List of artists that have never lost quality throughout entire career


One of the brightest on my list is 

1. Depeche Mode. I'm big fan started listening and enjoying them from their very first album "Speak and Spell". I am devoted to their perfection of every song they create in terms of sound, melody, harmony and incredible intelligence. Their music may seem simple, but in reality much more complex than seems. I believe that they're somewhat commercialized, but also believe that they deserve their incredible success. They're indeed Kings of electronic rock!

2. Can (The Can). Every album they released is a journey to their creativity. What are they rock? Jazz? Prog? Their music often can cover all styles of music in one song. It's a blend of jazz-trained drummer Jaki Libezeit, classically trained keyboardist Irmin Schmidt(also conductor and neo-classical composer and film score composer), multi-instrumentalist bassist Holger Czukai and classically trained guitarist and electric violinist Michael Caroli (RIP). It's a unique blend of musicians with extraordinary skills and creativity

3. Dead Can Dance. This artist has plenty of praises and each and every of their album is a unique blend of electronics and earth bound instruments. Lisa Gerrard is known to be a part of Gladiator Motion Picture Soundtrack.

4. Tom Waits. Many would criticize Tom for not singing his own voice, but I'm amused the way he does it with spirit of Louis Armstrong! Yes indeed with spirit instead of just imitating. Embracing the spirit of inspired artist is different and Tom is clear example to that!
czarivey
Elvis Costello has never disappointed.

Radiohead

Wilco

Tom Waits

Grateful Dead (OK, debatable, but I'm a die hard!)
I can't think of a single artist, in any genre, that hasn't put out at least one dog. In the long term, anyway.

A good friend of mine, now deceased, used to say:

"Every Beatles album has its "Octopus's Garden".
With new technology today and new training programs available for musicians, I can say that there are plenty of organists that could possibly outplay J.S.Bach even playing his own pieces. Since we can't hear J.S.Bach recorded, we can't really judge...
Remember, history is never precise
Haven't you ever heard the Brandenburg played badly? Sounding like a demented circus calliope on methedrine?

It's a good piece, but it can easily be butchered.