The Perfect Albums Thread

[Metalhead]

This thread is for those rare albums where every track is a banger, that you can listen to from start to finish without skipping any of it. This is different from a favorite albums thread since even I can admit most of my favorite albums are not perfect.

Here is my list of perfect albums:

Yes - Close to the Edge
Pink Floyd - Animals
Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Billy Joel - 52nd Street
Nirvana - In Utero
Opeth - Sorceress
Ghost - Prequelle

What are your perfect albums?

 

[Mr. Stevens]

Great thread idea!

John Coltrane - Blue Train; Giant Steps
Ornette Coleman - Skies of America
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, Love You
Duke Ellington - Ellington Uptown
Dave Brubeck - Time Out; Jazz Impressions of Japan; Jazz Goes to College
Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin
The High Llamas - Beet, Maize & Corn; Cold and Bouncy; Snowbug
Stereolab - Sound Dust; Margarine Eclipse; Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night
Steve Reich - Music for a Large Ensemble/Violin Phase/Octet
Leonard Bernstein - Nutcracker Suite/Swan Lake Suite
Dorothy Ashby - In a Minor Groove
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue; E.S.P.; Nefertiti; In a Silent Way; On the Corner
Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch
Stan Kenton - City of Glass
Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen; From Langley Park to Memphis
Madness - Keep Moving
The (English) Beat - Special Beat Service
Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention - We're Only in it For the Money; Hot Rats; Uncle Meat
Damon Albarn/Michael Nyman - Ravenous soundtrack
Philip Glass - Glassworks
The Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Music from the Penguin Cafe
Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
Solange - A Seat at the Table

I don't listen as much now, but these are old favorites:

The Cars - s/t
Nirvana - Nevermind
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Magazine - Secondhand Daylight
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
Lana del Rey - Born to Die; Ultraviolence
Roxy Music - Siren
The New York Dolls - s/t
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Morrissey - Viva Hate
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night; Rubber Soul; Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; s/t
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath (UK version); Their Satanic Majesties Request; Sticky Fingers; Let it Bleed
The Kinks - Are the Village Green Preservation Society; Arthur
The Zombies - Odessey [sic] and Oracle
Parliament - Motor Booty Affair
Prince - Purple Rain (I liked some others more, but not every track)
Tori Amos - Under the Pink; Songs from the Choir Girl Hotel
Bjork - Debut
Sonic Youth - Goo
The Clash - Sandinista!; London Calling; Combat Rock
The Fall - I am Kurious Oranj; This Nation's Saving Grace
The Velvet Underground - the first two and Loaded
Lou Reed - Berlin
Bee Gees - Main Course
XTC - Skylarking; Drums and Wires; Dukes of Stratosphear recordings
The Stranglers - The Raven; The Gospel According to the Meninblack; Feline; Rattus Norvegicus
The Residents - Meet the Residents; Mark of the Mole
Blur - Parklife; 13
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Talking Heads - Naked
The Damned - Strawberries
Pulp - A Different Class
Supergrass - Life on Other Planets
Steely Dan - Aja; The Royal Scam
The Rules - s/t
Television - Marquee Moon
Black Flag - Damaged
Crass - P**** Envy

Well, that's enough of a life story

 

[NDR2]

When it came to albums I owned, there would be the songs I liked and the songs I found boring. Albums by my favorite groups would have to have more good songs than boring songs (not
counting greatest hits and best of
compilations, because they always have the best songs on them). I wouldn’t skip the boring songs, but I wouldn’t consider them my favorites. I would also prefer that the last song on Side 2 of an album would be a good one - to end the album on a high note. No album could be perfect, but there were a few original albums in my collection that I thought had all good songs and no boring songs:

The Miracles Doin’ Mickey’s Monkey
The Supremes a Go Go
The Police - Outlandos D’Amour

My favorite live album of that sort was the soundtrack album to the TV special “Goin’ Back to Indiana” by The Jackson 5. (One of the tracks is actually a skit, but it’s an entertaining sounding one.)

