After looking at my first list, I noticed a handful of bands that had large spreads but not consistent excellence.   So, I was curious which artists had 5-star songs in the most different years.

As an example, a band like the Silver Jews from the previous list has an impressive 14 year spread.   However, they only released 6 albums in those 14 years.    All 6 had at least one 5-star song and 6 distinct years is impressive, but would not make the top ten.

There was overlap between the lists, but four artists fell off this list:  Bob Mould, The Sea and Cake, Black Francis, the Silver Jews.

The top ten is below…

1.  The Mountain Goats (15 years) – 1993 – 1995, 1997,1999 – 2002, 2004 – 2009, and 2011.

2.  Damien Jurado (13 years) – 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 – 2008, and 2010 – 2012

3.  Bill Callahan/Smog (12 years) – 1992, 1993, 1995 – 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2010

3.  Will Oldham/Bonnie Prince Billie/Palace (12 years) – 1993 – 2000 and 2003 – 2006

5.  Jason Molina/Songs: Ohia (11 years) – 1996 – 2000, 2002 – 2005, 2007, and 2009

6.  Modest Mouse (10 years) – 1993, 1996 – 2001, 2004, 2007, and 2009

7.   Tom Waits (9 years) – 1973, 1975, 1976, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1999, 2011

8.  Ben Barnett/Kind of Like Spitting (8 years) – 1996, 1999 – 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2009

8.  Matt Pond PA (8 years) – 2000 – 2005, 2007, and 2011

8.  Dinosaur Jr (8 years) – 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2007, and 2009