Plenty of very talented people write individual songs instead of conceptual albums, and songs on a record often sound cohesively only because they were written in approximately the same period. I don't know where you got the notion that it's either whole albums or songs written by others, nothing in between.
For example, Velvet Underground operated pretty much in pop industry's recording mode despite their experimental approach to the sound and themes. 'The Velvet Underground & Nico' straight up opens with one of the poppiest songs they have, and the tracks aren't thematically linked aside from being generally about people at The Factory. Songs about drugs and BDSM are interspersed with heartfelt songs about Edie Sedgwick, Warhol, and a poor girl who wants to party. They also recorded a bunch of great songs that went unreleased for fifteen years, until the compilation 'VU'.