Top 20 Triple Albums

If
there
was
a
golden
era
for
three-disc
releases,
it
was
clearly
the ’70s.
Half
of
the
items
in
the
following
list
of
Top
20
Triple
Albums
arrived
in
that
decade.

Some
artists
have
been
more
apt
to
release
triple
albums:

Frank
Zappa
could
almost
have
his
own
with
highlights
like
1979’s


Joe’s
Garage,
1981’s

Shut
Up ‘n
Play
Yer
Guitar
and
1984’s

Thing-Fish,
among
others.

Rush
issued
two
of
them,
as
did

Paul
McCartney.

There’s
no
set
timeframe
for
when
rock
acts
decide
that
neither
a
single-disc
nor
double-disc
package
could
contain
their
music.

George
Harrison
officially
launched
his
solo
career
with
one,
while

Emerson
Lake
and
Palmer
issued
another
at
roughly
the
mid-point
of
their
classic
era.
But
then
2017’s


Triplicate
was

Bob
Dylan‘s
first-ever
triple
album,
arriving
after
37
previous
releases.

READ
MORE:

Final
Songs
Performed
Live
by
Rock’s
Biggest
Acts

Rock
has
seen
plenty
of
three-disc
studio
efforts,
from
acts
as
different
as

Nine
Inch
Nails
(1999’s

The
Fragile)
and

Iron
Maiden
(2015’s


The
Book
of
Souls).
Proper
overviews
of
legacy
acts
may
require
compilations
to
push
past
a
second
disc,
as
they
did
with

Electric
Light
Orchestra‘s

Flashback
and

Tom
Waits‘

Orphans:
Brawlers,
Bawlers
and
Bastards.

Most
often,
however,
triple
albums
showcase
rock
acts
on
stage.
Some
focus
on
specific
events,
including
1970’s


Woodstock,
1971’s


Concert
for
Bangladesh
and
1978’s


The
Last
Waltz,
but
most
document
individual
acts
during
a
specific
touring
era.

Often
most
intriguing
of
all
is
when
a
three-disc
concert
release
captures
these
groups
at
a
turning-point
moment:

Santana‘s

Lotus
followed
the
band’s
new
shift
toward
fusion.
The

Who
issued
a
triple
album
in
celebration
of
their
late-’80s
reunion.

King
Crimson‘s

Heavy
ConstruKction
found
the
group
suddenly
without
their
long-time
rhythm
section
of
Bill
Bruford
and
Tony
Levin.

Here’s
a
ranked
look
back
at
the
Top
20
Triple
Albums:

Rock’s
Craziest
Conspiracy
Theories