The Perfect Album
What is the perfect album? Now when I say perfect this has to be one without an inch of slack on it, not one bad tune. It's not too long, not too short and hasn't diminished with age.
If it has ten of the finest songs of all time on it and then one peice of filler, it doesn't count - it has to stand up on the strength of every individual song. And obviously it has to be an original studio album, no compilations, special editions, rereleases, live albums etc.
I'll toss in a few possibles - Fairport - Unhalfbricking, The Strokes - Is This It, Ryan Adams - Gold, NWA - Straight Outta Compton, Joni Mitchell - Blue, R and L Thompson - I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight, Stevie Wonder - Talking Book, Rancid - Out come the Wolves.
I can't think of any other albums which I love every single track on - there isn't even a Dylan or Bob Marley in that category.
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Whilst we all ruminate on a few such....
...options, seeing as this topic comes around once in a yellow moon, may I remind the statement made recently, I think by either azeem or adze thuggery, that it is the flawed track that makes an album a classic. Hence, Blood in the Tracks is a true beaut after all, because of the presence of (to me) of Buckets of Rain.
Likewise, from your list I agree with "Bright Lights" but I think I would have to suggest "We sing hallelujah" isn't really a creative peak. Whilst "Unhalfbricking" is good and arguably prompted the ascent into "Liege and Lief", even the staunchest Cropredian would say that "Million dollar bash" is a bit, well, crap. And, sharp indrawing, "Sailors Life", however worthy and seminal, it does go on a bit....... I don't know enough about NWA or Rancid, but Talking Book and Blue are also (sufficiently) flawed to be masterpieces.
Million Dollar Bash
I love Million Dollar Bash, especially for the brilliantly delivered line 'I punch myself in my face with my fists'. Every time I hear that I always get a hilarious image in my brain of some bearded folkie beating himself senseless (is it Simon Nicoll who sings it?). Although it probably sits better on an LP by The Band.
OK, here's four to start with...
Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
Joni Mitchell - Hejira
Paul Simon - Still Crazy After All These Years
AC/DC - Back In Black
Albums I think are flawless right the way through...
Yes- Close To The Edge
Van Morrison- Veedon Fleece (more so than 'Astral Weeks' for me) and possibly Moondance too
Isaac Hayes- Hot Buttered Soul
Stevie Wonder- Innervisions
XTC- Skylarking
Genesis- A Trick Of The Tail
Pink Floyd- Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here
The Zombies- Odessey and Oracle
Fairport Convention- Liege And Lief (the most consistent of the Sandy Denny albums)
Bob Dylan- Blood On The Tracks
Soft Machine- Third (only four tracks, though, so the margin for error is not as high even if they are all a side-long)
Neil Young- Harvest ('After The Goldrush' I tend to prefer, but this one strikes me as being more consistent)
Queen- A Night At The Opera
Bruce Springsteen- Born To Run
Joni Mitchell- Blue (I think the whole album stands up and it hasn't aged a jot!)
Wishbone Ash- Argus
The Who- Who's Next (some might quibble this one though, maybe)
Funnily enough I'm not sure there's a Beatles album that strikes me as being totally 100% solid- 'Sgt Pepper' perhaps comes closest, I think.
Albums that are much lauded that I don't personally think are masterpieces:
Marvin Gaye- What's Going On (I don't see how this is anywhere near perfect- I think there's only a few really great songs on it and those were the singles anyway!)
Radiohead- In Rainbows (there were tons of 5 star reviews for this one but I still don't think it matches up to their best)
Yup,
....the theory holds. From the list above there are clunkers on all those that I know. There are some, of course, that are all clunker and so fail the flawless test entirely. (Q: What is the status of a totally flawed album with one killer track? Now that is a far more interesting exploration than the reiteration of our individual peccadilloes)
Will have to add...
Led Zeppelin IV too. Was playing it the other day and it struck me how every track on it is brilliant.
That's cheating....
I'm not sure you should be allowed to select Yes albums as they have an in-built advantage by generally only having a couple of tracks on them (just the 3 on Close to the Edge I believe). Perhaps fairer to break each track into its various (oh dear) movements - as such I'm not sure the title track or Siberian Khatru stand up all the way through.
Not happy about 'Trick of the Tail' either. Squonk? Robbery, Assault & Battery (the first dreadful signs of the Phil Collins music hall tendency).
So what am I going to suggest to be shot down in flames?
