Perfect al***s

Posted by: Wolf on 14 October 2006

I was thinking about perfect albums as I was buying Christmas gifts for my nieces. Usually there is a track or two that I have a quibble about on an album, meaning I get tired of it or don't think it fits and can't wait till it's over and on with the good stuff. I like Abbey Road, but think Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Octopussy's Garden are fun but tireing, the rest is brilliant stuff.
No compilations or best of albums.

I consider these to be a few:

Rubber Soul, Beatles
Sgt. Peppers by you know who
Blue Joni Mitchell
Court and Spark, Joni again
Aja, Steely Dan
Moon Dance, Van Morrison

What are your ideas on perfect albums in all categories of pop, rock, jazz and blues?

glenn

Posted on: 20 October 2006 by Guido Fawkes

quote:
Originally posted by Big Brother:
quote:
Originally posted by ROTF:

SF Sorrow by The Pretty Things

If I had to vote one and exclude HMHB then I'd pick SF Sorrow, but I might change my mind by tomorrow.

Rotf

Nice to see these guys mentioned. I saw them in Seattle about 10 years ago and they played bits from 'SF Sorrow', great band, and according to Johnny Rotten, a better band than the Rolling Stones !

Big Brother

I don't think the Rolling Stones ever recorded anything to match SF Sorrow. I know the Stones tried on Satanic Majesty's Request, but it has neither the power nor the charm. In fact the Pretty Things never recorded anything to match SF Sorrow again, although Parachute is a fine album and there are excellent moments on the Electric Banana series of elpees: EB were the Pretty Things. of course.

I know Johnny Rotten quoted Phil May (The Pretty Things), Alice Cooper and Syd Barrett as among his heroes - and for once I agreed with Mr R.

Which remins me London's Burning by The Clash and Third World War by Third World War should have been in my list.

Posted on: 20 October 2006 by JeremyB

Beatles and Beach Boys apart, surely the perfect album has to be Love Forever Changes? Don't think it has been mentioned yet.

Jeremy

Posted on: 21 October 2006 by Messenger

I agree with ROTF about Katy Lied - didn't grab me at the time when I was a huge Dan fan, doesn't grab me as anything but average now.

Don't agree with ROTF (but you've got to love him) about the Stones. I think they made the fatal (pun intended) marketing error of staying alive for too long. Beggars, Sticky, Exile, Bleed ... none would raise more than half an eyebrow with me if nominated as perfect. They were a magnificent band.

Have I missed something though. Why has Astral Weeks dropped off everybody's radar? Seems close to perfect to me.

Posted on: 21 October 2006 by Chillkram

Led Zep IV - Led Zep
Machine Head - Deep Purple
Disraeli Gears - Cream
The Kick Inside - Kate Bush
DSOTM - Pink Floyd

Mark

Posted on: 21 October 2006 by northpole

Isn't this why we keep on buying albums - hoping one day we'll come across the perfect one? There's no such thing - loads of great albums but none are perfect. Long may the search continue.

Peter

Posted on: 21 October 2006 by badlyread

Just a few that I can think of now (there must be more that I need to discover)

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Rattlesnakes
ABC - Lexicon of Love
Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen
Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
Talk Talk - The Spirit of Eden (just listen...)
David Sylvian - Secrets of the Beehive
The Blue Nile - Hats
REM - Automatic For The People
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
Van Morrison - Poetic Champions Compose
The House of Love - The House of Love (Creation 034 for those in the know)
Felt - Poem of the River
Nine Horses - Snow Borne Sorrow
Cocteau Twins - Victorialand

Neil

Posted on: 21 October 2006 by Messenger

Northpole - yes! You're right.

It's what I call the Space Invaders syndrome. Late 70s when those things invaded pubs, the addiction was because you'd nearly cleared 5 screans last time ... why can't you do it this time. I reckon golf works the same way.

Badlyread - lovely to see two albums that I cherish mentioned. Colour of Spring and, partitcularly, Poetic Champions ... which rarely seems to get mentioned in the top Van lists.

This one is what I call the bottle of wine yardstick. If you finish your steak and the bottle of wined is nearly finished too, it was probably a good bottle of wine. If you've only drunk one glass, it probably isn't. If, when your hand hovers over the CD shelves, you take it down and play it ...

Yes, I've been taking too many drugs ...or is it not enough?