Albums you think are perfect?
 

While music is very subjective, I feel there are more than a few albums out there that are "perfect." Can easily listen to them start to finish with no interruptions, they get you feeling a certain type of way.

Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, is one of them in my opinion. Boston's Self Titled Release, also fits the bill for me. I can easily put either one of those albums on, listen to it straight through with no problem. Anyone else have Albums they feel this way about?

Pink Floyd- “Wish you were here”
In my opinion, the other huge albums (DSOTM & The Wall) have a few weaker moments. To me, WYWH is perfect.

Is it cheating to include Jethro Tull “Thick as a Brick”?

Honorable mention to David Gray’s “White Ladder” that just flows from song to song with no misses.

Great post, I’m hoping to hear many others’ opinions here!

Some of my standbys are:
Donald Fagan - FM
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Joe Jackson - Body & Soul

A newer candidate is
Basia Bulat - Good Advice

This is a great topic. I would say that The Who's "Who's Next" and the Rolling Stones "Let it Bleed" are 2 are albums I can easily listen to and enjoy every song on them.

An honorable mention for me would be "Led Zeppelin II".

I also agree Boston's self titled album would be another classic album that's good from start to finish.

Back in Black

Master of Puppets

Ace of Spades

Peace Sells

British Steel

Blizzard of Oz

The Number of the Beast

Shout at the Devil

Reign in Blood

Appetite for Destruction

Ten (Doug's favorite)

Black Flag "Damaged"

Seminal hardcore album that changed my life.

Steely Dan, Gaucho, Aja
Stones, Black And Blue
AC/DC, Let there be Rock
Elton John, Madman Across the Water
Alanis Morsette, Jagged Little Pill

Better stop, interesting thread !

Nice to see another DG fan here. He's terrific, and underappreciated.


To the original post....The Beatles' Rubber Soul fills that bill for me. As do What's Going On from Marvin Gaye and Billy Joel's The Stranger.

These 3 top my list:

The Stone Roses
Captain Fantastic - Elton John
Golden Heart - Mark Knopfler

Some fantastic albums so far, and some that I never heard of! Can't wait to listen to some new music. Glad we can talk about this!

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

Dark Side of the Moon

The Real Thing Faith No More

Perfect Albums?
 

A few hot takes:

1) A Farewell to Kings- Rush
2) Aja- Steely Dan ( There are other Dan fans I see!)
3) Electric Ladyland- Jimi Hendrix Experience

Trent King

As a fellow Rush fan, I'd love to hear your reasoning for choosing AFTK over all the other '76-'81 records.

Rush - Moving Pictures
Rush- Permanent Waves

Give a listen to Natural Science on Permanent Waves. It got no airplay on the radio but is a great song

If you have not figured it out yet, Rush is my favorite group. RIP Neil Peart.

Also, I agree with Boston’s debut Album.

Thanks

Duane

Born to Run
Boston (debut)
Dreamboat Annie by Heart
Jesus Christ Superstar
Prisoner in Disguise by Linda Ronstadt

Stunned that Breakfast in America hasn't been listed yet.

Wrecking Ball - Emmylou Harris

Muswell Hillbillies - The Kinks

U2 Joshua tree
George Harrison. All things must past.

Great call on Jesus Christ Superstar, must have listened to that Full Album at least 200-300 times (I listen to a shit ton of full albums) in the past 10 years alone. Tremendous intro!!!! Total jam session......and Love how it ends to...great dramatic effect.

I believe that's Ian Gillian of Deep Purple as JC

Good stuff...

+1 to Wish You Were Here, What's Goin' On, and Who's Next

Surprised Hotel California hasn't been mentioned. I will say the songs hit home a little harder as you get older.

I'll add a couple that probably won't be on anyone else's list but all I can say is give a listen, start to finish in proper track order...

Neil Diamond - Hot August Night

The Carpenters - Now and Then

To BobbyStrawberry aka Matthew- I chose AFTK because too many people choose Moving Pictures or 2112. AFTK contains Xanadu, which is musical perfection, so I named it. ALL Rush is great, the list could simply be Rush- this isn't an all Rush forum though:)

2112 is my favorite RUSH album, classic.

I could go on forever but I'll throw a few out in no particular order. Imma cheat a little bit and name a couple greatest hits albums.

Elmore James-greatest hits
Johnny Cash-live at San Quentin
Beatles-Abbey Road
Aretha Franklin-Delta meets Detroit
Ramones-greatest hits
AC/DC- Powerage
Montrose-self titled
Dave Brubeck-Take Five
Tom Petty & the heartbreakers-self titled
Led Zepplin 1
Patsy Cline-greatest hits
Green Day- American Idiot
Pink Floyd-WYWH

There's a few off the top of my head. I love music.

