Editor’s Note: From Albumism’s inception back in 2016, we’ve remained unabashedly and unequivocally passionate about our mission of celebrating the world's love affairs with albums past, present and future.
But while our devotion to the album as an art form has remained steadfast, as evidenced by our deepening repository of individual album tributes and reviews, we’ve admittedly seldom taken the opportunity to explicitly articulate our reverence for the virtues of artists’ complete album repertoires as a whole.
Hence why we’ve decided to showcase what we believe to be the most dynamic discographies of all time in this recurring series. In doing so, we hope to better understand the broader creative context within which our most beloved individual albums exist, while acknowledging the full breadth of their creators’ artistry, career arcs, and overall contributions to the ever-evolving musical landscape.
We hope you enjoy this series and be sure to check here periodically for the latest installments.
DONNA SUMMER
Studio Albums: Lady of the Night (1974) | Love to Love You Baby (1975) | A Love Trilogy (1976) | Four Seasons of Love (1976) | I Remember Yesterday (1977) | Once Upon a Time (1977) | Bad Girls (1979) | The Wanderer (1980) | Donna Summer (1982) | She Works Hard for the Money (1983) | Cats Without Claws (1984) | All Systems Go (1987) | Another Place and Time (1989) | Mistaken Identity (1991) | Christmas Spirit (1994) | I'm a Rainbow (1996) | Crayons (2008)
I bristle that anyone would want or try to confine Donna Summer solely to the disco genre. Now, this isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate or understand Summer’s legacy with that indefatigable sound. Albums such as A Love Trilogy (1976) and Four Seasons of Love (1976) are impeccably arranged and performed, but those long players merely graze the surface of Summer’s innumerable talents.
As she moved further along into her career, disco would fall into Summer’s vocational rearview. Hindsight reveals that her recordings from the 1980s and beyond were as adventurous as the efforts that preceded them. A singer and songwriter of the highest order, Summer used every album as an opportunity to seek out musical adventures wherever she could find them. That approach immediately endeared Summer to me and has made her one of my all-time favorites.
Quentin’s 3 Favorite Donna Summer Albums of All Time:
1. The Wanderer (1980)
2. Cats Without Claws (1984)
3. A Love Trilogy (1976)
VISIT Donna Summer’s Official Store
LISTEN & WATCH: