What band has the all-time greatest catalog of music?
 

i.e. what is the greatest band of all time?

sonic youth

lol no.

let me think about it and get back to oyou

Sun Ra and the Arkestra. Sonic Youth is there for me in the "rock" band category though.

you damn skippy!

I have to admit Ive never owned anything but loved everything Ive heard.

As far as talking about bands with the most great moments of music, I'd say Sun City Girls or the Residents -- they have shit tons of releases and while not all are of top quality, they have so many releases that are filled with great songs that one could assemble all their best moments and easily have 25 full length cd's to listen to. This is cheating, but if you were to consider the Boredoms as a family (since each member has so many offshoot projects that are all incestuiously connected in different ways; see Shock City Shockers comp vol. 1 for examples of what I mean), they EASILY have the biggest volume of great music.... However, when talking about pure consistency, just straight-up having not a single bad spot in their catalogue, even after 13 or so albums/ep's (and a 3 disc limited rarities compilation), it seems pretty obvious to me: THINKING FELLERS UNION LOCAL # 282.


Things get a bit trickier when talking about people like Zorn or even Zappa (who I'm not 100% fond of, but it fits my example): they have so many releases just released under their own names that are great, but they're working with so many different musicians on each one that it could be considered different "bands" in a way. However, I guess when just talking about who has written the most amazing music, I could nominate Zorn.

I'd still say Thinking Fellers Union Local # 282 with a runner up being the Fall.

Tom Waits, i think he's stayed consistently good throughout his career.
acid mothers temple? I think they've released 60 something albums since 1995

OHHH, good call, acid mothers would be up there too as far as having many, many great albums.

I guess I could also say Derek Bailey, John Fahey (40+ albums; all amazing), etc.... though I am thinking of more of a band sense and trying not to list composers/improv artists/etc (even though I did list Zorn, who is a composer)...

Other contenders for me would be Sun City Girls (agree with Adam) and Jandek.

Oh yeah, I totally forgot Jandek! 90% of his catalogue is topnotch!!

I REALLY will have to question someone if they list either Wolf Eyes or Merzbow -- as someone who's heard probably 50-75% of both artist's catalogues, I can safely say that only about 1% of Wolf Eyes' (and about 25% of Merzbow's) releases are worth hearing... of the ones I've heard I mean.

I think below a certain level of quality the album should count negatively.

greatest "family tree" or "musician" doesnt count in this regard. Those are two other separate categories. Part of being the greatest band should be the ability to successfully work with the same people over long periods of time.

Okay, I agree.

And even in the Fall's case, who have 20+ great albums by my estimations, Mark has worked with MANY different musicians to get to that point. Again, people will say, "Mark IS the Fall" -- but that also goes against the original point of this thread; it's about the best BAND... so...

as far as a band that pretty much always had the same members and never released a bad album... definitely Thinking Fellers Union Local # 282.

do you think sonic youth has ever released a bad album?

Yeah, of course.

I don't really like Dirty (though it's really listenable to me, it's still too predictable and boring in my eyes), I don't like Rather Ripped at all, I don't think Nurse or Murray Street are that good (though Murray Street has some excellent tunes), I don't think Experimental Jet Set or Goo are that great (despite having some amazing songs), I don't like about half of the SYR's... and really I don't think "the Destroyed Room" is anything all that noteworthy.

I'd still say 75% or so of their catalogue is genius and they're amongst the greatest and their high moments are REALLY high...

but I'd still say TFUL#282 for consistency and greatness, with 100% albums being reccomended.

hmmm.....

Im also only counting 12 albums for tful282 as opposed to my combined estimation for sonic youth at 25

Well, there are 12 actual albums but I thought there was a one-off single so that'd be 13, and there was also a sold-only-through-their-record-label limited edition rarity's comp that was 3 discs, not to mention a split with sun city girls where they both did caroliner covers.

Oh, note the single had a lot of new material on it, so it was almost like a really short EP.

Anyway, I'd say the deciding factor is: 75% or so of Sonic Youth's albums are from good to great while I believe 100% of TFUL's albums are great. So, that's how I'd vote.

yes, i do.



howlin' wolf never released a bad album (that i know of)
led zeppelin's discography is almost perfect except for in through the out door.

i will be slayed for saying this but i absolutely love every single album pink floyd released up to and including the wall. after that they weren't rly pink floyd anymore anyway.

Ed Kuepper's catologue is amazing. The Saints in the 70's, Laughing Clowns in the 80's, The Aints in the 90's, and a solo career from 85 onwards. He has made more than 30 albums worth of music, and I don't think anything he has done is bad.

i thought you didn't like the syd barrett era.