Runs of albums where each new one is better than the previous one

[425]

I got the idea for this thread from listening through Yes's early discography and coming to realize that I like each one of their first five albums better than the previous one (i.e., Close to the Edge > Fragile > The Yes Album > Time and a Word > Yes). It was an interesting discovery for me, because it felt like I was hearing the band's maturation and improvement from album to album for a pretty long run.

This made me interested in asking you all what you think are some long runs of studio albums in an artist's discography where you like each new album better than the previous one.

When I tried to think of more examples, I found that it was actually rarer than I expected. The next-longest one I could think of was (the controversial choice of) Coldplay's four-album run from X&Y through Ghost Stories.

What can y'all come up with?

[NoseofNicko]

Iron Maiden:

Somewhere in Time > Powerslave > Piece of Mind > The Number of the Beast > Killers

[Lethean]

Tesseract.  Each studio album better than the last, though I wish Sonder was a little longer.

[Adami]

Kamelot - Siége Perilous -> The Fourth Legacy -> Karma -> Epica -> The Black Halo

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Between the Buried and Me:

Self Titled, Silent Circus, Alaska, Colors, The Great Misdirect, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues, The Parallax 2

Rush:

Self Titled, Fly By Night, Caress of Steel, 2112, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres

[lonestar]

Fish era Marillion...

Clutching at Straws > Misplaced Childhood > Fugazi > Script for a Jester's Tear

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Fish era Marillion...

Clutching at Straws > Misplaced Childhood > Fugazi > Script for a Jester's Tear

I almost put this down too, but I was also going to add Season's End. Thought that might incite riots, so I decided not to. 

[Cool Chris]

Rush:

Self Titled, Fly By Night, Caress of Steel, 2112, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres

I'd take Rush at least one further with Permanent Waves, and possibly (though I rate the previous 3 above it) one more with Moving Pictures. That's 8.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Rush:

Self Titled, Fly By Night, Caress of Steel, 2112, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres

I'd take Rush at least one further with Permanent Waves, and possibly (though I rate the previous 3 above it) one more with Moving Pictures. That's 8.

While both Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures are excellent albums, to me they were a slight step in the wrong direction. I always wanted to see what they could accomplish in the epic prog realm for 1 or 2 more albums.

[Elite]

Between the Buried and Me:

Self Titled, Silent Circus, Alaska, Colors, The Great Misdirect, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues, The Parallax 2

Colors to TGM is already a stretch, but I'll let it slide, but there's no way the Oarallaxes are better than TGM.

[Crow]

Save for me considering Vhiessu slightly better than the alchemy index, thrice very continuously improved with each album up to beggars imo

[MirrorMask]

Blind Guardian to me are the clear winners of this.

Battalions of Fear < Follow the Blind < Tales from the Twilight World < Somewhere Far Beyond < Imaginations from the Other Side; open for debate to add Nightfall in Middle Earth to the list.

That's 5 albums in a row, possibly 6, where each album is better than the previous, starting straight from the debut. Impressive.

[Elite]

Oh boy, that’s a good one indeed. And yes, you should add Nightfall to the list

[ZKX-2099]

Every Time I Dies entire discography.

[twosuitsluke]

Well this has inspired me to listen through that run of Blind Guardian albums, if nothing else. I've been meaning to ever since I found out they wrote a song about The Wheel of Time (as it's my favourite book series of all time). I'll try to get around to this over the next week or so 

[wolfking]

Redemption's first four albums.

Possibly Evergrey's first four albums but RD and ISOT is tight.  Some might add TIC and make it five albums too.

Thinking Fates Warning from Brocken to Paralles. 

[jingle.boy]

Symphony X's first three for sure.
Avantasia - Angel of Babylon thru Ghostlights (though I know that many prefer Mystery of Time to Ghostlights)
Going to the 80s, I'd say Poison's first four albums.
Queensryche - EP thru O:M

That's all I got off the top of my head.

