Perfect Albums

“Thriller”

Patti Smith Horses

The Cure Disintegration

Oh and I forgot Ella Fitzgerald "The George and Ira Gershwin Songbook"

I second “Unforgettable”. It’s a masterpiece.

I wonder if OP is gay?

Songs In The Key of Life - Stevie Wonder

Rosanne Cash, "King's Record Shop"

Jennifer Warnes, "Famous Blue Raincoat"

Steve Earle, "Guitar Town"

Leonard Cohen, "I'm Your Man"

Richard and Linda Thompson, "Shoot Out The Lights"

Kate Bush - “Hounds of Love”

The Smiths - “The Queen Is Dead”

“I’m Your Man” is so close but then there’s “Jazz Police.”

Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy

ABC Lexicon. Isaac Hayes Black Moses. Tony Bennett Hometown My Town. Gainsbourg Love On the Beat. Seal 1991. Santana 1. Pet Shop Boys Behavior. Nico Chelsea Girl. Kraftwerk Tour de France Soundtracks. Funkadelic Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow. Etienne Daho Pop Satori. Bowie Station to Station. Bjork Vespertine. Amanda Lear I am a Photograph. Yagya The Inescapable Decay of my Heart. Wild Beasts Present Tense. Temptation All Directions and Masterpiece. I could go on and on....

Union - Toni Childs

Dusty in Memphis

Marianne Faithfull - Broken English

Kate Bush - Never For Ever

Nina Hagen - Nunsexmonkrock

Rumors - Fleetwood Mac

Horse - God's Home Movie

And a great, big, fat raspberry to you TOO, R9.

R15 Yes, a thousand times. Also Animals, The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon & The Final Cut - Pink Floyd, Crowded House - Crowded House, Abba - Abba, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles, Black & Blue - The Rolling Stones, Miles of Aisles - Joni Mitchell.

Depeche Mode - Violator

Roxy Music - Avalon

Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna

Grace Slick - Dreams

You are the only person ever to think Black & Blue is a perfect album, R18.

Velvet Underground With Nico

Alice in Chains "Jar of Flies"

Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

Kelly Clarkson's Greatest Hits - Chapter One

Bruno Mars - Unorthodox Jukebox

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

BEYONCÉ (2013)

B'Day - Beyonce

Leon Bridges - Coming Home

Prisoner in Disguise - Linda Ronstadt

Hasten down the Wind - Linda Ronstadt

Simple Dreams - Linda Ronstadt

Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon

Abbey Road - the Beatles

Tusk - Fleetwood Mac (which I hated at first except for "Sara")

Beatles '65

Beatles VI

Aftermath - Rolling Stones

Between the Buttons - Rolling Stones

A Christmas Gift to You - Phil Spector, et al.

Go Insane - Lindsey Buckingham

s/t - the Cars

ABBA "Arrival"

Barbra Streisand - Guilty

Avalon

Roxy Music self titled, in addition to Avalon.

Yes! R15 I second “Rumors”

A lot of Beatles albums come pretty close to perfection. Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper...

Blondie's "Eat to the Beat"

Rubber Soul & Abbey Road

Led Zeppelin - 1 and 2

Streisand - “Lazy Afternoon”

Billy Joel - “52nd Street”

Beatles - “Abbey Road”

chacun à son goût.

Beyonce and "perfect album"? Sheesh

Kate Bush - The Kick Inside

Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Heartbeat

Nana Mouskouri's "Passport"

Perfect listening when driving or at home on the chaise longue with a dry martini to hand.

Purple Rain

r35, yes, since I read that, I can't quite get it out of my head. Beyonces? Sheesh.

Mark Robson - Record Collection [the album]

The Bodyguard (soundtrack) - Whitney Houston Daydream - Mariah Carey Falling into You - Celine Dion

^ RoNson

R37 YES. Came here to say that.

Vanity “Wild Animal”

If your idea of a perfect album is a crack cocaine induced fever dream and very little vocal ability

Supertramp- Breakfast in America Bruce Sprinsteen- The river Charles Trénet- La mer La grande Sophie- Et si c'était moi I second every Kate Bush's album.

Daft Punk - Discovery

Lemonade - Beyoncé

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West

Field Commander Cohen - Leonard Cohen

The Blueprint - Jay-Z

Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell

Pink Floyd - “ dark side of the Moon”

R42 yes

Abby Road - The Beatles

Back to Black - Amy Winehouse (loved her unique talent)

Elliott Smith: Either/Or

Nirvana: Nevermind

Bright Eyes: Wide Awake, It's Morning

Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville

Lady Gaga: The Fame Monster

Jane's Addiction: Ritual de lo Habitual

Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over The Sea

Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind

Squeeze - East Side Story

Madonna's Like a Prayer and Ray of Light

Beastie Boys- Ill Communication

Nirvana-Nevermind

Prince-Sign O The Times

It’s not me, it’s you - Lily Allen

Secret Codes and Battleships - Darren Hayes

Beta Male Fairy Tales - Bens Brother.

Nine track mind - Charlie Puth

Diplomatic Immunity - client liaison

Rainbow-Kesha

Life in Cartoon motion - Mika.

The Ride - Nelly Furtado

Surf Music - Paul Williams

Body Talk - Robyn

Progress - take that

Bloom - Troye Sivan

Echoes - Will young

Honorable mention to Sam Sparro and James Blunt who have amazing songs but not an overall flawless album.