Albums
 

These are two that I think are solid start to finish.
UFO -No Heavy Petting
Scorpions - Love Drive

Brett

I'd like to add 3 more albums to my previous selections. The first album is Deep Purple's "Machine Head". The second is a 2 album set from Lynyrd Skynyrd, "One More from the Road". Lastly the self titled release from "Blind Faith".

There's been some great albums mentioned in this thread, I just thought I'd add a few more.

Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
A heavy metal opera that tells a story start to finish.
Singing - perfect
Playing - perfect
Story - perfect
Greatest album of all time, every song a 10+
Desert island album over all others

Fascinating how many metal guys on the board. I consider myself to have really eclectic musical tastes, but have just never gotten into real metal. I recall in high school I won two tickets from a radio station to see a double bill of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest at the Nassau Coliseum. I guess they were alternating who opened and that night it was Iron Maiden. I remember we left at intermission and as we walked through the parking lot my ears were ringing in pain like I had stood next to a jumbo jet revving its engine for the last hour. I thought the decibel level was just insane.

I did see Boston at Nassau Coliseum on their first ever tour and that was amazing. First time I had ever seen someone smoking one of those funny cigarettes. Hell, in those days you could hardly see the stage due to the massive cloud of smoke down near the stage. Wish I still had the tee shirt of the album cover.

Concerning the ringing, Tinnitus is the absolute worst. I suffer from a mild case of it, too many concerts with not enough hearing protection. It's annoying but I've gotten used to it.

Some of the best Concerts I've seen were Metal. Iron Maiden put on one of the best shows I've ever got to see in person. Sabbath as well, I got to see them back in 2016, Ozzy still sounded solid and the crowd was intense.

It kills me that I never got to see Brad Delp in Boston. His voice was incredible. Absolute Tragedy.

1. Billion Dollar Babies, Alice Cooper
2. Excitable Boy, Warren Zevon
3. Love It To Death, Alice Cooper
4. Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield
5. Destroyer, Kiss

My personal favorite is Hemispheres, but anything from that era is a great add to this list IMO.

+1 Excitable Boy

The White Album

Billion Dollar Babies, besides being a GREAT album the whole concept of the billfold (simulated alligator at that) and the pullout dollar bill was outstanding. Alice did rule for a 2 -3 year period back then.

I'm not sure any are really perfect. Some of my favorites aren't for sure.

Blizzard of Ozz

Don't say no- Billy Squier Maybe not perfect, but with at least half the album getting airplay it's close. It was also the tour for the first real concert i went to

Are you experienced - Hendrix

Klaatu "3:47EST" and maybe "Hope"

And in the almost perfect gag category
Blotto - Combo Akimbo (Unntentional?)

S.O.D. - Speak English or die. (Intentional!)

A bunch are close.

Cheap Thrills - Big Brother and the Holding Company
Hunky Dory - Bowie

Sgt. Pepper
Pet Sounds
Blood on the Tracks
Blue
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook

There's several for me, but here's a few:
Let it Bleed - Rolling Stones
Back in Black - AC/DC
Strangers in the Night - UFO
(What's the Story)Morning Glory - Oasis

Good call on Pet Sounds, Peter. One crisp, clean album is “Sound of Silver” by LCD Soundsystem.

My oddball pick . . . .

A Christmas Gift for You

The late Phil Spector

That album was a classic.

Absolute Psychopath but produced incredible Albums. We have him to thank for the "Wall of Sound" technique. There's a reason why "Be My Baby" is so catchy :D

Everything Beastie Boys and AC/DC.:)

Their early hardcore stuff too? I saw them a few times before they hit big in rap. Egg Raid on Mojo.

Crime of the Century was better, and makes my list.

There are a couple of gimmes listed thus far, IMO. Who's Next and Born to Run
can't miss, and I really see nothing wrong with Wish you Were Here, Blood on the Tracks and Hotel California. Also no objection here to Excitable Boy.

Personally I prefer Pretzel Logic to any other Steely Dan album.

Eat a Peach belongs, although Mountain Jam is just too damn long.

Talking Heads Stop Making Sense is an incredible live album, but Skynard, REO, and Cheap Trick are close.

If you're ever real introspective, Jackson Browne's The Pretender is amazing and list worthy.

Just saw Beastie Boys new documentary on Apple TV. Highly recommended.

Neil Young, "Harvest"
Led Zeppelin, "Led Zeppelin IV"
Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon"
Just a few that came to mind right away.

