A Response to TD 16 - Win, Place, or Show
This is a reply to Courtney and MJ’s Throwdown #16.
Brilliant conceit, this is. I’m an album person. I have plenty of singles, and I embrace the shuffle, but I believe that a true artist uses the album as a canvas, with each song a series of brushstrokes that contributes to the whole. It’s great when an individual cut can stand on its own, but composing an album, linking the songs together to form a cohesive whole, is an act of ruthless dedication. Good songs invariably end up on the production room floor, to be released as b-sides or one-offs.
So to find a run of three consecutive albums? It’s near impossible. To crib some of Courtney’s list:
Bob Dylan: Bringin’ It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde.
The Replacements: Let It Be, Tim, Pleased to Meet Me.
R.E.M.: Life’s Rich Pageant, Document, Green.
The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street
It’s hard to add to this list, and that includes consideration of other “greats.”
- Springsteen? Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town are fantastic, but I still haven’t come to grips with the unevenness of The River.
- U2? War, The Unforgettable Fire, and The Joshua Tree are most likely the nadir of a band that is fighting hard for sustained relevance (note that popularity and relevance are not the same thing). MJ goes in the other direction by starting with Boy, but leaving The Joshua Tree out of a “best” U2 list is like leaving Young Frankenstein out of a best Mel Brooks film list.
- Nickelback? DMB? Oops, sorry. I’m sure there will be a post about hugest rock ‘n’ roll douchebags that we can include them in.
I’m sure there are some that I’ve missed. But I haven’t listed my choice…yet.
I’m going with Wilco. Being There, Summerteeth, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The three albums where Jeff Tweedy found his voice, then found his footing, and finally crafted his cohesive statement. Feel free to disagree vehemently in the comments. But I leave you with just a sliver of the argument, for your listening pleasure:
