Ticket 2 Ride

To produce three great or influential albums is a tough feat for any artist. Three outstanding studio albums in a row is like recording a triple double in basketball or hitting three hundred in baseball or winning your division in football three years in a row. A sign of excellence and also of growth.

Okay, three albums in a row. What are they, and who performed them? These are my opinions only. This covers the rock/pop/progressive-rock/fusion genres only.

Rubber Soul/Revolver/Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Beatles of course. This was the middle period (1965-1976) when the boys got their creative groove going.

Tommy/Who’s Next/Quadrophenia

These albums by The Who (1969-1973) were so groundbreaking and definitely of the period.

Led Zeppelin IV/Houses of the Holy/Physical Graffiti

There were many options, and most of them had Led Zeppelin II, but I went with three other Led Zeppelin albums (1971-1975) to get Physical Graffiti.

Paranoid/Master of Reality/Vol. 4

These Black Sabbath (1970-1972) albums aren’t perfect, but they are perfectly Sabbath. Their sound changed hard rock.

Reggatta de Blanc/Zenyatta Mondatta/Ghost in the Machine

The Police, and sorry, no Synchronicity. Here are the second, third and fourth Police albums (1979-1981). Opinions differ, Reggatta de Blanc is more influential and unique than Synchronicity.

The Yes Album/Fragile/Close to the Edge

It took a couple of albums for Yes to find their sound, these albums (1971-1972) are simply game-changers for progressive rock. All three are classics.

Toulouse Street/The Captain and Me/What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits

What, no Takin’ it to the Streets or Minute By Minute? The early Doobie Brothers albums (1972-1974) are just as good, and less “Hollywood.” There are massive guitar-driven rock’n’roll anthems on these albums.

Santana/Abraxas/Santana III

The first three albums (1968-1969) by the Santana group. These albums introduced the Latin-rock sound associated with Carlos Santana and his solo and various collaboration albums.

On the Border/One of These Nights/Hotel California

Eagles. These albums (1974-1976) are nearly flawless, even as the band was undergoing tremendous change and internal battles.

Talking Book/Innervisions/Fulfillingness’ First Finale

Stevie Wonder had an incredible sound, as these albums (1972-1974) will testify. Wonder developed a funky, urban sound that he sprinkled with pop goodness. And this was before Songs in the Key of Life.

The Dark Side of the Moon/Wish You Were Here/Animals

Of course these three albums in a row are special. Pink Floyd (1973-1977) was still a band at this time, but that changed.

The Royal Scam/Aja/Gaucho

Steely Dan created some great music in the early 1970s, but not entire albums. These three albums (1976-1980) are packed with songs that have incredible depth and get stuff in your head.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme/Bookends/Bridge Over Troubled Water

The final three albums by Simon & Garfunkel (1966-1970). From folk to pop to timeless classics. Was it the smart lyrics, the unforgettable melodies or the heavenly vocals? It was all of that. They saved the best were last.

Sticky Fingers/Exile on Main Street/Goat Heads Soup

A fertile period for The Rolling Stones (1971-1973), who took the title of biggest rock’n’roll band in the world.

Face the Music/New World Record/Out of the Blue

Each album got bigger for the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) in the 1970s. Chart hits came in bunches, yet they maintained their progressive-rock roots.

Hasten Down the Wind/Simple Dreams/Livin’ in the USA

Pick any albums from the early 1970s to the mid 1980s and you hit multiple platinum. These three Linda Ronstadt (1976-1978) albums are spectacular, and they aren’t trendy, but solid music that stands the test of time.

Full Moon Fever/Wildflowers/Highway Companion

Tom Petty solo albums, not his Heartbreaker, Mudcrutch or Wilburys projects. Petty had a lot to say, and he evolved over the period of these (1989-2006) albums.

Are You Experienced/Axis: Bold as Love/Electric Lady Land

The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967-1968) was short-lived. Hendrix was bursting with musical ideas and styles he wanted to try with various musicians.