[krands85]

3 album runs:
Metallica - Kill 'em All-Ride the Lightning-Master of Puppets
Radiohead - Pablo Honey-The Bends-OK Computer
Deftones - Adrenaline-Around the Fur-White Pony
Symphony X - Symphony X-The Damnation Game-The Divine Wings of Tragedy

4 album runs:
Tool - Undertow-Aenima-Lateralus-10,000 Days (maybe an unpopular choice, I know many seem to prefer Lateralus!)
Isis - Celestial-Oceanic-Panopticon-In the Absence of Truth

There's possibly a really long run by Anathema as well, but some of the earlier albums are pretty closely matched, I'd have to give them a listen to refresh my memory.

[Polarbear]

Rush:

Self Titled, Fly By Night, Caress of Steel, 2112, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres

I'd take Rush at least one further with Permanent Waves, and possibly (though I rate the previous 3 above it) one more with Moving Pictures. That's 8.

To me, both Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres are a step down from 2112 but that's just me.

Continuing with the theme of Rush: Signals - Grace Under Pressure - Power Windows.

[Nekov]

Oh boy, that’s a good one indeed. And yes, you should add Nightfall to the list

Agreed. That's a great run of albums.

Tool - Undertow-Aenima-Lateralus-10,000 Days (maybe an unpopular choice, I know many seem to prefer Lateralus!)

I'm with you here, I prefer 10,000 Days

[Snow Dog]

Vanden Plas - Colour Temple —> The God Thing —> Far Off Grace —> Beyond Daylight —> Christ 0

And as far as Rush goes, I’d start the list at Caress of Steel through at least Permanent Waves, maybe Moving Pictures. It’s pure personal preference, but I quite like Fly By Night. And though it was a necessary step in the evolution to 2112, I can’t stand to listen to CoS. That album ranks at the bottom of the Rush catalog for me, so calling it better than FBN? I can’t do it.

[Zantera]

I think Mr Bungle fits, though I go back between Disco Volante and California myself, I think the argument can be made for their three albums getting better and better.

Talk Talk as well. Their debut is pretty meh, second album definitely an improvement, and then I think things goes from great to amazing to masterpiece with The Colour of Spring > Spirit of Eden > Laughing Stock.

A few weeks ago I would have included Dir En Grey as I felt their trajectory from The Marrow of a Bone > Uroboros > Dum Spiro Spero > Arche was each album being better than the one before (and the last 3 of that run being really good) but their most recent album was definitely a bit weaker than the last 3.

[Mladen]

Somewhere in Time > Powerslave > Piece of Mind > The Number of the Beast > Killers

This is so true, even though I didn't remember it right away.

The first four Radiohead albums and the first four Steven Wilson solo albums deserve a mention. Also, the streak of albums from Beatles for sale up to Sgt. Pepper qualifies as well.

[Nachtmerrie]

Manic Street Preachers: first 5 albums

Redemption: Fullness of Time - Origins - Snowfall

Ne Obliviscaris: only 3 albums so far

[Sacul]

A big one for me is Porcupine Tree from On the Sunday of Life to In Absentia  .

Talk Talk as well. Their debut is pretty meh, second album definitely an improvement, and then I think things goes from great to amazing to masterpiece with The Colour of Spring > Spirit of Eden > Laughing Stock.

That's a pretty cool development, although I'd personally put those 3 in reverse order.

[SoundscapeMN]

The Police
Burst

more may come to mind later...

[bosk1]

Fates Warning (3 album run):  X - Darkness in a Different Light - Theories of Flight

Queensryche (6 album run, including the EP):  EP - Warning - Rage for Order - Operation: Mindcrime - Empire - Promised Land

Dream Theater (3 album run):  FII - SFAM - 6DOIT

Transatlantic (3 album run):  SMPT:e - Bridge Across Forever - The Whirlwind

Megadeth (3 album run):  RIP - CTE - Youthanasia

Def Leppard (3 album run):  On Through the Night - High n Dry - Pryomania [on some days, I might tag Hysteria on as well, but probably not most days]

Y&T (4 album run):  Yesterday & Today - Struck Down - Earthshaker - Black Tiger


*As I am digging through my memory, I am finding a trend:  For bands with large discographies, it is generally pretty easy to at least come up with 3-album runs because it generally only takes finding two of their best albums where the latest is the better of the two, and seeing that that 2-album run is generally preceded by a weak album or two.  I could probably find even more such runs if I wanted to.

