Thread: Perfect Albums

Originally Posted by toast2266

For an album to be perfect, I think it not only has to have a perfect collection of songs without any notably weak tracks, but the tracks need to fit together well and the album as a whole needs to present as a cohesive unit. I also think that, to really attain "perfect" status, the album should be remarkable in some way (i.e. noteworthy from a technical standpoint, or progressive in some particular way). Out of the listed albums that I'm fairly familiar with, I don't see many that are really perfect. To be sure, lots of my favorite albums are listed here, but just because I like them a lot doesn't mean they're perfect. Otherwise this just turns into a list of favorite albums.

Out of those three you listed, while I know those albums, I don't know them well enough to say whether they're perfect or not. And I hate Dylan, so there's that.

An additional criteria that I used in my list (and I could be persuaded that some I listed may not fit the "perfect" label perfectly) is probably best described as context. This takes into account what was going on in my life when I discovered these albums and the impact the album had on me. For instance when I discovered Never Mind the Bullocks it totally changed my choice in music. I was no longer a metal head and dove head long into punk and hardcore.

Nearly every one of the albums that I listed I had on cassette. I think cassettes are a perfect media to justify a perfect album. It is a pain in the ass to skip any songs and every song has got to bring it. You also end up listening to the album right where you left off, and it has to get your attention and keep going. The summer after Nothing Shocking came out it ended up being the only cassette in the car when I came home from college for the summer and I wore out the tape listening to it over and over. I don't think I put another cassette in the car until the fall. For that summer it was a perfect album and even now I think it has stood the test of time.

Like any list it is all subjective. There are a ton of great albums listed. I need to go listen to some of the Modest Mouse albums listed. Always been aware of them but never really into them until Pandora showed me that pretty much every station that I create ends up playing at least one MM song.

stuff I haven't seen mentioned:

- A Bell is a Cup...--Wire (I know people cream themselves over Pink Flag, but Bell holds up remarkably well and is a hell of a lot more listenable)
- Document--R.E.M. (gets overlooked for being their first WB album, but I think it's their best, head to toe)
- Elliott Smith S/T
- Killing Joke S/T 1980 (though their 2001 S/T is pretty fucking good too)
- Los Angeles--X
- S&E--Pavement (slight nod over CR, CR)
- Phantom Power--Super Furry Animals
- Nowhere--Ride (favorite album of the shoegazing era>>Loveless)
- Inversions--Stevie Wonder
- West Texas--Mountain Goats

Originally Posted by Flounder

The summer after Nothing Shocking came out it ended up being the only cassette in the car when I came home from college for the summer and I wore out the tape listening to it over and over. I don't think I put another cassette in the car until the fall. For that summer it was a perfect album and even now I think it has stood the test of time.

Similar experience here with Peter Tosh No nclear war which is a solid album ened to end and also stood the test of time well.
and Birdman again in my brain

Originally Posted by PassTheDutchie

- A Bell is a Cup...--Wire (I know people cream themselves over Pink Flag, but Bell holds up remarkably well and is a hell of a lot more listenable)

I agree and I also think 154 should rate higher than Pink Flag. 154 isn't perfect, though, because there are a couple tracks that could easily be passed over.

Originally Posted by The AD

I agree and I also think 154 should rate higher than Pink Flag. 154 isn't perfect, though, because there are a couple tracks that could easily be passed over.

Thinking about it, it's pretty crazy how much they evolved... Completely different directions, but all good.

Originally Posted by PassTheDutchie

stuff I haven't seen mentioned:

- A Bell is a Cup...--Wire (I know people cream themselves over Pink Flag, but Bell holds up remarkably well and is a hell of a lot more listenable)

Hear, hear. Great record as is 'Ideal Copy'.

Originally Posted by The AD

I agree and I also think 154 should rate higher than Pink Flag. 154 isn't perfect, though, because there are a couple tracks that could easily be passed over.

I just went back and gave a listen to A Bell, and it still doesn't do much for me. Then again nothing after Pink Flag really did much for me. Good albums, maybe perfect albums, just not as great as Pink Flag IMO. I would put 154 over A Bell. I get why those of you who like the later albums don't like Pink Flag, very different sound and feeling. Every track on Pink Flag is great even after 35 years. Plus the influence that album had on other bands, Minor Threat and most hardcore bands doing 12XU and REM doing Strange, should be factored in.

Another perfect album from that time is the Vibrators - Pure Mania.

RE: Flag, I totally get the influence dealio and its context in rock/punk history. Just such a grinding album; tough to take in big doses or find a place where it sort of fits in my life nowadays, if you get what I mean. I can still listen to Bell all the way through with pleasure. Doesn't mean Flag's not a great album, just that Bell still completely floats my boat.

This thread compelled me to listen to "Chairs," btw, which is pretty damned good too.

