I was listening to Breakfast in America on the way to work today. And it got me thinking about how the glory days of the perfect album seem to be gone.

When I say perfect album, I mean those albums that are track for track just a great listen from beginning to end. Breakfast in America is one.

Other examples are;

Aja - Steely Dan
The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon, Animals - Pink Floyd
Who's Next, Tommy - The Who
The Doors, Strange Days - The Doors
Pet Sounds- The Beach Boys

And the list goes on.

My point is, have there been any albums that fit that category in the last decade or so? If so, what do you think they are?

And what albums would be on your "Perfect Albums" list?

If this question has been asked before, forgive me, and humor me anyway.

A few favourites where I don't skip any of the tracks:

Pet Sounds and SMiLE ~ The Beach Boys
Wild Wood ~ Paul Weller
Tarantula ~ Ride
Radio City ~ Big Star
Straight Up ~ Badfinger
Pacific Ocean Blues ~ The Gigolo Aunts
Grand Prix ~ Teenage Fanclub
Bite It ~ Whiteout
The La's ~ The La's

I'm sure I have more ...

I'm too lazy to skip tracks unless they are extremely annoying, but to me a perfect album is not just an album with all good stuff, every track has to be a masterpiece, and that narrows it down to one:

Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys

and two near-perfect albums:

Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE - Brian Wilson
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles

for me it's gotta be The Smiths The Queen Is Dead and Marillion Misplaced Childhood

The following albums are (IMO), "All Killer, No Filler":

A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles

Rubber Soul - The Beatles

Revolver - The Beatles

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles

Abbey Road - The Beatles

Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys

Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. - The Monkees

Band On The Run - Paul McCartney & Wings

Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon

Ringo - Ringo Starr

Ringo-Rama - Ringo Starr

Cloud Nine - George Harrison

Flaming Pie - Paul McCartney

Chaos And Creation In The Backyard - Paul McCartney

The La's - The La's

Hermit Of Mink Hollow - Todd Rundgren

Diva - Annie Lennox

Feelin' Kind Of Lucky - Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys

Sign 'O' The Times - Prince

A New World Record - Electric Light Orchestra

Out Of The Blue - Electric Light Orchestra

Volume One - The Traveling Wilburys

Difford & Tillbrook - Difford & Tillbrook

Friendly Fire - Sean Lennon

13 Perfect LPs

1. Hot Rats - F Zappa
2. We're Only In It For The Money - Mothers of Invention
3. Burnt Weeny Sandwich - Mothers of Invention
4. Roxy & Elsewhere - Mothers of Invention
5. Rubber Soul - Beatles
6. Revolver - Beatles
7. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Beatles
8. Arthur - Kinks
9. Village Green Preservation Society - Kinks
10. Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix Experience
11. Disrali Gears - Cream
12. Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
13. Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan

The newest release here is over 3 decades old!!!!

I must be an old fart.

"A Night At The Opera" - Queen
"Rumours" - Fleetwood Mac
"Boston" - Boston
"High Land, Hard Rain" - Aztec Camera
"Toys In The Attic" - Aerosmith
"But Seriously Folks" - Joe Walsh
"Parallel Lines" - Blondie
"Born To Run" - Bruce Springsteen
"Asia" - Asia
"True" - Spandau Ballet
"Christopher Cross" - Christopher Cross
"Nether Lands" - Dan Fogelberg
"Leftoverture" - Kansas
"Fly Like An Eagle" / "Book Of Dreams" - Steve Miller Band (Imagine if this had been a double album like originally intended. Would it have been better or worse?)
"Pretenders" - The Pretenders
"City To City" - Gerry Rafferty
"Back In The High Life" - Steve Winwood
"Silk Degrees" - Boz Scaggs
"French Kiss" - Bob Welch
"Past, Present & Future" - Al Stewart
"Year Of The Cat" - Al Stewart
"Suzanne Vega" - Suzanne Vega

In the last 10 years, I'd say Fight Songs by Old 97's is pretty much perfect. So are Sleater-Kinney's Dig Me Out and Lucinda Williams' Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

Going back, I think Steely Dan's first three albums are as close to perfect as you can get. I'd also add Neil Young's After the Gold Rush, Blondie's Parallel Lines, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Who's Next, Stevie Wonder's Innervisions and Aerosmith's Rocks.

Chip

Some great choices so far.

Hmmm....

Trying to limit it to more current albums makes it a bit tougher, but here are a few I think are great from the last decade.....or so. After I finished I realized that most of these aren't very current.... But only a few dip back as far as the 80s. If I went back into the 70s and beyond the list would be much much longer.

