The Monkey Room

[Alejandroh]

Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - its just such a flowy piece of work that I can listen to over and over again.

Metric - Fantasies - there is nothing off this album that I don't like, and it always takes me to a good place.

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours - The sound on here is great, and I just love them. If I could see Fleetwood Mac tour, I                    would die happy. I wish I get this chance.

[DoctorTeeth]

Just one right now off the top of my head:

NoMeansNo - Wrong

If you like thoughtful punk music with a wide range of influences, you need to grab this album, put on your headphones, and turn it up REAL DAMN LOUD.

[bean6344]

First, great post. 

Second, Big Karma to Dr Teeth.

This is a tough one.  I will have to think on this and consult.

I have always said that the A side of Anthrax Among the Living is the perfect A side, but it does not maintain that level of perfection all the way through B.

The first thing that comes to mind is Miles Davis Kind of Blue.  I imagine Elvis Costello has the potential to be on this list.  There is not a clinker on The Replacements Tim.  Paid in Full by Erik B and Rakim is my favorite hip hop record, but is it perfect???????


Let me think on this one and consult some friends.


Bean

[S. Earl]

El-P's Fantastic Damage. The why will come later.


Good thread!

[Unicorn Master]

Too lazy to detail why, but here`s (what came to mind of) my list in no particular order:

Dave Holland Quintet - Prime Directive
The Beatles - Abbey Road
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper`s
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters
Medeski Martin and Wood - Shack Man
Medeski Martin and Wood - Friday Afternoon in the Universe
Medeski Martin and Wood - Combustication
The Roots - Do You Want More?!!!??!
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Mosaic
Oscar Peterson Trio - We Get Requests
Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius
John Scofield Band - Uberjam
John Scofield Band - Up All Night
Wes Montgomery - Full House
Wynton and Ellis Marsalis - Joe Cool`s Blues
The Pipettes - We Are the Pipettes
The Bloomdaddies - Racer X
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - Getz Gilberto
Tito Puente - Babarabatiri
Tito Puente - El Rey
Pacho Sanchez - Para Todos
Raphael Saadiq - Instant Vintage
Quincy Jones - Plays the Hip Hits
Propellerheads - Decksandrumsandrockandroll
Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life
Pat Metheny - Pat Metheny Group
Pat Metheny - Still Life Talking
Outkast - Speakerboxxx The Love Below
Outkast - Idlewild
Nirvana - Nevermind
Mr. Scruff - Keep It Unreal
Mr. Scruff - Ninja Tunes
Mr. Scruff - Trouser Jazz
DJ Mark Farina - Mushroom Jazz 1-5
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Miles Davis - E.S.P.
Miles Davis - The Complete Concert 1964 My Funny Valen
Miles Davis - Milestones
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Metalwood - Metalwood
Metalwood - 3
Metalwood - The Recline
Medeski Martin and Wood - Uninvisible
Marvin Gaye - What`s Going On
John Legend and The Roots - Wake Up!
Larry Young - Unity
Jimmy Smith - The Sermon
Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack
Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery - The Adventures of...
Kool and the Gang - Wild and Peaceful
Justice - Cross
Joshua Redman - Elastic
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
John Coltrane - Blue Train
Jamiroquai - All of their albums
Horace Silver - Song for My Father
Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage
Herbie Hancock - Thrust
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
Freddie Hubbard - Straight Life
Frank Sinatra - Sinatra at the Sands (backed by the Count Basie band, arranged by Quincy Jones. Best. Sinatra. Ever!)
Erykah Badhu - Mama`s Gun
Erik Truffaz - The Dawn
Dr. John - Going Back to New Orleans
Dr. John - In the Right Place
DJ Logic - The Anomaly
DJ Logic - Project Logic
De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
De La Soul - Stakes Is High
Clifford Brown and Max Roach - More Study in Brown
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
Charles Mingus - Let My Children Hear Music
Charles Mingus - Mingus Dynasty
Bill Withers - Still Bill
Bill Evans - At Shelly's Manne Hole_Hollywood_Califor
Bill Evans - Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Bill Evans - Interplay
Miles Davis - Someday My Prince Will Come
Ben Folds Five - Whatever & Ever Amen
Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five
Bela Fleck - Tales from the Acoustic Planet

[JimN]

There are lot of great albums but not many I'd call perfect. Here's 6:

The Who: Who's Next: Okay, it's a more than predictable choice at this point but it became a classic for a reason. Baba O'Reily opens the album, Won't get Fooled Again closes it and there's nothing but power chords and musical goodness in between.