Originally Posted by PassTheDutchie

This thread compelled me to listen to "Chairs," btw, which is pretty damned good too.

Crawling. Over your window you think I'm confused
I'm waiting for the divergent wasp
To complete my current ruse...

Originally Posted by PassTheDutchie

Just such a grinding album; tough to take in big doses or find a place where it sort of fits in my life nowadays, if you get what I mean.

What's wrong, don't you hate your father?

The thing I really like about Wire is how they evolved. Each phase made sense; the pieces from each were arrestingly interesting, striking and made one stop and notice.

Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

The thing I really like about Wire is how they evolved. Each phase made sense; the pieces from each were arrestingly interesting, striking and made one stop and notice.

Well stated synopsis, Buster.

Originally Posted by toast2266

I was thinking about this a bit more. I think the problem I have with finding the perfect album is that some of the strongest albums out there are pretty similar to other works from the band, and therefore aren't perfect in the sense that the album is remarkably unique. If the album isn't overly special in the band's own catalog, can it be perfect?

I think you're redefining the question? Of course it can. Why the hell should it be completely different than the rest of their works? If a band plays punk/reggae/whatever then all their albums will sound similar, possibly familiar. When one of those albums just "makes sense" from beginning to end, compels you to listen to all of it - not just one cut - that to me (and I think to the OP's definition) makes it perfect.

Case in point (and not mentioned yet either, I think) - Van Morrison's Astral Weeks. Individually the songs aren't the best of his catalog but man what a great album.

Originally Posted by Tippster

I think you're redefining the question? Of course it can. Why the hell should it be completely different than the rest of their works? If a band plays punk/reggae/whatever then all their albums will sound similar, possibly familiar. When one of those albums just "makes sense" from beginning to end, compels you to listen to all of it - not just one cut - that to me (and I think to the OP's definition) makes it perfect.

I don't think a band needs to go in a completely new direction for an album to stand out in their catalog. A good example of this that's mentioned somewhere in here is Bowie / Ziggy Stardust. I think it's fairly unique and distinguishable from Bowie's other albums, it's a cohesive unit, and it doesn't have any particularly weak tracks. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call it perfect, but it's pretty damn good. I can say the same thing about OK Computer - it's distinct in Radiohead's catalog, even if it's still well within their normal genre.

I think you're confusing an artists "Greatest Album" with a perfect album, which arguably an artist could have more than one of, like Pink Floyd's Meddle and Animals, or the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's... and Revolver. (Emphasis mine)

Hmmmm.....interesting, this thread prompted me to look up bands I saw back in the days I used to see a lot of live music.

First I looked up the name of a band I never saw, but who who's name always intrigued me when I saw their handbills tacked up around town, they were called Hitting Birth, I should have gone and seen them, I like their sound.

Currently I'm listening to a band I recalled, and first saw playing in a basement of a neighboring student co-op at University of Oregon. Though that gig was a fluke they took on an off night as they were passing through Eugene. Three out of four were graduates of the Berkeley School of Music as I recall. A strangely eclectic blend of sounds in a band people always expected to be a reggae band, they were called Jambay.

Heh, this is from a show I was at, in fact I'm in the vid, my lanky, long haired form dances frenetically in the shadows of the lower right screen (sorry for the divergence from the thread topic, but I'm drunk, and this thread got me thinking, so I'm naturally doing as any drunk would when they find their image from twenty years ago in concert footage, and has the means to foist it on others ).

Originally Posted by Tippster

I think you're confusing an artists "Greatest Album" with a perfect album, which arguably an artist could have more than one of, like Pink Floyd's Meddle and Animals, or the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's... and Revolver. (Emphasis mine)

Not really; I'm just saying I think the "perfect album" should be distinct in the band's own catalog, but a band can have more than one album that is distinct in their catalog. Your example of Sgt. Pepper's and Revolver is a good one; both of those albums are distinct.

Originally Posted by PassTheDutchie

stuff I haven't seen mentioned:

- Document--R.E.M. (gets overlooked for being their first WB album, but I think it's their best, head to toe)
- Los Angeles--X

Fantastic additions to this thread. Agree and agree.

Jurrasic five - power in numbers

sent from the future using my mind powers

Agree on Power in Numbers. They just had crazy energy on that album. The Listening and the Minstrel Show by Little Brother are both perfect. Getback is close but not quite.

i think zep's "most perfect" was III. for tribe, i vote midnight marauders

Originally Posted by birdman829

The Listening and the Minstrel Show by Little Brother are both perfect. Getback is close but not quite.

These albums are great when they are singing/playing. The gibber-gabber ruins both of them for me.

Might catch shit for this, but I really like The Crystal Method's Vegas and Gorillaz' Demon Days. Really good albums.

Demon days is a great album.

sent from the future using my mind powers