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6.58am
20 January 2012
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I was reading an Amazon review of the new Drive-By Truckers album (American Band) the other day, and the reviewer was comparing it favorably to the Trucker’s “holy trinity,” which, I guess, you are supposed to know refers to their “classic” three-album run consisting of Southern Rock Opera, Decoration Day, and The Dirty South.
That comment made me start thinking (and listing) what I consider “holy trinity” runs by other artists. I am a sucker for these kinds of lists, and maybe you are not. Despite the very-subjective nature of “best of” lists, I think they are fun springboards for discussion.
So this is my first-ever topic on this or on any other forum. Treat me gently, please!
Note that when considering three-album runs, I’ve generally discounted any live or greatest-hits albums that may have been released during the run and have stuck with new studio albums. You can follow that rule or include that sort of thing, as you like.
A few from my list:
Beatles: Rubber Soul ; Revolver ; Sgt Pepper ’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Wilco: Summerteeth; Yankee Hotel Foxtrot; A Ghost is Born
Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True; This Year’s Model; Armed Forces
Neil Young: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere; After the Goldrush; Harvest
Bob Dylan: Bringing It All Back Home; Highway 61 Revisited; Blonde on Blonde
The Who: Tommy; Who’s Next; Quadrophenia
Rolling Stones: Beggar’s Banquet; Let It Bleed; Sticky Fingers
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8.36am
Moderators
15 February 2015
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I’m not sure I quite understand if it’s supposed to be the three best chronological releases, or just three great chronological albums.
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals.
So these are not exactly* personal top three, and I realise that most people would rate The Wall over Animals (I prefer Animals), but I always think of these three concept albums as a trio of their strongest work, and they represent a very defined period for the band. Before Dark Side they had yet to introduce the concepts, and afterwards the band began to fall apart. (The cracks were already there, but weren’t really showing yet.)
*Pretty close, though 
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9.02am
26 January 2017
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Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme (66), Bookends (68), Bridge Over Troubled Water (70)
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-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues
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9.40am
20 January 2012
Offline Silly Girl said
I’m not sure I quite understand if it’s supposed to be the three best chronological releases, or just three great chronological albums.
“Best” three chronological releases, which isn’t necessarily the best three albums. The Beatles make it both tough and easy for me — it’s hard to argue with the three that I listed, but it also means that my two favorite albums (Abbey Road , White Album ) don’t make the list.
And sometimes you’ll have four-album run (for example the Stones — Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street), and you need to chop something out. But that’s part of the fun!
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10.09am
26 January 2017
Offline The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced? (67), Axis: Bold As Love (68), Electric Ladyland (68)
Led Zeppelin II, III, IV (Zeppelin fans can debate which three make the list, all are amazing.)
The Byrds: Fifth Dimension, Younger Than Yesterday , The Notorious Byrd Brothers. (I think their first five are all good, but I chose the latter three.)
Bruce Springsteen: The Wild, the Innocent, and the E-Street Shuffle, Born To Run, Darkness On The Edge of Town.
Billy Joel & Elton John I’m still trying to figure out which three to chose out of their godlike string of records.
*already mentioned Simon & Garfunkel: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme (66), Bookends (68), Bridge Over Troubled Water (70)
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-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues
"We could ride and surf together while our love would grow"
-Brian Wilson, Surfer Girl
10.39am
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Dylan is the master of Holy Trinity runs, as well as the one listed there above there is also
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963), The Times They Are a-Changin’ (1963) and Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) – forming the acoustic HT, and meaning Bob is in the possibly unique is releasing six albums on the trot that are considered to form two distinct HT’s;
then there is his ’70s HT of Planet Waves (1974, and Bob’s only studio album with The Band), Blood on the Tracks (1975) and Desire (1976) – though there are variations on this HT as some would start it with BotT and end it with Street-Legal (1978), while there are others who’d put 1975’s The Basement Tapes between BotT and D to make one (one that doesn’t convince me as BT is an archive release, maybe the first of the modern archive releases?);
and then you have his millennial HT Time Out of Mind (1997), “Love and Theft” (2001) and Modern Times (2006);
there is also the lost HT of Saved (1980), Shot of Love (1981) and Infidels (1983) – unfortunately both SoL and I were lesser albums than they might have been because of Bob’s habit of leaving classics on the cutting room floor.
A couple of non-Dylan ones to consider:
Nick Drake
Five Leaves Left (1969), Bryter Layter (1971) and Pink Moon (1972) – the only three albums he made before his suicide;
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), White Light/White Heat (1968) and The Velvet Underground (1969);
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Are You Experienced? (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967) and Electric Ladyland (1968).
I could go on, and probably will later. Could I suggest that the artist involved always be listed? Not everybody may know the HT in post 3 is by Simon & Garfunkel.
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The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
11.20am
18 April 2013
Offline @Ron Nasty, I have some Bob Dylan questions for you.
I have a few really good Bob Dylan albums, but once I bought this live album that was so horrible I ended up smashing it with a hammer. Is he just bad live? If not, at what point did he stop caring? The vocals were horrible and it was like he wasn’t even trying.
Also, when did his voice get completely shot? Is there a cut-off point beyond which I shouldn’t buy his albums if I don’t like his gravelly voice?
Also, not being super into Dylan, I never realized he actually sang, but then I heard Lay Lady Lay. Are there any other songs like Lay Lady Lay where he carries a tune?
Hopefully all of this doesn’t sound like I hate Dylan. I just want to avoid the stuff I don’t like.
And sorry to go off topic.
