What are your "perfect" albums?

[friskinator]

Jeff Buckley - Grace
Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual
Portishead - Dummy
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Third Eye Blind - self titled
Nina Gordon - Bleeding Heart Graffiti
Poe - Haunted

 

[mdogs]

Where to start?

Allman Brothers - Fillmore East
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
John Prine - all of them
Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced
Cream - Disraeli Gears
The Who - Who's Next
Rush - Permanent Waves
Jeff Beck - Wired

 

[Thorsoundcore]

Floyd - Darkside (meddle came close)
Tom Waits - Closing Time
Brian Eno - Music for Airports
Metallica - First three albums
Scratch Acid - Greatest Gift
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Swans - Cop/Children of God/White light
Nirvana - Bleach
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
A.I.C - Dirt/Jar of Flies
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Tool - Aenima/Lateralus
Mudvayne - L.D. 50
Isis - Mosquito Control/Celestial/Oceanic
Godsmack - Awake
Staind - Break the Cycle
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory
Disturbed - The Sickness
Chevelle - Wonder What's Next
Mastodon - Remission/Blood Mountain
A Place to Bury Strangers - Self titled
Jesu - Self titled/Ascension
Oneohtrix Point Never- Returnal/Replica/Garden of delete/Magic OPN
Tycho - Dive

Okay, I'll stop but I definitely have the potential to keep going. I do like a lot more than just rock, metal and electronic!

 

[CryingBass]

Timeless - John Abercrombie
Wilderness - Tony Williams
Close to the Edge - Yes
Tirami Su - Al di Meola
Sunday at the Village Vanguard - Bill Evans
Spectrum - Billy Cobham
Blind Faith - Eric Clapton
Unorthodox Behavior - Brand X
What If - Dixie Dregs
Passengers - Gary Burton
( I better stop here )

 

[J Gold]

Moving Pictures
Led Zeppelin II
Foxtrot
Amorica
Abbey Road
Sgt. Pepper

 

[GoLeafsGo]

There is only, IMHO, one. Crime of the Century.

 

[mike-matthews]

August and Everything After - Counting Crows

 

[mike-matthews]

Ten Summoner's Tales - Sting

100%

 

[pglaser01]

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.

Agree 100% on the album as a whole concept of the 90s…..hence why I feel like
The Downward Spiral is on my list. Another near perfect effort for me would have been Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness

 

[bolophonic]

Van Halen - Fair Warning

 

[Justinian]

 

[RichardW]

Probably either Dark Side or The Wall.

Interesting, because I feel like The Wall has way too much filler. Either Dark Side or Wish You Were Here are pretty close to perfect, in my book.

 

[lermgalieu]

Double Nickels on the Dime - minutemen

 

[Yonni]

Tull - Thick as a Brick
Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Zappa - Apostrophe
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Rush - Permanent Waves
Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka

 

[Iroquoisroadwarrior]

Another perfect day - Motorhead
No pun intended. Or maybe it was intended.

 

[QRanc]

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!

Eager to see what albums TB thinks are flawless!

Yes! Turn on the Bright Lights is number one on my list. From "Untitled" through to "Leif Erikson", it's my favourite.

Short list:
Oingo Boingo first three albums
Devo "Freedom Of Choice"
Primus "Frizzle Fry"
Black Sabbath "Master Of Reality"
Agent Orange "Living In Darkness"
Descendents "All"
Voivod "Nothingface" and "The Wake"
All "Allroy's Revenge"
Soundgarden "Superunknown"
Bad Brains "I Against I"
Failure "Magnified"
Faith No More "The Real Thing"
Metallica "Master Of Puppets"
Jethro Tull "Thick As A Brick"
Slift "Ummon"
Rush "Moving Pictures"
Yes "Yes Album"

I'm almost on board with "Ummon". The caveat being it's still too new for me to make that call.

I'll add:
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - I'm in Your Mind Fuzz
The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

That's off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll continue to add to my list.

I could list a dozen albums that would be perfect l, but for one song.

 

[Dr. Keebs]

The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) - Steven Wilson

 

[jw23mind]

Yes! Turn on the Bright Lights is number one on my list. From "Untitled" through to "Leif Erikson", it's my favourite.



I'm almost on board with "Ummon". The caveat being it's still too new for me to make that call.

I'll add:
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - I'm in Your Mind Fuzz
The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

That's off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll continue to add to my list.

I could list a dozen albums that would be perfect l, but for one song.

Nice to hear someone else knows "Ummon". And I almost don't count "Frizzle Fry" because I don't care much for "Harold Of The Rocks"; but other than that, so many great songs with such technical and creative weirdness is hard to say no to.

 

[Bassgeer]

Blackbird - Alter Bridge
In Contact - Caligula's Horse
Sound Awake - Karnivool
Juggernaut Alpha / Juggernaut Omega - Periphery
Signs of Life - Poets of the Fall
Present/Future - Eagle Eye Cherry
Kamelot - The Black Halo
Seventh Wonder - The Great Escape
Gojira - Fortitude
Chevelle - Sci-Fi Crimes
Big Wreck - Ghosts
Mobile - Tales From the City
Haken - Virus
Leprous - Coal
Vanessa Carlton - Harmonium
Nightwish - Dark Passion Play
Rishloo - Feathergun
Tool - Lateralus
Dead Letter Circus - This is the Warning
Amaranthe - The Nexus
Delain - April Rain
Plini - Handmade Cities
Carpenter Brut - Trilogy

 

[QRanc]

Nice to hear someone else knows "Ummon". And I almost don't count "Frizzle Fry" because I don't care much for "Harold Of The Rocks"; but other than that, so many great songs with such technical and creative weirdness is hard to say no to.

I saw the KEXP performance in March at the start of the initial lockdown and I was sold.