In light of everyone Be Here Now-ing about My Bloody Valentine, I was thinking about how most bands/artists churn out all their best stuff in pretty much one go before entering slowly (or quickly) declining.

The only exception that springs to mind is Bob Dylan, who managed to make 4 great albums in the space of about 3 years (Times They Are A'Changin, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde), then churned out some fairly iffy stuff (although I do like Nashville Skyline) for years until Blood On The Tracks, before becoming the shittest musician of all time.

Any other contenders?