I still play the first two albums I ever bought...and they are perfect.

"Here's Little Richard" on Specialty
"Jerry Lee Lewis" on Sun

I could name a hundred others, but you never forget your first.

Lots of great ones on here. I think my top two would be jazz...

1. Bill Evans Trio - Portrait in Jazz

2. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

3. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

4. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head

5. Beatles - Abbey Road

The Moody Blues' Days Of Future Passed was a concept album meant to be listened to all the way through. Early Prog Rock, Orchestral Rock, whatever you want to call it. It got very mixed reviews but I loved it the first time I heard it in 1967/68 and still do. Saw them play it start to finish on their last tour and it still sounds great.

Four more that do it for me:

Welcome to My Nightmare, Alice Cooper
Alladin Sane, David Bowie
Diamond Dogs, David Bowie
Jailbreak, Thin Lizzie

Here's ten of mine, mostly punk or punk-adjacent:

Bad Religion - Suffer
Descendents - Milo Goes To College
Leatherface - Mush
Idlewild - The Remote Part
Avail - Over The James
ALL - Mass Nerder
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
Justin Sullivan - Navigating By The Stars
Stuyvesant - Fret Sounds
Textbook - All Messed Up

The Beatles - Revolver
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Led Zeppelin - Zoso
Radiohead - OK Computer
Sigur Ros - Takk...
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
Jimmy Eat World - Futures
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head <-- I literally can't stand what this band has become, but this album (before they became shitty radio pop) is perfect from beginning to end.

My first two...

Yesterday and Today
Are You Experienced?

That pair qualifies, I'd say

+2 Excitable Boy (Linda's backing vocals are priceless)

- and another Zevon classic 'Werewolves of London'.


and I will add two more great albums:

Harry Chapin Greatest Stories Live.

Paul Horn - Inside the Great Pyramid
.

Billy Squier's 'Children of the Sun' was great for showing off your stereo speakers. (they used to be called that, you know)

I think Billy Thorpe did Children of the Sun. And you’re right it does have some cool effects.

Willie Nelson‘s Red Headed Stranger is a great record. It’s a concept album about a preacher going after his cheating wife and her lover. The most recognizable song on the record as probably Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. But the whole thing is outstanding.

5 more ....just because.....

Carole King... Tapestry
Ray Charles...Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Genesis...The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
The Band...The Band
Buddy Holly and the Crickets...The "Chirping" Crickets

Agree with many (Fleetwood Mac, David Gray, Pink Floyd, etc.)

Here’s 2 fantastic albums:

Shangri-La - Mark Knopfler
Sailing To Philadelphia - Mark Knopfler


Shangri-La might be my favorite album all time

You're right, it was Billy Thorpe. The "Children Of The Sun" album was just the first part of a rock opera which included Billy's "21st Century Man" album and then concluded with "Children of The Sun Revisited". According to what I've seen on the web, these songs are part of the trilogy.

The OFFICIAL track list for the Children of the Sun rock opera is as follows:

1: Children of the Sun (from "Children of the Sun")
2: We're Leaving (from "Children of the Sun")
3: We Welcome You (from "Children of the Sun")
4: Solar Anthem (from "Children of the Sun")
5: The Beginning (from "Children of the Sun")
6: 1991 (from "21st Century Man")
7: Solar Dawn (from "21st Century Man")
8: We Were Watching You (from "21st Century Man")
9: 21st Century Man (from "21st Century Man")
10: She's Alive (from "21st Century Man")
11: Rise (from "21st Century Man")
12: Earth Calling (from "Children of the Sun Revisited")
13: Turn It Into Love (from "Children of the Sun Revisited")
14: Free Enterprise (from "Children of the Sun Revisited")

Boston's 1st album
Led Zeppelin 1-2-4
The Cars debut album
The Pretenders debut album
Revolution Radio by Green Day
Quadrophenia by The Who
In The City and All Mod Cons by The Jam
Singles Going Steady by The Buzzcocks
Shut Up And Play The Hits by LCD Soundsystem
Live at Budokan by Cheap Trick
Live Bullet by Bob Seger

Can't believe it took two pages to mention the Greatest Album of All Time.