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Blue Highway - Blue Highway
Gaslight Anthem - The 59 Sound
Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time

 

[Darkkin]

Don't hate me...but:

All-Time Greatest Hits - Neil Diamond
Imagenarium - Nightwish
Airborne Toxic Event (Self titled)
Stars - The Cranberries
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 1 (Various)
Beauty and the Beast (1992) - Alan Menken
ABBA Gold - ABBA
Lady in the Water (Score) - James Newton Howard
Fellowship and Two Towers (Scores) - Howard Shore
The Lion King - Elton John, Hans Zimmer
Mulan (1998) - Jerry Goldsmith
Sounds of Summer (2003) - The Beach Boys
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
Muppet Treasure Island - Hans Zimmer
Return of the Jedi (Score) - John Williams
Revenge of the Sith (Score) - John Williams
Songs From an American Movie (2000) - Everclear
Life for Rent (2003) - Dido
This is the Life (2008) - Amy MacDonald
Back to Bedlam (2005) - James Blunt
Picaresque (2005) - The Decemberists
The King is Dead (2010) - The Decemberists
Beethoven's Last Night - Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Phantom of the Opera (2004) Andrew Lloyd Webber
Nothin' But the Best (2008) - Frank Sinatra


I grew up listening to a lot of oldies, on the radio in Dad's car, on old 45's at my grandparents, on the local station when I got my own stereo in middle school. Movie soundtracks are a weird niche I adore. These are the albums I listen to on repeat and in most cases have replaced at least once from sheer use.

 

[Slime_Punk]

I have so many of these. I'm glad others do, too!

Get The Shot - Infinite Punishment
Comeback Kid - Heavy Steps
The Intersphere - Relations in the Unseen
The Intersphere - The Grand Delusion
Maraton - Meta+
Meer - Playing House
Puppy - The Goat
Pitbulls In The Nursery - Lunatic
Not On Tour - Growing Pains
At The Drive-In - Relationship Of Command
The Mars Volta - De-loused In the Comatorium
Astronoid - Astronoid
Astronoid - Air
Astronoid - Radiant Bloom
Ignite - Our Darkest Days
City of Souls - Synæsthesia
Agent Fresco - Destrier
ASG - Win Us Over
A Wilhelm Scream - Career Suicide
A Wilhelm Scream - Partycrasher
A Wilhelm Scream - Ruiner
Kill******* - Party Grind
Kill******* - The Afterparty
Serpentine Dominion - Serpentine Dominion
Brothertiger - Out of Touch
Brothertiger - Paradise Lost
The Band Royale - The Band Royale
Trust Company - The Lonely Position of Neutral
Trust Company - True Parallels
Apartment 26 - Music For The Massive
Pitchshifter - www.pitchshifter.com (not a URL, it's the album title)
Counterpunch - Rewire
Children of Bodom - Hatebreeder
Children of Bodom - Follow The Reaper
Macabre - Gloom
Macabre - Sinister Slaughter
Macabre - Dahmer
Macabre - Murder Metal
Macabre - Grim Scary Tales
Macabre - Carnival of Killers

I get this weird feeling I could just keep adding to this. There's way too much amazing music on this planet

 

[Mr. Stevens]

Don't hate me...but:

Fellowship and Two Towers (Scores) - Howard Shore



I grew up listening to a lot of oldies, on the radio in Dad's car, on old 45's at my grandparents, on the local station when I got my own stereo in middle school. Movie soundtracks are a weird niche I adore. These are the albums I listen to on repeat and in most cases have replaced at least once from sheer use.

I thought about adding those two! I love Howard Shore. John Williams too.

Also, have to agree with Metalhead on Closer to the Edge. I probably could have mentioned some albums by Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant, too.

