The Perfect CD
 

It sucks buying a CD just for that one song you like. And then you find out the rest of the CD is fucking garbage. But once in a while you find that rare gem where just about every, sometimes every, song is great. You guys ever run into CDs like this?

The first Godsmack CD: When I first heard it in 1998 it was great from front to back. That CD is probably the biggest reason Godsmack`s my favorite band.
Tool AEnima: Beautiful. Even the silly German dictator track.
Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory: Even if every track talks about the same shit, it`s a good CD.
Dr. Dre/The Chronic: Ha, I loved rap when I was eleven. I couldn`t help it. This was a good listen.

The Man Who by Travis, Definitely Maybe and What's the story Morning Glory by Oasis are fine examples of perfect CDs in my opinion.

If we go back to the classics, well Sgt Pepper's is a hell of a ride.

I was in town one day and just needed bus fare home, so I decided to get myself a cd, then I decided a jazz cd. Wandered into a music shop and picked up a Wes Montgomery cd called Fingerpickin'. Cost me bouy 8 euro and I'd never, ever heard of the guy just picked it out of a bunch. It is amazing, seriously, every song falls right into place, everything ends when it should, pure class.

Another one would be "None So Vile" by Cryptopsy, not one song on that album I'd even slightly dislike, really good stuff, a rare occasion when all instruments play off each other absolutely perfectly. There's plenty of others but these 2 spring right to mind!

I think Pink Floyd's Dark side of the Moon falls under this catagory; there's not a track off it I would skip. As for a violent contrast, I had the same thing with Alice in Chain's Dirt and for NIN's The Downward Spiral. And one other that I can think of straight off would be Black Sabbath's first album. Oh, and also Jeff Buckley's Grace. Beautiful album.

I was also forgetting Muse's Showbiz and Pablo Honey by Radiohead. Perhaps I just like music too much =s

Opeth - Blackwater Park
Kalmah - The Swampsong
All That Remains - This Darkened Heart
Iron Maiden - Powerslave
Arch Enemy - Burning Bridges

There are a ton more, however those stand out for me. They are CDs I love and would not skip tracks on regularly.

The perfect CD doesn't have every track compressed to a nearly uniform level of loudness.

Unfortunately, I can't really name many of these off of the top of my head.

Christopher - Wer Next Projekt
Ozric Tentacles - Waterfall Cities
Sirenia - An Elexier for Existence

For more examples, check the exposure thread.

Most Phil Collins albums are the 'perfect' CD for me. I'm a large fan of this guy, but his newer works aren't as great as the oldies. They started going bland at his 'Both Sides' album release in 1993.

A cd that was absolutely perfect to me when it first came back that I still listen to occasionally is

Offspring:Americana, that cd during the time I was in I think 7th grade was absolutely amazing to me. I don't think I can remember any bad songs on it, all of the were pretty fast songs and all of then were as catchy as hell.

The most recent 'perfect' cd I bought

Nightwish:Once, This has everything I like in one small disc. Heavy songs, melodic songs, epic songs, songs in a different languages. Even though I bought it two years ago, there is not one thing I can find wrong with it, one of the best cd's I have even though I bought it 2 years ago.

Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica is the greatest listening experience I have ever had. It's 79 joyous minutes of psychedelic blues/free jazz/rock/beat poetry. It is absolutely encapsulating. I find something new that I love on each listen.

Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Weezer - Blue album
Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Bill Evans Trio - You Must Believe In Spring

These are all albums that I can listen to in their entirety and do nothing else. I always have to be doing something with my hands, so that says a lot about how much I enjoy them - especially the Pumpkins record, which is a double album! The first two I started listening to when I was fifteen or sixteen and was the first music I could really relate to, as corny as that sounds, not just the lyrics, but in the music, too; the melodies, the guitar tone, the intricate arrangements, it all just felt right. Anyone else know what I'm talking about - even when there's nothing being sung, the music just fucking feels like you? Or am I nuts?

Opeth, through a mixture of extreme metal with growling vocals and dark folk music with clean vocals is what got me into metal. Blackwater Park was the first album of theirs I heard.

Ben Folds Five are the band that got me into jazz, as well as the ideas of conversational lyrics and stellar musicianship that never feels like showing off. Also another band that musically just feels very right to me.

The Bill Evans record is my favorite of the modest jazz collection I've got going. Though there's plenty of swing to be found, it's largely a very sad record, the tune selection well-suited to his distinctive sort of classically-influenced harmony. This album, and Bill's work in general, really jumped out at me for some reason and really drew me further into jazz. The album also includes the finest, swingingest arrangement of the M*A*S*H theme you'll ever hear in your life.

I'm a nerd.

I have several albums that I can listen to start-to-finish without being dissappointed in the next song. Dark Side of the Moon, as mentioned before, is one of them. "On The Run" and "Money" may not be as strong as the rest of the songs, for me, but I still love them more than most songs out there.

