Two weeks ago Weezer put out their second album of 2021, and both of them are wonderful return to forms. OK Human is their take on trying to sound like Nilsson Sings Newman, filtered through the lockdown. Van Weezer is a celebration of 80s guitar metal-pop with a Fountains of Wayne edge.
Putting out two albums in a calendar year always seems like a very impressive thing – a bit of a flex. And it’s different to putting out a second album within 12 months of the other. John Lennon put out Imagine 9 months after Plastic Ono Band, but one is very 1970, the other 1971.
What other calendar-year pairings deserve to be celebrated? Costello’s 1986? Taylor’s 2020? (I know, the Beatles got there first)
Fairport’s great 1969 trilogy of What We Did on Our Holidays, Unhalfbricking and Liege and Lief.
Not only did they invent a new style of electric folk music music, but the terrible van crash which killed drummer Martin Lamble and Richard Thompson’s girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn, and left other band members seriously injured, happened between the second and third of them. Richard makes light of it in his recent autobiography, saying that the first was recorded in ’68 and released at the start of ’69, and the last only released at the very end of ’69, but it’s pretty astonishing.
Alternatively – Unhalfbricking, Liege and Lief, Full House – July 1969 – July 1970.
Astonishing period, I agree.
And between Liege And Lief and Full House they lost Sandy Denny. I’d always understood that she left of her own accord, but in Beeswing RT states that she was sacked.
How many did King Gizzard and his wizard fizzog put out the other year? Then you have others for whom aural diarrhoea is the norm, Billy Childish and Robert Pollard coming to mind.
King Gizzard are defiantly the hardest working band in Showbiz at the moment….
12 Bar Bruise (2012)
Eyes Like the Sky (with Broderick Smith, 2013)
Float Along – Fill Your Lungs (2013)
Oddments (2014)
I’m in Your Mind Fuzz (2014)
Quarters! (2015)
Paper Mâché Dream Balloon (2015)
Nonagon Infinity (2016)
Flying Microtonal Banana (2017)
Murder of the Universe (2017)
Sketches of Brunswick East (with Mild High Club, 2017)
Polygondwanaland (2017)
Gumboot Soup (2017)
Fishing for Fishies (2019)
Infest the Rats’ Nest (2019)
K.G. (2020)
L.W. (2021)
Butterfly 3000 (2021)
Fellow garage Pych acts Thee Ohsees give them close but use lots of different band names so it’s hard to keep track of all the output.
Released as OCS
1 (2003)
2 (2004)
Songs About Death & Dying Vol. 3 (2005)
OCS 4: Get Stoved (2005)
Memory of a Cut Off Head (2017)
Released as The Oh Sees
The Cool Death of Island Raiders (2006)
Sucks Blood (2007)
Released as Thee Oh Sees
The Master’s Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In (2008)
Help (2009)
Dog Poison (2009)
Warm Slime (2010)
Castlemania (2011)
Carrion Crawler/The Dream (2011)
Putrifiers II (2012)
Floating Coffin (2013)
Drop (2014)
Mutilator Defeated at Last (2015)
A Weird Exits (2016)
An Odd Entrances (2016)
Released as Oh Sees
Orc (2017)
Smote Reverser (2018)[2]
Face Stabber (2019)[3]
Released as Osees
Protean Threat (2020)
Metamorphosed (2020)
Panther Rotate (2020)
Weirdo Hairdo (2021)
Obvious one is the Jimi Hendrix Experience – two albums in 67, Axis and Are You Experienced in 67 followed by the Electric d double in 68 – a total of four albums worth of material in 18 months. And all squeezed in between a murderous touring schedule
Throw in 4 tremendous non-LP b-sides with all that.
Bowie 1973
Aladdinsane & Pinups
Slade 1974
Old new borrowed & blue/ Slade in Flame.
I am sure there are others.
More Bowie.
Low and Heroes in 77, plus contribution to Iggy Pop The Idiot and Lust For Life
Contribution? Idiot is a Bowie album with Iggy singing.
That year there was also, er, Peter and the Wolf.
Except I think Iggy is the main writer for most songs, even if Bowie is co-credited. Of course you could say Iggy is the principal writer on Tonight (5 co-writing credits).
Iggy is certainly the reason Tonight exists – Bowie knocked it out to give him a quick payday (Ig was on the skids on the time, alas)
See also the inclusion of Scott Walker’s Nite Flights on Black Tie White Noise.
Which reminds me: Scott 3 and 4 both came out in ’69.
