Your favorite band's peak

Echoes. Everything else Floyd did before or after pales in comparison.

And it might be a matter of personal taste, but IMO Fleetwood Mac's best album BY FAR was Then Play On.

A few others at random:

Allman Brothers Band: Live At Fillmore East.

Neil Young: Tonight's The Night>Zuma

Jimi Hendrix: Machine Gun (the quintessential Hendrix jam).

Jethro Tull: Stand Up.

CCR: Willy & the Poor Boys (especially Fortunate Son).

Yes: Close to the Edge.

 

Great thread idea ... I'm late so I'll chip in a few comments, then cast my vote. You'll note these are all albums, because I'm an LP geek.

Yes/Close to the Edge: Prog rock doesn't get much better than the three-album run of The Yes Album, Fragile and Close to the Edge. All have some great songs, but I think they peaked on The Yes Album, where Steve Howe came aboard and immediately kicked ass.

Led Zeppelin: I'd go with LZ III, because it's got a great mix of acoustic and electric songs. "Tangerine" is one of my favorites.

Wilco: Their best lineup is the one they have now, so as much as I liked Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, I might say they peaked on Sky Blue Sky, especially "Impossible Germany." What do you want ... I've got two kids!

And I'll cast my (very obvious) vote for Rush's Moving Pictures album. Although over the years, "side two" (begins with "Camera Eye") has grown on me, whereas when I first discovered Rush in the mid-1980s, I wore out "side one" of the Moving Pictures LP (Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, YYZ and Limelight). Seeing them play the entire thing live a few years ago was a treat.

 

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From the studio, it was downhill following News of the World (though there are some excellent to great tunes on each record afterward).

But from a band/live standpoint, IMO it was most certainly their Live Aid performance, quite possibly the best live set I've ever seen/heard.

 

Rush at their peak was Moving Pictures. My favorite album, however is Signals.

I guess for bands not mentioned yet -- I'd say Iron Maiden's peak would be "Powerslave" -- at least that tour, if not the album. But that whole 4-album run from "Number of the Beast" through "Seventh Son" is really something. Their post-2000 material doesn't get enough attention either.

 

Good call on Iron Maiden.

Moving Pictures is awesome but I'd argue that Rush at their peak was 2112. They had put out three albums in 14 months and 2112 was the the final and penultimate release of the trio. You might think that would be tough on the artists, writing and releasing that much in such a short period of time, but I think it really honed their sound as a band.

Metallica would be Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. I understand that others would say And Justice for All and the Black Album were the peak, but they had changed their sound so much it was like a different band.

 

"One" (the song Metallica got dicked over at the Grammys for in 1989) encapsulates the end of one era and the beginning of another for the band. I used to liken it to the "Free Bird" of speed metal.

 

Fifty years ago this month:



That's just one of many peaks for this particular artist - and one that will never happen again for anybody.

 

You make a good argument, metsfan, and the band would agree with you. I've seen/read several interviews where "2112" was called the album that saved their career.

Besides the side-long title track, I've always liked "Passage to Bangkok," too.

 

I'm a child of the 60s & early 70s, so... Here are a few that have yet to be mentioned:

The Doors -- The End. Love it or hate it, this song is Jim Morrison at the peak of his poetic creativity, and the music is SO hypnotic.

Jefferson Airplane -- Volunteers. Angry and confrontational, but with some surprisingly tender moments (Good Shepherd). And the playing on this record is as good as anything any of them have ever done.

Deep Purple -- Machine Head. The classic DP lineup with by far their best collection of songs. Opens with Highway Star and roars from start to finish.

Santana -- Abraxas. There is a reason why Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen gets played to death on classic rock radio. It's a damn good song with a smoking-hot finish. The rest of the album's pretty good as well.

 

AC/DC (I suppose they were a favorite back in the day) - Powerage through Highway to Hell. Lyrically they were never better on those albums and Bon was at the top of his game. Also excellent album production helped.

 

At least that's what you said