Greatest album runs

The more and more I think about it, the Diamond Dave era of Van Halen is pretty damn remarkable. In only 6 years, they recorded 6 back-to-back hard rock triumphs:

Van Halen ---> Van Halen II ---> Women and Children First ---> Fair Warning ---> Diver Down ---> 1984

Not only did the Roth-era of VH keep their quality control in check, they managed to diversify their sound and push the boundaries of what a loud, celebratory hard rock outfit could achieve. Other than Van Halen II (an album that proved that their perfect debut was new fluke by any means, and reconfirmed the band's razor-sharp musicianship and chemistry), each and every album of this era has its own identity, changing the rules and playing field of a guitar-centric band and a frontman who established his own template for the word showmanship.

I'd personally include No Code in that run. The garage-rock feel of the rockers and the intimate nature of the ballads opened up the band's sound in ways that was unexpected at the time. Yield and Binaural is when the band's consistency started becoming a major issue for me. They picked up speed again with Riot Act and the self-titled, though.

When I created this topic in the back of my head, Zeppelin was the other band that immediately came to mind other than VH, then I remembered that I wasn't too fond of Led Zeppelin III. Not bad by any means, but it doesn't hold its ground from front to back like their other albums.

Greatest runs = quality, consistency, time-frame, and artistic growth should be taken into account; and by using "greatest" I had no intention of limiting the discussion to the most popular artists...naturally, a knee-jerk reaction is to namecheck classic rock bands and what have you

Actually, I think the Diamond Dave era of VH is underrated in many ways, and taken for granted. That incarnation of the band made it seem so easy and fun with what they were accomplishing that the notion of artistic merit could even be questionable. But there hasn't been (and likely won't ever be) a band of such ballsy display, ferocious energy, extraordinary chemistry, and bullet-proof musicianship all wrapped into one package since. There's a dark undercurrent all over Fair Warning, even a mean-spirited tone, that few hard rock albums have tempted to approach. 1984 was like a rebirth for the band's sound (and, ironically, their final bid before Van Hagar sadly took over the landscape)--bringing the pop-rock pendulum to a whole new level (the use of synthesizers hasn't aged the album at all, which proves far ahead of the curve the band were aiming), while still keeping their party-anthem roots.

We'll have to disagree on '(Oh) Pretty Woman'. LOVE that cover, though the opening segue way of 'Intruder' really makes that cover come alive.

The Stones had an amazing run with Beggars Banquet ---> Let It Bleed ---> Sticky Fingers ---> Exile On Main Street

however, I wouldn't say those 4 discs diversified their sound any more than Roth-era VH, other than Exile On Main Street

The Stones peaked way too early with Exile On Main Street. I'll always wonder what VH would've recorded next with Roth if he hadn't left, especially considering 1984 couldn't have been a better swan song.

Other than their debut (which isn't bad, just not great)...the S-K run started with Call the Doctor, but even saying that, Dig Me Out is when the words "incredible" and "flawless" began to emerge.