Depeche Mode - Violator

Blondie

Radiohead - The Bends

Diamond Life by Sade

Norah Jones "Come Away With Me" (guilty pleasure)

The Strokes "Is This It"

One for the party, one for the come down.

David Gray - White Ladder Jason Mraz - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things David Mead - Indiana

Steely Dan, Aja.

Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St, Sticky Fingers Elvis Costello - This Year's Model Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks

Yes, a lot of Beatles albums. I agree with Norah Jones "Come Away with Me," too. And Fleetwood Mac "Rumors"

Bowie - Hunky Dory, Ziggy, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Station to Station

Hem- "Rabbit Songs"

[Is it cheating to name a greatest hits album? If not Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits (1975). The whole thing is good, and before they became terrible).

I hate Bono and U2 now but definitely The Joshua Tree and All That You Can't Leave Behind

Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid

Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz

James Blake - James Blake

R65 Joshua Tree was the worst thing that happened to them I think. They had a great sound in the 80s but went crap after that album.

"War" is still their best imo.

Boys for Pele by Tori Amos. It’s an acquired taste, and once you take it in, nothing compares.

Relish by Joan Osbourne

This is interesting, and some are surprising. Shania Twain?

I knew what #1 would be!

Björk - Début Björk - Vespertine Massive Attack - Mezzanine Arcade Fire - The Suburbs Robyn - Body Talk Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55 Amy Winehouse - Back to Black Beck - Sea Change

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run and Linda Ronstadt- Heart Like A Wheel,

Lists aren't interesting. Why not say what you like about the albums?

First one that came to mind for me is Skylarking by XTC. Not only is each song lovely with some beautiful arrangements (those strings on "1000 Umbrellas"!) and some great imagery ("trees are dancing drunk with nectar") and memorable phrases ("dropped in diamond disarray") but taken together they take us on a journey. Several journeys, really, depending on how you look at it.

I admit I sometimes only listen to the first side, as it ends on a hopeful note, while the second side is more downbeat.

It took 74 replies?!

Lady in Satin.

Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

[quote]Is it cheating to name a greatest hits album?

Yes. Or I'd've named Retrospective, by Buffalo Springfield.

I don't always care why people like what they like. I get bored listening to their explanations and descriptions. It's like trying to listen to somebody talk about their dreams. No thanks. As long as it works for you, it's cool.

[quote]Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

I wanted to name this, the best album by one of my favorite artists, but it's not perfect. It's four absolutely stupendous, life-changing songs, and four that are just okay. It's still one of my top ten albums of all time, maybe top five, but it isn't perfect.

Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Jackson Browne - The Pretender

Robyn Body Talk part 1.

Hold Out, by Jackson Browne

What r77 said. Most people aren't good at explaining art. A list is sufficient.

Janet Jackson - The Velvet Rope, Kate Bush - Hounds of Love, Björk - Vespertine, Kelis - Flesh Tone

The closest thing to the perfect album for me are two by The Velvet Underground:

The Velvet Underground and Nico

White Light / White Heat

Both albums were influenced by the band's association with Andy Warhol and the Factory. As their manager/producer, he allowed them to do what they wanted in the studio while making suggestions that changed the sound of some of their songs (Venus in Furs, All Tomorrow's Parties) into something unique at the time, especially in the first album

They each have just one song that has dated badly for me:

European Song: The song is fine until John Cale flushes a toilet and the music switches gears into chaotic noise.

Sister Ray: Similar problem. The song starts out fine and somewhere along the way everybody starts improvising badly and the song turns into a 17 minute endurance test.

The Beach Boys:

SMiLe

Pet Sounds

The Beach Boys Today

Summer Days and Summer Nights

^^^^^ European Son....not Song.

Now hold on a darn minute, R85. Didn't we just get through telling you NO EXPLANATIONS? But there you go, explaining.

"Nightfly" - Donald Fagen.

I like how he pulls you into that nanosecond era of the early late 50s early 60s.

oops- late 50s, early 60s ^

Yes, Della. That IS a perfect album. Do you like Aja and Gaucho as much? I find Gaucho perfect as well.

R88

I chose to respect R73's request for an explanation!

If it gets him/her to check out the Velvet Underground albums, then I did my job.

Celebrity Skin- Hole

Cheap Thrills - Big Brother and the Holding Company

So many good ones listed that are on my list.

I'd add Born to Run. Not all of his best, but certainly a perfect story, start to finish.

Detailed enough, R73?

Shite/didn't see Springsteen already listed, even did a search. Sorry for the dupe.

r97, don't be sorry because you find the same album perfect that someone else finds perfect. The queen who runs that shite is who needs to apologize.

You Are The Quarry by Morrissey

Aerial by Kate Bush

Music Conplete by New iOrder

The MGA Sessions by Shakespear’s Sister

Oh and Autoamerican by Blondie and No Exit by Blondie

Hi r91, I LOVE "Aja". I haven't listened to "Gaucho" for awhile. I do, however, have both "Aja" and "The Nightfly" on constant play in my car's CD player.

The Wheel - Roseanne Cash

Rockferry - Duffy

Back to Black - Amy Winehouse

Perfect Album Covers

Any interest in a thread?

I like those three more than any of the earlier Steely Dan albums, Della. The early ones all blur together. Except for "The Royal Scam," I can't tell you when I hear a pre-Aja song which album I'm listening to, and I've been listening since the '70s.

