Best 3 album run

[Greeno]

What are some of the best 3 album runs ever? The 3 albums had to be released back to back to back and you have to consider all 3 as being great releases. I heard some guys on a rock n roll talk radio show discussing this topic and thought it would be a good one for us here. It got me thinking that there are alot of great 2 album runs but 3 is hard to pull off.

I'll get it started ( and get them out of the way) and pick Metallica's run with:
Ride The Lightning - Master Of Puppets - And Justics For All

That was their 3 best for me. Some people may shift that run to the left or right to include either Kill Em All (which I would agree with, hell you could even say they had a 4 album run) or the black album (which to me would just be crazy talk ) .

 

[DrillSergeant]

Metallica HAD a 4 album run! And so had Megadeth, Twisted Sister and Aerosmith with their first 4 albums. Add also Death with Leprosy - Spritual Healing - Human - Individual thought Patterns.

New additions to the 3 albums run:
Aerosmith: Permanent Vacation - Pump - Get A Grip
Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet - New Jersey - Keep The Faith
Metal Church: Blessing In Disguise - Human Factor - Hanging In The Balance
Slayer: Hell Awaits - Reign In Blood - South Of Heaven
Venom: Welcome To Hell - Black Metal - At War With Satan

 

[Igor_Cavalera]

Hey Greeno, nice thread.
Sepultura - "Beneath The Remains" "Arise" "Chaos AD"
Ozzy Osbourne - Big string through the 80's
Iron Maiden - Big string through the 80's

 

[SoundMaster]

- any of the first 6 Led Zep records.- any of the first 6 Sabbath records.
- Queensryche: Warning, Rage, Mindcrime, Empire
- Deep purple: In Rock, Fireball, Machinehead
- Rainbow: the first three
- Opeth: My Arms, Still Life, Blackwater
- Katatonia: Tonights Decision, Last Fair Deal, Viva Emptiness
- Accept: Breaker, Restless, Balls, Metal Heart

there are many nominations, but if I had to make a choice, I'd say:

Maiden - Piece of Mind, Powerslave, somewhere in time

 

[Victim of Deception]

Perhaps the best 3 album run ever goes to none other than Judas Priest...

Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, Stained Class

 

[IcedMadness]

Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, and Powerslave
Megadeth - Killing is My Business, Peace Sells, So Far So Good So What
Dream Theater - Scenes From A Memory, Six Degrees of Innerturbulence, Train of Thought
Testament - The Legacy, The New Order, Practice what You Preach

 

[Wyvern]

Perhaps the best 3 album run ever goes to none other than Judas Priest...

Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, Stained Class

That's a VERY good triad

Good examples of three good albums in a row will be (IMO):

Bruce Dickinson: "Skunkworks", "Accident of Birth", "Chemical Wedding"

Helloween: "Time Of The Oath", "Better Than Raw", "The Dark Ride"

 

[Burkhard]

I'll get it started ( and get them out of the way) and pick Metallica's run with:
Ride The Lightning - Master Of Puppets - And Justics For All

That was their 3 best for me. Some people may shift that run to the left or right to include either Kill Em All (which I would agree with, hell you could even say they had a 4 album run) or the black album (which to me would just be crazy talk ) .

I´d be one of the "some" that would shift your run to the left to include "Kill ´Em All".

Other runs I´d like to add:

Fates Warning: "The Spectre Within" - "Awaken The Guardian" - "No Exit" (and I´d also include "Perfect Symmetry", though I already know someone who will disagree)
Coroner: "R.I.P." - "Punishment For Decadence" - "No More Color"
Helstar: "Remnants Of War" - "A Distant Thunder" - "Nosferatu"
Atrox: "Contentum" - "Terrestrials" - "Orgasm"
Voivod: "Killing Technology" - "Dimension Hatröss" - "Nothingface"
Sieges Even: "Life Cycle" - "Steps" - "A Sense Of Change" - "Sophisticated"

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

mine would be :