 

[Rodafina]

Pedestrian Verse | Frightened Rabbit

Here | Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

 

[Nick000]

My list is a bit all over the place in Rock and 60s-70s Pop, just like my main music interests. My very favorite albums from my youth are perfect in my opinion. Black Sabbath - Born Again [1983], Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman [1982] and Iron Maiden - Killers [US version, 1981]. These albums, or tracks from them, have been on just about every listening selection I have had since their original releases, and although not every LP below is a favorite, and that isn't a prerequisite for the list, these three favorites happen to be perfect in my opinion, so they are the start of my list, which continues below. I place albums that, as the thread originator "Metalhead" stated, are albums where you want to hear every track from start to finish. I am not counting greatest hits compilations, because I don't think that's really what the concept of this is about, or live LPs as they are really also just greatest hits collections, so KISS Alive! (a perfect double LP) is omitted there. These are in mostly alphabetical order because I thought of them while referencing my own overly loaded Music HDD on my main computer.

45 Grave - Sleep in Safety [1983]
Aerosmith - Rocks [1976]
Bad Company - Bad Company [1974]
Battalion of Saints - Second Coming [1984]
The Beatles - Rubber Soul [1965]
The Beatles - Revolver [1966]
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour [1967]
The Beatles - Abbey Road [1969]
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath [1970]
Black Sabbath - Paranoid [1970]
Black Sabbath - Mob Rules [1981]
The Boston Tea Party - The Boston Tea Party [1968]
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Creedence Clearwater Revival [1968]
The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette [1979]
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars [1972]
Dead Boys - Young, Loud and Snotty [1977]
Deep Purple - Machine Head [1972]
The Dickies - Stukas Over Disneyland [1983]
Donovan - Sunshine Superman [1966]
The Doors - The Doors [1967]
The Doors - Strange Days [1967]
The Doors - Waiting for the Sun [1968]
The Doors - The Soft Parade [1969]
The Doors - Morrison Hotel [1970]
The Doors - L.A. Woman [1971]
The Exploited - Death Before Dishonour [1987]
Fear - The Record [1982]
Fear of God - Within the Veil [1991]
Girlschool - Demolition [1980]
Girlschool - Hit and Run [1981]
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden [US version, 1980]
Iron Maiden - Killers [US version, 1981]
Janis Joplin - I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! [1969]
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow [1967]
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced [US version, 1967]
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love [1967]
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland [1968]
Jimi Hendrix - The Cry of Love [1971]
Jimi Hendrix - War Heroes [1972]
Jimi Hendrix - Midnight Lightning [1975]
Jimi Hendrix - Valleys of Neptune [2010]
Journey - Infinity [1978]
Kaleidoscope (UK band) - Faintly Blowing [1969]
Kiss - Ace Frehley (solo LP) [1978]
Megadeth - Killing is my Business [1985]
Metallica - Kill 'em All [1983]
Metallica - Ride the Lightning [1984]
Metallica - Master of Puppets [1986]
Misfits - Static Age [recorded in 1978]
Misfits - Walk Among Us [1982]
Monster Magnet - Dopes to Infinity [1995]
The Moody Blues - Days of Future Past [1967]
Motorhead - Overkill [1978]
Motorhead - Bomber [1979]
Plasmatics - New Hope for the Wretched [1980]
Plasmatics - Coup D'eTat [1982]
Probot - Probot [2004]
Queen - Queen [1973]
Queen - Queen II {1974]
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack [1974]
Queen - A Night at the Opera [1975]
Queen - A Day at the Races [1976]
Queen - News of the World [1977]
Queen - Flash Gordon [1980]
Ramones - Ramones [1976]
Ramones - Rocket to Russia [1977]
Ramones - Road to Ruin [1978]
The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request [1967]
The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed [1969]
Scorpions - Lovedrive [1979]
Scorpions - Animal Magnetism [1980]
Scorpions - Blackout [1982]
Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols [1977]
Small Faces - Ogden's Nut Gone Flake [1968]
Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material [1979]
Tommy James and the Shondells - Cellophane Symphony [1969]
Tony Iommi - Iommi [2000]
Vice Squad - Get a Life [1998]
W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P. [1984]

