"Perfect" albums

[bikenerd]

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

(Their next album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (!) was completely the opposite - every other track was a duffer.  Then they completely lost it.)

[pcolbeck]

Fantastic title though.

[Biggsy]

Animals ~ Pink Floyd

Hey, no concept albums allowed!  Or would you not call that a concept album?

It's probably the reason I like Battersea Power Station so much anyway.

[токамак]

Live At The Apollo - James Brown & The Famous Flames, 1963. More a recording of the perfect gig really, but listening to it through you really get a sense of the excitement in the audience and sheer showmanship of Brown and the band. I wish I could have been there.

Testament to it's perfectness?:

R&B disc jockeys often would play side 1 in its entirety, pausing (usually to insert commercials) only to return to play side 2 in full as well.

[mattc]

Not to everyone's tastes, but:
   Bat out of Hell
   Appetite for Destruction

(+1s for ||el Lines, Rumours, Reckless and Graceland - all great albums)

Eurythmics - Revenge (perhaps 9.5/10 ...)
Michael Jackson - I think Thriller had more singles than Bad, and rightly so.

I have compilation albums from the Who and the Police - based on these, there MUST be a 'proper' album by both artists that belongs in this thread!

None of these are my 'favourite' album, but I'd happily listen to them end-to-end.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Any of the first 4 Steely Dan albums - Katy Lied in particular.

Little Feat: Sailin' Shoes.

Showing my age a bit 

[onb]

Never a dull moment -Rod Stewart

Blue-Joni

Another vote for Rumours

After the Gold Rush Neil Young.

[geoff]

Joni Mitchell - "For the Roses"

not one duff track on it IMHO.



BTW I don't think that a "perfect album" either ought to or can consist of releasable singles...they're divergent criteria doncha think?

[Moloko]

New Boots and Panties - Ian Dury.

[Analog Kid]

Any of the first 4 Steely Dan albums - Katy Lied in particular.

Little Feat: Sailin' Shoes.

Showing my age a bit 

+1 on both counts.

and for my six pen'orth..

"Street Survivors" - Lynyrd Skynyrd. 

Ok so most of the tracks are a bit long for singles but Steve Gaines had added a new dimension to the band just before tragedy struck.

"461 Ocean Boulevard" - Eric Clapton.

This one did produce a hit in the shape of "I shot the sheriff" but I never understood why we didn't hear more from this album.

[pcolbeck]

Joni Mitchell - Blue

Most of her albums have a couple of tracks I'm not keen on but this one I could leave on repeat for days.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Christina Aguileraleralera's Stripped.

[clarion]

Joni's Blue is a sometimes perfect album.  I have listened to it on repeat all day, but sometimes, it's just too screechy.  Tapestry by Carole King is in the same category.

[onb]

Had they made Led Zepplin 2 without the drum solo track it would have been the absolute defination of the perfect album.

[Sergeant Pluck]

New Boots and Panties - Ian Dury.

Oh yes 

So glad I went to see him for one of his last gigs in Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Joni Mitchell - Blue

Most of her albums have a couple of tracks I'm not keen on but this one I could leave on repeat for days.

Agreed.

[domesticated ape]

I think...

Band of Horses - Everything All The Time

The Postal Service - Give Up

Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

...don't have a bad track between them.

[Jurek]

Talking Heads.

Remain in light.

[plug]

American Beauty by The Grateful Dead.
I never tire of listening to this.  Every track has something to say.

London Calling by The Clash.
Awesome album, as fresh today as the day it was released.

[clarion]

Ah maybe more Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense.

[Aidan]

London Calling by The Clash.
Awesome album, as fresh today as the day it was released.

+1    I can remember listening to pre-release tracks from it on John Peel, not a bad track on it. Not one

[RJ]

London Calling by The Clash.
Awesome album, as fresh today as the day it was released.

+1    I can remember listening to pre-release tracks from it on John Peel, not a bad track on it. Not one

Contrarily, I think Combat Rock is better ...

More genre stuff - trad folk:

Planxty - After the Break (song-set-song-set format: not a duff track, from The Good Ship Kangeroo to the bonkers 13/8 time set to finish)

Andy Irvine & Paul Brady -  Andy Irvine & Paul Brady

Nic Jones - Penguin Eggs

[StuAff]

+1 for Eliminator (the Collector's Edition's fab even if you already had the original).
Mine, in no particular order of preference:
Goldfrapp 'Supernature' (I'm more a fan of their slinky electro stuff rather than the folky bits)
Jean-Michel Jarre 'Oxygene'
Kraftwerk 'Trans-Europe Express' (I'm not going to count 'The Mix' or 'Minimum-Maximum'- though both of those are 'all killer no filler', but compilations should be...)
Faith No More 'Angel Dust'
Skinny Puppy 'ViVIsectVI'
Ministry 'Psalm 69'
and last, but most definitely not least,
Metallica 'Master of Puppets' (particularly good heard live in the middle of 60k+ people, Download '06).

[citoyen]

I'm thinking of the sort where there are no duff tracks and you can imagine pretty much any of them being released as a single.  They're very rare - the only two I can think of, which by coincidence are both debut albums with eponymous titles, are The Stone Roses and The Doors.

Any others?  No concept albums, however good, because the tracks aren't supposed to stand in isolation.

I'm not sure that's my idea of a perfect "album" - surely the point of an album is that it's meant to be judged as a whole? And while I agree that Stone Roses is a perfect album, I wouldn't agree that every track on it could be released as a single - Elizabeth My Dear, for example? Same goes for several of the other records mentioned so far.

BTW I don't think that a "perfect album" either ought to or can consist of releasable singles...they're divergent criteria doncha think?

Exactly! And surely all the best albums are "concept" albums to some extent? Simply because they are conceived as a whole rather than as the sum of their parts.

The Beatles - Revolver is the only candidate I can think of for a perfect album on which every track could work as a single. Maybe Rubber Soul as well. Plus...

Richard and Linda T, "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight"
Sheer perfection.

Funnily enough, I've been listening to that a fair bit recently, and I have to agree with your assessment.

Graceland - Paul Simon

Seconded.

London Calling by The Clash.
Awesome album, as fresh today as the day it was released.

Another good shout.

d.

[clarion]

I'd agree with Beatles' Revolver, and maybe Rubber Soul, but I can't recall the tracklisting.

London Calling, for sure.  On the money every time, though parts have dated worse than others.

Exodus by Bob Marley.  Actually, Natural Mystic is more the thing, but it's a compilation.

I've just been reminded of Eden by Everything But The Girl.  Just brilliant.

[citoyen]

I'd agree with Beatles' Revolver, and maybe Rubber Soul, but I can't recall the tracklisting.

Revolver
1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. I'm only sleeping
4. Love you to
5. Here there and everywhere
6. Yellow submarine
7. She said she said
8. Good day sunshine
9. And your bird can sing
10. For no one
11. Dr Robert
12. I want to tell you
13. Got to get you into my life
14. Tomorrow never knows

Rubber Soul
1. Drive My Car
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3. You Won't See Me
4. Nowhere Man
5. Think For Yourself
6. Word
7. Michelle
8. What Goes On
9. Girl
10. I'm Looking Through You
11. In My Life
12. Wait
13. If I Needed Someone
14. Run For Your Life