Tina Turner - Private Dancer

r104, I'll digress to gossip. I've read "between the lines" that Donald Fagen is an asshole of gargantuan proportions.

Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On

Della, I try not to know too much about my favorite artists. I'm not one of those who can absolutely, positively separate the art from the artist.

Neil Young - Harvest

Van Morrison - Astral Week

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Radiohead - OK Computer

Though I do find Revolver and Rubber Soul to be perfect for the purposes of this discussion (except for "Yellow Submarine"), I don't like them as much as the rest of the world does, so it didn't occur to me to include them. Abbey Road is IMO the Beatles' most perfect album, followed by Sgt. Pepper's.

Got it, r108 and that's wise.

Jane Olivor, Chasing Rainbows

Stop that, R92. A web forum is no place for conversation.

Rod Stewart-Every Picture Tells a Story

Poor R92!

Bob Dylan - Blood on the tracks

my favorite Bob Dylan album, Desire.

Follies OBC

Blur - "Parklife"

Hanson - "The Walk", "Shout it Out"

Lauryn Hill - "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill"

Daft Punk - "Discovery"

Elton John - "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"

Fleetwood Mac - "Rumours"

John Lennon - "Imagine"

The Strokes - "Is This It"

The Radio Dept. - "Lesser Matters"

The Beach Boys - "Pet Sounds"

The Moody Blues - "Days of Future Passed"

Agree about "Tapestry."

"Meet the Beatles."

"Full House Live" (J. Geils Band).

"Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. II."

"Millennium" (Backstreet Boys).

"Cheap Thrills" (Janis Joplin/Big Brother and the Holding Company).

The Stone Roses - debut self titled.

The Editors - In This Light and On This Evening

Hard Fi - Stars of CCTV

[quote]The Stone Roses - debut self titled.

yes!

The Cranberries - No need to Argue Hole - Live Through This 10,000 Maniacs - Our Time in Eden

R119 - yes - Parklife - absolutely - ashamed i didn't add it.

r120 Hard to conceptualize someone with "Meet the Beatles" and something by the Backstreet Boys on the same list of perfect albums.

Exactly what I was thinking, R125.

Duke Ellington - Studio Sessions - Chicago - 1956

Kind of Blue

Torch Time by The Ink Spots

I agree with much of what's been mentioned here, but am particularly glad to see the mention of Nina Hagen before I add my own contribution, Hagen's Fearless. For years since 1983 I played that album front-to-back without ever skipping a single track. Every song is a unique, individual experience that I've never gotten bored with. Most albums I've had similar experiences with I've edited to fit my own listening pleasure, but not Fearless. It's perfect in its own intended presentation & insists on being heard no other way.

From r120 to r125 and r126: Screw you! I'm old, but I taught high school, so I remained familiar with Pop music, and especially great harmonies of same Try "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" by the BSB).

"Meet the Beatles" will forever be perfect to me as the touchstone of my 14-year-old self's discovering my generation's music, not that of my aunts and Elvis. And then, of course, the entire British Invasion.

Oh, and I forgot the best album of Ricky Martin, the one that won the Latin Grammy in 1999 (THE performance of "The Cup of Life"):

"Vuelve." Perfection is "Casi Un Bolero."

Tori Amos's first five albums

All four of Fiona Apple's

Judee Sill's self-titled debut (1971)

Ana Silvera's The Aviary (2012) and Oracles (2018)

I would highly recommend checking out any of those albums. There is not a bad song on any of them.

When it comes to pop albums, my favourite of my childhood was the Spice Girls' debut, my favourite of my teens was Avril Lavigne's Let Go, and my favourite of my twenties was Carly Rae Jepsen's EMOTION (Sides A & B).

I have to admit I have a soft spot for Phil Collins’ debut solo album.

Brian Eno - On Land

The Art of Noise - Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?

Siouxsie & the Banshees - A Kiss In the Dreamhouse

Cocteau Twins - Treasure

Prefab Sprout - Swoon

Sonic Youth - Evol

Boredoms - Pop Tatari

Merzbow - Mercurated

John Coltrane - Interstellar Space

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz

Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

Talking Heads - Remain In Light

Blondie - Parallel Lines

The Damned - Damned Damned Damned

Plastics - Welcome Back

Kraftwerk - Computer World

X-Ray Spex - Germ Free Adolescence

The B-52's - The B-52's

The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico

Liv Ullmann ‎– Fra Profeten

"Sharon Tate" - Llipclamp

Belinda Carlisle Sings Schumann - Liederkreis nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine (very rare)

Def, Dumb & Blonde by Deborah Harry.

MAYA

The Heavyweight Champions - John Coltrane's entire Atlantic Records catalog, on a 7-CD box set. One of my favorite pieces of musical art in the universe.

Almost perfect. Bernstein's first set of Mahler symphonies. You'll want an additional 4 and 5, but the rest are my very favorite versions of each symphony.

Rubber Soul

The Mamas and Papas- If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears

Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Summerteeth Fred Hersch: Open Book Randy Newman: Good Old Boys and Sail Away and 12 Songs Rickie Lee Jones: s/t Willie Nelson: Stardust Neil Young: Massey Hall 1971 Steve Reich: Four Organs Tom Petty: Damn the Torpedoes Fleetwood Mac: Tusk The Clash: Sandinista!