[Zantera]

A big one for me is Porcupine Tree from On the Sunday of Life to In Absentia  .

Talk Talk as well. Their debut is pretty meh, second album definitely an improvement, and then I think things goes from great to amazing to masterpiece with The Colour of Spring > Spirit of Eden > Laughing Stock.

That's a pretty cool development, although I'd personally put those 3 in reverse order.

Oh, The Colour of Spring is your favorite? Great album, can respect that opinion. Though for me I think Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden are on another level, both transcendental albums. I think the post-rock movement owes a lot to those two albums. Amazing atmosphere on both.

[The Letter M]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Genesis' first six albums yet. Granted, The Lamb might not be everyone's peak, but at least for me, they hit a peak with that album, and it felt like everything the Gabriel-Era band was working towards built up to that album. For Genesis, each album got better and better, and if you really like ATTOT, you could even throw that in for a seven-album run!

Most folks already mentioned other ones I would have thought of, but here's a couple more:
Spock's Beard, the NDV-Era - Feel Euphoria < Octane < Spock's Beard < X
The Flower Kings - The first five albums
Neal Morse (Band) - Testimony < One < ? < Sola Scriptura, Momentum < The Grand Experiment < The Similitude Of A Dream

-Marc.

[Cool Chris]

Somewhere in Time > Powerslave > Piece of Mind > The Number of the Beast > Killers

This is so true, even though I didn't remember it right away.

I can't put Powerslave over PoM, and I certainly can't put SiT over either of them.

[jammindude]

Haken’s first 3 were the first thing that leaped to my mind.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

A big one for me is Porcupine Tree from On the Sunday of Life to In Absentia  .

I cant believe I forgot about Porcupine Tree. I'd also include Deadwing though.

[Sacul]

A big one for me is Porcupine Tree from On the Sunday of Life to In Absentia  .

Talk Talk as well. Their debut is pretty meh, second album definitely an improvement, and then I think things goes from great to amazing to masterpiece with The Colour of Spring > Spirit of Eden > Laughing Stock.

That's a pretty cool development, although I'd personally put those 3 in reverse order.

Oh, The Colour of Spring is your favorite? Great album, can respect that opinion. Though for me I think Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden are on another level, both transcendental albums. I think the post-rock movement owes a lot to those two albums. Amazing atmosphere on both.

Dunno why but I just love The Colour of Spring. Spirit of Eden is excellent, but I found Laughing Stock too sparse and empty imo. Still got a ton of respect for both though, knowing the demented and painstaking process behind each.

[Stadler]

For me: 

Marillion: Script > Fugazi > MC > CaS
Zeppelin: IV > Houses of the Holy > Physical Grafitti
Deep Purple: Book of Taliesyn > Deep Purple > In Rock > Fireball (this is sort of a technicality, though)
REM:  Reckoning > Fables of the Reconstruction > Lifes Rich Pageant > Document
U2:  October > Unforgettable Fire > War > Joshua Tree > Achtung Baby


Interesting that I'm realizing that a lot of debut albums are really good, and there's a fall off - with a subsequent rise back up - in many of my favorite bands' catalogues.   (I love Shades of Deep Purple, Murmer and Boy)

[Elite]

I can do two different ones for Ulver:

Kveldssanger < Nattens Madrigal < Themes from William Blakes’ The Marriage of Heaven & Hell < Perdition City

and

Blood Inside < Shadows of the Sun < Wars of the Roses < Messe I.X-VI.X