Oh man, I wore that cassette OUT on my walkman! :cool:

My top 5
Born to Run
Abbey Road
Dark Side of the Moon
Who's Next
Led Zeppelin IV

and a few that haven't been picked
The Velvet Underground & Nico
Highway 61 Revisited
Are You Experienced?
Revolver

I'm going with "Rattle & Hum" by U2.

Covers of the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Dylan on another track. BB King showing off the pipes. A taste of Hendrix. A homage to Martin Luther King Jr.

A mixed studio/live album, with a mix of musical styles and voices, that just "works".

Oh, and it's worth noting that coming off the success of Joshua Tree, the album DIDN'T include what was just about the biggest son on the planet "With or Without You".

Ah, good fun. :D

Doubtful most have heard of Son Volt, but their debut album Trace is a masterpiece.

American Beauty by the Grateful Dead is up there for me.

A few of mine have already been mentioned earlier, but here's a couple more that haven't:

Aerosmith - "Rocks"
Van Halen I
Genesis - "Duke"
Smithereens - "11"

Agree on Pretzel Logic. I think For Everyman and Late for the Sky are both better than the Pretender.

Who's Next
Ziggy Stardust

Picture this: Meadowlands early 90s. A hot summer day. Faith No More goes on at like 3PM opening up for Metallica and Guns n Roses. Of the three bands that day, Faith No More was the tightest.

+1 for the mention of Blood On the Tracks
What an incredible end to end voyage.

"Idiot Wind, blowing every time you move your mouth..."

Have you heard the alternate takes? They're fascinating. The alternate take of Shelter From the Storm was used in the film Jerry Maguire.
My brother, girlfriend and I listed to the album endlessly when it was released. It was a revelation, stunning.

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
The Who Who's Next
Super Tramp Crime of the century
Meatloaf Bat out of hell
Chris De Burgh Spanish Train and other stories

Honorable mention for live albums

The Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore east
B.B. King live at The Regal

A friend asked me if "the ballad of Jimi Hendrix" pissed me off because I'm a Hendrix fan.

Of course not! Its just so F_ funny!

One that pops into mind right now is Neil Young's Live Rust.

Listened to this over and over in my teens/early twenties.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udDI...SPZKg1&index=2

Really fun thread! Here are a few of mine:

OK Computer -- Radiohead
Siamese Dream -- Smashing Pumpkins
Billy Breathes -- Phish

Hole - Live Through This

Love this thread..mine would be....


Born To Run
Boston
Abbey Road
Back From Rio (Roger McGuinn)

1. It's a live album, but Alice in Chains "Unplugged" is just unbelievable. Layne Staley appeared (sounded?) so together.

2. Pink Floyd "Animals" and the line, "Ha ha, charade you are" from Pigs (Three different Ones) borrowed by an 8 year old kid on 'South Park' just makes me laugh hysterically.

3. John Hiatt "Stolen Moments" is some pretty sweet storytelling top to bottom.

4. R.E.M. "Automatic for the People" with "Nightswimming" and "Find The River" as the last two songs, it makes you long for some more melodic, moody tunes as the album ends. Beautiful stuff.

5. Speaking of Talking Heads, give "True Stories" a try. Some truly great music for a soundtrack.

6. Tom Petty "She's The One." Another soundtrack, it is a really cool and often pensive album.

7. Derek & The Dominos "Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs." A sick group of talented musicians at their very finest.

8. Dire Straits "Making Movies." So little time, so many hooks.

9. Absolutely Boston's first album, but give "Third Stage" a go. That sucker really grows on you. "Can'tcha Say - Still In Love" is a tremendous tune with Brad Delp wearing his heart on his sleeve.

10. U2 "The Unforgettable Fire." I describe it as the low speed bump on the way to "The Joshua Tree." The two albums have a shared magnificence, and they're the musical version of identical twins. Amid a plethora of kicking tunes, and as absolutely bizarre as it sounds, I freakin' adore the very strange "Elvis Presley & America" with its supposed backwards music from another one of their songs. Bono's emotions are crystal clear, even though you have no idea what the heck he's actually talking about.

Cool thread! I agree with a couple listed already: Beach Boys - Pet Sounds and Beatles - Rubber Soul.

I would add:
The Sonics - Here are the Sonics
Television - Marquee Moon
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Gang of Four - Entertainment!
Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Descendents - Milo Goes to College
The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
The Replacements - Let it Be
The Replacements - Tim

This is a man I can talk to.

Great, classic album, and one of my all time favorites from that era, but I feel that the album loses steam on the last few songs (after Take the Long Way Home). Personal preference, of course.

