Is There Just One Single Album That Does It For You, Completely? Just One.

The question of the Op is like asking to someone to read only one book for the rest of his life ...

Who will take a romance Harlequin book , or even a classic novel ?

Even Doistoievski could not be up to the task ...And i admired Dostoievsky over most classical writers ...He know what is the soul ... Read the "dream of a ridiculous man" ...Nothing so deep has ever been written before ...It is a short novel by the way ...

The bible or a number theory book are my only choices ...Or the Yi-King ... Guess why ?

We need books to meditate not a linear story; we need music to meditate not simplistic melodies on repeat ...😁

The OP did not ask what is your taste , the OP ask what will resist forever to repeated listenings and which you like for sure ...

People dont get it i think ...

😁

"just ONE".....simply impossible! ...but as mahgister, would be inclined to perhaps a Bach album: Bminor Mass? St. Matthew Passion(Herreweghe coducting)... or an album with Beethoven’s late String Quartets (Brentano Quartet has a beautiful rendition of Op. 132)

I will check the Brentano version ... Mine is Talich ...😊.. I own it but never listened to it because i love Talich ...I had many music i never listened , life is short ... I spend more on books and music than on a audio stereo system by the way ... The opposite of many people...

@asmithkash I couldn’t agree more. I’m always thrilled by these kinds of discussions, for the opportunity they provide to learn about music I know not yet. I drew from this one a list of 8-10 LPs with which I am unfamiliar. They will guide my next Tidal session.

@unreceivedogma enthusiasm drives all hobbies. And, it is in the nature of enthusiasm to celebrate that enthusiasm with discussions of what we love most about our hobbies and pastimes. This is not unique to audiophiles; it is common to all communities built around common interests. If you don’t share the enthusiasm, it may be hard to understand. But, it hardly seems useful to stand on the outside and sling mud on the joy of others. As my son’s soccer coach once said to his team on the first day of practice, “if you are here because you want to be here, come back tomorrow. If you’re here because your parents brought you and you don’t love soccer, ask them to take you tomorrow to an activity that you think you will enjoy.” This seems good advice to me. 
 

@tunefuldude Thanks for the thread! Tough, perhaps ultimately unanswerable, question. I agree with those who said previously that no single album is likely to meet alone the musical needs of an enthusiast. That said, several suggestions above are tempting, eg Beethoven quartets, Tom Waits. Here are two I never seem to tire of, even after decades of frequent listening.

Van Morrison, Astral Weeks

Mingus, Nostalgia in Time Square: The Immortal 1959 Sessions 

Together, they would carry me a good while, anyway.

Older Me:  Brothers in Arms, which sounds awesome on higher end equipment.

Younger Me:  Siamese Dream

@hce1

And why the need to virtue posture?

I think these sorts of questions are unanswerable clickbait

You are new here. You will learn soon enough. 

@unreceivedogma i’m hardly new here. I’ve been around for nearly 15 years, but don’t feel a need to comment on every thread; I try to reserve comments for discussions in which I have something appropriate or useful to say. It’s a shame you see that attitude as virtue signaling. Dismissing someone’s comments on the grounds that they are newbies is an unfortunate and counterproductive conversational tactic. Perhaps a slightly less caustic and cynical point of view would improve the value of your comments. Breath deeply before you speak.