The Stone Roses first album - and I'm including Elizabeth, My Dear for its fine republican sentiments.
'Dare' - Human League - not just 10 great tracks; 10 potential number one singles.
And I hesitate to say this, but 'First and Last and Always' by the Sisters of Mercy is a magnificently consistent album if you like that sort of thingn (which I did in 1985 and, if pushed, probably still do).
Well...
...A Trick Of The Tail is the only Collins-era album that I think fully stands up to the earlier ones- couldn't say 'Wind And Wuthering' is anything near flawless as the middle of it dips a bit, I think. Don't have a problem with those tracks you flagged up as being weak and there's the rub- the idea is entirely subjective. I see the two albums I noted as not coming up to scratch for me have already appeared elsewhere on other people's lists!
As for 'A Hard Day's Night', not sure about that- 'When I Get Home' is a bit humdrum, in my opinion. Not a bad song as such but it's weaker than the others, for me at least.
How about...
Love - Forever Changes
The National - Alligator (toss up between this and Boxer)
Van Morrison - St Dominic's Preview (totally agree about Veedon Fleece as well)
Gene Clark - No Other
Nick Drake - Bryter Later
I was going to argue on Abbey Road but then I remembered Maxwell...
'No Other'...
...I can kind of see why that was included but that first track, 'Life's Greatest Fool', doesn't fit in with other tracks, I've never felt. This is probably a personal thing, but for me it's a fairly straight country tune whilst every song around it is a melange of blues, soul, country and rock. The title track rocked my world when I first heard that!
No other..
Yes but LGF also has gospel type backing singers towards the end.
Also...arguably "The True One" is also a straight country ditty so maybe they both don't belong. Of course there were more tracks which David Geffen rejected so it might have been an entirely different beast anyway
Bryter Layter
Definately Nick's best, how about John Martyn's "Solid Air'?? or "One World" Forever Changes, yes except for that track with the over the top ,loudly recorded guitar solo. Rolling Stones Ist album, Led Zeps First, Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue", "Astral Weeks" and drop the two covers from "Like An Old Fashioned Waltz"
and you have the perfect Sandy Denny album.
Aqualung
Aqualung by the mighty Tull. Magnificent and nothing like anything else, then or now. Agree about many of the others - Pretzel Logic, Argus, Liege & Leaf. I'd also include "Kind of blue" for being perfect and also changing jazz forever.
Yeah...
...though I'd go for 'Stand Up' by Tull as well as 'Aqualung'.
No argues from me! "Songs
No argues from me! "Songs from the wood" too - WTH
Rings Around The World
...by the Super Furry Animals is utterly flawless. Everytime I play it I hear something new in every song and I've been playing it solidly for about six and a half years.
Well what about
The Beatles - Hard Days Night (not a duff track in sight)
U2 - Achtung Baby ( their best album)
Radiohead - In Rainbows (a truly beautiful record that I'm still playing to death)
Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love (such a sad and beautiful record)
The National - Boxer
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (I gave this a miss for years then bought it for £6.99 and it blew me away)
Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street ( yes and Happy too.)
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Stephen Stills - Manassas
Crowded House - Together Alone
A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (or The Low End Theory) take your pick both shit hot
Elton John - Madman Across The Water
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (although somebody might hate every track)
Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat
Josh Rouse 1972 (and or Nashville)
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Rattlesnakes
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story
Sam Cooke - One Night Stand Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963
The Blue Nile - Hats
Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
N.W.A - Niggaz4Life
De La Soul - Three Feet High and Rising
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks and or Saint Dominic's Preview
*****************
You could go on and on I think my point is there are lots of perfect albums and as I went on I started to think of more and more, some of whom have already been noted.
So Niks, like everthing to do with musical taste I suppose we just agree to disagree.
Made me revisit my musical stash though and for that, cheers.
3 there I agree with
Hard Day's Night, Exile On Main St and In Rainbows. I think there are others who will also agree with these ones.
Big Star - Radio City is one I'd pick from my own collection, which I can't refer to at work but looking at the tracks on t'internet I am happy with them all.
It's more than just what are your best albums though as my best albums do often have a few duff tracks (all of them some would say in certain cases no doubt).
I'm not going on best albums
I'm going on my perfect ones. And I just gave up because I could have kept going for a wee while more. I'm just going by the albums I still play all the way through and the fact that I like the tracks enough to do that.