You missed out Songs from his TV Series album that came inbetween those two. Was he really struggling financially when Bowie covered Nite Flights? @Moose-the-Mooche
I don’t know where I got that from, but prior to the hit No Regrets compo that came out in 1992 and the Fontana reissues of his 60s work it’s difficult to see how he was making ends meet. The occasional airing of Jacquie and The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine on Radio 2 wouldn’t have put many 50ps in the meter.
Great piece here, written pre The Next Day, which now seems like another era.
https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/nite-flights/
Wasn’t Low ’76? (He asks without checking Google….)
It was recorded in ’76 but released at the very beginning of ’77. Indeed when Bowie played most of it at Montreux in 2002 he referred to it as a ’76 album, as it was for him.
He was keen on doing that – Station to Station and of course Blackstar were January releases. “Happy birthday me!” I guess.
Guided By Voices’ 2012 comeback:
Let’s Go Eat The Factory
Class Clown Spots A UFO
The Bears For Lunch
Admittedly, all a bit hit and miss, but then that’s the very essence of GBV.
I suppose we’d have to say that Human Touch and Lucky Town don’t count but, still, two records in the same year. Then you’d have to include Use Your Illusion I and II, I suppose. But whether any of them are to be celebrated is a very different story.
Apart from those, Low and Heroes are the ones that spring to mind.
Meanwhile I’m waiting nervously, as so many others must be, for Latest Record Project Volume II which I’m sure will be along any day now.
Cockney Rejects Greatest Hits Vol I and Vol II both in 1980.
Vol III folded in 81
Dare one mention the #metoo hitmaker Ryan Adams? In the noughties he was like some ‘making-a-lot-of-records’ guy.
Well, there was Kraftwerk in…… bwahahahaha, only kidding
EDIT. Tone Float and Kraftwerk both came out in 1970 – not sure the former is celebrated mind. And it’s not Kraftwerk.
Similar ‘hilarious’ answer: The Blue Nile. Two in one decade, anyway.
Sign O the Times and The Black Album both “emerged” in 1987 – the latter not officially, but still.
The Damned. Damned, Damned Damned (Feb 77) Music for Pleasure (Dec 77)
Elvis Costello. King of America (Feb 86) Blood & Chocolate (Sept 86)
Costello also did Trust (Jan 81) and Almost Blue (Oct 81)
Creedence Clearwater Revival came up with Bayou Country, Green River and Willy and the Poorboys in 1969. They included five massive hit singles – Proud Mary, Bad Moon Rising, Green River, Down on the Corner and Fortunate Son, not to mention songs like Lodi, Born on the Bayou, Wrote a Song for Everyone, Effigy and Keep on Chooglin’. Astonishing.
Looking back, you realise that after a very long apprenticeship struggling to make it they actually crashed and burned fairly quickly after gaining success. But for three or four years they were absolutely unstoppable.
A personal favourite of mine is Oddfellow’s Casino. He put out The Cult of Water about two months ago, he’s promised another album is coming out in a couple of months. And his album Burning!Burning! came out in August 2020.
He’s very good, sort of modern pastoral prog
King Gizzard and the… 5 albums in 2017. Bit of a gimmick with them but I’ve not heard anything bad of theirs exactly. Not that I’ve heard everything.
Lana Del Rey: Chemtrails already out, another coming June 1 and a third also announced. First of these is great. So far so good. Has there been a covid effect? For some maybe.
Beatles 63
Beatles 64
Beatles 65
Dylan 65
Beatles 67 (counting Magical Mystery Tour)
Macca 73 (RRS and BOTR)
Bruce 73 (Greetings and WIESS)
Kate Bush 78
Kate Bush 2011, unbelievably.
And Macca knocked two out (steady!) in 71 – Ram and, er, Wild Life.
Half a great album, Wild Life.
R and L Thompson
Hokey Pokey (recorded 74) and Pour Down like Silver. 75
Babybird – whose entire career now reduced to the chorus if You’re Gorgeous being trotted out inappropriately on TV Ads.
Check out the Stephen Jones Bandcamp page. He’s gone back to his bedroom and is churning out new stuff under a whole range of aliases – Black Reindeer, Arthritis Kid, Death of the Neighbourhood as well as Stephen Jones and Babybird. He seems very busy. A dozen or so albums released last year.
Sault
Untitled (Black Is) & Untitled (Rise) 2020
5 & 7 2019
All absolutely brilliant.
