No, this post is not about politics. Not this week. This post is about something much more important: Perfect Albums.
Along with my good friend in NYC, I have an on-going project that we work on whenever we are together and sometimes over e-mail. Its the Perfect Album List. Albums that are great from start to finish. Every song is necessary, there is no filler and the tracks work together as a whole to create a perfect listening experience.
This is not an easy list to get on and the two of us have to agree before an album makes the cut. (We do keep seperate lists as well, as our tastes wander off in different directions. I’m pretty sure I could never convince him that anything by the Grateful Dead belongs on our list). Think of an album you like a bunch and believe might belong on the list. Go through it in your head, song by song. I bet there is at least one track that you skip or tune out as it plays. Perfect Albums are hard to come by.
As an example, here is an album that many would say is a no-brainer for the list: Dark Side of Moon. Great album, but perfect? Not quite. “The Great Gig in the Sky”, while musically fitting with the rest of the songs, seems to just take up time before “Money” (or before flipping the record, if you listen to it on vinyl). Honestly, after you sing along to the “ahhhhs” for a second in your broken falsetto, the song becomes background noise.
So the album is close, but doesn’t quite make the cut. This is all subjective, of course, but that’s the fun. What I want to know is, what albums would be on your list? Here are five that are on my list to get you started. (These are not in any order. How can you rank perfection against itself? Really?)
1. Revolver- The Beatles
2. London Calling- The Clash (A stunning achievment, since it is a double album)
3. Utopia Parkway- Fountains of Wayne
4. Remain In Light- Talking Heads
5. Life’s Rich Pageant-REM
Have at and choose wisely.
Posted by Eric 