And If I kept going Radio City would be in there too.
I suppose we could start another list of best albums with crap tracks needing deletion.
I didn't mean you.
Don't know what I meant really. I am sure I can come up with some more perfect albums when I get home. I've got to make a plan for laying out some tiles in the garden though - oh well that can wait until tommorrow.
With you there
My tiles have lain on the side of our house for the last 12 months along with every other DIY thing I've promised to do. My music collection and to be honest my DVD collection sits neatly and carefully filed and dusted to my other half's disgust.
Time for a perfect album moment methinks.
My perfect platters
Agree with quite a few of these - Exile, Blue, Talking Book, Skylarking, Radio City. Would also add:
REM - Murmur. They pretty much nailed it first time.
Lemonheads - Shame About Ray. Without the tacked on cover of 'Mrs Robinson', it's 28 minutes of jangly heaven. Which reminds me...
Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water. Number one for about three years, and deservedly so.
Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. Played very loud.
Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix. Trying to think of anything even vaguely second rate on this one, and can't.
Perfect album
Static and Silence by The Sundays.
Somebody please nudge Harriet Wheeler and make her sing again.
Please.
Is 'Static & Silence'...
...better than the first album? Only had 'Reading Writing & Arithmetic' on cassette (oh happy days) but recently downloaded 'Can't be Sure' and 'Here's Where the Story Ends' which are both magnificent. Can't remember whether the rest of the album was of that standard - I suspect not.
And JJ - you may well be right that 'Trick of the Tail' is the best Collins era album - still fear that makes it a long way from 'perfect'. But, as you say, it's opinions, opinions, opinions...
Better than the first?
In my opinion, yes, but Static and Silence album is allied very strongly to my memories of the first time I heard it and what I was doing etc (on the way to get married at gretna green as it happens, ten years ago this month)- that said, Reading Writing & Arithmetic is wonderful album too, but forced to choose, it's static and silence every time.
This is a bit Desert Island Discs isn't it?
Us and Us Only - The Charlatans
I'm Wide Awake it's Morning - Bright Eyes
Vauxhall & I - Morrissey
Rattlesnakes - Lloyd Cole
Tigermilk - Belle & Sebastian
The Undertones - The Undertones
All without a dud.
My nominations
"Spilt Milk" by Jellyfish... yes even the Klezmer/polka one, and the one about wanking. I wonder where the title came from. Oh
Another vote for Teenage Fanclub's "Grand Prix", also for REM "Murmur"
Talk Talk's "Spirit of Eden"... and probably "Laughing Stock" too...
Jason Falkner "Presents Author Unknown"
Mark Eitzel "60 Watt Silver Lining"
Thin White Rope "Sack Full of Silver"
...and going out on a limb on a heavy metal tip... Rainbow "Rising" :-)
'Rainbow Rising'...
...I love it too! But I've never really liked 'Do You Close Your Eyes' much- it baffled me that this was the one track they had in the set from that album on a DVD of a 1977 gig I have.
Easy, ladies...
Short sharp Shoecked
Just driving home Shuffle threw up "Hello Hopeville" off "Short Sharp Shocked" by Michelle S - quiet apart from the near perfect Pete Anderson guitar solo it made me think that SSS is quietly perfect, right down to having a hit single and a Word Blog endorsed spoken bit.
Incidentally Pete Anderson made a great solo album called "Working class" which is bloody excellent. Did anyone other than me buy it?
Neil Young - Ragged Glory
Mainly all in the same key (G, I believe), which makes it a splendid riffalongwith album as well as ticking the 'return to form' and 'reunions which work' boxes.
Mother Earth
I could do without that track, so not perfect for me. But is a cracking album nevertheless.
It's not out yet but..
..via a friend of a friend, I acquired a pre release copy of "Songs in A&E" by Spiritualized. It is breathtaking - as damn near perfect an album as I have heard in the last five years. If you liked the recent Elbow album, this will blow you away.
I'd also go for "Disintegration" by The Cure, "Closer" by Joy Division, "Bryter Later" and "Scott 4"
Oh, and let's not forget "Tin Machine II" (Only joking!)
Love and Theft
Love and Theft by Bob Dylan. All killer etc. Modern Times also comes pretty close as does Time Out of Mind. Actually there's no such thing as a bad Dylan LP. It's the law.
Also holds true for Joy Division.
Erm... beg to differ.
