I often think about stellar albums. The ones where they're really isn't a skip-able track. Off the top of my head, these come to mind: The Beach Boys Pet Sounds, Collective Soul Collective Soul (blue album), Bush 16 Stone, and Green Day Dookie. What are some of your perfect albums?
Ok, now that more people have posted long lists, I don’t feel so bad about mine ;)
Arcade Fire – Funeral
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti – Before Today
At The Drive-In – Relationship of Command (also their EPs Vaya and In/Casino/Out)
Kae Tempest – Let Them Eat Chaos
Mercury Rev – Deserter's Songs
My Morning Jacket – Z
Public Service Broadcasting – Every Valley
Radiohead – OK Computer
Radiohead – In Rainbows
The Decemberists – Picaresque
The Diggs – Commute
The Dismemberment Plan – Emergency & I
The Libertines – s/t
The Mars Volta – Deloused in the Comatorium
The Notwist – Shrink
Tokyo Police Club – A Lesson in Crime (just a fantastic debut; barely an album though)
German:
Deichkind – Niveau Weshalb Warum
Some may be an acquired taste (PSB?, also I know that The Libertines’ is not everyone’s favorite – but it’s mine :). The Arcade Fire, even though I don’t listen to them these days that much, is decade-defining for me, as is Radiohead’s OK Computer (together with Nevermind, although for some reason it didn’t make this list).
Against The Current - Past Lives
Can't Swim - This Too Won't Pass
Chief State - Tough Love [EP]
Before I Turn - Lovelorn
Bearings - Hello, It's You
Dorothy - Gifts From The Holy Ghost
Four Year Strong - Brain Pain
Greta Van Fleet - The Battle At Garden's Gate
Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
Intervals - The Shape Of Colours [instrumental, heavenly]
I Prevail - TRUE POWER
Knuckle Puck - While I Stay Secluded [EP]
Knuckle Puck - 20_20
Mayday Parade - Sunnyland
Micheal Jackson - Thriller
Movements - Feel Something
Neck Deep - All Distortions Are Intentional
Neck Deep - The Peace And The Panic
Neck Deep - Life's Not Out To Get You
Nothing But Thieves - Moral Panic
Palaye Royale - Fever Dream
Paramore - Brand New Eyes
Paramore - Paramore
Paramore - After Laughter
Seaway - Big Vibe
Seaway - Vacation
Sleeping With Sirens - How It Feels To Be Lost
Sleeping With Sirens - Madness
State Champs - Kings Of The New Age
The Story So Far - The Story So Far
The Story So Far - What You Don't See
The Structs - YOUNG&DANGEROUS
Tiny Moving Parts - Pleasant Living
Yonaka - Don't Wait Till Tomorrow
Yonaka - Sieze The Power
Yours Truly - Self Care
Yours Truly - Afterglow [EP]
Thats about it, those are some of my favourite/[near-]perfect albums/EPs.
The first album that I ever bought back in the day from my pocket money was Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park.
Only later I found out that this feeling of listening to every song of an album multiple times without getting bored or just not liking some or most of them is not the norm.
I enjoyed the album right away. But only after being disappointed in all other albums that I bought over the next months I started to realize what an incredible gem Hybrid Theory is.
I had the same magical feeling with Meteora. Sadly, the following albums could not keep it up for me.
I still love HT and M to this day and listen to it monthly. Amazing albums by an amazing band.
My favorite album is The Stranger by Billy Joel, love all tracks there! Close seconds are Glass Houses by Billy Joel, Rubber Soul and Revolver by The Beatles.
But I think those are pretty popular already, so gonna throw out some other ones in case you wanna check out new things :)
Man Up by The Blue Van
Costello Music by The Fratellis
And if you wanna try some Brazilian music:
Frejat Ao Vivo No Rock In Rio by Frejat
O Baile do Nego Véio Ao Vivo Em
Jurerê Internacional by Alexandre Pires
Others have already listed some of my favourites, but top of my list would have to be Kate Bush - Hounds of Love. Not only is every track perfect, but there are so many layers and nuance and mystery to the tracks that you can (I have!) listen to it regularly for nearly 38 years, and still never tire of it.
There's even a still more perfect album within that album: The Ninth Wave.
Styx's most recent album Crash of the Crown (2021) is a masterpiece and easily one of their best 3; I'd also include their 2017 album The Mission in their top 3 as well. So so good.
Kansas' Point of Know Return (1977) is iconic for a lot of reasons ("Dust in the Wind", that gorgeous cover) but is phenomenal and peak Kansas (though Masque (1975) just beats it out as my personal favorite).
Brothers in Arms (1985) by Dire Straits is a magnificent one to just put on and get lost in.
I love the Eagles, but I can't say they ever put out a perfect album. Desperado (1973) is the closest I'd pick. It may be sacrilegious, but I really don't care for Hotel California (1976); the title track is spectacular, but I don't really vibe with anything else on there.
And as @_ed@sopuli.xyz mentioned, Boston (1976) is a perfect ride start to finish.
in rap, since i haven't seen that genre come up much in this thread yet: Run the Jewels is a rare band which i think has an essentially perfect discography. when their "worst" album is a joke-y remix album that's still pretty good, you know you have something special going on
Love Collective Soul and Rage Against the Machine. I’ve got a few:
Big Data - 3.0. Great story exploring AI ethics before it was hype.