Ramones: Rocket to Russia: This baby is punk perfection (or, if you prefer, proto-punk perfection). From the opening bop of Cretin Hop right through Teenage Lobotomy, great cover tunes like Do You Wanna Dance and Surfin Bird and the bouncy, dark closer, Why is it Always This Way, this is rock and roll at it's simple best.

Talking Heads: Remain in Light: The Heads were completely under Eno's spell at this point and while it would lead to a lo of tension within the band and Eno's departure as producer, this album reflects their collaborative best. It was ambitious as hell and unlike anything that came before it (or after, for that matter). Incorporating everything from african music to gospel and Jon Hassell's haunting trumpet, it's a classic.

Laurie Anderson: Mister Heartbreak: Strange and wonderful. Laurie Anderson was at her most musically creative on this album, combining the humor and beauty of her performance work with some exquisitely strange music. Plus: Peter Gabriel and William S. Burroughs!

Woob: 1194: An ambient classic, full of strange atmosphere, samples and all the usual tools of the trade but combined into an album that's utterly unique. Even Woob's follow-up album was different. This is a must for anyone who likes the ambient side of electronic music.

The Clash: London Calling: I actually don't think this album is quite perfect but it's so damn good it might as well be...

I can throw a few more out there if anybody's interested.



Jim

[Farrell]

Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - its just such a flowy piece of work that I can listen to over and over again.

Me too.  Middle Cyclone is just as good.

I can throw a few more out there if anybody's interested.

I am!

Btw, I couldn't say exactly why, but I wouldn't have figured you for a punk fan.

[deadcowaroma]

I'm gonna post pictures because that's more fun.  

[matthaber]

Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Easily my favorite album of all time. Every song on it is amazing. IMO music does not get better then this album.

[Montyof83]

Wow good question.
Cease to Begin by Band of Horses
Swordfish Trombones by Tom Waits
My Aim is True by Elvis Costello
All time best for me is still The Relationship of Command by At the Drive In, that album was in my discman for an entire summer of cutting grass, sweatin my ass off, it was great.

[Jeppe]

What a great topic, thanks!


Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
One of my favorite bands and probably my all-time favorite albums. This is maybe the only one I really think is 'perfect.'



The Who - Who's Next
Just such a damn wonderful album, and The Who has always been my favorite of the 'big three'



The Clash - From Here To Eternity
My favorite band and my favorite live album. Just plain awesome.



Bauhaus - Gotham
Second-favorite live album and my go-to for when I need some Bauhaus.



Lou Reed - Berlin
Men of good fortune / often cause empires to fall / While men of poor beginnings / often can't do anything at all




Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
Tom Waits at his very best.



Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads
Such a fully-formed and well-executed concept album.



Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - BRMC
The real comeback of the postpunk sound, as far as I'm concerned.



LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
James Murphy at the top of his game.



The White Stripes - Elephant
Still sad I never got to see them live. Such a good album from start to finish.



Hedningarna - Trä
Almost forgot this, but I really love the Scandinavian band Hedningarna, and this is their best album. Check it out!

[Tempo House]

The key thing in identifying "perfect album" to me is that it has to simultaneously capture its moment perfectly and yet it must have a transcending quality that still makes it relevant today ... which is where to me at least the list becomes very subjective. 

My rough list ... and I have to do this era by era ... and there is no way I can provide a short list, even though I am trying to keep it one album per artist:

The Who: Who's Next
Led Zeppelin: 3
Jethro Tull: Aqualung
Genesis: Foxtrot
Van der Graaf Generator: Still Life
Curved Air: Phantasmagoria
Bob Dylan: Desire
King Crimson: Red
Blood Sweat and Tears: Album #2
Steely Dan: Aja

Joy Division: Closer
The Cure: Faith
U2: The Unforgettable Fire
Talking Heads: Remain in Light
The Fall: Perverted by Language
The Smiths: The Queen is Dead
Talk Talk: The Colour of Spring
Peter Gabriel: 4 (aka Security)
King Crimson: Discipline
Kate Bush: Hounds of Love
Bauhaus: In the Flat Field
The The: Infected
Marillion: Misplaced Childhood

Slints: Spiderland
Throwing Muses: self titled debut
The Pixies: Surfer Rosa
Tom Waits: Franks Wild Years
Dead Can Dance: Toward the Within
PJ Harvey: To Bring You My Love
Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat
Beirut: The Flying Cup Club

And who knows who else I am going to come up with as soon as I hit "post".

[Jeppe]

Dead Can Dance: Toward the Within
Beirut: The Flying Cup Club

Damn, good call! 