Beatles, Abby Road, 1969 Eagles, Desperado, 1973 Grateful Dead, Blues for Allah, 1975 Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, 1977

English Beat: Just Can’t Stop It

Wow. Sure is a lot of perfection within the recording industry.

Oh, I did not know Ranking Roger died. R.I.P.

GAP in-store playlist April 1997

Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour deserves mention as a recent masterpiece.

Claudine Longet - The Look Of Love

Maya Angelou - Miss Calypso

Susan Boyle - The Gift

I'd say all four of Tori's first four albums are perfect: Little Earthquakes, Under the Pink, Boys for Pele, and Choirgirl Hotel.

She sort of lost her way after that. But I can't tell if the quality actually went down or my tastes have just changed.

Discuss.

I agree with the other posters who mentioned Tapestry. Carole King is amazing.

Songs of Faith and Devotion-Depeche Mode

Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

New Order - Substance

Graceland, by Paul Simon. Linda Ronstadt's voice has hardly sounded more beautiful as it does in "Under African Skies."

Sweet Baby James

Yes! R62 “Aja”

Duran Duran - Rio

Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen

Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks

Alice Cooper - Killer

Blur - Think Tank

Christmas with the Chipmunks

Mark Knopfler - Sailing To Philadelphia

Joni Mitchell "Court & Spark"

Tyler Hilton - Forget The Storm

Shaun Cassidy Room Service

Not one bad song.

Pirates - Rickie Lee Jones

The Heart of Saturday Night - Tom Waits

Fear Fun. Father John Misty

Boys For Pele Tori Amos

Native Invader Tori Amos

"Stop Making Sense" and "Remain in Light" - Talking Heads

Angelyne Driven to Fantasy

B-52's- COSMIC THING. I know that many love their earlier, messier albums (and so do I), but every song on this album is a perfectly-produced gem, and together they make a perfect album.

Some of these have already been (rightly) mentioned:

ABC - The Lexicon of Love

Sade - Diamond Life

Alison Moyet - Hometime, Other

Propaganda - A Secret Wish

ELO - A New World Record

Ivy - In The Clear

Roisin Murphy - Overpowered

Saint Etienne - Words and Music by...

The Rutles' first album is perfection.

Madonna -Ray of Light

Gillian Welch "Revival."

The Pogues "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash."

U2 "Joshua Tree."

Tom Waits "Rain Dogs."

Miranda Lambert "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend."

X "Los Angeles."

Has Exile on Main Street been mentioned yet? I never get tired of it.

Pia Zadora- Color Me Pia

Zamfir- Everybody Loves The Pan Flute

Vicki Lawrence- Southern Delights

Wayne Newton- Wayne's World

Backstreet Boys- The Boys Go Bareback

Tiny Tim- All His Best Volume 1

Nice to see Father John Misty on the list.

Boy - U2

New Order "Substance" and "Low Life" Björk "Vulnicura" (only song that's made me cry is Family) and "Homogenic" Kate Bush "Hounds of Love" and "The Dreaming" Aphex Twin "Selected Ambient Works 85-92" Autechre "Oversteps" Massive Attack "Mezzanine" Lorde "Pure Heroine" Pet Shop Boys "Actually"

New Order "Substance" and "Low Life"

Björk "Vulnicura" (only song that's made me cry is Family) and "Homogenic"

Kate Bush "Hounds of Love" and "The Dreaming"

Aphex Twin "Selected Ambient Works 85-92"

Autechre "Oversteps"

Massive Attack "Mezzanine"

Lorde "Pure Heroine"

Pet Shop Boys "Actually"

Paul Simon "Graceland" Blink-182 "Enema Of The State" Neko Case "Middle Cyclone" Talking Heads "Speaking in Tongues"

Toni Childs “Union”

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Steps - Steptacular

Brian Eno--Ambient I: Music for Airports

Aphex Twin "Selected Ambient Works 85-92"

Thievery Corporation--Richest Man in Babylon

Penguin Cafe--A Matter of Life

....

Every Man and Woman is a Star - Ultramarine

Eno - another green world

Miles - in a silent way

Scritti politti - cupid & psyche 85

Aztec camera - high land, hard rain

Simon & garfunkel - bookends

Joni - for the roses, court & spark, hejira

Wire - pink flag

Television - marquee moon

Beach boys - pet sounds, wild honey

Big star - 3rd

Go-betweens - tallulah

Jens lekman - night falls over kortedala

R179- That was me!!! I love all of Father John Misty's albums. Pure Comedy was by far the mixed bag of his work- a massively post Trump depressive journey- Its a LONG, wildy erratic work- but has some brilliant stuff.

Fear Fun is a perfect record. Perfectly sequenced, produced, and performed. All the songs are excellent and it has this wonderful 70's dreamy California vibe.

I will never get tired of it.

Judy Garland--Alone

Kristin Hersh--Hips & Makers

Cocteau Twins--Victorialand

Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs

Tori Amos, Little Earthquakes

Journey, Infinity

Foreigner’s First Album

Police, Zenyatta Mondatta

Ouroboros - Ray Lamontagne

Sticky Fingers - Rolling Stones

Watertown - Sinatra

Elton John : Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

Beatles: Abbey Road

Soundtrack : Once Upon A Time In America

John Martyn - Grace and Danger

Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Clannad - Macalla

Kate Bush - Hounds of Love

Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville

Yo La Tengo - I can Hear the Heart Beating as One

Palace Music - Viva last Blues

Bettie Serveert - Palomine

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

Believe, Cher. The perfect dance album.