How many albums stayed on the top of the charts for 15 years, 736 weeks?
DSOTM Pink Floyd.

One, that I'm sure not many would agree with, but that I have listened to over and over again, fully through, is Running on Empty by Jackson Browne.

I think he's also criminally underrated. His rendition of take it easy, is superior to the Eagles rendition in my opinion. For the longest time I didn't even know that Frey and Browne wrote the song together.

A lot of mine have been mentioned, but a few others:

Southeastern by Jason Isbell
Sound & Fury and Metamodern Sounds in Country Music by Sturgill Simpson
Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Reckoning by R.E.M. - still remember where I was when I first heard it. It was at the old Record Archive location on Mt. Hope Blvd in Rochester. It was playing over the store sound system and it completely blew me away and I bought it immediately. More than that, it opened up a whole new world of music to me and opened me up to artists that I would have never been exposed to otherwise. It was literally the inflection point in my musical journey.

Perfect albums?
 

Great call on Reckoning by REM! I'm a big Life's Rich Pageant guy too. Trent King

Son Volt
 

This album took me a little time to warm up to.
But yes, it is VERY good!

Nice call...

To be honest, in my book DSOTM is in a class of one...anything else is "just an album".

The Pixies-Doolittle
Velvet Underground and Nico
The Clash-London Calling
Robert Johnson -The Complete Recordings

.
 

The Pixies-Doolittle
Velvet Underground and Nico
The Clash-London Calling
Robert Johnson -The Complete Recordings

Any Elvis or Petula Clark album. I’m an old guy. LOL

JMO but most popular doesn't mean greatest, I like DSOTM but Animals and Wish You Were Here are better.

New Jersey - Bon Jovi

Revolver-The Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour-The Beatles
Friends- The Beach Boys
Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington- Thelonious Monk
#1 Record- Big Star
Radio City-Big Star
Kind of Blue- Miles Davis
Avalon Blues-1928 Recordings- Mississippi John Hurt
Astral Weeks-Van Morrison
London Calling- The Clash
Ziggy Stardust-David Bowie

This should show you how much I like Big Star-the only 2 bands I put on this list twice are Big Star and The Beatles.

Rush - Moving Pictures. 40th anniversary of its release was yesterday. Which is very hard for me to believe as I bought it when it came out!

The Ed Sullivan Show !

First RUSH concert was in Philadelphia in 1985.

Trapeze Medusa
Moody Blues In search for the lost Chord
Jethro Tull Benefit
Blackfoot Striker
Thin Lizzie Chinatown
Hendrix Band of Gypsies
Grand Funk The Red Album
Cream Disraeli Gears
Deep Purple Machinehead
Almond Bros. Live at the Fillmore
Mountain Mountain Climing
I left out alot already mentioned.

U2, The Joshua Tree
Gregory Alan Isakov, The Weatherman
Rage Against the Machine, Self-Titled

Fellow Descendents/ALL fan. Saw both last about 10 years ago at Punk Rock Bowling in Vegas.

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
ZZ Top - Eliminator
Megadeth - Rust in Peace
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
AC/DC - Back in Black
Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill

Picks
 

Small Change-Tom Waits
Automatic-Jesus and Mary Chain
The Complete Recordings-Robert Johnson
London Calling-The Clash

Oh man.

Enuff Z'Nuff-this album, and the band, had the incredible misfortune of debuting in August of 1989, just as the grunge era was beginning in Seattle. Had this album come out five years earlier, Enuff Z'Nuff would have become one of the biggest bands in the world. As it is, their look made them MTV darlings as hair metal was in its death throes. Their record label famously pushed an image on the band that gave them tremendous visibility. But when the musical landscape changed, that image amounted to a straight jacket after the band had been pushed overboard, and sank to the bottom, even with media heavyweights Howard Stern and David Letterman endlessly promoting the band on their shows.

When I recommend this glam metal masterpiece to friends, I describe the band as a hybrid of Van Halen, The Beatles and Sweet. The band's classic lineup, lead vocalist Donnie Vie, bassist Chip Z'Nuff, guitarist Derek Frigo and drummer Vik Fox, had an astonishing level of musicianship, and were absolutely fantastic live. Their hard rock/glam metal songs compositions featured some of the catchiest hooks any hard rock act have ever had, and classically trained virtuoso Derek Frigo infused one volcanic guitar solo after another into their thoughtfully crafted tracks. And then, there were their vocals. Those harmonies. Donnie and Chip were meant to sing together.

