What Are Your "Perfect" Albums?

[carpents]

[Fischman]

For me, the assessment of "perfect" hinges on those being albums I can't imagine any way in which the album could possibly be better. In addition to being consistently interesting music, everything on the album works together to make it a seamlessly outstanding experience from end to end.

There may be a relatively weak individual cut, but if it fits well into the album, the album can still be for me a perfect album. Of course too bad a cut, or too many of them and that no longer holds true.

[RoundTheBend]

I have really low standards on a "perfect" album. For me a perfect album is an album with no weak song on it or probably even a lower standard, "I like" every song on that album... a lot. So song for song, these albums are "perfect" even if they totally aren't from many other lenses you could look at things from. So I agree and disagree with there's no such thing as a perfect album (both are true I suppose for me).

For me those albums are for now (as it might ever change/evolve/grow):
Classical works:
Beethoven's 3rd, 5th, 9th
Mozart's 40th and 41st
Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Rite of Spring
Peer Gynt Suites
Shaker Loops / Light Over Water
Pictures at an Exhibition
New World Symphony

Album Era Stuffs and things:
Sea Change
Green
In Rainbows
Sgt. Pepper's
Abbey Road
Joshua Tree
Achtung Baby
Graceland
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme

[LebowskiRams]

There's no such thing as an objectively perfect album. Music is subjective as is perfection.


Pinkerton by Weezer

This album means so much to me personally, and I think is one of the boldest albums of its era. Favorite album by my favorite band.


In Rainbows by Radiohead

The album that solidified my love for Radiohead. Like Pinkerton, it's my favorite album by my other favorite band.


To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar

An American classic in music, poetry and social commentary. My favorite hip-hop/rap album and my favorite output by my favorite rapper.


Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen

This one goes back-and-forth. I think there are weaker songs on here and not all are 10/10 (Night doesn't compare to the rest of the bunch) this is an album my father and I have bonded over, and for that, it's perfect.[/i]

[RoundTheBend]

Nice collection Lebowski. Calmer than you are... hehe.

I got lost on a bunch of mental rabbit holes avoiding Monday and added this up. Basically it's albums I gave a 9 or above and what then is the total for each artist. My taste is not BEA material and clearly I'm very familiar with my teenage years. Anyway, I guess this is an ok synopsis for me. Maybe a few years from now once I'm complete with my "survey of western music" I'll think differently. Maybe I won't.

Clearly disqualified any artist with only a single amazing album.

Row Labels Sum of Rating
U2 114
Radiohead 76
The Beatles 76
R.E.M. 75
Foo Fighters 74
Paul Simon 56
Red Hot Chili Peppers 49
Nirvana 48
Muse 47
Beck 46
Weezer 46
Thrice 39
Pink Floyd 37
Led Zeppelin 37
Johnny Cash 28
The Rolling Stones 28
The Smashing Pumpkins 28
Elvis Presley 27
Miles Davis 27
Pearl Jam 27
Queens of the Stone Age 27
Simon and Garfunkel 20
Phish 20
Van Morrison 19
Sly & The Family Stone 19
Little Richard 19
Smashing Pumpkins 19
Arcade Fire 19
Elbow 19
The Velvet Underground 19
Rage Against the Machine 19
Santana 19
The Allman Brothers Band 18
Metallica 18
The Beach Boys 18
Creedence Clearwater Revival 18
The White Stripes 18
LCD Soundsystem 18
The Anniversary 18
Ray Charles 18
Black Sabbath 18
Vampire Weekend 18
Modest Mouse 18