Poll: Stranded on a Desert Island–Choose Your Favorite 'First 4' Album Run!

[LithoJazzoSphere]

If this had been "last 4", Tool would have been a tempting choice, but swapping Fear Inoculum out for the debut, despite Undertow having some great songs, it's also a bit uneven and unpolished. 

Opeth is a reasonable choice from the poll, but it doesn't get to their golden era for me. 

My answer is going to be Kingfisher Sky.  They only have four albums (not counting EPs), so I get it all, no hand-wringing over leaving anything out. 

[DragonAttack]

Bronze:  Aerosmith

Gold:  Led Zeppelin

Silver (but my favorite):  album titles were Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night At The Opera

[Trav86]

Led Zeppelin

But a close follow is Black Sabbath and Van Halen.

[Kram]

I'd go Pain of Salvation, but not on the list.  So I'm voting "Other" lol

[OpenYourEyes311]

This is easily The Neal Morse Band for me. All four albums are chock full of amazing songs.

Metallica is tempting as they are my favorite band, but for me, their most interesting stuff came after AJFA

[Trav86]

I would also say Tool. As long as we’re starting with Undertow and not the Opiate EP.

[The Letter M]

This is easily The Neal Morse Band for me. All four albums are chock full of amazing songs.

Oh how did I not think of NMB?! 

Even on sheer volume alone, that's a hefty desert island playlist, but also quite quality as well, especially if you include the special edition of TGE with the bonus disc. That's over 385 minutes of music across four albums, so plenty of music to listen to while you wait for rescue!

-Marc.

[TAC]

Bronze:  Aerosmith

Gold:  Led Zeppelin

Silver (but my favorite):  album titles were Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night At The Opera

So...not Queen?? WOW!

And very pleasantly surprised to see Aerosmith there. Didn't realize you were such a fan.

[Zantera]

Hard to nail it down to just 1 band but here's a few I'm thinking:

Oceansize - My favorite band, they only made 4 albums so I would get them all. 2 of them are masterpieces and I like the other 2 a lot as well. Might be my nr1 choice.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A# Infinity and Lift Your Skinny Fists are both 5/5 albums to me, you add to that Yanqui UXO and Allelujah and it's a very good 4 album run. You could even throw Slow Riot in there instead of Allelujah and it would be even better.

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine is a wonderful debut, Downward Spiral and Fragile are both masterpieces and I always thought With Teeth was a bit underrated honestly. Very solid run.

The Smashing Pumpkins - Gish is a wonderful debut, Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie are 5/5 and Adore is great too.

[DragonAttack]

Bronze:  Aerosmith

Gold:  Led Zeppelin

Silver (but my favorite):  album titles were Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night At The Opera

So...not Queen?? WOW!

And very pleasantly surprised to see Aerosmith there. Didn't realize you were such a fan.

I try my best at being pragmatic 😉. 

Aerosmith’s debut was stronger than other bands weakest link for me. Their next three LPs would easily make this old timer’s Top 100.

[axeman90210]

Of the options listed in the poll there were a couple I considered

Dream Theater- A strong contender based on the strength of I&W and Awake, two top tier albums for me. The problem is that the albums bookending them are decidedly not near that level. I never have any desire ever to listen to WDaDU, and FII is wildly uneven (though what's good there is very good).

Haken- A very strong option, not a bad album in the first four and The Mountain and Affinity are a couple favorites from the last decade.

Led Zeppelin- My other top choice from the poll options. Four strong albums and there's some decent diversity from the bluesier feel of the debut through some of the acoustic and more folk sounding material on LZIII to the refined bombast of the fourth album.

Metallica- On strength of material alone Metallica can hang with these other options, but as adami said there's just not enough diversity there for a desert island scenario.

My two finalists are both Neal Morse related though. I seriously considered Transatlantic, both Bridge Across Forever and The Whirlwind are phenomenal, and the debut and Kaleidoscope are strong as well. In the end though, Neal Morse Band gets my pick. At least one of the Pilgrim's Progress albums, and possibly both, are in my top 10 of all time and TGA and I&D are both way up there for me. Aside from the absurdly high quality though, there's also diversity. Yes, a majority of the material is progressive rock, but there are ballads and pop songs and heavy songs throughout. There are short songs and epics. There are four different vocalists. And the pure volume is there as well with three of the four being double albums.

