Seven musical artists who turned in exquisite five-album runs

I’ve been writing a lot about Bob Dylan recently. So much so that some friends are starting to advise – “Jon, stop writing so much about Bob Dylan.” I can take constructive criticism.

So in this rundown of seven sensational artists who crafted runs of five consecutive outstanding albums, I’m not including Dylan. Despite the fact that his run from 1964’s Another Side of Bob Dylan to 1967’s John Wesley Harding reinvented modern folk music, transforming it from acoustic protest music into electric personal exploration, I will not mention him.

Now that I have succeeded in not mentioning Dylan, I can move on.

Best five-album runs in music history

Five straight excellent albums is hard. Really hard. Just ask Mick and Keith. If Brian Jones hadn’t forced them to do Their Satanic Majesties Request in 1967, they might have had nine or ten consecutive first-rate discs, but alas, it was not to be. (It’s impossible to actually number the Stones' early releases because of the overlapping UK and US editions. That’s another reason to leave them off this list.)

So I’m looking for runs in the modern pop era that boast five excellent albums. Not perfect albums. There can be a misstep or two. But the vast majority of the material on each release must be outstanding.

And I’ll admit right up front, I’m looking to broaden the musical map here. So even though there are a couple of obvious, big-name choices included, I went in search of different genres and different time periods, You know, I’m trying to move beyond Hibbing, Minnesota, and a certain singer-songwriter who some people claim I dwell on too much.

I mean, I like all kinds of music. Doesn’t really matter the genre, as long as it’s good. And there is good – sometimes great – sometimes five-album-run great – music in all genres. As we are about to see…