60’s bands certainly had their noses to the grindstone…
The Searchers: Meet The Searchers – August 1963, Sugar and Spice – October 1963, and It’s The Searchers – May 1964. There was a hell of a wait until the fourth….March 1965….slackers….
Stones 67 Between the Buttons and Satanic Majesties
Also Beach Boys
63 – 3 albums
64 – 3
65 – 3
67 – 2
The slackers (or mainly Brian) only managed one in 66 …
That one wasn’t too bad though, as I recall.
They sort of did three in ’67, though two were extremely short and one of them wasn’t officially released for, er, 45 years.
Yeah it was decent. If SMiLE had come out in 67 then Smiley Smile wouldn’t have though.
I think we can discount pop groups pre- about 1967, because the managers and record companies in those days had them on a treadmill of touring and recording with little or no choice in the matter. As soon as your last single dropped down the charts (or failed to chart) you were put back in the studio to knock out another one.
Two or three times a year, if you were doing well, you’d be taken off tour and booked in to record an album somewhere. If you didn’t have the songs they’d give you a few weeks to write some and then you’d be expected to knock an album out in a couple of weeks maximum. Then back on tour again.
The Grateful Dead:
“Workingman’s Dead” (June 1970)
“American Beauty” (November 1970)
Greg Foat – FOUR albums in 2019:
– The Dreaming Jewels
– The Mage
– Photosynthesis
– Saint Lawrence
On the other hand 2 in 6 years for The Stone Roses.
Do you think Squire was making a point when he made that Seahorses album in about two weeks?
“THIS is what happens when you don’t take your time”
Sufjan Stevens released four albums in April of this year and he released his fifth album of 2021 at the beginning of this month.
The boy ain’t no slacker.
Better than his Dad – Shakin’ may have managed 2 albums in both 1980 and 1981, but after that it was strictly one a year (usually to catch the Christmas market)
I think Shaky saw which way the wind was blowing. In the sixties everything was moving so fast that artists feared being forgotten if there was a gap between releases. In the seventies nasally-ingested substances powered the treadmill to greater speeeeed. Sometime in the early eighties either bands or record companies copped that fewer big event releases maximised attention and that rushing out your follow up before the end of the year (I’m thinking of you, Orange Juice) could have a negative impact on career momentum..
That and egomaniacal producers in fiendishly well-equipped studios..
Blondie 1978.
Plastic Letters and Parallel Lines.
I had to check on Wikipedia, but Todd Rundgren put out 2 albums (one a double) in 1974 – Todd & Todd Rundgren’s Utopia.
Drive by Truckers have an enviable back catalogue.That didn’t stop them releasing their best 2 albums in 2020.
Costello not only released King of America and Blood and Chocolate in 1986 but King of America arguably his best and Blood and Chocolate in top 5 probably.
The Jam – In The City & The Modern World – 1977
Led Zep I and II – 1969
(OK, LZ I was recorded in late 68, but it still counts)
Stranglers did it twice
1977: Rattus Norvegicus and No More Heroes
1981: The Gospel According to the Meninblack and La Folie
Jeff Tweedy has been pretty prolific in recent years, occasionally in same calendar year, if not always as performer then writer/producer etc
2014 Sukeriae (Tweedy, double album)
2015 Star Wars (Wilco)
2016 Schmilco (Wilco)
2017 Together At last, If All I Was Was Black (Mavis Staples)
2018 Warm
2019 Warmer, Ode to Joy (Wilco)
2020 Showbiz Kids (soundtrack), Love is the King
He has also written two books in last few years
Frank Zappa must take some beating
1979 output
January – Sleep Dirt
March – Sheik Yerbouti
May – Orchestral Favourites
September – Joes Garage Act 1
November – Joes Garage Acts 2 and 3
I know some of this material will have been recorded in previous years but still impressive
Yeah, but only two of them were double albums.
plus, he never fekkin slept
It’s amazing how many times the answer to an Afterword query is Sparks.
1974 saw Kimono My House in May and Propaganda in November.
Ramones did it as well in ’77 with Leave Home & Rocket to Russia.
1974 was a productive year: Sparks and Slade have already been mentioned, but Queen also released two: Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack.
Come to think of it there were even two general elections.
As a result of the 3 day week, 1974 actually happened twice, but in all the excitement no-one noticed.
It is actually now 2022.
Steven Wilson’s done about 97 albums in 30 years, surely two of them came out in the same year?
Miles Davis.
Two in 1959.
Porgy and Bess
Almost Blue
Four in 1968.