Have you listened to 'Dylan and the Dead' recently?
Empire Burlesque...
... is a bit rubbish. And the 80s Christian albums aren't much cop. And Dylan and the Dead is unlistenable. Love and Theft is enjoyable but I think Modern Times is far superior and is his best since Blood on the Tracks.
Dylan basement
How about Self Portrait ("What is this shit?"), Knocked out Loaded, Under the Red Sky, Down in the Groove. Love Bob but when he's bad...
Self portrait
I like Self Portrait, although it is a bit confusing and it does have the worst album sleeve of all time (well after Saved obviously). I bought it on vinyl from a charity shop recently - is it just me or does the track listing differ wildly from what's actually on the 2 discs?
Self Portrait
I agree, although constantly crucified by "the critics" I find this one of Bob's most enjoyable albums after the acknowledged classics.
Self Portrait - great album?
Totally agree - great album. What does Greil Marcus know anyway? Oh, and Dylan and the Dead isn't nearly as bad as some people would have you believe.
Well ok...
I quite like Wigwam..
Here are mine for what its worth
Steely Dan - Cant buy a thrill
Paul Simon - Still crazy after all these years
Waterboys - Fishermans blues
Mark Knopfler - Sailing to philadelphia
Ron Sexsmith - first album
Elvis Costello - King of America
Eels - Electro shock blues
see there's a slight difference here between
a perfect album and a classic/favourite.
I see a classic/favourite as being one that might have its flaws, but is carried by the strength of the good songs. In the Stones ouevre, for instance, Exile and Let it Bleed are classics, but the presence of (for me) 'Just want to see his face' and 'Midnight Rambler' means that occasionally the 'skip track' button gets pressed.
On the other hand, I can put on 'Some Girls' and none of the tracks would make me want to fast forward; but at the same time, none of the tracks can hold a candle to 'Gimme Shelter' or 'Let it Loose'.
So for my money, there aren't *that* many perfect 'i'd never hit the skip button' albums, but there are loads of classics. Among the perfects i can think of from the top of my head
A Hard Days Night - fabs
Jollification - Lightning seeds
Nightlife - Pet Shop Boys
Coming Up - Suede
Moon Safari - Air
i FORGOT
Songs of Leonard Cohen - perfect when I first heard it about 30 years ago and perfect still.
Oh Twangothan,thanks for the tip on Pete Anderson - didnt know he had a solo album. Seen him with Michelle Shocked and I think Nanci Griffith and remember thinking what a truly lyrical guitarist he is.
Hats
Hats-The Blue Nile and "Rooftops" aint half bad either
is an EP!
I often find the trouble with an album or definitely a CD is that after a few tracks of the same singer, I want them to shut up. EPs on the other hand are brief, no longer than 5 tracks and the covers are lovely pieces of art. The french were mad for them. Examples of perfection could be:-
Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
Rolling Stones - Five by Five
Brigitte Bardot - Ce N'est Pas Vrai
Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock
Less is more
is an EP - part 2
...which makes me think - the Beatles albums were easier to listen to because there was a variety of vocalists. When you get sick of...ooo.. let me think...Paul, you then get John or George or sometimes Ringo, or even fabulous harmonies like on "This Boy".
With Bjork (insert your own overrated star here), you just get Bjork, and that becomes unbearable after 2 or 3 tracks, or in my own case 5 seconds. Can't think of any other group that swaps vocalists....oh yes...Take That or the Spice Girls...so that's my theory gone. Damn!
And my own personal favourites
Girls Aloud
For the multi vocalizing
Obviously!
Multi vocalists
Drive By Truckers, they have three different singers on the most recent album and they only sing the songs they write so it sounds almost like a compilation of three slightly different bands.
Also Fotheringay, Fairport (late 60s, early 70s) and Gomez all share(d) singing duties.
The Repeat Button
By no means a standard feature on CD players. But it's a must when those rare perfect albums get played / remembered / discovered. A few of them are:
"Boomtown", David and David
"Darkness on the Edge of Town" Broooooce
"This Year's Model" Elvis C
"The Bends" Radiohead
"Spirit of Eden" and "Laughing Stock" Talk Talk
and sometimes (3 o'clock in the morning, too much red wine, possibly a good cigar) "Tilt" Scott Walker
The perfect ones take me on a journey or to a slightly different world populated with characters as vivid as any novel or movie.
Tilt!