Panic! At the Disco - A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. I wish I got the alternate timeline where the band continued this direction rather than going for pop. So much chaotic good energy.
The Donnas - Spend the Night. This one is just plain fun.
The Beatles - Let it Be. Two of Us is my favorite on this one, but every song can stand up on its own.
Mew - Frengers
Architecure in Helsinki - In Case We Die
of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Tally Hall - Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum
The Strokes - Is This It?
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Nightmare of You - Nightmare of You
The Fiery Furnaces - EP
The Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
Memory Tapes - See Magic
EPs
Voxtrot - Raised by Wolves
Locale A.M. - The Characters
Miami Horror - Bravado
"Tales of Mystery and Imagination," by the Alan Parsons Project, is a near-perfect concept album in my mind. It's cross-genre while still feeling being interconnected.
I also love John Mellencamp's "Mr. Happy Go Lucky." To my frustration, though, the version of it on the streaming services I know of is missing the interstitial tracks on the CD. I think that actually takes a lot away from it as they had provided transitions that made it feel more like a complete work.
"Glaciers," Blue Sky Black Death, follows the annoying trend of titling tracks with roman numerals but feels like an hour-long DJ set that flows very naturally. A very different album with a similar trait in my mind is F#A#Infinity, Godspeed(!) You(!) Black Emperor(!).
A more ambient choice, Jon Hopkins "Immunity." "Psychic" from Darkside (Nicolaas Jaar with Dave Harrington) also comes to mind.
I'm having trouble thinking of really new examples right now... I kind of feel like the album has faded out as an art form and a lot more releases today seem more like just grab-bags of tracks, probably because of the streaming delivery model. There's definitely some counterexamples out there, though.
Kayah i Bregović. This album is amazing from the beginning to the end: the composition, her voice, the lyrics (I don't speak Polish so I follow them through translations), everything.
Someone else already mentioned David Bowie, but not this album: "Heroes". Yeah, the titular song is great, but so are the others - and the album as a whole is fun, diverse, trippy.
AC/DC's 3 Mutt Lange albums spring to mind (Highway to Hell, Back In Black, For Those About to Rock). Metamodern Sounds in Country Music and Sound 'n' Fury by Sturgill Simpson as well.
I have loads of albums, and it depends on my mood as to what I think is perfect at a certain time. Some of mine are, and in no particular order;
Sparks - Kimono In My House
Bowie - Blackstar
Bowie - Earthling
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Pet Shop Boys - Actually
Blur - Modern Life is Rubbish
Pixies - Doolittle
De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
Divine Comedy - Casanova
The Rezillos - I Can't Stand The Rezillos
Madness - Keep Moving
The Beloved - X
Adam and The Ants - Prince Charming
The Who - Who Are You
Lush - Lovelife
Sleeper - Smart
Echobelly - Everyone's Got One
Pulp - His n' Hers
AC/DC - If You Want Blood (maybe cheating a bit because it's a compilation of songs from different albums, but it's the best live album of all time to me and AC/DC at their rockingest.)
All Them Witches - Dying Surfer Meets His Maker or Nothing A The Ideal (both albums warrant a full playthrough almost always.)
Elephant Tree - Elephant Tree (my favorite album of the last decade)
Elder - Dead Roots Stirring (although Elder keep getting better and better, and are ever more amazing live, this album has a special place in my heart)
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (masterpiece from beginning to end.)
"Warrior" by Anilah is one of my favorites, not sure if it's technically an album or an EP. I don't even know what genre to call it. The closest things I know are neoclassical groups like Dargaard, but I don't think it fits under that label. It's definitely not metal either, maybe folk music or electronic?
Some of my picks would be:
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd, Wish you were Here - Pink Floyd, Random Access Memories - Daft Punk, Blue - Joni Mitchell, Betty Davis - Self titled, Mothership Connection - Parliament,
Buena Vist Social Club - Self titled, Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life, Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden - Beyond the Missouri Sky, The Cat Empire - Self titled, Eryka Badu - Baduizm,
Meshell Ndegeocello - Peace Beyond Passion, Jamiroquai - Emergency on Planet Earth,
John Martyn - One World, Korn - Self titled, Pearl Jam - Ten, Rage Against the Machine - Self titled,
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk
Ys by Joanna Newsom, gives me goosebumps almost every time I listen to it. Very much about real life, but presented like a fairytale. And the vocals are incomparable to anything else I've heard. If anyone has suggestions about similar albums, please let me know
Splendor and Misery by Clipping is phenomenal. A sci-fi hip-hop album that tells the story of an escaped slave who takes over the ship and forms a bond with the ship's AI. I love concept albums that tell a complete story and this is one of the best in my opinion
i listen to a lot of songs from albums that have a lot of filler on them, but the one i always listen to straight through is born to run. thunder road is how every album should start, every side flip should be rewarded with born to run, and every album should end with jungleland.
throw-in: the sound of three fans clapping to welcome thunder road was also the perfect way to start the live set.