Are there any albums you consider perfect?


My daughter gave me an ipod for my birthday and I have been loading music to it slowly. As a perxon who listens to albums start to finish I have been loading albums I consider high quality beginning to end.
Makes me wonder how many perfect albums there are out there. Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic" is to me perfect. What I mean by perfect is not one sound needs to be added or subtracted to make it better. Funny thing is, "Pretzel Logic" is not my favorite Steely Dan album, but its sound is perfect. I can only come up with a few.
Pink Floyd, "Wish You Were Here"
Tears For Fears, "Songs From The Big Chair"

timrhu
Very exciting to see a list like Stevecham's and agree with every one of them save the ones you've never heard of.

Got some research to do...
Madfloyd, just out of curiosity what haven't you heard on that list? Every album is very well-known in my eyes. I usually get irritated when artists aren't listed with songs/albums but in this case there was no need.
Not sure if this is perfection lists or lists of favorite albums. I will say it a little different, in that what albums are worth multiple times you listen to. I say this because i am one of those "audiophools" that own 3500 vinyl records and have listened to most of them over the 40 years i have been collecting. However, there are a few that despite the years, i find i listen to the entire album 5 to 10 times a year (if not more). I consider these collections of great songs that are well recorded and flow together well (audiofeil mentioned that aspect early in this thread). Sorry to explain my list but i wanted you to understand why these are on my list
Buckingham/Nicks first album--Heavy acoustic but every song is a keeper that flows very well together
Little Feat-- One of the best live albums of all time
PinkFloyd--Wish you were here, Dark Side and Division bell--yeah i am a floydfreak
Steely Dan--Cant buy a thrill
Neil Young--Live Rust--Nother fine live album
MoodyBlues--To your children's children,children
alan Parsons--I Robot, Tales of Imagination/mystery
Fleetwood Mac--Bare trees
Dan Fogleberg/Tim Weissberg--Twin sons of different Mothers

Better stop but lots of great albums but these are as close to perfect (my definition) that i have come across and find myself listening over and over
Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like A Wheel, just finished listening to this beautiful album. Haven't heard it in a while and had forgotten how good it is. The production is perfect as well as the song selection.
Counting Crows August and Everything After
SImon and Garfunkel Bookends
The Smiths The Queen is Dead
Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Steely Dan The Royal Scam
Velvet Underground and Nico
John Coltrane A Love Supreme
Genesis Foxtrot
Anybody mention 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus? Spirit was at their pinnacle, and very, very capable, not only at hard rock, but at a fusion of jazz style (think the older track, not on this album,- 'Fresh Garbage') and catchy pop. Throw in the great variations in song writing style-- from Nature's Way to 'Street Worm,' and a dose of psychedelic 'mood' (probably the stuff that least stands the test of time, but it is truly of the period) and it's a wonderful listen.
"Quicksand/Cradlesnake," by Caliphone. I'll bet no one has heard of this album. I wouldn't have if I didn't stumble over it on CD at the library. It looked eccentric.

This album is beyond eccentric. As well as conventional rock instruments, a number of sound props are used. It sounds sometimes like dials being tuned. But the singing is mysterious, refering to coyotes, boxers and vampires.

I play it more, I think, than anything else, though I've had it for many years. I think it came out in 2003.
donbagley, if you like califone (great band) check out their predecessor band red red meat---jimmywine majestic is a masterpeiece
I certainly second the motion by Whart on Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. Simply outstanding music and production. One of my top ten albums of all time. Enjoy!
Seeds of Love is my preference too. Woman in Chains is wonderful as is the title track which can be checked out on DVD in Vol. 4 of Night of Proms which I had to buy from a London supplier. It has a number of highlights including Alan Parsons Silence and I, John Miles doing Stairway to Heaven, the 1812 overture and the biggest surprise for me - CU When You Get There by Coolio. Quite a collection.
this past weekend,i went through a bunch of music that i would consider perfect.
my conclusion was i kept coming back to Miles `Kind of Blue`
Al
Supertramp "Crime of the Century" and "Breakfast in America"
Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"
U2 "Achtung Baby" and "Joshua Tree"
Peter Gabriel "So"
The Decemberists "The Hazards of Love"
Fleetwood Mac "Rumours"
Kate Bush "Sensual World" and "Hounds of Love"

Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"
Cannoball Adderley "Something Else"
Bill Evans "Waltz for Debby"
there is no such thing as perfect.it is beyond the capability of a human being to create perfection.

the sound of any recording can be improved.
there is no such thing as perfect.it is beyond the capability of a human being to create perfection.
Yes ........I'm waiting for some Martian to perfect those Van Gogh paintings and Beethoven symphonies?
Or perhaps God can step in and help?
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The most interesting thread so far here... my two cents...

The 1st Symphony from Jean Sibelius
Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian
Ennio Morricone most of 
Take Five
Some Miles Davis
Some Simon & Gartfunkel
Electric Ladyland
In the Court of the Crimson King + a couple of live recordings
Valentyne Suite & Colosseum Live
To Our Children´s Children´s Children
Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Grand Hotel
Yes 1st album, Fragile, Yessongs 3LP, Tales from Topographic Oceans 2LP, Tormato, & Keys to Ascension live
Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, GENESIS LIVE & BBC Crymes (from 1972, live in studio) + many live recordings from their pinnacle
All classic Barclay James Harvest albums with Stuart Wolstenholme
Abraxas & Santana III
Meddle & The Dark Side of the Moon
Salisbury & Look at Yourself
Aqualung
Led Zeppelin IV
666
Quella Vecchia Locanda´s 2 first albums
Smokin´
Machine Head
ELP, Brain Salad Surgery & Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends 3LP
Blue Öyster Cult´s 2 first & On Your Feet or on Your Knees 2LP
The Captain and Me & What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits (cheers entrope, you ´ve got taste :)
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso all they recorded work in the 70´s
Le Orme´s Collage & Uomo di pezza
Museo Rosenbach
Alphataurus & Live in Bloom 2010 DVD
Arti + Mestieri´s 2 first albums
Sun Supreme
Mountain Twin Peaks Live 2LP
Harakka Bialoipokku
Scheherazade and Other Stories & Renaissance Live at Carnegie Hall
Apoteosi
Next & Impossible Dream
Maxophone
Celeste
Boston & Don´t Look Back
Point of Know Return
Infinity & Captured
Hemispheres & Moving Pictures
Obsession & Strangers in the Night 2LP
I Robot
Elegant Gypsy 
Friday Night in San Francisco 
Asia´s 2 first
PROG EXHIBITION 4 DVD set
GENESIS LIVE revisited, both DVD releases 

The actual sound quality/balance may not be perfect in some cases and is partly a matter of taste but the contend in question is perfect in its context.

i always though that if you replaced "going mobile" (which i never much cared for on who's next with "pure and easy", it would be perfect record.
that said, i wouldn't change a note on blonde on blonde or astral weeks, although there's a lot less venerable stuff i listen to more.
For that I value Depeche Mode; Yello; Kraftwerk especially Trans Europe Express album; ... 
None I've known ever covered these bands. The music is so perfect, you can't add or subtract anything from there

 

Just seeing this thread for the first time, and it’s a great subject! Off the top of my head I’d say:

The Band: Music From Big Pink; s/t (the "brown" album)

Bob Dylan: Bringing It All Back Home; Highway 61 Revisited; Blonde On Blonde; John Wesley Harding; Nashville Skyline; New Morning; Planet Waves; Shot Of Love

Dave Edmunds: Rockpile (album title, not the Group he was in with Nick Lowe); Subtle As A Flying Mallet; Get It; Tracks On Wax 4; Repeat When Necessary; Twangin’; D.E. 7

