Topic: Cream of the Crop

[ren]

I made a list a while ago of great cd's. The only criteria was that the cd must be almost perfect, it's allowed to have a track or two that you're not that fond of but it has to be 90% great. My list is missing a bunch of my favourite bands, and really over represents many bands that I would only consider average. However, they do what they set out to well so they get credit.

Jar of Flies - Alice in Chains
Audioslave - Audioslave
Third Stage - Boston
A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
Colony - In Flames
Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin
Origin of Symmetry - Muse
(What's The Story) Morning Glory? - Oasis
Clumsy - OLP
Happiness...Is Not A Fist That You Can Catch - OLP
Riot Act - Pearl Jam
Ten - Pearl Ham
Animals - Pink Floyd
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
Rated R - Queens of the Stone Age
OK Computer - Radiohead
The Bends - Radiohead
By The Way - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Revolutions Per Minute - Rise Against
Siren Song of the Counter Culture - Rise Against
The Sufferer and the Witness - Rise Against
Crime of the Century - Supertramp
Fully Completely - The Tragically Hip
Road Apples - The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip - The Tragically Hip
Up to Here - The Tragically Hip

[Quemaqua]

Interesting list.

I used to do this kind of thing.  I had a long list of "perfect" albums, not because they were necessarily my favorite or from people that I thought were the best... nor even because I thought every song on the album was perfect.  It was really more about which overall compositions I thought were the most consistent and perfectly joined together into a cohesive album whole.  Opeth's Blackwater Park would be right at the top, as would Samael's Passage, the Deftones' Around the Fur, and Six Feet Deep's The Road Less Traveled.  I'm not the biggest Deftones fan in the world, but I think ATF is an unbelievably rock-solid album, and while SFD was a fairly standard hardcore band in some respects, I think that album was perfectly done.  Would take me forever to go through everything and list them all, though.

[scottws]

Only two I can think of off-hand are The Offspring: Smash and Soundgarden: Superunknown.

[poomcgoo]

I agree with most of what's been posted already (ausioslave, coldplay, chili peppers, soundgarden, zeppelin etc..) but rather than making a list of repeats, I'll just add some of my favorites.

Korn - Korn
Dookie - Green Day
Hot Fuss - The Killers
Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog
Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind

If Greatest Hits cds counted, that list would be huge.

[ender]

Here's a few.

Beck - Odelay/Mellow Gold/Sea Change/Mutations
Elliott Smith - Either/or
The Beatles - Revolver
Beach Boys - Smile
Nirvana - Nevermind
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Stone Roses - Stone Roses
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Dungen - Tat Det Lugnt
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
Radiohead - OK Computer/Kid A
The Strokes - Is This It?
Weezer - Pinkerton/The Blue Album
Deerhoof - Apple O
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
Daft Punk - Homework
TV On the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Jurassic 5 - Quality Control
Oasis - Definitely Maybe/What's The Story Morning Glory?
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Guided by Voices - Bee Thousand
Pedro the Lion - It's Hard to Find a Friend
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois/Seven Swans

[ren]

Smash by The Offspring is now on my list as well.

I can see The Queen is Dead being a perfect CD, but Frankly Mr. Shankly and Vicar in a Tutu I don't like very much. Automatic For The People I'm adding to my list as well. It seems the R.E.M. style has grown on me a bit more since I first made it. I totally overlooked Weezer, Blue album and Pinkerton belong on it as well.

[Pugnate]

Any of the Britney Spears ablums.

[idolminds]

Vegas - Crystal Method
You've Come A Long Way, Baby - Fatboy Slim
Better Living Through Chemestry - Fatboy Slim
Audio - Blue Man Group
Everybody Loves You - Kaki King
Experience - Prodigy
Fat of the Land - Prodigy
Rocket Arena 3 soundtrack

[PyroMenace]

Whoa Idol, you like Prodigy? Never knew that, I have both of those albums you listed, used to listen to them like crazy back in the day.

[ren]

Is the Queens of the Stone Age song Better Living through Chemistry a cover of Fatboy Slim or do they just have the same name?

[Pugnate]

I also love Prodigy!

[idolminds]

ren, I have no idea. Never heard the other song.

And yeah, I like Prodigy...though those are the only 2 albums of theirs I own.

[poomcgoo]

Alice in Chains' "Jar of Flies" you mentioned, which I agree with, but I've always loved their unplugged album.  I know it's not a true album since it's a compilation of some of their best songs, but if there's a better unplugged or acoustic album out there I haven't heard it.

Alice in Chains unplugged is perfect if you ask me.  The acoustic versions of "Nutshell," "No Excuses," "Down in a Hole," "Heaven Beside You," and "Would" are even better than the originals in some ways.

The Stone Temple Pilots unplugged album is amazing as well, but there aren't as many songs on it and there are a few sucky ones on there.  "Big Empty" and "Creep" are awesome though.