Music: Does an album exist where every track is truly outstanding? (not just good or great)

[Hierso]

I have a few borderline ones, but if you dig deep enough i think it comes down to personal taste. I'd say that The Doors debut album is a perfect album but i know people that hate the song 'Back Door Man' because they feel that the hard blues theme doesn't fit very well with the psychadelic theme of the album.

 

[Mikeaveli]

I have a few borderline ones, but if you dig deep enough i think it comes down to personal taste. I'd say that The Doors debut album is a perfect album but i know people that hate the song 'Back Door Man' because they feel that the hard blues theme doesn't fit very well with the psychadelic theme of the album.

Funny, I find that album to be incredibly overrated but really enjoy Back Door Man. Great vocals and organ riff on that track

 

[HolyGhost]

Queenryche Operation mindcrime

 

[zombie kopitar]

Some picks off the top of my head

(Whats the Story) Morning Glory
Appetite for Destruction
Nevermind
Eliminator
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Rumours

Viva la vida is so good, i don't think people understand just because it's Coldplay, Brian Eno produced it, it's one of the most perfect ambient pop albums ever made. But there are still a one or 2 songs that aren't quite as good (Lost, off the top of my head)


Definitely Rumours!

I'd say Rumours and Illmatic are the only ones I can think of. Illmatic on my own scale is the only 11/10 album ever made, it's just so perfect.


If they operated in modern music, and didn't release singles outside of the album, then Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane would/should be on Sgt Peppers instead of Good Morning, Good Morning
And Rain and Paperback Writer on Revolver instead of Yellow Submarine and Good day Sunshine

They would be literally the 2 best albums ever hands down if they would have done that, but imo that makes those albums not completely perfect

 

[Hierso]

Funny, I find that album to be incredibly overrated but really enjoy Back Door Man. Great vocals and organ riff on that track

Blues man?

 

[Unholy Diver]

George Harrison - Cloud 9
Boxcar Willie - King of the Road - I hate, hate, hate, country music but this album is just so wonderfully wholesome, folksy americana from my youth that I may have to try to track it down again

 

[zombie kopitar]

also, Nirvana Unplugged if it counts would round out my top 3

 

[Roo Returns]

Led Zeppelin IV
Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Nirvana Nevermind
Talking Heads Remain In Light
Parliament Mothership
A Tribe Called Quest The Low End Theory/Midnight Marauders
Miles Davis Kind of Blue/Sketches of Spain

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

TV on the Radio's "Dear Science"

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

Doors—LA Woman
Tesla— Psychotic Supper

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I guess Long Season by Fishmans fits in the sense that it's one track and it's flawless.

 

[Shareefruck]

I guess Long Season by Fishmans fits in the sense that it's one track and it's flawless.

I think I'd argue that part 3 of that album is a fair bit weaker than the other parts on the original album.



By the way, did you end up trying that 98.12.28 version? I think a case could be made for that version of Long Season, but unfortunately, that's not the whole album on that one, even though the track is longer than the original full album.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I think I'd argue that part 3 of that album is a fair bit weaker than the other parts on the original album.



By the way, have you tried that 98.12.28 version? I think a case could be made for that version of Long Season, but unfortunately, that's not the whole album on that one.

Haven't yet, no. Been listening to their less experimental stuff which is also superb. I'll for sure check it out during the week.

 

[Shareefruck]

Haven't yet, no. Been listening to their less experimental stuff which is also superb. I'll for sure check it out during the week.

Definitely do-- it encompasses alot of their less experimental stuff too. There's maybe only one or two tracks on it that I wouldn't consider superior to the originals. (btw, I'll get to your PM, just don't have anything handy at the moment that I'm totally confident in)

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Definitely do-- it encompasses alot of their less experimental stuff too. There's maybe only one or two tracks on it that I wouldn't consider superior to the originals. (btw, I'll get to your PM, just don't have anything handy at the moment that I'm totally confident in)

Yeah, please do.

I adore Vini Reilly but it's not sustainable.

 

[Cas]

First thought off the top of my head is Candlemass' Epicus Doomicus Metallicus.

 

[sdf]

Sure

 

[Hippasus]

J. S. Bach - The Art of Fugue
Sepultura - Schizophrenia
Beherit - At the Devil's Studio 1990
Beherit - The Oath of Black Blood
Rotting Christ - Passage to Arcturo
Vader - The Ultimate Incantation
Incantation - Onward to Golgotha
Mournful Congregation - The Dawning of Mournful Hymns
Cryptopsy - Blasphemy Made Flesh
Boris - Amplifier Worship
Skepticism - Stormcrowfleet
Decapitated - Winds of Creation
Origin - Origin
Summoning - Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame

I feel like context and breathing room are important in a lot of great albums, like Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky. There are long, drawn-out lows and white noise interspersed with moments of pure bliss. Relative position in an album makes the great moments even greater, in my opinion. The best albums are natural in this way. Another example is Sleep's Holy Mountain in which the musicians tip their hats to the blues on one or two in-between main tracks instrumentals. This sort of thing provides context and significance to the whole album and makes it better. Nevertheless, this was a good critical exercise to see how far this sort of masterpiece / outstanding-quality consistency can go.