Yeah! Tilt - what a record! The Drift is just as good, as you no doubt know. Amazing production. Scary and beautiful.
Here goes...
Albums whereby there are no duff tracks and need to be listened to all the way through....
Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
Crime of the Century - Supertramp
Stars - Simply Red
Of course if we are just talking albums that simply don't have a duff track, you could always add Abba's Greatest Hits.......
Welcome, brother of the Church of Supertramp...
it's good to see there are more of us than I previously thought. We must stand tall, sir, and not allow the ramblings of others on this site from obscuring the truth - that the 'Tramp were a great band.
Lord, I was born a rambling man.....
...and long, I hope, will I remain, to spike the cup of kindness cheer relating to the whiskered buffoons of Tramp.
Now that...
is funny. And well-written.
Amen...
...brother Patrick. We shall now sing hymn 125, 'Take the Long Way Home', which redeemed the end of Ashes to Ashes.
Bless you all...
On the 'ajectival artists' thread there is a prefix that should apply to the 'Tramp - 'much-maligned'. Yes they can get a bit 'proggy' for want of a better word, but they have provided more 'scuse- me-got-something-in-my-eye' moments for me than almost any other band of the last 35 years. Still do - why only last Friday I had Crime of the Century turned up to maximum on the M40....One of my best concert moments was in Hyde Park when they played it as an encore about 4 years ago.
Grand (and I don't care who knows it)
Hmmm......
Reply button not working for me...try again
I vote for............
Land of Dreams - Randy Newman
Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
Rattlesnakes - Lloyd Cole ( probably the finest debut album of all time )
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
Nighthawks at the Diner - Tom Waits
Fisherman´s Blues - The Waterboys
Bringing it All Back Home - Dylan
Desire - Dylan
Born to Run - Sprigsteen
Good old Boys - Randy Newman
My morning playlist
Radiohead - The Bends
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Air - Moon Safari
All of which appear somewhere above,
and then a couple of extras having scrolled through my hard drive.
Gomez - Bring it on
Kings of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood
Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin or Yoshimi Battles... can't decide.
It's entirely possible I view them as perfect as much for when I first heard them as how technically "perfect" they are, the whole classic/perfect question. But this was always going to be a bit subjective.
Now to add them to a playlist and check I agree with myself.
Perfection....
Ziggy Stardust
The Stone Roses
Led Zeppelin II
Never Mind The Bollocks
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Julian Cope
Saint Julian. Needs to be played in order from start to finish and doesn't ever drop the pace. Not the world's greatest album, perhaps, but certainly as near to artistic perfection as the Drood will ever get - especially as his later albums just seemed to wallow in self-indulgence. Which is exactly what I would do if I had recorded St Julian.
No list like this would be complete without
Tom Waits - Blue Valentines
Has to be...
'Behaviour' Pet Shop Boys.
I've never heard an album to better it. Every track amazing; from the first twang of JJ Belle's guitar on 'Being boring', through the school day haunts of 'This must be the place I waited years to leave', the sheer heartbreak of 'To face the truth', the rock stars being ticked off on 'How can you expect to be taken seriously?', the beautiful back beat of 'Only the wind' to Russia with strings on 'My October symphony', the retro keyboards on 'So hard', the human naivety of 'Nervously', acute observations on 'The end of the world' and finally, the pain that we all suffer in the form of 'Jealousy'.
Such a great record.
Hardly a mention of...
The Dame!
Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders of Mars
Aladdin Sane
Diamond Dogs
Thats three in a row, is it not?
By the way the stench of the seventies hangs heavy on much of whats been written. Do I see a pattern emerging?
You sure do!
btw - make it 4 and add Hunky Dory to the list. The only artist that I can tink of that produced 4 albums on the bounce that I regard as indepensible (Well maybe the Beatles too)
In my car
the thingy to skip tracks is there by my right hand. I can touch it at the slightest hint of boredom at any moment and move on. So what are the albums that don't get moved on?
High Land, Hard Rain - Aztec Camera
Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express - The Go-Betweens
and at home I never touch the stereo during Joni Mitchel's Hejira and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.
perfect album - who is the audience
I had a new friend visit my home; (a young person usually in the desert drilling for minerals) so I had to play quality gear for their precious time in the city;
for his youth I played "Stone Roses Remixes"
for his spirit I played "Quadrophenia"
as self-conscious as the gift that music is...