In a 2011 piece for the AV Club, music critic Steven Hyden defined a new metric for musical greatness: the five-albums test. An artist passes this test if they release at least five consecutive masterful albums. According to Hyden, very few artists pass this test. The Beatles do. So do Queen. That said, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones come up short. Inspired by Mr. Hyden, I want to propose a test of musical greatness that is even more stringent: the 40-year test.

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