Perfect Tens

[the ouch cube]

Nomeansno 'Wrong' (already mentioned)
The Jesus Lizard 'Liar' (this pips 'Goat' at the post for me)
Fatima Mansions 'Lost In The Former West'
Sugar 'Beaster' EP
Faith No More 'Angel Dust'

Maaaayyyybe 'Siamese Dream' and 'Trompe Le Monde' as well. But maybe they're actually 9's

[Serge]

Baader-Meinhof - Baader-Meinhof

Oh yeah, that one as well.

This Nation's Saving Grace is the same for me - I don't get on with 'Damo Suzuki'.

Ironically - and unsurprisingly, I suppose - my favourite track on there.

Although I tend to view Tago Mago more as originally intended, the first four tracks(maybe maybe Bring Me Coffee and Tea?) with the two long experimental pieces as a bonus.

Yeah, that's a fair point. If it had been a single album consisting of just those four (or five) tracks, ikt would have been on my list. I do love 'Augmn' as well, but 'Peking O' is just.....too much.

Anything anyone posted made within the last couple of years?

I'd definitely put 'American Dream' up there as one for me. John Grant's 'Pale Green Ghosts' too, though I suppose that's probably about five years old now.....

[Golden E. Pump]

Recently, I'd highly rate 'Awaken, My Love' by Childish Gambino and 'To Pimp a Butterfly' by Kendrick Lamar but they're not perfect in that there are one or two I skip.

[Gregory Torso]

Ween - The Mollusk

I thought about this one too, and I do really love Ween, but I don't think any of their albums are without tracks I skip. That's the appeal though, the variation. "It's Gonna Be Alright" should've been a Christmas number one.

[wosl]

Not an album that's especially close to my heart, but it's hard to argue against Aja being absolutely top-drawer from beginning to end.  Immersive, expansive, beautifully sequenced (although the tracks shuffle really well, too), no skippers and 40 minutes in total - perfect running length.  The Pearl by Budd and Eno is the album I've played the most, though.  Still solidly stands up, although it contains a couple of tracks that can drag.

[non capisco]

XTC - Black Sea
I think what this and most of the ones I'm going to mention have in common is a sense of distilled confidence. You can hear a band almost in awe with themselves, not in a masturbatory way, almost like it's taking them by surprise how good this thing is turning out and that in itself translating into an infectious sense of joy for the listener. I absolutely get that with 'Black Sea' and in the two years I've been listening to it there have been long periods where I've felt I didn't actually need any other music for a while. A flawless set of brilliant, inventive and varied pop songs culminating in swelling waves of awesome dread with 'Travels In Nihilon'. There is not a second of this album I don't love. The "I felt just like a crusaaaaader..." bit on 'No Language In Our Lungs' knocks me out flat every time.

THE BLIND SHAKE - Breakfast Of Failures
My favourite album of the last three or so years. Wonkily tuned backyard extraterrestrial surf punk bliss. The sheer force of the thing. Relentless.

DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - Too-Rye-Ay
I love Young Soul Rebels but there's a few bits of filler on it and Don't Stand Me Down is fierce overrated outside of 'This Is What She's Like'. Too-Rye-Ay is their true masterpiece for me. I just get lost in this thing every time I put it on. Those strings, those horns, Kev's conviction, those tunes. "All In All (This Last Waltz)", fucking hell man, that thing rips my heart out and kicks it round the room. "You still don't smile but I never thought you would."  This album gave me a lot of succour in dark times and revisiting it doesn't feel like looking at snapshots of a personal abyss, it still has the power to comfort.

More to follow.....

[Dr Syntax Head]

The Verve - Northern Soul.

Manics - The Holy Bible.

Absolutely with A Northern Soul. It's a very beautiful thing, so rich in texture and mood. And what a way to end an album, 5 minutes of Nick McCabe going feedback mental. Every guitar player's dream.

Agree with Holy Bible but will also add Everything Must Go. It took a special kind of band to come back with something so beautiful and dignified.

[bgmnts]

Rush - 2112
Dream Theatre - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Barenaked Ladies - Gordon
Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Blue Oyster Cult - Spectres

For me, anyway. Would probably add one or two more Rush albums but I held restraint.

Edit - Cat Stevens - New Masters

[Dr Syntax Head]

Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go

There you go. I'm not the only one that agrees with this.

[Osmium]

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus is the first thing that popped into my head that I haven't seen mentioned yet. A perfect way to free your mind for 40 minutes. Think I'll listen to it right now.