I'll throw in:

Guns n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (I'm not a GnR fan by any means, but this albums flows really well and does not have a weak song)

Led Zeppelin - pretty much any of the first 4 albums

RUSH - Moving Pictures, Grace Under Pressure

Streetlight Manifesto - Everything Goes Numb, Keasbey Nights

Béla Fleck - Tales from the Acoustic Planet

Chick Corea - Three Quartets, Friends

Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola, Jean-Luc Ponty - The Rite of Strings

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

No kidding, anytime my wife and I travel any length by car I subject her to the entire masterpiece at least 2-3 times. :)

Here is one of my favorite versions of Shelter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12rUOLtbQDk

Live at Leeds - The Who
Murmur - REM
Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
Quadrophenia - The Who
Stone Roses
B52's
Live Europe '72 - Grateful Dead
At Carnegie Hall - Jimmy Reed

Live at Leeds you can put on - use headphones - and you won't be able to stop it until it's finished - best live album ever!

Overdue shout out to REM. Great album.

Lots of Great albums so far.....

How about....
Albert King..... Born Under a Bad Sign
Rolling Stones....Sticky Fingers
Kooper, Bloomfield & Stills.... Super Session.
Allman Brothers.... At Fillmore East
Grateful Dead..... Europe '72
Van Morrison..... Tupelo Honey
J Geils..... Blow Your face Out (Live)
Little Feat..... Waiting for Columbus
Bonnie Raitt..... Bonnie Raitt (self-Titled 1971 Debut)
Etta James.....Heart of a Woman
Muddy Waters.... Hard Again
Marshall Tucker.....Where We Belong
Buddy Guy.... Damn Right I've Got the Blues
David Bromberg..... Wanted Dead or Alive
Bob Seger.....Live Bullet
Frank Zappa..... Apostrophe
Jeff Beck..... Beck-Ola
Roy Buchanan.....Livestock

I am not out of recommendations, just tired of typing..........:D:eek:

Brian Eno's "Another Green World."
"From Brussels With Love" Compilation
Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"
John Coltrane "Live at Birdland" & "A Love Supreme"
Captain Beefheart "Trout Mask Replica"
Joy Division "Still" & "Closer"
Marvin Gaye "What's Going On"

I really do have a taste for all kinds of music, but one that is kind of out of the genres described here is Jagged Little Pill. My daughter and I really both enjoy it and it is solid front to back. I'm on the doormat of 60 and she's 22, but we both find it interesting and relatable. My playlist ranges from John Prine to Ozzy to 2Pac to P!nk.

Every Beatles Album. I never skip a song on any of them. Not many albums ,if any, were very good before 1964. How many singles do you have that you actually listened to the other side ? Only on The Beatles ( mostly double sided hits.. My dial is glued to Sirius Channel 18

Crazy, I’m listening to Script of the Bridge as I am reading this thread, and just finished listening to Joy Division. I was going to list those and The Jesus and Mary Chain Darklands, John Coltrane Bluetrain, Cowboy Junkies Trinity Sessions, the Damned Machine Gun Etiquette ,Blackbird, Blackbird Boracay Planet, Niva Feverish Dream...man I could go on. I’m listing those just to share some maybe, how would you say, less thought of or known albums? I love many of the already listed stuff, spent a year in Iraq listening to David Grey almost daily. Très fun.

It's crazy how good Script of the Bridge is from start to finish. It was so good, they had nowhere to go but down. I don't own, but I did try listing to their next two albums but they are nowhere close. I agree with Darklands and Machine Gun Etiquette as well. I could also go on about lesser known albums. I'm listing to the Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady right now and would add it to the list. Would also add The Modern Lovers - Self Titled Debut, The Gun Club - Fire of Love, Husker Du - Zen Arcade, Radio Birdman - Radios Appear, etc., etc. etc....

I highly recommend anything from The Replacements. They really do have something for everybody. I guess they are best known as an Alternative/College Rock type band that sang "Bastards of Young" and getting kicked off SNL. But they started as somewhat hardcore Punk, had an experimental rock phase, and later developed a Ska type sound. They are really underappreciated for some reason. "Let it Be" is similar to "Scriprt of the Bridge". It's just a great album from start to finish.

I would like to agree with the cool kids above who mentioned Mindcrime from Queensryche and Don't Say No from Billy Squier.

For a totally oddball choice, there isn't a single album I listened to completely (no skipping) as much as I listened to Loudness' Hurricane Eyes. Very underrated band.

Kid Rock - Devil Without A Cause

Also I forgot mention...

The Georgia Satellites