What Are Your "Perfect" Albums?

[carpents]

I've been thinking about this for a while, because for me it's a complex question. I have a couple albums which I just feel are perfectly formed end-to-end, and I think accomplish perfectly what the artist intended.

This isn't just an analog for my favorite albums either, because some "imperfect" albums sometimes invoke a stronger emotional response in me just based on the type and/or execution of the music. These are the albums, if I were a producer on them, I would just tell the artist(s) not to change a single thing.

I have three albums which I consider perfect:
Have One On Me by Joanna Newsom

Why not Ys? I think it's the additional percussion in Have One On Me. There are moments where I hear the percussion start, then stop, then come back and it floors me how brilliant it is, and how it meshes so perfectly with the song.
I also don't mind the length, and generally can listen to this in 3 distinct ways: Only CD 1, 2, or 3; Half the album (Easy to California/Jackrabbits to Does Not Suffice); or the whole way through. Each way is equally satisfying to me.

Seven Swans by Sufjan Stevens

(Echoing the Chief's comments in the Games forum, to me this is a better [perfect] version of Carrie & Lowell.)

Brother, Sister by mewithoutYou

This one is obvious to me, and even though I don't like mewithoutYou as much as Sufjan/Joanna, I still listen to this album and think that they couldn't have changed a single thing to make it better. I think they perfectly captured what mewithoutYou is in this album.


Curious what others consider to be perfect, or none at all?
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Some New Ordeal (Spotify/iTunes/Deezer)

[Fischman]

In Chronological Order:

Wes Montgomery with the Wynton Kelly Trio - Smokin' at the Half Note
The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
The Who - Who's Next
Kansas - Leftoverture
Dan Fogelberg - Nether Lands
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Rush - Moving Pictures
Shooting Star - Silent Scream
Peter Kater and R. Carlos Nakai - Natives
Dream Theater - Images and Words
Michael Gettel - Skywatching
Asia - XXX

[Villain]

AC/DC - Back in Black
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
CCR - Willy and the Poor Boys
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Check out some of my other interest on my own review site. Scum N' Villainy

http://www.scumnvillainy.com/

[Sandinistar]

Without putting too much thought into it

Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes
Gris-Gris - Dr. John
Blue - Joni Mitchell
Marquee Moon - Television
Low - David Bowie
My Aim is True - Elvis Costello
Surfer Rosa - Pixies
Illmatic - Nas
Entroducing... - DJ Shadow
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
Boxer - The National
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It's easier to say "I love you," than "Yours, sincerely," I suppose

[Norman Bates]

There aren't any. Make do with what you've got. Even Pet Sounds, Original Pirate Material, After the Gold Rush, Black metal, A Love Supreme, Boy in da Corner, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Paid in Full, The Queen Is Dead, Ah Um, Rubber Soul, It Takes a Nation of Millions or Aftermath aren't oerfectly perfect, so what can be?

[dholl]

Nice thread idea!

I'd say the ones which get a perfect 100/100, I'll put my top-40 comments here for ease of reading:

Pink Floyd - The Wall: flawless study of a flawed man...we have all been Pink. Had I not limited my top 40 to one-entry-per-artist, Floyd would have 7 or 8 entries. No other band or artist has matched the sheer variety, creativity, emotion, intellect and quality of their epic studio work (post-Waters era not included). Best song: all 80 glorious minutes of it!

Psykovsky - Tanetsveta: my favourite musician behind only the Floyd themselves. Tanetsveta is an epic trip into what our reality sounds like if we had no frequency filters. Alternatively, think of it as music made by far-future aliens who are attempting to communicate with us. Best track: Aura Leta - if you enjoy this album then try his next two Na Ve Ka & Ksolntsu.

Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa: unbearably beautiful...not a fan of Pärt's choral work, but this goes straight to the human heart. Best piece: the title track.

Einstürzende Neubauten - Halber Mensch: Neubauten have a few candidates, but Halber Mensch is the most cohesive as a full album. Their more relaxed later sound is however equally enticing. One of the strongest discographies in music. Best song: Der Tod is ein Dandy.

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians: incredible pulse-music, with clever use of phasing to create more movement. For more good Reich also check out Drumming. Best piece: impossible to separate Music for 18 Musicians, it's one long hypnotic trip.

The Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation: Liam Howlett conjured magic here and he was never able to repeat it. Away from the shouty electropunk of everything from 1996 onwards or dated rave stylings of everything before 1993 we have ageless high-end breakbeat-techno, still sounding like the future even today almost 25 years later, especially Break & Enter, Speedway, The Heat The Energy and the Narcotic Suite. Best track: Speedway, also including the ambient-bleeding into The Heat The Energy.

Radiohead - Kid A: Radiohead had potential to match Pink Floyd but they somewhat scuppered it by not being adventurous enough as they matured (not many instrumentals, song-lengths quite samey, over-reliance on reverb). Saying that: with Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail & In Rainbows we have an immense run of form...I could've chosen any of them to represent (Amnesiac has my top 2 Radiohead songs) but Kid A just about wins for best-flowing as an album. If you're surprised I haven't mentioned OK Computer, it's because Kid A kinda killed it forever, tho' I still enjoy a blast of Paranoid Android & Exit Music. Best song from Kid A: The National Anthem.

Sonic Youth - Sister: 80's Sonic Youth has a very special dark visceral energy, Confusion is Sex almost made it but Sister gets the nod...also close were Bad Moon Rising & Evol, like Radiohead above that's a fine run of 4 memorable albums in a row. And in a reverse-effect to OK Computer once Daydream Nation came it kinda killed that raw darkness they had. Best song: Seven...SEVEN! I mean Stereo Sanctity...be prepared for the greatest jam-out of any rock.

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew: people call this album difficult, but from the very first bars I heard (the signature call-out from the title song) I was hooked. This is grand story-telling without words. Best piece: Sanctuary just about edges out the title track.

Harmonia - Musik von Harmonia: this sounds like musik made especially for me...takes one to the deep cosmos...best piece: Sehr Kosmisch!

Can - Tago Mago: happy to see a lot of love for this great band on BEA. Tago Mago shades their best album as the experimentations and hypnotic-funk drumming are at their peak. Best piece: Oh Yeah!

Derango - Tumult: Derango's only album is the most perfect banging 4-on-the-floor album ever made. No one gets close. Psykovsky & Prodigy's Jilted Generation obviously offer more musically, but if all you want is to pound, then there's nowt better than Tumult, which adds psychedelic musique concrete licks to help you focus on your animal regression. Best track: Deranged

[chuchunezbie]

If I'm the producer here, perfection is limited to my idea of it. That being said, these are albums that I get to the end of and say "one more time", and then listen to it all over again at least two more times:

Nirvana - MTV Unplugged
Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Bob Dylan - Freewheelin'
Kendrick Lamar - D.A.M.N.
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Lauryn Hill - Miseducation
Led Zeppelin - 2
Pink Floyd - Animals
System of a Down - System of a Down
Prince - Dirty Mind
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Scientist - The Best Dub Album in the World

[TimeLion]

Many years of pondering this question finally led me to conclude that I have no idea what it means for an album to be perfect. Besides, I prefer to rest comfortably in my delusion that there are no limits on beauty.

[baystateoftheart]

[JOSweetHeart]

God bless you always!!!

Holly
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