Sade - Diamond Life

"The Turn of a Friendly Card" - Alan Parson's Project. One of the best concept albums ever.

"Who's Next" - The Who. You'd think it was a greatest hit album, but it's not.

AC/DC--Back in Black

Rush--Subdivisions

Tears for Fears--Songs from the Big Chair

Stone Temple Pilots--Core

The Hurting is Tears for Fears' good album.

Mariah Dairy ~ The Low Spark of Swollen Blue Udders

Three perfect Bob Dylan albums: (1) Blonde on Blonde; (2) Highway 61 Revisited; (3) Blood on the Tracks.

The Beatles ABBEY ROAD Joan Baez DIAMOND & RUST Dire Straits MAKING MOVIES Rolling Stones EXILE ON MAIN STREET Stevie Wonder SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE Emmylou Harris BLUE KENTUCKY GIRL Pink Floyd DARK SIDE OF THE MOON LED ZEPPELIN IV

“Policy” by Martha Davis (the Motels)

Rapture - Anita Baker

“Titanic Rising” - Weyes Blood

Lily Allen- It's Not Me, It's You

Thriller was full of FILLER.

R210, I agree. It had four really good songs.

I’m sorry, anything by Bob Dylan could never be a perfect album because he’s singing.

Tapestry

The smiths The Smiths Inxs - The Swing U2 Joshua tree

Madge-The Immaculate Collection Shoshana Bean-Superhero Paper Mill Cast-Follies

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?

Jimmy Webb - Ten Easy Pieces

I AM SURE IT IS BY BELINDA ELEGANCE PERSONIFIED CARLISLE AND ITS MANY UNFORGETTABLE HITS ON ONE OF THE BEST GAP PLAYLISTS OF ALL TIME !!!!!

"Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind" - Linda Ronstadt

Neil Diamond's 50th anniversary collection is pretty definitive. Abba Gold is good too.

The Cars first two albums.

Talking Heads 77 up until Stop Making Sense/Speaking in Tongues

David Bowe - Ziggy up until Let's Dance

Peter Gabriel 3, Security, and So

Michael Jackson Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous

London Calling the Clash

The Queen is Dead the Smiths

Keane- Hopes & Fears

A little dated now but still, not quite as dated as suggested by the man who described it as he best album from the 1960s to have been released in the 80s- The Stone Roses album. Also- Definitely Maybe, by Oasis. For similar reasons. There was no possible better introduction to the album or the band, than the first track on each album, and both progressed track by track to build up. and arc like a good story. Production and structure worked to make the very best of the material. (It even duped me into believing Ian Brown could sing, so buying the live video led to a fuckawful shock).

Supertramp Crime of the Century up to Breakfast in America. Funny how often band's show a steady decline right after their commercial peak.

Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, New Jersey, and Keep the Faith

Depeche Mode's Black Celebration, Music for the Masses, Violator, and Songs of Faith and Devotion

Horizon - The Carpenters

Ulmann Sings Auden

The Go-Go's "Beauty and the Beat" - I miss when album tracks were laid out in a specific order, unlike buying individual unrelated MP3s today. Beauty and the Beat came out when I was little and I still love it to this day - upbeat fun pop.

The Sundays - Reading, Writing and Arithmetic

Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman

Nico The Marble Index.

Please kill me now after having read some of the lowbrow taste proudly displayed above.

R73, is right. Skylarking by XTC is a perfect album, especially if you own the version with "Mermaid Smiled". The record company later dropped that track in favor of the single, "Dear God".

The lyrics throughout are fascinating. I love "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul". The opening verses are:

The man who sailed around his soul From East to West, from pole to pole With ego as his drunken captain Greed, the mutineer, had trapped all reason in the hold

The man who walked across his heart Who took no compass, guide or chart To rope and tar his blood congealed When he found his self revealed ugly and cold

These are records/cds I owned that ended up being the ones that I knew by heart, from first track to last i e., perfect for me

Reaching Back - Regina Bell - she does great covers of old R and B hits - the intro and first track are blasting in the convertible great!

Kenny Rankin - the Kenny Rankin Album - singer songwriter with a smooth pop/jazz sensibility...ver listenable..

My Romance - Carly Simon - she does a great job interpreting these torchy love ballads.

Phoebe Snow - Something Real -- Great song collection with her unique voice........

Amy Winehouse- I am not alone recognizing the perfection - gone way too soon

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

Just sublime.

R235 I just thought that about your post, actually.

Elliott Smith's "Either/Or"

Wilco's "Being There"

Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust"

Liz Phair's "Exile in Guyville"

The Beatles "White Album"

[quote]The Beatles "White Album"

Number Nine?

Number Nine?

Number Nine?

Number Nine?

Number Nine?

Number Nine?

Number Nine?

Number Nine?

Loving a lot of your selections, folks!