Fleetwood Mac/Rumours/Tusk

Fleetwood Mac’s mid to late 1970s releases. Although Tusk was not the phenom that the previous two were, there are some classic songs on this more experimental two-album set.

Low Budget/Give the People What They Want/State of Confusion

The Kinks (1979-1983) were in their arena rock period, still offering sweet nuggets like “Come Dancing” but also rocking the rafters with social commentary.

American Fool/Uh-Huh/Scarecrow

Finally, John Mellencamp (1982-1985) was able to dump the stupid “Cougar” name and get control of his music. These albums are different, but show his strength of songwriting and vision.

Everybody Knows This is Nowhere/After the Gold Rush/Harvest

These albums (1969-1972) could be a career for most people, Neil Young was just getting started.

Court and Spark/The Hissing of Summer Lawns/Hejira

Joni Mitchell had terrific album before these three (1974-1976), but these are special to me. This was a very commercial period for her, and a transitional time for her.

Blow By Blow/Wired/There and Back

The late 1970s was a creative and very successful period for Jeff Beck. He moved in jazz-fusion without losing blues-rock audience.

Making Movies/Love over Gold/Brothers in Arms

Dire Straits were really a short-lived band. By their third album, they found their sound (1980-1985), and these albums are different as they are similar. Figure that one out.

Selling England by the Pound/The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/A Trick of the Tail

Genesis (1973-1976) would undergo some band changes and begin to shift the focus to the music from the theatrics. An incredibly creative period.

The River/Nebraska/Born in the USA

Bruce Springsteen (1980-1984) The 1970s were good for the Boss, but the 1980s (or most of it) were even better.

Atlantic Crossing/A Night on the Town/Footloose & Fancy Free

Rod Stewart (1975-1977) produced three of his best albums. If he hadn’t had the stinker Smiler, he would have had a longer streak.

Tales of Mystery and Imagination/I Robot/Pyramid

Alan Parsons Project was different from the very beginning. The first three albums (1976-1978) each pursue a different theme and with a wide group of musicians and vocalists. The result got better and better each time.

War/The Unforgettable Fire/The Joshua Tree

U2 burst onto the scene with their bold words and spacey guitar riffs. Quickly, they matured and set their sights much higher. These three albums (1983-1987) launched them.

Diamond Dogs/Young Americans/Station to Station

For my money, these are the three albums that made David Bowie (1974-1976) a star and more than just a guy with different personas that can write a good pop song. These three albums opened the door for much deeper experimentation.

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me/Disintegration/Wish

Not everyone understands The Cure, and I’m not a goth rock guy, but it’s tough to resist these three albums (1987-1992) because they are clever, melodic and music that you cannot forget.

Honky Chateau/Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player/Goodbye Yellowbrick Road

Elton John was on fire during the early 1970s. Not only hits, but great albums. These three came in a short period of time (1972-1973).

In Search of the Lost Chord/On the Threshold of a Dream/To Our Children’s Children’s Children

The Moody Blues produced many great albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s before taking a hiatus. These three albums came in the middle of that period (1968-1969).

Murmur/Reckoning/Fables of the Reconstruction

I remember the times REM played David Letterman’s Late Show. What a unique sound. Folk? Skiffle? Rockabilly? Whatever it was in those early years (1983-1985), it was irresistible.

Benefit/Aqualung/Thick as a Brick

Jethro Tull quickly found their sound (1970-1972) and remarkable things with it! Folk met British Blues, with a twist of progressive-rock.

Power, Corruption & Lies/Low-Life/Brotherhood

New Order was not yet big in America, but these albums (1983-1986) widened their audience as they transitioned from post-punk to electronic-beat flavored music.

Meat Is Murder/The Queen Is Dead/Strangeways, Here We Come

The Smiths were only around for four albums. These are the last three (1985-1987). Raw, but melodic and haunting.

Actually/Introspective/Behavior

The Pet Shop Boys are British synth-pop and still going strong. Their second, third and fourth albums (1987-1990) are legendary and set the bar high for synth-dance groups.

1999/Purple Rain/Around the World in a Day

For me, these were Prince’s most accessible albums (1982-1985).