10 Hard Rock Bands Who Made 3 Great Albums In A Row
When one classic album isn't enough for these bands.
There is no shortage of world beating hard rock albums in the world. Whether it’s Black Sabbath on Paranoid, Metallica on Master of Puppets or Guns N Roses doing Appetite for Destruction, musicians have taken the genre down every avenue. The thudding heaviness of hard rock has been fused with Southern groove, sludge, massive arena rock and a bucket full of emotion to create some of the greatest albums of all time.
It takes a special level of music genius and star alignment to write a great record, but the bands on this list have done far more than that. Not content (or far too skilled) to write one great album, they’ve blessed us with multiple corkers and continually push the genre further than before. Sometimes these records become platinum selling albums but often become underappreciated gems that are criminally overlooked. The fact that these bands can achieve excellence again and again is outstanding.
On this list are insane guitar solos, experimental musicianship, legendary anthems and more - after all, it wouldn’t be hard rock without a hell of a lot of attitude.
10. Pantera
Pantera are another band on this list that don’t just have a great three album streak, but four. The band dominated the 1990s with their take on stomp filled groove metal, and the four piece of Phil Anselmo, Vinnie Paul, Rex Brown and Dimebag Darrel will go down in history as one of the all time greats.
For the purpose of this list, we’ll choose Vulgar Display of Power (1992), Far Beyond Driven (1994) and The Great Southern Trendkill (1996) as their greatest run of three, however 1990s Cowboys from Hell is another classic. As every release came, Pantera got harder, their riffs got nastier, they played heavier and by the time The Great Southern Trendkill saw its release, the band had rage like no other. Spitting pure poison at society around them, Pantera wanted to start a war on The Great Southern Trendkill and stomp over anyone who disagreed.
This three record run saw Pantera fall into the deepest, darkest south, and although people disagree about the quality of Far Beyond Driven, it was the start of Pantera’s major success and foray into the sound they would go on to perfect. These records are 1990s metal classics and they’ve gone to shape the great heavy groove bands of the future (we’re looking at you Lamb of God).