[thraxx]

Wow.  Can't believe that people rate Everything Must Go so highly.  Right that it's a very elegant and dignified record and I like it a lot, but it's not a patch on the seething horrible document to the insight to Richie's brain that the Holy Bible is.  I would put the first 2 thirds of Gold Against the Soul as the very best stuff that they ever did, but the last 3 songs are piss poor, compared the magnificence of the first load anyway.

[greenman]

Rubbish meaningless predictable self-aggrandizing turd (all the thread so far)

A couple more to add...

Al-Khazneh - Blue Soul Variations vol.4 - Amazing work from this Canadian sixth piece in terms of building up moods, everything else since has disappointed.

Cirrus - Where I Belong - Freeform guitar noodling of the highest order the evokes the skys of Nebraska.

[Kane Jones]

Wow.  Can't believe that people rate Everything Must Go so highly.  Right that it's a very elegant and dignified record and I like it a lot, but it's not a patch on the seething horrible document to the insight to Richie's brain that the Holy Bible is.  I would put the first 2 thirds of Gold Against the Soul as the very best stuff that they ever did, but the last 3 songs are piss poor, compared the magnificence of the first load anyway.

I'm not particularly fond of the Manics, but I prefer something being elegant and dignified to a seething horrible document. Horses fuck horses.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Wow.  Can't believe that people rate Everything Must Go so highly.  Right that it's a very elegant and dignified record and I like it a lot, but it's not a patch on the seething horrible document to the insight to Richie's brain that the Holy Bible is.  I would put the first 2 thirds of Gold Against the Soul as the very best stuff that they ever did, but the last 3 songs are piss poor, compared the magnificence of the first load anyway.

Holy Bible and Everything Must Go are so different they could almost have been made by different bands. In a way they were.

[Neville Chamberlain]

If it makes you feel better I did consider putting a James album in my list

Yes, I considered a James album too, then I remembered I hate them and they're complete arse.

[phantom_power]

Yes, I considered a James album too, then I remembered I hate them and they're complete arse.

Pow, right in the kisser.

I think Laid is a fantastic album but may have a couple of plodders that stop it being a Perfect Ten. Gold Mother might come close as well

I would also add Paul's Boutique to the list, and I am currently on the fence about Modern Life is Rubbish, though it is certainly the closest Blur got to an album with no duds

[Brundle-Fly]

and the chintzy Pet Sounds instrumental.

Which is an album highlight for me.

Ballard, if that's what you consider "chintzy" then would you help me redecorate my flat?

[Paaaaul]

Just having no skippable tracks doesn't make an album perfect, surely?
It has to be so much more than that.
Just having 'no duds' would be a 'better-than-average' album to me.

A perfect album, to my ears, builds a world, takes you on a journey around that world, and then leaves you in a suitable place afterwards.

I love The Beatles and The Beach Boys, but I don't think any of their albums are perfect - even Pet Sounds, which is one of my favourites.

Albums that have already been posted that I would personally stick in this list are:-

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers
Cardiacs - Sing to God
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Love - Forever Changes
Television - Marquee Moon
Wu Tang Clan - 36 Chambers
MBV - Loveless
Tindersticks - 1st album
REM - Murmur

And some more suggestions:-

Jay Reatard - Blood Visions
Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman
Ramones - Ramones
Ramones - Leave Home
LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
The Stooges - Fun House
Faust - Faust IV
Jurassic 5 - Jurassic 5
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Portishead - Dummy
Weezer - Pinkerton

[Neville Chamberlain]

Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock

Oh yeah, I forgot about these two. And Faust IV. I'd probably put something by Amon Düül II on there, too - toss-up between Yeti and Wolf City.

Anyway, I'll stop self-aggrandising any more before my head explodes.

[wosl]

I love The Beatles and The Beach Boys, but I don't think any of their albums are perfect

Sgt. Pepper really does comes as close as anything by anyone in the pop realm, despite that being such a hoary opinion.  I've given the new stereo remix of it a number of listens recently, and it fulfills all the criteria you list with bells on.  You might go in saying that it would be better if Strawberry Fields was on it in place of one of the others, and so on, but you come out the other side thinking that everything on it is irreplaceable and ideally organised. 

[DukeDeMondo]

DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - Too-Rye-Ay
I love Young Soul Rebels but there's a few bits of filler on it and Don't Stand Me Down is fierce overrated outside of 'This Is What She's Like'. Too-Rye-Ay is their true masterpiece for me. I just get lost in this thing every time I put it on. Those strings, those horns, Kev's conviction, those tunes. "All In All (This Last Waltz)", fucking hell man, that thing rips my heart out and kicks it round the room. "You still don't smile but I never thought you would."  This album gave me a lot of succour in dark times and revisiting it doesn't feel like looking at snapshots of a personal abyss, it still has the power to comfort.

