"5 Perfect Albums"

The Band (self-titled)
Van Morrison - Moondance
Chopin Nocturnes - Ivan Moravec
Only the Lonely - Sinatra
Saxophone Colossus - Sonny Rollins (too many other people chose Kind of Blue)

 

But in the interest of disclosure, here is 5 that, if not perfect (nothing created by humans is) come pretty close.

Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Leonard Cohen - New Skin for the old Ceremony
Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus

And 5 jazz recordings
Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land
Art Pepper - Meets the Rythmn Section
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool

 

And a 6th jazz recording: Mingus Ah Um

 

I'll add Norah Jones "The Fall" to this list. It get's better every time for me.

 

Not really. Even some of my favorite albums aren't perfect (Hasten down the Wind, Pet Sounds). A perfect album can't have even one bad song.

Abbey Road is perfect, IMO, but it's not on my top ten favorite albums. It is, however, one of my favorite Beatles albums. Linda's Simple Dreams is both perfect and a favorite. Jackson Browne's The Pretender is perfect, but it isn't a favorite, at least at the moment. It was both at one time.

Warren Zevon, by Warren Zevon, is both. So is Sgt. Pepper's, my favorite Beatles album. My two favorite Rolling Stones albums (Aftermath, Between the Buttons) aren't perfect. Let It Bleed is perfect, but overall, I like it third among Stones albums.

 

You don't find Abbey Road marred by Maxwell's Silver Hammer?

I am surprised you don't find Pet Sounds "perfect". I find it is as close to a perfect pop record I have ever heard.

 

sly- riot
ornette- the shape of jazz to come
monk- monk's music
trane- live at the village vanguard
anthony braxton- fall 1974

 

"Maxwell's" doesn't bother me at all. It would never have occurred to me that there might be anything wrong with it if I had never found this place.

As for Pet Sounds, it has "Sloop John B," which, while I don't hate it, I could easily live without it. And I have grown tired of "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" But I find myself permanently tired of lots of '60s singles (almost any 45s by the Beatles, Rolling Stones). Too much AM radio, I guess.

 

Depends on your personal history. I grew up in the 70s, had some early exposure to their hits one summer at camp, summer of '73, then really didn't hear them all that much, except for seeing them live in the early 80s. Other than those two hits, never heard much of Pet Sounds at all, so it all sounded fresh to me when I dug into it.

Never liked Maxwell's Silver Hammer or Octopuss's Garden. Other than that, the rest of Abbey road is pretty great.

 

I bought every top twenty song I liked on WABC-AM from the end of 1963 until 1967, when albums took over. And I liked a lot of them.

 

Name 5 albums you consider to be perfect. Where everything comes together perfectly for you...
Jethro Tull: Minstrel In the Gallery - Songs From the Wood - Heavy Horses
Ian Anderson: Divinities - The Secret Language Of Birds

 

Not sure about TC, but the rest

 

I'll take these two sir.

 

I'd rather listen to "Revolution 9" than to "Good Night," hands down.

 

3 months later, burnt out with thee White album.Stick in HOT Rats instead.
Or Bowie's only complete album- Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.

 

Close To the Edge

Pet Sounds

In a Silent Way

Pat Metheny's The Way Up

No-Man's Returning Jesus

oh . . . and

Jellyfish's Spilt Milk

 

1. Jellyfish - Spilt Milk
2. The Beatles - Revolver
3. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
4. Kate Bush - The Dreaming
5. Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks

 

Hot Rats (Frank Zappa)
Abbey Road (The Beatles)
The Good Son (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds)
Lama Rabi Rabi (Ghost)
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)

 

Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced
The Beatles Abbey Road
Led Zeppelin II
Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
My Bloody Valentine Loveless

 

yes - relayer
bowie - hunky dory
m ward - the transfiguration of vincent
t rex - electric warrior
philip glass - glassworks

 

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Pink Floyd - The Wall

The Beatles - Rubber Soul

The Doors - Strange Days

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

 

Foxtrot - Genesis
Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd
Only Revolutions - Biffy Clyro
Moving Pictures - Rush
90125 - Yes

 

hum on the opening track

nothing is perfect

 

Adderley/Miles Something else
Moody Blues Days of Future...
Cream Disraeli Gears
Pink Floyd Animals
Ellington ...and his mother called him Bill...

 

King Crimson--Red
Joe Jackson--Night and Day
Seal--S/T (debut)
Kate Bush--Hounds of Love
Marianne Faithfull--Broken English

Five more:
Love--Forever Changes
UK--UK
Genesis--A Trick of the Tail
The Dears--No Cities Left
Dire Straits--Love Over Gold