Getz/Gilberto

ABBA. The Album. Bjork. Debut. Rosanne Cash. Interiors. Toni Childs. Union. David Bowie. Heroes. Julia Fordham. Porcelain. Heart. Dog & Butterfly. Elton John. Captain Fantastic. Stevie Nicks. Bella Donna. Fleetwood Mac. Tusk. Queen. Jazz. Al Stewart. Time Passages. Suzanne Vega. Songs in Red and Gray. Jennifer Warnes. Famous Blue Raincoat. Linda Ronstadt. Hasten Down the Wind. Emmylou Harris. Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town. Paul Simon. Hearts and Bones. Steely Dan. Gaucho. Phoebe Snow. Second Childhood. David Sylvian. Gone to Earth.

Abbey Road - The Beatles Exile on Main Street - Rolling Stones Who's Next -The Who The Jim Carroll Band - Jim Carroll Be Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish Tapestry - Carole King Herbert von Karijian & the Berlin Philharmonic - Beethoven's 9th Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Club, 1963 Only the Lonely - Frank Sinatra Sade - Sade Red Octopus - Jefferson Starship Four Seasons - Antonio Vivaldi Blue Oyster Cult - 1st Album Hotel California - Eagles Beethoven's 5th Symphony - Arturo Toscanini Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Simon & Garfunkel Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan Buck Owens & the Buckaroos - Buck Owens What 's Going On - Marvin Gaye Live at Leeds-The Who including the new expanded version of Tommy tracks, STILL the best live rock album ever, 2/14/1970 Led Zeppelin 1 - Led Zeppelin Wheels of Fire - Cream The River - Bruce Springsteen Truth - Jeff Beck Toys in the Attic - Aerosmith Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd Black & White Night - Roy Orbison Unforgettable - Nat King Cole

Who's Next really is a perfect album.

The best live rock band ever from 1968-74. Was in the 6th row at the Metropolitan Opera House, NYC doing Tommy Live in June,1970 just after Live at Leeds...unbelievable how tight they were before the drugs, deaths, fights etc. Saw them twice in 1971 too playing Who's Next at Forest Hills, Queens.

I said it before and I will say it again-

Fear Fun- Father John Misty.

Impeccably sequenced, cohesive, beautiful, funny, atmospheric-Every track flows into the next. Really good stuff.

This is an old thread so off the top of my head and probably repeating myself:

Born to Run - Springsteen Pirates - Rickie Lee Jones Graceland - Paul Simon

I Wanna Be Around -Tony Bennett

Laura Nyro - Eli and the Thirteenth Confession

Aimee Mann - I’m With Stupid

Bedtime Stories - Madonna

Surfacing - Sarah Mclachlan

James Taylor - JT

Nightlife - pet shop boys

The Beatles - Abbey Road

The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

Led Zeppelin - IV

Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon

Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties

Kiss - Alive!

Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic

Queen - Sheer Heart Attack

Van Halen - Van Halen

UFO - Strangers in the Night

Cheap Trick - At Budokan

AC/DC - Highway to Hell & Back in Black

Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz

Rush - Moving Pictures

Metallica - Ride the Lightning & Master of Puppets

Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

Liz Phair - White Chocolate Space Egg Beck - Odelay Weezer - Pinkerton

Steeley Dan - Aja

I'd also include Thomas Dolby's "The Flat Earth" if you remove "Hyperactive."

Dusty Definitely. &. Dusty in Memphis

With PSB I have to go with Introspective.

There's pretty much not a bad cut on the first seven Steely Dan albums.

Also - Risqué by Chic

"From Elvis in Memphis" by Elvis Presley (1969). A definitive classic.

Bee Gees - Main Course from 1975. Every song is a classic...Jive Talkin', Nights on Broadway, Wind of Change, Fanny (Be Tender With My Love), Come On Over, Edge of The Universe, All This Making Love, etc.

Barbra Streisand "The Broadway Album"?

Good LORD NO!!

All those synth pop arrangements/instrumentals which are NOT found in a Broadway orchestra! I couldn't believe how dated and campy it sounded the DAY it was released!

So...r265 (and yes, I [italic]do[/italic] mean "So..."), what is YOUR [italic]Theme Album from the AIDS Epidemic, including "Somewhere" and "Something Wonderful"[/italic]?

[/italic]

"Candy-O" by the Cars, from 1979.

Michael Jackson, "I Sleep With Little Boys: The Lost Album."

The Mollusk by Ween

R265 gives me life, Chile. Little Miss has STATED her boundaries!!!

"Kate and Anna McGarrigle"

The Writing's on the Wall by Destiny's Child is so perfect and each song is a bop.

"Billion Dollar Babies" by Alice Cooper, 1973.

Every song was a winner!

Another for Disintegration by The Cure.

Night and Day - Joe Jackson

I think Taylor Seift’s “Reputation” is the best album of the decade.

1. David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

2. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of The Moon

3. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

4. Led Zeppelin IV

5. The Cars - The Cars

6. The Ramones - Rocket to Russia

7. Black Sabbath - Paranoid

8. Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies

9. The Go-Go's - Beauty & The Beat

10. Boston - Boston

R278 Great list. So much variety in the 70s. Now everything sounds the same.

Don't forget me!

Ella Fitzgerald in Berlin: A live album recorded in the early 1960s. Ella forgets the lyrics to "Mack the Knife," but then makes up new lyrics. Excellent.

[quote]Ella forgets the lyrics to "Mack the Knife," but then makes up new lyrics.

I like that idea.

Some different choices...

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

Celine Dion - Unison

Kenny Rankin - Professional Dreamer

Kenny Loggins - Vox Humana

Backstreet Boys : "Millennium".

