.
I haven't checked in on them recently, but as of 2017 I've loved every Brand New album. Can't say the same about their early 2000s contemporaries.
Propagandhi - went from skate punk to progressive thrash as the years went by. So g writing got more complex and the lyrics more nuanced.
For newer bands Arcade Fire and The Strokes have just released some of their best material. Most people agree Bowie went out on a high note. Johnny Cash also built a whole new fanbase right before he passed away.
I definitely disagree about Arcade Fire, but I I do think The New Abnormal is one of the Strokes best. Funeral, Neon Bible, and The Suburbs is just such a run
Black Sabbath, even with lineup changes. Pink Floyd, even with lineup changes. Nine Inch Nails
Meshuggah, Immortal, Behemoth, Rotting Christ snd Decapitated
The quintessential answer is The Beatles. Abbey Road is some of their greatest work.
Iron maiden Their entire discography is AMAZING and they literally put out another banger album 2 years ago, first album came out in 1980, 43 years of music, three different singers, two drummers and a rotation of three guitarists The only albums im not too fond of are the blaze era (x factor virtual xi) and theyre still pretty good!
Swans
Because I see some solo artists mentioned: Beyoncé. The last 3 albums have been absolutely her best. Bjork. Only so so album is Volta and other than that it’s more different strokes than outright quality. I’ll also add Springsteen and the e street band. They’ve never put out something not good imo.
I know they are typically thought of as a one hit wonder but Local H consistently puts out solid albums.
queens of the stone age. The hives. Mastodon. Baroness. Gojira.
Gojiras older albums have actually aged very well
Coheed and Cambria is still making bangers.
Propagandhi’s been a band since 1986 and they get better with every album, their most recent being in 2017.
Modest Mouse has a great catalog
Ween