[nick_z]

This is a fun poll...

So, Rush is my favorite band, but I can't say it's because of their first four records ("Sector 1", so to speak)  I mean, I enjoy all of them, really, but that's not desert-island material for me...

Metallica could well be in the running. Still close to my musical heart and my very first (truly) heavy music love. And that 4-album run is unbelievable.

VERY fond of Aerosmith too - as a youngster, I discovered them with their end of 80s/early 90s records Permanent Vacation and Pump (still big favorites of mine) but, going back, their early albums are undeniable. Get Your Wings/Toys/Rocks especially. They are just not quite up there as a band to be desert-island, I guess.

Queensryche's run is something else too. Excluding the EP, I'd take the Rage through Promised Land run over The Warning though Empire (I know, I know), but still. The Warning/Rage for Order/Operation:Mindcrime/Empire. Hard to argue with that...

...But, but. My top 4 Dream Theater albums are as follows:

1) Images and Words
2) Awake
3) When Dream and Day Unite
4) Falling Into Infinity

Yes, I absolutely love both WDADU and FII, with all of their imperfections.

And DT are my #2 favorite band. Soooo...I guess it's a pretty obvious choice for me in the end. Dream Theater it is!

[TAC]

And DT are my #2 favorite band.

Nick, who's #1?

[WilliamMunny]

Happy to see some love for Aerosmith… their seventies run is sometimes overshadowed by the celebrity escapades of the past decade IMO, but for my money, their first four are as good as it gets for American hard rock.

[King Postwhore]

Any if Tim's suggestions so I can just commit Harry Carry.

[TAC]

Any if Tim's suggestions so I can just commit Harry Carry.

[nick_z]

And DT are my #2 favorite band.

Nick, who's #1?

Rush 

This is a fun poll...

So, Rush is my favorite band, but I can't say it's because of their first four records ("Sector 1", so to speak)  I mean, I enjoy all of them, really, but that's not desert-island material for me...

[King Postwhore]

 

Don't tempt me. Lol

[TAC]

And DT are my #2 favorite band.

Nick, who's #1?

Rush 

This is a fun poll...

So, Rush is my favorite band, but I can't say it's because of their first four records ("Sector 1", so to speak)  I mean, I enjoy all of them, really, but that's not desert-island material for me...

 

I'm more of a skimmer than a reader.

[Trav86]

And DT are my #2 favorite band.

Nick, who's #1?

Rush 

This is a fun poll...

So, Rush is my favorite band, but I can't say it's because of their first four records ("Sector 1", so to speak)  I mean, I enjoy all of them, really, but that's not desert-island material for me...

 

I'm more of a skimmer than a reader.

Is that like a grower not a shower?

[TAC]

As a matter of fact...

[Cool Chris]

Not really my cup of tea these days, but the Eagles' first four albums are pretty solid, if you want that peaceful, easy feeling.

[Snow Dog]

Went with Queensr˙che if we’re discounting the s/t EP. Four strong albums all in their own right and each with their own style. And when one is arguably the best metal concept album of all time, well…

Trying to think of others not on this list, and the only one that comes to mind is Evergrey. Dark Discovery is a bit raw and rough in places, but Solitude Dominance Tragedy, In Search of Truth, and Recreation Day are fucking solid follow ups.

A couple others came close, like Vanden Plas (Colour Temple is pretty lackluster, but the next four records are absolute bangers), or Scar Symmetry (GREAT first three albums, and then Dark Matter Dimensions dove off a cliff), but just not quite.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Scar Symmetry (GREAT first three albums, and then Dark Matter Dimensions dove off a cliff), but just not quite.

Yeah, they're a great answer for best opening trio of albums. 

[ZirconBlue]

Dream Theater.  With Queensryche a close second.

[SwedishGoose]

Other  - City Boy

Annoying as it is to just miss out on their best album The Day The Earth Caught Fire as it is their fifth. I guess I will have to contend myself with the wonderful albums

City Boy
Dinner at the Ritz
Young Men Gone West
Book Early