[Rustyautoparts (Russ Otto)]

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

The first album that I ever really appreciated as the complete package. Easily one of my favorite listens from beginning to end. It showed me things that I never thought music could possibly do. It's the first time that I thought noise could be beautiful. It was the first time I thought an album could be more than a collection of songs, but a story. It shaped my relationship with music to this day. In a lot of ways, it was my own Sgt. Pepper.

Nostalgia aside, I really can't find a flaw with this album. Each song is layered and full of interesting sounds. I still find something new with every listen. Horrifying, haunting, and breathtaking.

TDS isn't the only album I find flawless, but it was the first I ever found. I really like a lot of the other choices everyone else posted. Good stuff.

I'll throw a few more out there for consideration:

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennae to Heaven
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Croked Rain
Drive-By Truckers - Southern Rock Opera
Elliott Smith - Figure 8 and Either/Or
Radiohead - Kid A

Just noticed Tempo already mentioned The Queen is Dead. In its place, I suggest Double Nickels on the Dime by The Minutemen.

[Swany]

kiss - destroyer
fleetwood mac - rumours
the clash - london calling
kate bush - the kick inside
peter gabriel - so
bruce springsteen - tunnel of love
dave matthews band - crash
u2 - the unforgettable fire
radiohead - the bends
tragically hip - fully completely


something i found funny was that not one of these albums contains my favorite song by that particular artist.

[TomJob]

Bob Dylan - Blood On the Tracks
Al Stewart - Past, Present, and Future
Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Fairport Convention - What We Did On Our Holidays

Sticky Fingers is a good choice also.

If pressed though, I think Blood on the Tracks is the only really, untouchably, perfect album. 

[JimN]

Btw, I couldn't say exactly why, but I wouldn't have figured you for a punk fan.

Overall, I don't think of myself as a punk fan (at least not in that pure Sex Pistols/Dead Kennedys sort of way), although I love a lot of the music that came out of that late '70s punk era and I obviously like the albums listed above (the Buzzcocks were awesome too!). I guess I'm much more into the "post-punk" or new wave stuff than punk itself, but I love the energy the movement injected back into music.

I'll post some more perfect albums in a little while!

Where's your list?

Jim

[Jeppe]

I guess I'm much more into the "post-punk" or new wave stuff than punk itself, but I love the energy the movement injected back into music.

Jim

I knew I liked you, Jim! 

[Lawrence]

Saves The Day- Through Being Cool

Say Anything- ...........is a real boy

[JimN]

I knew I liked you, Jim! 

Thanks!

I was pleased to see you choose Unknown Pleasures for your list. It's one of my favorite albums.

I'm checking out samples from that Hedningarna album on iTunes right now. I've never heard of them but it's cool stuff! Thanks for the recommendation.

Okay, a few more perfect albums:

The Soft Boys: Underwater Moonlight: Robyn Hitchcock, Kimberly Rew and company deliver a great guitar album that's mixes '60s influences with postpunk energy. it's psychedelic, beautiful, funny... and it was completely wrong for it's time so naturally, it was criminally overlooked when it was released.

The Pogues: If I Should Fall From Grace With God: I think the Pogues brand of irish "folk punk" reached it's pinnacle with this album, which also incorporates international folk influences. there's nothing quite like the sound or Shane MacGowan's acerbic, half-intoxicated lyrics. If you can listen to "The Turkish Song of the Damned' without moving, you may not be human.

Dead Can Dance: Aion: I don't know what to say about this except it's haunting, beautiful, unique and essential. Nobody was quite like Dead Can Dance (and karma to Temp House for including Toward the Within on his list). I like all their albums but over the course of many listens, this one has become my favorite.

Brian Eno: Before and After Science: My all-time favorite album! Most critic embrace the praise-worthy Another Green World ahead of this follow-up but I've always felt that Eno incorporated what he learned on that album into a better songs and a more accomplished effort here. There's nothing else like this album, which is split into a "pop' side (I use the term very loosely) and a very relaxed, atmospheric side.

XTC: Skylarking: What do you get when you combine a great pop/rock band with an experienced, headstrong hippie who is also a great producer? This album, in which XTC, chafing under the direction of Todd Rundgren, came up with a masterpiece. It flows like a concept album but it's not. That's just Rundgren tying everything together.

The Residents: Duck Stab/Buster & Glen: I've always felt this album (originally released as two separate EPs, if I'm not mistaken) showcases everything that's best about the Residents. Their weird, childlike rhythms, strange characters, amusing lyrics, annoying-but-endearing sounds... it's not for everybody but it's awesome.


I'm trying to think of some more recent albums that I'd consider perfect but I'm coming up empty. Maybe I just need the perspective of time to consider something perfect. There are some very good ones but nothing I think is just right from start to finish. I'll keep thinkin'...

Jim