The Flamin’ Groovies: Shake Some Action

Nick Lowe: Labour Of Lust

Rockpile: Seconds Of Pleasure

Carlene Carter: Musical Shapes

Rodney Crowell: The Houston Kid

The Notorious Cherry Bombs: s/t

John Hiatt: Bring The Family; Slow Turning

Iris Dement: Infamous Angel; My Life; The Way I Should

Buddy Miller: Your Love And Other Lies; Cruel Moon

Kevin Gordon: Down To The Well

Lucinda Williams: s/t (Rough Trade)

Jim Lauderdale: Through It All

Loudon Wainwright III: Last Man On Earth

AC/DC: Back In Black

Weezer: s/t (the "green" album)

The Dwight Twilley Band: Sincerely

Emitt Rhodes: s/t

Van Dyke Parks: Song Cycle

The Beach Boys: All Summer Long; Pet Sounds; Smiley Smile; Wild Honey; Sunflower; Love You. And of course what would have been the pinnacle of Pop perfection had it been completed and released, Smile.



Here's some I wouldn't want to live without..

Alan Parson "I Robot"
Black Sabbath "Paranoid"
Simon & Garfunkel "Bookends"
Elton John "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
Neil Young "Massey Hall 1971"
Lucinda Williams "Live at Filmore West"
Graham Nash "Songs For Beginners"
Traveling Wilburys "Vol. 1"
Richard Thompson "Pour Down Like Silver"
ZZ Top "Tres Hombres"
Manfred Mann "The Roaring Silence"
Family Band "Grace & Lies"
Van Morrison "Moondance"
Jackson Browne "The Pretender"
America "S/T"
Dire Straits "Communique"
Shawn Colvin "Steady On"
Mary Gauthier "Trouble & Love"
Heart "Dog & Butterfly"
Mazzy Star "Seasons Of Your Day"
Bob Seger  "Beautiful Loser"
Matthew Sweet "Girlfriend"
Tracy Chapman "S/T"
The Jayhawks "Rainy Day Music"
Chris Isaak "San Francisco Days"
Blood Sweat & Tears "S/T"
Chicago "Transit Authority"








Mary Gauthier's Trouble & Love! Good one astro. I have to get all her albums.

The Everest SDBR LP with iconic album art work by Steinwitz of Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements coupled with Ebony Concerto played by Woody Herman and his band for whom it was dedicated. The dynamics and performance of the symphony by LSO and Goossens (who premiered The Rite of Spring in England) is still reference and believe me I have heard them all!  Recorded in three track half inch tape in the first class acoustics of Walthamstow Assembly Hall it is a great listening comparison to the Ebony recorded in 35mm three track magnetic film at the Belock Record Studio in Bayside New York. This one LP, loaned from the local public record library around 1969 in the inferior Transatlantic UK pressing, has cost me thousands in record collecting and Hi Fi equipment. Today the album cover is framed and hanging in my music room.... I'm still married and solvent. 

Norah Jones Come Away With Me.  

Beach Boys Surfs Up  

King Crimson Court of the Crimson King

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am not sure I consider any record perfect. But there are certainly many that I consider vanishingly close to perfect.

How am I supposed to know if some incredibly great recording, could have been even better?

Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic

Gentle Giant - Glass House, or Octopus

YES - Close to the Edge

PFM - Storia di un Minuto

Magma - Köhntarkösz Anteria

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

National Health - Of Queues and Cures

Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Lost Trident Sessions, or Birds of Fire

Banco Del Mutuao Soccorso - Io Sono Nato Libero

Deus ex Machina - Equilibrismo Da Insofferenza

Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane

Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior

Miles - In a Silent Way

There are many other recordings I would put at the same level as these, but then my list would get very long.

 

 

Let me add, that there are very many modern, contemporary, atonal, and avant-garde classical pieces that I consider near perfect, but on recording, they are often paired up with music that I do not.

I consider quite a few pieces by: Elliott Carter, Bruno Maderna, Joan Tower, Charles Wuorinen, Gyorgi Ligeti, Milton Babbitt, Magnus Lindberg, Penderecki, Ernst Krenek, and others, to be perfect.

But it is beyond the choice of the composer to choose any other pieces on the same recording.