Which Rock Act Released the Best Two Albums in a Single Year?

It's not uncommon nowadays for rock acts to go long periods of time without releasing albums. In a very different era, however, they would routinely release a pair of albums in a single year.

The Beatles did it a trio of times over their first three years alone. The Rolling Stones followed suit in 1965 and again in 1967, just as the Beatles released two more LPs in the same year. Paul McCartney liked the idea so much that he carried it over to his solo career, issuing two albums in 1971 and 1973.

Bob Dylan issued two in 1964 and 1965, the same years the Beatles did. Creedence Clearwater Revival put out two in 1970, after they released a mind-boggling three LPs in 1969. Elton John then picked up the baton, issuing twin recordings in 1970, 1973 and 1975. David Bowie did it in 1973 and 1977.

Of course, producing so many songs increases the risk that some won't be all that great. That's why we're ranking pairs of rock albums from a single year. Unfortunately, some of rock's most important recordings arrived just before or after some of rock's more forgettable ones.

Still, there's something to be said for those who try. It takes no small amount of ambition to follow your muse into multiple studio projects over such a short timeframe. The following 35 pairs of albums didn't always meet expectations, but they sometimes succeeded beyond anything imagined. That's the reward to balance out the risk.

Here's our ranking of the best same-year album releases in rock history.