 

[Hammettf2b]

George Harrison - Cloud 9
Boxcar Willie - King of the Road - I hate, hate, hate, country music but this album is just so wonderfully wholesome, folksy americana from my youth that I may have to try to track it down again

Great suggestion. Haven't heard this album in many years and decided to give it a re listen. So great.

 

[NyQuil]

Viva la vida is so good, i don't think people understand just because it's Coldplay, Brian Eno produced it, it's one of the most perfect ambient pop albums ever made. But there are still a one or 2 songs that aren't quite as good (Lost, off the top of my head)

Oof, I think Vida la Vida is when Coldplay permanently lost that bite to their sound that is sorely missed.

I think X and Y is sort of underrated because it really captures a mood when listened to all the way through. Not generally well regarded though for some reason. Parachutes and Rush of Blood to the Head had a sort of soulful edge to the lyrics and the general soundscape was quite dark, which I think counterbalanced his bright voice.

Vida la Vida just sounded like they were trying to please the crowd too much. Songs like Viva la Vida were They've had a few good tracks since then but in general I tuned out at this point. I kind of miss the quiet isolative beauty of their original sound.

Interestingly, you can see a band like U2 take the same route - I liked their early stuff better even if their later work was more complex and mature. I think there's almost a lack of desperation to it because that inescapable fear of not making it has dissipated.

 

[TheOriginalJez]

A Night at the Opera, maybe. Dark Side of the Moon, maybe. The biggest problem with this question is it's totally subjective and I even disagree with myself trying to answer it. But you did say 'in your eyes' so... from a personal standpoint:

Right now the only album I can listen to in full on repeat and just drown into it is Prequelle (Ghost) - it's not like I'd pick any of the songs on that album out as 'totes amazeballs', but I do love every second of it and I think it's a complete work of art as a whole and I don't think any individual track lets it down - it's just consistently brilliant. It's better as a whole than any of its individual parts, but there's no 'I'd replace this' or 'this could be better' so I think it counts.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Bad Religion - No Control

Thank you. One of the best punk records ever made and my favorite of theirs. I am personally a big fan of hardcore punk, but admit it's generally unapproachable for the mainstream. No Control walks a brilliant line between pop and hardcore, and is approachable without losing its edge or energy.

 

[GOilers88]

GFR - We're an American Band

I don't find many artists go for full album experiences anymore, so a lot of newer music is lost on me, but a more recent one I enjoyed was Black Holes by The Blue Stones. Didn't care much for the two singles on the radio but in sequence on the album I thought the whole disc was really good. Got a good retro sound to it.

Also either of the first two Wolfmother albums are stellar imo. Andrew Stockdale is underrated.

 

[Shareefruck]

A Night at the Opera, maybe. Dark Side of the Moon, maybe. The biggest problem with this question is it's totally subjective and I even disagree with myself trying to answer it. But you did say 'in your eyes' so... from a personal standpoint:

Right now the only album I can listen to in full on repeat and just drown into it is Prequelle (Ghost) - it's not like I'd pick any of the songs on that album out as 'totes amazeballs', but I do love every second of it and I think it's a complete work of art as a whole and I don't think any individual track lets it down - it's just consistently brilliant. It's better as a whole than any of its individual parts, but there's no 'I'd replace this' or 'this could be better' so I think it counts.

It is subjective, but at the same time, I'd like posters to be as critical about their subjective and personal view as possible. For example, I would interrogate the Dark Side of the Moon pick, and ask if you truly feel that "Speak to Me", "On the Run", and "The Great Gig in the Sky" are timeless masterpieces in their own right, and if not, it wouldn't qualify.

I feel like our instincts tend to lean towards "I love the overwhelming majority and overall experience of this album so much that if it's close enough, then I'm just going to say that it is.", but the purpose here is to resist that temptation. There should be no caveats and no reservations. It doesn't matter if the album as a whole is a masterpiece and that nothing lets it down-- the question is: is each and every piece of it one?

Not every track needs to be a climax, but even understated valleys should be "totes amazeballs" in their own way. I think it's fair to still consider its place in the context of the album, though.

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

Tom Petty - Wildflowers

INXS - Kick


Plus this looked like it’d be fun