Second is a given for me. Anyone that knows me knows I love this album. Forever Changes, by Love, is as close to perfect as I suspect I'll ever see. It just seems to get better and better as the album goes on. The innovative and eccentric mix of baroque-pop, psych-rock, and many other genres combine to form something entirely new. It's quite a listen.

Another terrific album is ( ), by Sigur Rós. It's just one of those records where every single song seems perfect. Along the same lines is Bitches Brew, by Miles Davis. I absolutely love the mix of jazz and psychadelia. John McLaughlin, on guitar, is just fantastic, and Miles is Miles.

That's all I'm going to list for now. If I think of some others (Because I know there are more) I'll add them. If I feel like it. :p

Opeth - Blackwater Park

It's awesome that some others have mentioned this. It's such an amazing progressive metal CD. Not one song slouches, and it's a really great listen all the way through. Ghost Reveries (their 2005 CD) is just as good.

Cave In - Jupiter

An amazing CD from a local group. It's alternative rock at its finest. Check the GFF music exposure club if you want to grab this.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium

Every song on this album is listenable. It's not a consistent listen like everything else listed here, but not one song disappoints.

System of a Down - Hypnotize/Mezmerize

Both of these albums in tandem make for one amazing metal album. Truly fantastic. It's their best sound yet.

Slayer - Reign in Blood

Undeniably the best death metal CD ever released. 10 songs and 28 minutes of fierce, bloodthirsty mayhem.

Greg Graffin - Cold as the Clay

A solo folk album released by the lead singer of Bad Religion. I can listen to this soothing CD any time.

Every "Les Cowboys Fringants"'s album is outstanding. It's probably the only complete albums I have on my iPod, which is always on shuffle mode. I even have the "Les Heures Supplémentaires" and "Attache ta Tuque!". Other than that, there's always ONE track I wonder what the fuck it's doing here. Like the intro and intermission tracks of Panic! At The Disco album.

I must say, Aerosmith's Permanent Vacation is one album I can just listen to without having to skip anything. Very, very few CDs of mine are like that. Kaizers Orchestra's Evig Pint and Muse's Origin of Symmetry are also straight listen-throughs for me, but I have to be in the right mood.

Nobody here is a fan, but George Strait never disappoints on his albums. He puts a huge amount of effort into every track. I have a good deal of his CDs and it is sad how many of them only appear on the CD and never on the radio. His CDs are worth every penny in my opinion.

A new one of his is due out soon. Gotta buy it~

"White Pony" by Deftones

Probably the first CD Ive ever liked through and through. Ive probably listened to the entire CD once a month since it came out. Its always great to hear it.

"Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness" by Coheed and Cambria.

Its a great listen front to back. Each song has its own style, and the CD in general has an epic feel to it. Ive actually listened through the whole CD once, just to start again from track one as soon as its done.

Ha, my kid`s mom would love you Akira. She`s a Deftones freak.

Cant blame her. Some people just have a thing for good music :) .

Songs For The Deaf - Queens of the Stone Age

Easily, easily their best album. Not a single bad track on it.

Origin of Symmetry - Muse

Also, easily the bands best album. I could listen to this over and over again. Oh wait, I do.

The Wall - Pink Floyd

My favourite album by Pink Floyd. Perfect in every way.

Oh, I forgot about QOTSA. Yeah, I totally agree...Songs for the Deaf is another album I can just put on and listen straight through (the little 'radio interludes' helps the effect).

Thirded for "Songs for the Deaf." Best Album they've put out. Solid riffs, and great lyrics to compliment. "Do it Again" is one of my favorite songs, period.

Minutemen - double nickels on the dime

44 tracks and not one of them is skipworthy at all and it contains some of the most solid and consistent drumming, easily filled with the most memorable basslines and guitar hooks as well. the essential 80's Hardcore Punk release.

Acid mothers Temple - mantra of Love

Japanese Psychrockers bring one of the simplest but beautiful trip-out albums known to man.

bad Brains - Rock for Light

4 african american reggae heads take a mainly whitebread genre of music and turn it upside down and nearly make eveyrone there bitch.

Can - Tago mago

Kraut Rock at it's finest, Fuck Kraftwerk. this is the the definitive band of the Kraut-rock Scene and nothing surpasses this album nor the Damo Suzuki era.

Wire - pink Flag

The only minimilistic punk albumt hat actually pulls off what it's trying to do and makes every track more enjoyable then the next

Love - forever Changes

All you kids put down your Zeppelin and Cream bullshit and pick up this classic; it will blow your mind.

A question for the people who are Championing QOTSA, have you ever heard the band Kyuss which QOTSA formed out of? they piss all over QOTSA.

Yes aaaaand...yes. I think Kyuss have always been bigger in the UK/Europe than the US.
But I still think Songs for the Deaf is a very, very solid album. And I love it.