# That \*outstanding\* album of an artist/band **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 6, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562 "2026-11-06T16:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/1 "2026-11-06T16:52:06Z")
… I was thinking about those albums that really stand out for any given artist (very few artists have one, to begin with) … albums with lots of hits/great songs - some qualify even as Greates Hits albums - INXS: Kick - METALLICA: Black Album - PEARL JAM: Ten - JACKSON BROWN: Running on empty - KING CRIMSON: The court of the crimson king - MICHAEL JACKSON: Thriller - NORAH JONES: Come away with me - FLEETWOOD MAC: Rumors - PETER GABRIEL: So - TRACY CHAPMAN: Tracy Chapman - ACDC: Back in Black - BRYAN ADAMS: Reckless - CAT STEVENS: Tea for the Tillerman … which ones did I forget? ---
**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:** [November 6, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/2 "2026-11-06T16:55:33Z")
Paul Simon - Graceland Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska The Cure - Disintegration The Clash - London Calling ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/3 "2026-11-06T16:55:34Z")
Boston: Boston The Cars: The Cars Styx: The Grand Illusion Steely Dan: Aja REO Speedwagon: You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can’t Tuna Fish Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band: Live Bullet Bruce Springsteen: Born To Run AND Born in the USA Madona: Like a Virgin Def Leppard: Hysterica Led Zepplin: Led Zepplin II Eric Clapton: Slowhand I could go on and on. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/4 "2026-11-06T16:55:34Z")
Boston, _Boston_. First album out of the gate (even though it was the product of five-plus years of work by Tom Scholz); every song on it is a banger, and they never came close to that level of brilliance on subsequent albums. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/5 "2026-11-06T16:57:26Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > which ones did I forget? You mistyped Back in Black when you meant Highway to Hell ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/6 "2026-11-06T17:01:06Z")
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life George Harrison - All Things Must Pass ---
**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:** [November 6, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/7 "2026-11-06T17:02:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > You mistyped Back in Black when you meant Highway to Hell I dunno. “Back In Black” and “Highway To Hell” are real bangers, but I prefer all AC/DC albums from before 1979 (international editions). ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/8 "2026-11-06T17:03:48Z")
Rush - Moving Pictures ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/9 "2026-11-06T17:07:30Z")
The Who: Who’s Next, Live At Leeds ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/10 "2026-11-06T17:08:21Z")
Bob Dylan: _Blood on the Tracks_ Joan Baez: _Diamonds and Rust_ ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/11 "2026-11-06T17:08:37Z")
I’m not sure if supergroups count for the OP, but I submit: Asia, _Asia_. Their first album was a brilliant blend of progressive and pop, and every track is excellent. Another twelve albums have been released, but with increasingly fewer of the original four members (only two other albums had all four), and none came close to recapturing the original excellence. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/12 "2026-11-06T17:11:07Z")
Television - Marquee Moon ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/13 "2026-11-06T17:12:11Z")
Blondie: Parallel Lines Johnny Cash: Live at Folsom Prison ---
**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:** [November 6, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/14 "2026-11-06T17:13:21Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Television - Marquee Moon Granted, they only had three studio albums, and the other two are also not that bad. But of course “Marquee Moon” is a masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/15 "2026-11-06T17:14:12Z")
Queen - _A Night at the Opera_ Wilco - _Yankee Hotel Foxtrot_ Supertramp - _Crime of the Century_ Decemberists - _The Crane Wife_ Wishbone Ash - _Argus_ ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/16 "2026-11-06T17:14:51Z")
The Smashing Pumpkins - _Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness_ It helps that it was a double album with a ton of songs in it. 7 Grammy nominations, 9 nominations at the MTV Music Awards. Before that album the band did not have a Top 40 hit, and that album had 4 of them. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/17 "2026-11-06T17:17:10Z")
And how could I (or anyone else) forget: The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds ---
**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:** [November 6, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/18 "2026-11-06T17:22:09Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It helps that it was a double album with a ton of songs in it. It was a double _CD_, both playing for over an hour, so it would have been a triple LP. Those were the nineties. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/19 "2026-11-06T17:22:50Z")
Billy Joel - The Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/20 "2026-11-06T17:24:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > It was a double _CD_, both playing for over an hour, so it would have been a triple LP. True, it was a triple LP. It was also released as a double cassette and a double minidisc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562.md?page=2)