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What are your "perfect" albums?

Outshined91

Outshined91

Supporting Member
Aug 23, 2019
1,808
2,336
US of A
#1
As the title suggest, to you what albums are "perfect"? (Use of quotes implies the subjectiveness of the question!)

This is my shortlist:
Superunknown by Soundgarden
In Rainbows by Radiohead
Parachutes by Coldplay
Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol

To me, all of these have varied composition styles, fantastic songwriting/musicianship, and songs that I could listen to over and over with not a single cut putting me off. And of course, some tasty bass playing on all of them! :D

Eager to see what albums TB thinks are flawless!
 
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#5
"Go For Your Guns" - Isley Brothers

"That's the Way of the World" and "All 'n All" - Earth, Wind & Fire

"Innervisions" and "Songs in the Key of Life" - Stevie Wonder

"Mothership Connection" and "Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome" - Parliament

"Off the Wall" and "Thriller" - Michael Jackson

"Purple Rain" and "Sign o' the Times" - Prince
 
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#6
That's a tough one; you can mention great epic albums, the alltime classics, the most impressive debuts, your absolute favorites, or ones that take you back to a certain time and place(and person), but they can all have clunkers, weak moments, that one throwaway tune. Catch me another time, and I might have different answers…

Frank Sinatra—-No One Cares
Miles Davis—-Kind Of Blue
Buffalo Springfield—-Again
Jimi Hendrix Experience—-Axis Bold As Love
Jethro Tull—-Stand Up
Lou Reed—-Berlin
Roxy Music—-Country Life
King Crimson—-Red
Jeff Beck—-Blow By Blow
Television—-Marquee Moon
XTC—-Black Sea
Joy Division—-Closer
The Church—-Starfish

That's enough for now.
 
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#13
Earth Wind and Fire Gratitude.
Bruce Springsteen Tunnel of Love
Prince Musicology
Bryan Adams Reckless
Donny Hathaway Live
John Mellencamp Uh huh
Billy Ocean Suddenly
Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood
Gales Bros Left hand Brand
Billy Joel Glass houses
Albert King Road house blues
Eric Clapton from the cradle
Brick Brick
Mick Jagger She's the Boss
Chris Duarte group Texas Sugar Strat Magik
So much more plus some already mentioned. I could do this all day.
I can listen to these albums and sing every syllable.
 
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#14
Perfect albums must not only be great as a whole: they must have zero bad, clunky, or annoying songs.
This is difficult to achieve. Almost every "classic" has a clunker or two that always make you want to hit "skip." (Or fast-forward, if you're old enough.)

I may think of more, but here are some off the top of my head:
Nomeansno - Wrong (note that the CD has two extra tracks that aren't on the original album and aren't nearly as good. Original ends with "All Lies," and you should stop there too.)
AC/DC - Back In Black
Fugazi - Repeater
Kyuss - Welcome To Sky Valley (+1 to @smo )
 
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#16
I'm not going to pretend this is a top 10 ranking, just a few that occur to me.

One I think is hugely underrated is Sixpence None the Richer's eponymous album from the 90s. It's the one with "Kiss Me" on it, that you'll hear playing in grocery stores all the time. "Kiss Me" by itself can come across as schmaltzy and saccharine (although IMO it just treads that line without ever crossing it, redeeming itself by being shockingly earnest and sincere). The album as a whole, though, is moody and evocative and wrestles with dark emotions. Listened to in its album context - which people still did in the 90s, before streaming - Kiss Me bursts out of a milieu of depression and exhaustion with exhilarating energy - that doesn't last, and then has to be processed through more ragged meditation before the listener arrives at some sort of resolution by the end.

It's really a whole-album experience, but this is my favorite track from it. Bear in mind that Kiss Me was track 4; listening through the album in sequence, this is where they've brought you by track 11. There's been darker stuff in between, and the album's second love song is so different in tone from its first:


Another, more recent, is Samantha Fish's Belle of the West album. She had made a splash as a blues guitarist, and honestly I felt a lot of dread when I heard her next release would have a more country/Americana vibe. It also apparently included a lot of material that had been left on the cutting room floor from sessions for the Wild Heart album, but in my opinion this is some of her best songwriting. There's a whole album at this level.


Third would be to dip back, and go to Yes. Hard to pick which one, but I'd probably have to say Close to the Edge. Y'all know it, I don't have to share a track to sample it here.
 
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