Slayer: Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss (might even add Hell Awaits to this one to make a 4 album run)

Black Sabbath : Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master of Reality,Volume 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Iron Maiden: Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Live After Death, Somewhere in Time

Metallica: Kill Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets (nothing after this for me at least.. though maybe Justice album)

D.R.I. : Crossover, Four of a Kind, Thrashzone

Dimmu Borgir: Enthroned Darkness Triumphant, P.E.M., Death Cult Armageddon

AC/DC: Highway to Hell, Back in Black, For Those About To Rock

Judas Priest: British Steel, Screaming for Vengeance, Defenders of the Faith

Dio: Holy Diver, Last in Line , Sacred Heart

Sacred Reich: Ignorance, Surf Nicaragua, American Way

Exodus: Bonded by Blood, Pleasures of the Flesh, Fabulous Disaster

 

[carnut]

Metal Massacre 1 to 7

 

[SickBoy]

Helloween: "Time Of The Oath", "Better Than Raw", "The Dark Ride"

I'd much rather choose "Walls of Jericho" and "Keeper of the Seven Keys" parts 1 and 2

EDIT: I forgot to add my 3 album string:
Riot - "Thundersteel" / "The Privilege Of Power" / "NightBreaker" / "Brethren Of The Long House" / "Inishmore" / "Sons Of Society"

Choose any as a starting point and then the next two
Amazing stuff...

 

[The saYer]

show no mercy-hell awaits-reign in blood
the legacy-new order-practice
RIOT: restless breed-born in america-thundersteel
destruction: eternal devastation-madbutcher-release from agony
angra:angels cry-holy land-fireworks

 

[SoundMaster]

To Rock

Judas Priest: British Steel, Screaming for Vengeance, Defenders of the Faith

I believe that the weak "Point of Entry" came between "Steele" and "Screaming".

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

I believe that the weak "Point of Entry" came between "Steele" and "Screaming".

oops my bad.. i thought it was the one before British.. oh well that messes up the Priest one then...

 

[DrillSergeant]

Oh my god, what was I thinking? How could I forget about these:

AC/DC: Highway to Hell, Back in Black, For Those About To Rock

the legacy-new order-practice

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Ratt: Out Of The Cellar, Invasion Of Your Privacy, Dancing Undercover, Reach For The Sky, Detonator (5 album run, LOVE them all!!!! So consistent!)

Def Leppard: High N Dry, Pyromania, Hysteria

Treat: The Pleasure Principal, Dreamhunter, Organized Crime

Dokken: Tooth & Nail, Under Lock & Key, Back For The Attack

Poison: Look What The Cat Dragged In, Open Up & Say Ahh, Flesh & Blood

Alice Cooper: Raise Your Fist & Yell, Trash, Hey Stoopid

 

[Greeno]

Dokken: Tooth & Nail, Under Lock & Key, Back For The Attack

I was thinking that run also. I love those albums.

 

[Wyvern]

Def Leppard: On Through The Night, High N Dry, Pyromania

Alice Cooper: Billion Dollar babies, Muscle Of Love, Welcome to My Nightmare

There! I corrected it for you

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

lol you funny wyvern.. but that would be my choices for those bands too ... i never liked hysteria.. pyromania was my fave and i think the first album i ever bought.. rock/hard rock/metal etc...

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Not a big fan of On Through The Night, but I'd be tempted to even put Adrenalize as a 4th album in my run because its a great melodic rock album!

If there was a better album between Billion Dollar Babies & Welcome To My Nightmare, then believe me that would be a 3 album run for me too, but I think Muscle of Love sounds weak and uninspired. Nowhere near as creative as BDB and WTMN. If something like Killer or Love It To Death was between them though, or even From The Inside, then it would get a mention too.

For the record, Welcome To My Nightmare is probably my favourite studio album from the '70s by anybody. My fave record from the '70s full stop is Kiss Alive but no studio album tops Nightmare for me!