All Killer, No Filler:
LIve - Throwing Copper
Blue Nile - Hats (High is also pretty close)
Jonatha Brooke - Back in the Circus
Cock Robin - After Here Through Midland
Shawn Colvin - Steady On
Crowded House - Temple of Low Men
Neil Finn - Try Whistling This
Jellyfish - Spilt Milk
Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Pet Shop Boys - Behavior

Honorable mentions:
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Annie Lennox - Diva
Lifehouse - No Name Face
Maroon 5 - Songs about Jane
Maggie's Dream - s/t
Jason Mraz - Mr. A-Z
Peter Murphy - Deep
Nerina Pallot - Fires (still a little too new to know if it will stand the test of time)
Rush - Counterparts
Elliott Smith - Figure 8
The Sundays - Blind (and maybe the first one too!)

Almost Honorable metions:
Three Doors Down - The Better LIfe
Tonic - Sugar
Rufus Wainwright - Want

Dylan - Highway 61
Grateful Dead - American Beauty
The Ramones - S/T
The Clash - S/T (either version)

I'll limit it to 80's and beyond. These might raise a few eyebrows but they were honestly the first that came to mind...

ABC -- The Lexicon of Love
Sting - Nothing like the Sun
Saint Etienne - Good Humour
Saint Etienne - Tales from Turnpike House (American version)
Brian Wilson - Smile
Bebel Gilberto - Tanto Tempo

Honorable Mention: Squeeze - East Side Story (almost perfect but I usually hit the skip button on "Labeled with Love" ... too long and just too countryish for my tastes)

Here are a few others

Sailin Shoes - Little Feat
Dixie Chicken - Little Feat
Feat's Don't Fail Me Now - Little Feat
Second Helpings - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Son of Schmilsson - Nilsson
Maria Mauldaur - Maria Muldaur
Elephant's Memory - Elephant's Memory (with John n' Yoko)
Golden Decade Vol. 1 - Chuck Berry


Still did not break that 30 year old time barrier

I've always considered the debut album from Asia, now 25 (!) years old absolutely perfect-no filler and consistently great writing.
So, these pop up in my mind:
Asia-Asia
Dio-Holy Diver
Rainbow-Rising
Genesis-A Trick Of The Tail
Marillion-Clutching At Straws
Pink Floyd-Animals
Rolling Stones-Sticky Fingers
Rolling Stones-Tattoo You
Rolling Stones-Beggar's Banquet
Thin Lizzy-Jailbreak
Thin Lizzy-Black Rose
UFO-Obsession
UFO-Lights Out
Black Sabbath-Paranoid
Black Sabbath-Master Of Reality
Black Sabbath-Heaven And Hell
Black Sabbath-Mob Rules
Deep Purple-Machine Head
Deep Purple-Burn
Echo & Bunnymen-Crocodiles
Echo & Bunnymen-Heaven Up Here
Echo & Bunnymen-Ocean Rain
Boston-Boston
Iron Maiden-The Number Of The Beast
Iron Maiden-Piece Of Mind
Peter Gabriel-Peter Gabriel 3
Peter Gabriel-Security
Van Halen-Van Halen
Van Halen-Van Halen II
Van Halen-Women And Children First
Van Halen-Fair Warning
Yes-90125
Yes-Drama
Yes-Going For The One
Steely Dan-Katy Lied
Steely Dan-Aja
Steely Dan-Royal Scam
Rush-2112
Rush-A Farewell To Kings
Rush-Permanent Waves
Rush-Signals
Rush-Moving Pictures
Rush-Grace Under Pressure
Miles Davis-Kind Of Blue


-I have to stop now!

Band on the Run
Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy
Dark Side of the Moon
A New World Record
Tapestry
Rumours
Frampton Comes Alive

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
The Who Sell Out
All Things Must Pass
Forever Changes
Abandoned Luncheonette

Good to see SV's debut mentioned. She's been underrated her entire career, & her debut is my fav (99.9 is #2 for me).

CSN - the couch album
CSN - the boat album
CSNY - deja vu
crosby - if i could only remember my name
young - harvest
young - on the beach
beatles - sgt pepper's
stones - sticky fingers
david & david - boomtown
jackson browne - the pretender
jackson browne - the naked ride home
j. d. souther - black rose
warren zevon - excitable boy
yes - fragile
bruce springsteen - born to run
led zepellin - IV
lennon - plastic ono band
john hiatt - bring the family
terence boylan - S/T
steely dan - gaucho ( my personal favorite)
allman brothers - eat a peach (if you take out "mountain jam", oh hell with it leave "mountain jam"))

I have only 2, and I think both have been mentioned:
Abbey Road
Arthur...

Several near misses:
Blood On The Tracks-fellow Dylan fans, please don't take offense, -I can't stand "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts"

Led Zeppelin IV-"Four Sticks" kills it for me

Layla... I'm don't care anymore for "Have You Ever Loved A Woman?"

I think I would go with my #1 desert island pick:

Yes - Close to the Edge