I'm sure there are more I can't think of, and looking through my collection is distracting me and tying me up listening to a lot of things now so I'm stopping here. I am surprised that there aren't more albums of some bands listed here and that other long time legendary bands seem to have at least one song on every album which I would regularly skip past. Alice Cooper and Judas Priest are perfect examples of this. Some great albums also end up with songs that I'm very burned out on by radio overplaying - Led Zeppelin is an especially prime example of this.

 

[Mr. Stevens]

^Great list. I love Static Age!

 

[foliodoe]

Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty
Fiona Apple - Tidal
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
David Bowie - Blackstar

 

[Raggamuffin]

This is the only album I ever found that felt as close to perfect as was possible. I bought it on a gut reaction as soon as I saw the album cover. What a wonderful purchase. Beautiful, dark and moody Trip Hop:

Ed

 

[Progster]

No such thing as a perfect album but:

Yes - Relayer
Yes - Closer to the Edge
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Jethro Tull - Benefit
Jethro Tull - A Passion Play
Jethro Tull - Heavy Horses
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Phideaux - Doomsday Afternoon
The Soft Machine - Volume 2
Talking Heads - Little Creatures
Genesis - Foxtrot
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
Camel - Moonmadness
Caravan - Caravan
Caravan - If I Could Do It Again, I'd Do It All Over You
Caravan - In the Land of the Grey and Pink
Caravan - Waterloo lily
Renaissance - Scheherazade and Other Stories
Phideaux - Chupacabras
The Moody Blues -Days of Future Passed
Pink Floyd - Animals
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
No Man's Land - The Drownin g Desert.
Celelalte Cuvinte - Armaghedon
Rush - A Farewell to Kings
Rush - 2112
Skyclad - No Daylights nor Heeltaps
Skyclad - A Semblance of Normality
Al Stewart - Year of the Cat
Wishbone Ash - Argus
Talitha Qumi - Despre Cuvinte
Jeff Wayne - War of the Worlds
Uriah Heep - Salisbury
Taal - Skymind
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
Jan Dukes de Grey - Mice and Rats in the Loft

 

[Mr. Stevens]

You listed a lot of great albums, Progster, but I was happy to see Little Creatures. I feel like that one is a little underrated. "And She Was," "Road to Nowhere," "The Lady Don't Mind," "Give Me Back My Name," "Stay Up Late"...there were so many great songs.

 

[Metalhead]

R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
I have rediscovered this album in the last week. Every song on it is a winner. It really was one of the best albums of the early '90s.

Tech N9ne - Anghelic
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Melvins - Houdini
Sleep - Dopesmoker

 

[Mr. Stevens]

^ "Find the River" is one of my favorite R.E.M. songs.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I have been listening to the album, Babel by Mumford and Sons. A great group of buskers from the UK.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Then there is the perfect Bluegrass album, Blue Highway, by the group of that name. fiery instrumentals by musicians at the peak of their powers. An album filled with stirring stories. Just . . . . . WOW!

 

[Ella Spell]

Sgt Pepper's
White Album
MM Tour
Zeppelin III
To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar
Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
Parsley Sage, Rosemary & Thyme - S&G
Even in the Quietest Moments - Supertramp
Never Mind the Bollocks - Sex Pistols
Blizzard of Oz - Ozzy
Women and Children First - VH
Back in Black - AC/DC
Exile on Main Street -Stones
Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
Ziggy Stardust - Bowie
Blood Sugar Sex Magik - RHCP
Harvest - Neil Young
Disintegration - The Cure
Cracked Rear View - Hootie
Jagged Little Pill - Alannis Morisette
Hotel California - Eagles
A Day at the Races - QUEEN
Rocket to Russia - Ramones
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John