Bands that have never failed you.

[theshadowkhan]

Let's see... on the face of it, there are lots of bands that have "never failed me", in the sense that every album they've produced that I have heard has been great. But if I'm judging them by the criteria specified in the OP, that makes things more complicated.

When you take those criteria into consideration, I'm forced to leave a lot of bands whose virtues I happily extol off of this list because I haven't actually listened to all their albums, and so I'm unable to conclude they have never produced one that isn't good. Other bands I would generally proclaim to be wonderful might have some early material that is less than wonderful, and a whole slew of great bands I would love to mention here haven't actually produced 3 or more albums just yet.

So with that in mind, the list of bands with 3 or more albums that I can personally verify have never sucked is as follows:

Beyond Twilight
Epica
Falconer
Fireflight
Karmakanic
Lullacry
Masterplan
Poets of the Fall
Rhapsody (Of Fire)
Scar Symmetry
Silent Force
Sirenia
Tarot
Tristania

I've gotta say, I love most of the bands on your list. (especially Epica and Tristania) but I think Sirenia is a poor choice since they go through lead female vocals almost once an album.
As for my pick:
Kamelot & Epica
Just ignore Kamelot's first two albums
the band had an absolutely dynamic change when the got Khan

 

[andeve3]

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

 

[Stir72]

Dream Theater.

I grieve for the loss of Portnoy, though.

He was too big a part of the band for them to truely recover fully with another drummer.

Agree on all 3 points. I wish they'd give these guys their own Rock Band - every album, every song - I don't care how much it costs!

 

[Fetzenfisch]

LORDI
The Crimson Ghosts
The Other
The Creepshow
Bloodsucking Zombies from outer Space
Toy Dolls
Nekromantix
Specimen
Feuerschwanz
Schandmaul
The Dresden Dolls
Gogol Bordello
Flogging Molly

 

[Lilani]

Let's see...I usually don't pick my music by band unless I get fixated on them, but here goes:

Enter the Haggis
Twelve Girls Band
Vitamin String Quartet
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
E.S. Posthumus
Bond
Blue Stone

 

[Erja_Perttu]

Simon and Garfunkel.
I freakin' love those guys.

Absolutely. Those most of their songs are pretty much timeless.

 

[Thedayrecker]

Nirvana

and if you disagree

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/opinion

 

[Nietz]

Three bands(technically two artists and one band) have never failed me.

First one is Rush. They got me through my teenage years, and I recently had a Rush renaissance. And what I heard as a little brat seems to just be better now that I'm a dusty old cynic.

First artist is Willie Nelson. My mother started to play him for me when I was just a little toddler. So my adoration for the old cowboy is cemented in my early childhood. And he does get better the older I get. I can totally imagine myself sporting a nice pony-tail like his when I reach the autumn of my years.

The last, and probably the most important, is the artist Aaron Funk and his Venetian Snares. His music is definitely not for everyone, I get massive amounts of crap when I play it at the job. But I just love it. Every album and damn near every song is awesome in its own right. The music just speaks to me on so many levels.

 

[Yoshemo]

AFI, Greenday, and Gorillaz <3

 

[Meanmoose]

The Shins
Johnny Flynn
Laura Marling
Kaizers Orchestra
M-Ward

 

[dalek sec]

Nox Arcana. I have all their albums on my ipod and go to bed listening to them every night.

 

[Boletes Net]

Beck has never done a bad album in my opinion.
Radiohead have done countless beautiful albums however I'm not a fan of pablo honey start to finnish.

 

[Ithos]

wow, though one... it's really hard, bands usually change their style and have a few swings and misses if they want to evolve as musicians. Those who don't usually fail anyway .Few exceptions of course, like Iron Maiden(Have they ever tried a new sound?).

erh.. Machinae Suprimacy maybe? They always got something fun, and their new album is even better the last. Their music is getting heavier.

 

[supermariner]

Supergrass had been going for around 15 years
and have (in this faithful listeners opinion) made a bad album
... ever

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

-snippety-

I've gotta say, I love most of the bands on your list. (especially Epica and Tristania) but I think Sirenia is a poor choice since they go through lead female vocals almost once an album.
As for my pick:
Kamelot & Epica
Just ignore Kamelot's first two albums
the band had an absolutely dynamic change when the got Khan

Kamelot would have been on my list if we didn't have to tell people to ignore the first two albums. As for Sirenia, it isn't almost once per album, it is once per album - the first album doesn't really count since the girl they got for that was only a session performer and never actually an official part of the band, but the next three studio albums each had a different female vocalist. The only exception is that the second girl stuck around long enough to make an EP as well.

Still, none of those were actually bad albums (Nine Destinies and a Downfall is certainly the weakest, but still not bad), so I'm comfortable including them.

 

[Rock 'n' Soul]

The Mills Brothers.

But then again, my brain might be addled.

 

[Cracktopus]

Emperor and Electric Wizard come to mind.

 

[Ripshot]

Streetlight Manifesto

 

[electric discordian]

Skyclad,Devo,Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, Madness,Mr Bungle,Carnival in Coal,Dead Sixties only did one album before they broke up!

All good in their own way! I am thinking of others may post again

Oh duur , They Might Be Giants!