The Smiley Smile Message Board

As far as topping the charts,selling millions of  albums,critical reception,no flops. :] (besides The Beatles of course)
I'm definitely going to have to give it to Radiohead...it seems their albums always received positive reviews,sold millions of copies and they change their sound with every album.
Who else is close to having a perfect career?

The Beatles aren't god for the millionth time already... ::)

Simon and Garfunkel

and...

The Sex Pistols  :)

hey that's no fair the sex pistols were only around for 2 years and released one album.
Simon & Garfunkel did have an amazing career...did they ever have any singles that didn't chart so well?

Their lowest was The Dangling Conversation at #25 if you don't count their 1957 song Hey Schoolgirl. Nevertheless, they put out some of the most consistently great albums.

If you define their catalog as being the Lou Reed era only, I'd say Velvet Underground (by far). If you have to include the Yule-led band, not so strong.

Tom Waits is right up there--probably higher than anyone else with that long a career and that many albums, in my opinion.

Jerry Lee Lewis still hasn't done a bad album. Chart wise it could have been more, but musically he's never made a dud.

i mean chart wise :)

Two words: Nick Drake.

drake the rapper? lol

And lo, in this thread we introduced Newguy to Nick Drake, and changed his life  ;D

Listen to all 3 of his albums. Pink Moon, 5 Leaves Left, and Bryter Later. You'll love them. Prepare to be that guy in school who listens to Nick Drake, but it's all worth it.

Just listening to Bryter Layter now and I stumble on this thread. Good timin'.

i'm listening to pink moon :]  his voice is aahhhhhhhh..amazing!!!..i love "place to be"..he only has 3 albums! that hurts alot!

You're welcome  ;D

He died tragically young and unappreciated, sadly. But he's the one thing everyone I know agrees on - not even the beatles!

that's so sad :(..i was looking forward to checking out a big beautiful body of work..but i'm happy with what i can check out..it's about the quality of work ..

Paul Weller

The Flaming Lips are pretty damn near perfect.

Near Perfect career?  I won't get many people agreeing, but:

U2. 


Anytime they put out an album, it sells well, they tour the world and make a fortune, and then they dissapear for awhile.  Their next album is anticipated, cycle, rinse, repeat.


Now, I'm not saying their music was 'near perfect'.... far from it.  But you asked about a career.  I doubt U2 has ever had a dissapointing album release.  They're one of those rare bands that you can actually NAME every album they put out.... because everytime, it was a big deal.  Personally I haven't liked them since "Pop", but a lot of people have; and they seem to have the ability to get a fresh audience with each new album. 

Flaming Lips, etc. didn't have a perfect career because they never made it huge.  Perfect maybe for slackers, or something or maybe you feel their music subjectively is nearly perfect, but as for a 'career', I'll guarantee you they've had albums they were dissapointed in the sales. 

Radiohead f***ed up when they released In Rainbows and asked the fans to pay for it if they liked it, then nobody did and they lost their ass.  That kind of messed up their 'near perfect' career, they failed huge with that. 

Yeah, but In Rainbows went to number 1.... which is surprising considering that the website downloads didn't count to its chart placing. It went to no. 1 on physical sales alone.

Also, from the downloads (which went straight to the band, natch), the average price paid was £4, which doesn't sound much more than what they would receive after the label et al took their share.

Looking at this in terms of sales is dull and pointless. I submit Rihanna. She has a billion albums, they are made in no time at all so she releases one a year despite touring constantly, she's extremely marketable and....yawn...

they didnt f*** up that was a number one album :)..

Also..... huh?

Two more words: Gram Parsons

The perfect 2 solo album career, before shuffling off this mortal coil.

Oh his work w/ the Flying Burrito Brothers was perfect too!