"If you're ever in the shit, grab my tit.” —Paul McCartney
11.24am
23 July 2016
Offline I’ll name 20:
1. The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles, Abbey Road
2. The Beach Boys
Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, Wild Honey
3. John Lennon /Plastic Ono Band
Live Peace In Toronto , John Lennon /Plastic Ono Band, Imagine
4. Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV
5. Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master Of Reality
6. Queen
Sheer Heart Attack, A Night At The Opera, A Day At The Races
7. KISS
Dressed To Kill, Destroyer, Love Gun
8. Queen (again)
News Of The World, Jazz, The Game
9. AC/DC
Highway To Hell, Back In Black, For Those About To Rock
10. Judas Priest
Hell Bent For Leather, British Steel, Screaming For Vengeance
11. Iron Maiden
The Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind, Powerslave
12. Motley Crue
Shout At The Devil, Theatre Of Pain, Girls, Girls, Girls
13. Def Leppard
High And Dry, Pyromania, Hysteria
14. John Williams
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return Of The Jedi
15. Metallica
Kill Em All, Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets
16. Metallica (again)
And Justice For All, Metallica, Live S**t Binge And Purge
17. Alice In Chains
Facelift, Dirt, Jar Of Files
18. Guns N Roses
Appetite For Destruction, Lies, Use Your Illusion
19. Rush
2112, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures
20. Elton John
Madman Across The Water, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Captain Fantastic And The Dirt Cowboy
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11.27am
26 January 2017
Offline Ron Nasty said
Dylan is the master of Holy Trinity runs, as well as the one listed there above there is alsoand then you have his millennial HT Time Out of Mind (1997), “Love and Theft” (2001) and Modern Times (2006);
These are great albums.
That reminds me
The Band: Music From the Big Pink, The Band, Stage Fright
@HMBeatlesfan Magical Mystery Tour was between Sgt. Pepper and The Beatles.
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-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues
"We could ride and surf together while our love would grow"
-Brian Wilson, Surfer Girl
11.48am
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline @HMBeatlesfan said
14. John Williams
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return Of The Jedi
Definitely not a John Williams HT as he released 6 albums between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back and another 10 albums between that and Return of the Jedi.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
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The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
11.49am
11 November 2010
Offline They’re not my favorite of their’s, but of Montreal’s Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (2007), Skeletal Lamping (2008), and False Priest (2010) are conceptually linked and are pretty well-liked by the fans.
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Most likely to post things that make you go hmm... 2015, 2016, 2017. 
11.58am
24 March 2014
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12.13pm
20 January 2012
Offline Ron Nasty said
Dylan is the master of Holy Trinity runs, as well as the one listed there above there is also
then there is his ’70s HT of Planet Waves (1974, and Bob’s only studio album with The Band), Blood on the Tracks (1975) and Desire (1976) – though there are variations on this HT as some would start it with BotT and end it with Street-Legal (1978), while there are others who’d put 1975’s The Basement Tapes between BotT and D to make one (one that doesn’t convince me as BT is an archive release, maybe the first of the modern archive releases?);and then you have his millennial HT Time Out of Mind (1997), “Love and Theft” (2001) and Modern Times (2006);
I was trying to justify an HT that included my favorite 2-album Dylan run, Blood on the Tracks and Desire. I just couldn’t make the case for either Planet Waves or Street-Legal (first time I saw Dylan was the Street-Legal tour, which left me pretty unimpressed. I’d probably love it today, but at the time…I was kicking myself for being so destitute that I couldn’t afford tickets for the Rolling Thunder Revue show that should have been the first time I saw Dylan). And, as you mentioned, I considered Basement Tapes as archival so disqualified it out of hand. I am in definite agreement with your “millennial” picks, however!
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12.16pm
20 January 2012
Offline HMBeatlesfan said
20. Elton John
Madman Across The Water, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Captain Fantastic And The Dirt Cowboy
My Elton John HT was Honky Chateau, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Your picks are non-consecutive!
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2.25pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline This is tough for a fan of The Allman Brothers Band. Only counting studio albums, I would go with (damn, only three, huh?) their first three:
The Allman Brothers Band, Idlewild South and Eat A Peach.
Sorry Brothers And Sisters. I still love you! 
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3.15pm
18 May 2016
Offline BluemeanAl said
My Elton John HT was Honky Chateau, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Your picks are non-consecutive!
I’m not trying to speak for other forum posters, but I don’t think that HMBeatlesfan realized that these picks had to be consecutive, which I didn’t realize either until right now.
3.27pm
18 May 2016
Offline I’d do a lot more of these, but @HMBeatlesfan beat me to it, so I’m going to so some he didn’t do.
The Beatles:
The Beatles, Abbey Road , Let It Be
The Rolling Stones:
Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street
Van Halen:
Fair Warning, Diver Down, 1984
Billy Joel:
The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses
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Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline sir walter raleigh said
Ron Nasty said
Dylan is the master of Holy Trinity runs, as well as the one listed there above there is alsoand then you have his millennial HT Time Out of Mind (1997), “Love and Theft” (2001) and Modern Times (2006);
These are great albums.
That reminds me
The Band: Music From the Big Pink, The Band, Stage Fright
@HMBeatlesfan Magical Mystery Tour was between Sgt. Pepper and The Beatles.
We’re back to the ‘MMT’ was released as an E.P. not an album by the Beatles in the UK, their home market, debate
The HT of ‘Pepper’, ‘White Album ‘, ‘Abbey Road ‘ still falls down however due to the ‘Yellow Submarine ‘ album release.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
7.32pm
18 May 2016
Offline Yellow Submarine fits better before the White Album .
7.49pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline sgtpepper63 said
Yellow Submarine fits better before the White Album .
Which would still disrupt that particular HT.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
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