Ricky Martin: "Vuelve".

R102, Yes! "Rockferry" is brilliant! Too bad Duffy never made it big here.

And Amy was simply stunning on "Back to Black."

"Diana Ross," 1976, Motown.

Joan Armatrading -- lovely from beginning to end.

I am not in love, but I'm open to persuasion...

I didn't love the entire album as much as you did, r287, but I sure did like "Love and Affection."

Richard and Linda Thompson- I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

The Housemartins - Now That's What I Call Quite Good

Faith No More - Angel Dust

Abbey Road

Sam Phillips - A Boot and a Shoe

Kate Bush - The Dreaming

Kate Bush - Hounds of Love

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

Stevie Nicks - Belladonna

Bjork - Homogenic

Alison Moyet - The Minutes

Nina Hagen - Nunsexmonkrock

Cyndi Lauper - Hat Full of Stars

Duran Duran - Duran Duran (debut album, original UK track listing including To the Shore, and not including Is There Something I Should Know)

The Creatures - Boomerang

Tanita Tikaram - Ancient Heart

The Go-Go's - Beauty and the Beat

Arcadia - So Red the Rose

Fiona Apple - When the Pawn...

Beirut - Gulag Orkestar

Sera Cahoone - Only As The Day Is Long

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country

Sinéad Lohan - No Mermaid

Sinéad O'Connor - The Lion and the Cobra

Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Beth Orton - Trailer Park

I'll stop now

Nick Drake - Pink Moon

Belly - Star

Still love this one.

R293- will you marry me? I didn’t know anyone besides me loved Sinead Lohan. Diving to be Deeper. ‘Nuff said. And Whatever It Takes is another favorite.

Toni Childs - Union

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning from Sinatra in 1955.

Deeply personal - after his breakup with Ava Gardner - and also groundbreaking in introducing a concept LP to a wide audience.

His voice was at its absolute best and the mood of the album - solitary and mournful - never breaks but never becomes monotonous.

He followed it with a couple more albums centered on sorrow, but none could equal this one.

Another vote for Court and Spark. It never gets old. Joni Mitchell even included a song about a gay man (David Geffen), rare for 1974.

Stevie wonder Songs in the key of life

I never understand the love for Blue or Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell. I find them boring. I would choose Hissing of Summer Lawns or Night Ride Home.

But those still aren't perfect to me.

But then I've never got the love for her. She's the reason a whole generation of females decided to set their diaries to music (looking at you Tori Amos and countless others). My idea of HELL would be attending Lilith Fair.

R299 Why didn't I think of that?

Aqualung by Jethro Tull

Jeff Buckley “Grace”

Tori Amos “Little Earthquakes”

Love “Forever Changes”

The Beatles “ White Album”

Moody Blues “Search of the lost chord”

PJ Harvey “Rid Of Me”

Radiohead “Ok Computer”

portishead “Dummy”

Are some pefect albums to me. Hard to just choose one

“Very” - Pet Shop Boys

Thanks for reminding me, r304. Forever Changes is both perfect and one of the best albums of all time.

YW R306 Glad someone else onDL is a big fan of this album. I forgot one of my favorites on my list. Definition of a perfect album to me:

Patti Smith - Dream of Life

My Bloody Valentine - "Loveless"

Scanning my iTunes, these pop up at me as what I listen to as full albums. Pretty much perfect to me. I've noticed tho, none are very recent - I guess I must face it, I'm an eldergay!

Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones, Small Change, Rain Dogs

Underworld - Second Toughest in the Infants

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

Soho - Goddess

Sinéad O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, The Lion and the Cobra

Rickie Lee Jones - Ricky Lee Jones, Pirates

Ray LaMontagne - Trouble

R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant, Monster

Portishead - Dummy

Oval - 94diskont

Her Space Holiday - The Young Machines

The Dream Academy - The Dream Academy

The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

Beck - Guero

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

One Dove- “Morning Dove White”

The Gentle People - “Soundtracks for Living”

The Partridge Family - “Sound Magazine”

The Partridge Family - "The Partridge Family Album" (1970)

An incredible pop album with almost every song a hit single. Some of the best pop composers, producers and arrangers created a sound for a fictional pop group, and the whole thing just works. I can sing every song on this album, and haven't listened to it in forty years all the way through, but boy I did as a kid.

Just side 1- "Brand New Me" (Wes Farrell, Eddie Singleton) "Point Me in the Direction of Albuquerque" (Tony Romeo) "Bandala" (Wes Farrell, Eddie Singleton) "I Really Want to Know You" (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) "Only a Moment Ago" (Terry Cashman, Tommy West) "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" (Wes Farrell, Jim Cretecos, Mike Appel)

And side two has "I Think I Love You" (Tony Romeo) among others!

That's enough to make it perfect in my book.

Paul McCartney and Wings- "Band on the Run"

It sounds fresh every time still.

Patty Loveless, "When Fallen Angels Fly" -- classic country tunes (some with a twist) from the CMA Album of the Year for...1995 or 1996.

The Patridge Family?

Every so often there is a jolting reminder not to trust the tastes of many of you.

Agreed, r316!

I may have my gay card revoked, but I say Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic" from 1975. Rock just doesn't get any better. Every song is a winner. Besides containing two massive hits (Sweet Emotion and Walk This Way), it also contains great deeper tracks (No More, No More, Round and Round, Uncle Salty, etc.). I bought my first copy of this album at the age of ten in 1975 and it has always been a favorite. The next album, 1976's "Rocks" was just as good.