Miles Smiles
Miles In The Sky
Nefertiti
Filles de Kilimanjaro
Coltrane?
That dude was in a hurry alright.
MD famously recorded four albums in one weekend – Cookin’, Workin’, Steamin’, Relaxin…. Priti Patel’s favourite albums.
Arf!
Those four albums were to finish Miles’ contract with Prestige.
What would it take to finish Priti’s contract with Gov.UK?
Stereolab.
1993: Space Age Bachelor Pad Music and Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements
1995: Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On Volume 2) and Music for the Amorphous Body Study Center
Bill Nelson has released 56 albums since 2011. I have no idea if any of them are any good.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Nelson_(musician)#Albums
I haven’t heard them all – but the ones I have heard are really good. If you like the cut of his gib, it’s fair to say that his quality control is excellent.
That wikipedia articles outlines his astonishing output, as a solo artist and collaborator. I see he played on David Sylvian’s austere but ace Gone to Earth from 1986, and much more recently (2015) Dave Sturt’s superb Dreams and Absurdities.
How about Elvis Costello?
he did King of Chocolate and….(SHAAAAT AAAAP!)
Genesis
– A Trick Of The Tail
– Wind & Wuthering
Both released in 1976
…and, for a particular type of Genesis listener, these are their two best albums…
Elton John – Elton John & Tumbleweed Connection
1970
Bobness – Bringing it All Back Home & Highway 61 Revisited
1965
The Doors – The Doors & Strange Days
1967
Tim Buckley did it twice
Happy Sad & Blue Afternoon
1969
Lorca & Starsailor
1970
His time was unlikely to be taken up with touring those last two
Van der Graaf Generator – the trilogy of Godbluff, Still Life and World Record were released between October 1975 and October 1976…
Also H to He and Pawn Hearts released with a year of each other…
If you add Peter Hammill’s solo career into this, I don’t know how he managed it – Silent Corner, In Camera and Nadir all released 1974/75.
And a special mention for Husker Du. The band only lasted seven years but managed six albums two of them doubles. (and a few one off singles, compilation tracks) No wonder they burnt out in spectacular fashion.
Beatles For Sale released 4th December 1964
Help released 6th August 1965
Rubber Soul 3rd December 1965
One stand alone double A side single (plus two new B Sides for Help and Ticket To Ride singles)
Made a movie.
World Tour (44 concerts – I think?)
Numerous radio, TV and media enggaements.
Lennon releases A Spaniard In The Works.
Not a bad 12 months.
The Beatles made albums on their days off (in the early days)
I suppose our own El Hombre should get a mention here.
20 albums on Bandcamp in 2020 and a further 8 so far this year.
No mention of Lulu? New Routes and Melody Fair both came out in 1970. Classics.
Reading too hastily, I interpreted that comment as “I don’t know how you could mention EHM and not include Lulu”. Was imagining some torrid (or strictly professional) history between the TSWLH and the great man..
She is from Scotland ..
Bill Nelson has been hugely prolific – he’s released around 150 albums in the last 40 years, often 4 or 5 in a calendar year.
Joe Bonamassa has released 2 albums a year a several times since 2007, and once or twice 3 albums. I suppose it’s made easier because it’s usually a studio album then a live one, but even so, it’s a rare example of someone with such a rate of output in recent times.
Is there a 60s act , in the 60s, who made a succession of albums, to whom this is not applicable? Apart from The Whom!
Oh, yeah, that’s The Who… I like funny jokes.
The Kinks?
Small Faces?
Kinks did two in ’65. Both pretty patchy but with some cracking tunes.
Changing record labels, admittedly, but The Small Faces had their first Immediate album and “From the Beginning” competing with each other.
The Zombies only made 2 albums in about 3 years, one of them is the greatest album ever made though (possibly)
When did you start liking funny jokes?
Don’t fuck with the brand now. You’ve only just established it.
I’m going to put “Funny Jokes by DD” on a T-shirt and put it in a very expensive box with some vinlys. £250, I think.
Branding used to be what went on cows, now it’s your passage to a cushy pad in Cowes.
The Beatles – Let It Be – 1970: Their 12th Album
The Who – WHO – 2019: Their 12th album
…The ‘oo took their time.
2 doubles though 😉
Also the Fabs had already done four albums…or maybe five? before Th’oo did their first.
Neil!
1969: Neil Young (self-titled debut) / Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
1975: Tonight’s The Night / Zuma
2012: Americana / Psychedelic Pill
2014: A Letter Home / Storytone
You can probably pick apart all of those (late 1968 mix, recording dates, covers albums etc) but the man is profilic.
