How many albums can one artist release? These are the champions.

[This was my column for GlobalNews.ca this week. – AC]

Creativity is a strange and elusive thing. It cannot be summoned on demand or rushed. The muse arrives when it does and on its own schedule.

When it comes to music, most artists do well to release an album every 18 to 24 months, each with around a dozen songs. There may be a few additional tracks — bonus tracks, B-sides, and the odd standalone single — but for the most part, getting, say 20 new songs into the marketplace every couple of years is considered to be pretty productive.

But then there are the ultra-prolific types, the kind who are touched by the muse weekly, daily, or from the looks of it, even hourly. For them, songs flow like water. It becomes a race to capture as many of those ideas as possible. And once those songs are out, they can be performed live, recorded, and released.

When the dust has settled, they can be packaged in compilation albums and box sets. How do they do it?

What you’re about to read is, I think, pretty astounding. Keep going.