# Do any of your favorite bands have 100% good output? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524 "2015-04-01T18:07:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524/61 "2015-04-02T16:24:05Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > A bit obscure, but Sleater Kinney is pretty close to perfect. And they’ve released over 100 songs. > > [http://www.spin.com/articles/every-sleater-kinney-song-ranked-no-cities-to-love/](http://www.spin.com/articles/every-sleater-kinney-song-ranked-no-cities-to-love/) I came in here to mention Sleater Kinney, and I’m not even a particular fan. I just know there’s something of a fan consensus that every album holds up and they don’t have any songs that people really dislike. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524/62 "2015-04-02T16:34:32Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Agreed on both counts, _Land Speed Record_ and _Cut The Crap_ are a mess, but everything else is gold, as albums go. But not every individual song: _Baby Song_ anyone? I agree with those who said that nobody has an absolute flawless canon of songs, but as I said before, for me Steely Dan comes closest. See, I love the Clash’s first three albums, but they lost me at Sandanista. Maybe I need to revisit it, but I just didn’t like that album. Meanwhile, the first three would probably all rank on my top 100 rock albums of all time (with “London Calling” making my top 10.) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524/63 "2015-04-02T17:05:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > See, I love the Clash’s first three albums, but they lost me at Sandanista. Maybe I need to revisit it, but I just didn’t like that album. Meanwhile, the first three would probably all rank on my top 100 rock albums of all time (with “London Calling” making my top 10.) I can see that, I somehow forgot about _Sandinista_ when I wrote that. It’s not a bad album per se, but has some major issues: it’s too bloated, too long and too ambitious. Another major flaw is Topper Headon’s performance: he went through serious heroin troubles during the recordings, and it shows everywhere on that album, it doesn’t really rock or swing, although Headon in ace form is one of my favorite drummers. But there’s a lot to discover among the clutter; _Broadway_ is probably my favorite Clash song. But yeah, it’s not as good as their first three by any standard. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524/64 "2015-04-02T17:50:33Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > You take that back! No song with Kirsty MacColl singing backup could possibly be bad. _Fairytale Of New York_ and _Sexuality_ are my cites.Naaah. I personally enjoy Robert Plant’s _Now And Zen_ album, but I think I’m in the great minority in that assessment, and Kirsty is all over it. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524/65 "2015-04-02T18:20:34Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Put me down for the “no such animal” camp. A band/artist with not a single clunker is not trying hard enough. I think there are some bands that didn’t put out any crap. But _the best_ bands always did. If you’re pushing boundaries and experimenting, eventually you’re going to fail. You’re right that a band with no bad songs isn’t trying hard enough. But there are plenty of pretty good bands who fall in that category. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524/66 "2015-04-02T19:10:51Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > You’re right that a band with no bad songs isn’t trying hard enough. But there are plenty of pretty good bands who fall in that category. Sounds like the perfect description of **Motörhead,** who’ve basically recorded the same album over and over again for 35 years. But even they’ve managed to come up with a few duffers (mainly every time they try to record a ballad.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524/67 "2015-04-02T19:12:26Z")
I’m of the “no such animal” camp as well, although Buffalo Springfield comes close, as does Roxy Music. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524/68 "2015-04-02T19:37:33Z")
I’m not real sure because I’ve collected so many of their tracks as an adult but not their albums as a kid, but what about _Creedence Clearwater_ before the coup or whatever it was? Their output was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524/69 "2015-04-02T19:43:33Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m not real sure because I’ve collected so many of their tracks as an adult but not their albums as a kid, but what about _Creedence Clearwater_ before the coup or whatever it was? Their output was awesome. I mentioned them upthread. Pendulum was a pretty tired-sounding album (and the first where Stu and Doug demanded equal space for their compositions with [del]one of the five best songwriters in American rock history[/del] John Fogerty’s), but even that one was pretty good. And the first three albums were perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524/70 "2015-04-02T20:53:30Z")
[Tool](https://www.toolband.com/) They haven’t produced an album that I don’t regularly listen to and there are no songs that I skip. I guess when you take 3-9+ years between albums you can be picky [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-your-favorite-bands-have-100-good-output/716524.md?page=3)