Their first three albums, the eponymous debut, Strength, and Animals With Human Intelligence are all must haves. But the first album is absolutely addictive.

Carole King-Tapestry

Tori Amos-Little Earthquakes

Stevie Nicks-Bella Donna

Rush-Moving Pictures-really, I could pick a number of their albums depending on my mood. But Moving Pictures represents a very special time for me, when I first got into the band. I keep coming back to it. The Camera Eye is a perfect song.

Jeff Buckley-Grace

Queen-Sheer Heart Attack. Like Rush, I could pick a number of their albums for this list. Queen II is one of the greatest things I've ever heard. It marked Queen truly becoming Queen. They had much of their sound in place with their debut, but the progressive elements, the theatricality of the band, first started revealing itself on the second album. White Queen is one of the greatest songs ever recorded. But Sheer Heart Attack was their break out. Completely uncompromising, it was Freddie Mercury's putting the world on notice. Really, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races and News of the World are all perfect in their own way. Their albums after that had just a slight touch of unevenness at times. Jazz and Hot Space had some highs, but just didn't completely work. The Game and The Works were fantastic albums. I'll go weeks at a time and listen to nothing but Queen or Rush. I completely binge on them, and never grow tired of them. Ever.

Van Halen-Fair Warning. With all due respect to Jimi Hendrix, Brian May, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Randy Rhoads, Alex Lifeson, John Petrucci, Jake E. Lee, Criss Oliva and a few others that have also been huge influences on me as a musician, Eddie Van Halen is the greatest rock guitarist of all-time, and Fair Warning is his masterpiece.

Miles Davis-A Kind of Blue

Dream Theater-Images and Words


There are more, I'll have to think about it.

Enjoy checking this thread from time to time and often see MANY albums that are staples in my collection.
Couple more....
1- Good Bye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John
2- Billion Dollar Babies, Alice Cooper
3- Smoker You Drink the Player you Get, Joe Walsh
4- I Robot, Alan Parson`s Project

My favorite albums, in no particular order:

Van Morrison, Astral Weeks
REM, Murmur
Beatles, Rubber Soul
Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
Clash, London Calling
Bob Dylan, Freewheelin'
Cars debut record
Pretenders debut record
Joni Mitchell, Blue
The Wailers, Burnin'
Buffalo Springfield Again
Otis Redding Sings Soul

The Angels - "Face to Face"
AC/DC - "Powerage"
Danko Jones - "Sleep Is The Enemy"
Iron Maiden - "The Number of the Beast"
Devo - "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!"

Rod Stewart Every picture tells a story
Bad Company Running with the pack
Rare Earth Ma
CSNY Deja Vu
Buffalo Springfield Retrospect
James Taylor Sweet baby James
ZzTop Tres Hombres
The Doors Morrison Hotel
The Doors LA Woman
Deep Purple Perfect Strangers
Iron Butterfly Ball

My take
 

I read the OP to describe albums that are perfect, no weak points.
While 100% perfection isn’t literal, when I replied earlier and excluded some amazing albums , it was because they had some cuts I don’t think are great. That’s very subjective of course.

I am a big Steely Dan fan but other than “Aja”, the albums only have *mostly* good songs, in fact , a high percentage.

Aja is perfect.

Same concept (for me) with Elton John and Pink Floyd.
To me , I like almost all of DSOM or The Wall, but not all.
WYWH is perfect.

Elton John has terrific albums, most are 80-90% terrific.
I think only “Madman across the Water” is perfect.

I check this thread periodically because I really like listening to different music.
Last week I listened to jazz pianist Art Tatum, just because.

Keep’em coming!

One of my favorite albums of all-time for sure. As I was emerging out of my punk only phase, I met Uncle Tupelo which brought me to Son Volt that then brought me to Wilco which opened up further doors musically. Damn I love that album. Was playing "Tear Stained Eye" on my guitar last week.