Plus in 1970 and 1988 you get both a new Neil album and a CSNY LP.
In 1973, Todd Rundgren recorded A Wizard, a True Star (56 minutes long) and Todd (a double).
He also produced two classic albums, New York Dolls and Grand Funk Railroad’s We’re an American Band.
Lucinda Williams put out a double and then spent lockdown doing 4 full albums of live in the studio cover fare. (And then had a stroke, but plausibly not cause and effect.)
In fact, apropos the above comment about 1974 and the 3 day week, many an artist bunkered down in lockdown and filled Bandcamp with content. How many Quarantunes now @el-hombre-malo ?
Well, there have been some strong suggestions submitted in this thread, but I feel it’s time that we declared a winner. And here he is, the supreme champion, the maestro himself, Laydeez and Gennelmen ….. Mistah John Zorn!
1986 4 albums
1987 2 albums
1988 2 albums
1990 4 albums
1992 3 albums
1995 8 albums
1996 4 albums
1997 6 albums
1998 7 albums
1999 4 albums
2000 4 albums
2001 4 albums
2002 6 albums
2003 5 albums
2004 6 albums
2005 8 albums
2006 8 albums
2007 4 albums
2008 10 albums
2009 6 albums
2010 11 albums
2011 7 albums
2012 11 albums
2013 9 albums
2014 17 albums (his personal record – absolutely incredible)
2015 14 albums
2016 11 albums
2017 8 albums
2018 15 albums
2019 8 albums
2020 8 albums
Over on the Steve Hoffman forum, one guy who goes under the name of Sordel has taken on the task of doing a full analysis and review of every one of the 210 Zorn albums that he owns. He’s doing a brilliant job of it – it’s one of the most informed and informative threads I’ve ever seen on a music discussion board. The title of the thread, for anyone who’s interested is ““Invitation to a Suicide”: A guide to John Zorn”
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/invitation-to-a-suicide-a-guide-to-john-zorn.1074293/
Pere Ubu: The Modern Dance and Dub Housing, both 1978.
The Fall: Live At The Witch Trials and Dragnet, both 1979.
The Fall did Hex… and Room to Live both in 1982. The slightness of the second balanced out by the generosity of the first.
Frenz and Oranj both 1988, the former recorded entirely in ’87 however.
Indeed. I think the switch from the debut ( a rather clean and guitar-heavy new wave record) in March to the dark strangeness of the follow up in October is the great transformation of MES as an artist.
Yep. I’m not the only one to think that Spectre Vs Rector is the turning point.
Before: punk chancers with interesting lyrics. After: the dark overlords of Satan incarnate. With interesting lyrics.
As you would expect, The Hit Factory was very keen on productivity:
Marvin Gaye – When I’m Alone I Cry/Hello Broadway 1964 – How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You/Tribute To The Great Nat King Cole 1965 – he also released a solo album and a duet album with Tammi Terrell in 1967 & 1968
The Temptations were regular double hitters right up to 1973 with Masterpiece & 1990 but 1969 yielded Puzzle People, Cloud Nine & The Temptations Show pus two with Diana Ross & The Supremes, Together & On Broadway
The Four Tops were worked hard until 1975. 1970 was their busiest with Still Waters Run Deep, Changing Times and The Magnificent 7 (plus The Supremes)
The Supremes were constantly recording. They released five albums in both 1965 and 1968. The Supremes Sing Country & Western and Pop, We Remember Sam Cooke, More Hits By The Supremes, Merry Christmas and The a Supremes At The Copa in 1965. Reflections, Live At London’s Talk Of The Town, Diane Ross And The Supremes Perform Funny Girl, Diana Ross And The Supremes Join The Temptations and Love Child, not forgetting their contribution to The Original Soundtrack To TCB
Marvin Gaye wanted (that’s W.A.N.T.E.D.) to be Frank Sinatra – the 50s Rock ‘n’ Roll and cool 60s pop music equivalent of Barcelona wanting to be Stockport County. Broadway, Nat King Cole… no wonder the Beatles were huge.
Say what you will of Berry’s scepticism towards What’s Going On, at least he (gradually – it took a lot of persuading) got Marvin away from that deranged ambition.
How did they have the time to do all this stuff!
Re: Stax… Otis died in December 67… by the middle of 1970 there had been 4 top-notch, real quality, albums of “new” material. They’re fantastic.
The last one “Tell the Truth” is my favourite Otis album.