In part, what you’re referencing is the fact that music artists issue “releases,” not all of which are “albums.” One type of release that you didn’t mention is the “single.” Not every “single” or version thereof makes its way on to an “album.”
Not only is this not addressed in standard ID3 metadata tags, but I’ve found no 3rd party metadata source or program that accounts for it.
To partially circumvent this, I think of entries in my library as releases, not albums. I tag each release using an external tag editor and set my library to use “embedded tags.” That way, each each release flows chronologically in the library, regardless of whether it’s a single, an EP, a studio album, a live album or a compilation album.
The Who is a good example of an artist who released a lot of hit singles that never appeared on a studio album.