Another vote for Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable" album.

The Circle Game - Tom Rush

CORRECTION: In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, 1955 by Frank Sinatra NOT Only the Lonely

AND

Unforgettable by Natalie Cole NOT Nat King Cole

AND

Seventh Sojourn by The Moody Blues

N.B. Only the Lonely by Roy Orbison NOT included...no such album but magnificent song as well as In Dreams

CUPID & PSYCHE ‘85 is a sweet synth dream. It’s almost faultless dancefloor etherea with a kick of sparkly joy in it.

Green Gartside is an unsung Welsh genius.

Confessions on the Dance Floor - Madonna

Kate Bush-The Red Shoes Fleetwood Mac-Tusk Jason Isbell-Southeastern

Graceland- Paul Simon

[quote]Barbra Streisand "The Broadway Album"; Judy Garland "Judy at Carnegie Hall"; Natalie Cole "Unforgettable"; Bette Midler "Live at Last";

OP is soooo gay. Sweet.

Lenny's first M3:

Warren Zevon's first album on Asylum Records (1976):

Lemonade - Beyonce

Madame X

Ben Folds Five's self-titled first album.

Boys for Pele by Tori Amos

Rodeo by Travis Scott

Vespertine by Bjork

To Bring You My Love by PJ Harvey

Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey

Armchair Apocrypha by Andrew Bird

Joni Mitchell “Court and Spark”

Pet Shop Boys “Actually”

Pet Shop Boys “Very”

REM “Automatic for the People”

Tina Turner “Private Dancer”

Dusty Springfield “Dusty in Memphis”

Bruce Springsteen “Born in the USA”

Prince “Purple Rain”

Tracy Chapman “Tracy Chapman”

Cher “Believe”

Sinead O’Connor “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got”

Tom Petty “Full Moon Fever”

Madonna “Ray of Light”

Fleetwood Mac “Rumours”

Lone Justice “Lone Justice”

Sting “Dream of the Blue Turtles”

Chris Isaak “San Francisco Days”

Janet Jackson “Control”

Why should people have their gay card revoked because they like hard rock?

so small minded

Cher's Believe is a perfect album? C,mon, I love Cher but please....Jesus

(the correct answer is Cher's Stars album)

You can have my gay card, I'd rather listen to rock any day then much of what has been classified by the 'what gays love' trope.

KISS - ROCK N ROLL OVER

Shirley Temple's "On The Good Ship Lollipop"

🐻 "Teddy Bears Picnic" is my favorite song.

Bill Evans - Sunday @ Village Vanguard John Coltrane - Ballads

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing Brian Eno - Ambient I: Music for Airports

U2 - The Unforgettable Fire Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair

Maria Callas' "Verdi Heroines" Album. Her readings of the three Lady Macbeth arias alone are monumentally great; no one has ever even come close to wringing every drop of nuance and meaning from them as she did.

Plenty of gay rock fans here on DL, judging by the popularity (and longevity) of some of the rock/rock gossip threads. Some posters are very knowledgeable, too.

Dionne Warwick "Promises, Promises"

For those who like things a bit more electronic:

Reproduction – The Human League

Travelogue – The Human League

Dare – The Human League

Secrets – The Human League

For Your Pleasure – Roxy Music

Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) – Brian Eno

Low – David Bowie

Quiet Life – Japan

Tin Drum – Japan

Replicas – Tubeway Army

Dance – Gary Numan

Exile – Gary Numan

Pure – Gary Numan

Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind) – Gary Numan

Savage (Songs From A Broken World) – Gary Numan

Dazzle Ships - OMD

The Lexicon Of Love – ABC

How To Be A Zillionaire! - ABC

Violator – Depeche Mode

Penthouse And Pavement – Heaven 17

The Man Machine – Kraftwerk

Computer World – Kraftwerk

Freedom Of Choice – Devo

New Traditionalists – Devo

Oh, No! It’s Devo – Devo

Upstairs At Eric’s - Yazoo

No.1 In Heaven – Sparks

Lil’ Beethoven - Sparks

Metamatic – John Foxx

Rage In Eden – Ultravox

Remain In Light – Talking Heads

A Secret Wish – Propaganda

Electricity – Parralox

Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret – Soft Cell

Soul Mining – The The

Infected – The The

Toni Childs - Union

I'm amazed that some of you have such long lists for "perfect" albums.

I agree with the poster who named Sinatra's "In The Wee Small Hours." Its exquisite heartbreak is absolute perfection.

Heart - Dreamboat Annie

Bad Company - Bad Co. (1974)

Lemonade - Queen Bey

Pink Floyd, "Wish You Were Here."

People are now just listing albums they love, R344, without giving any thought to their "perfection" (or lack thereof).

[quote]I'm amazed that some of you have such long lists for "perfect" albums.

[quote]People are now just listing albums they love, [R344], without giving any thought to their "perfection" (or lack thereof).

Agreed. I didn't list one of my favorite albums of all time, Springsteen's Born to Run, because only four of the songs are great. Now, three of the four are among my favorite songs of all time, and elevate the album to all-time favorite status for me, but the four that aren't great are pretty mediocre. So...no Born to Run on a list of Perfect Albums.