Can't put it any better than that. A further four of my Perfect Tens have also been mentioned already: Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Blood On The Tracks, and Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables.

I would add:

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

I listen to Yeezus more often, but MBDTF is probably the Perfect Ten of the Kanye bunch, and not just because Pitchfork says it is. Every track on the thing is fucking blistering, and the loss of any of them is unthinkable. Sprawling and chaotic at times and yet tight as two fucks, perfect from one end to the other. Although I will admit I tend to start it about 20 seconds into Dark Fantasy nowadays, for Nicki Minaj's intro is more Kill Jester than I can deal with.

Whiskeytown - Faithless Street

The best thing Ryan Adams - or David Ryan Adams as he was then - has ever been involved with. Not every track is perfect, but somehow the thing as a whole is perfect, whatever voodoo it is that it's doing. There's an ache and a longing to it that is overpowering, and a dust rising off it, and a wind, by Christ. Its melancholy may be as studied and affected as any of the other poses the frontman has pulled throughout his career to varying degrees of success (and I say that as a massive fan of the man), but if it's all a big old performance it's a performance that's beyond reproach. And it helps that the songs are largely fucking gorgeous.

[Brundle-Fly]

Armed Forces (1979) - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

A New Wave pop classic with tune after tune after tune. The American version excluded Sunday's Best* often seen as the weak link and replaced it with What's So Funny (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding. Includes Oliver's Army, Accidents Will Happen, Green Shirt...

*one of my favourite tracks on the album.  I'm such a contrarian.

[non capisco]

^ 'Senior Service' is my fave on that 'un. He was just shitting out hooks like there was tomorrow at that stage, wasn't he? Although I personally prefer the lyrics on later albums when he'd calmed down a bit with the puns and wordplay, the younger EC was absolutely falling over himself to demonstrate to you how literate and clever he was and some of it is clunky in the extreme. 'Get Happy!' is the nadir of that sort of thing, great album though it is. Absolutely honking lyrics on some of that. 'Blood & Chocolate' is my favourite EC album, he'd reigned his excesses in and had become an astonishing lyricist by then, certainly from 'Imperial Bedroom' onwards. And yet those earlier albums had an energy and zeal unmatched in his catalogue.

[Brundle-Fly]

^ 'Senior Service' is my fave on that 'un. He was just shitting out hooks like there was tomorrow at that stage, wasn't he? Although I personally prefer the lyrics on later albums when he'd calmed down a bit with the puns and wordplay, the younger EC was absolutely falling over himself to demonstrate to you how literate and clever he was and some of it is clunky in the extreme. 'Get Happy!' is the nadir of that sort of thing, great album though it is. Absolutely honking lyrics on some of that. 'Blood & Chocolate' is my favourite EC album, he'd reigned his excesses in and had become an astonishing lyricist by then, certainly from 'Imperial Bedroom' onwards. And yet those earlier albums had an energy and zeal unmatched in his catalogue.

Pretty much agree 100% on that.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I've changed my mind. If You're Feeling Sinister is pretty much perfect. Stuart Murdoch's songwriting is exemplary, it's tuneful, witty, eloquent, odd and subversive. The carefully rehearsed school hall arrangements are magnificent. It's a fully complete piece of work, a quietly confident statement from a pop craftsman totally in simpatico with his musicians.

A stunning piece of work, really.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRybFTKAhOc&list=PLB875NdHRlOFSV21hAE5gO4Zw1qTqXPPK

[manticore]

tracks I skip.

I cannot brook this attitude. You should earn the good tracks.

[Gregory Torso]

I cannot brook this attitude. You should earn the good tracks.

I'm not really sure what your point is here. Are you saying I should listen to an album all the way through, every time, even the songs I don't like much? or are you specifically talking about Ween?
If I listen to something on my laptop or my phone then I skip around like crazy. I don't always sit down with a record (although I agree with your point if you mean with a new album, I don't skip tracks on first few listens. I skip tracks on Ween albums because I have lived with those records for 20, 25 years and know them inside out).

[Paaaaul]

Sgt. Pepper really does comes as close as anything by anyone in the pop realm, despite that being such a hoary opinion.  I've given the new stereo remix of it a number of listens recently, and it fulfills all the criteria you list with bells on.  You might go in saying that it would be better if Strawberry Fields was on it in place of one of the others, and so on, but you come out the other side thinking that everything on it is irreplaceable and ideally organised.

I think Sgt Pepper suffers from the same thing that most Beatles albums do to me - they feel a little bit too much like patchworks rather than continuous pieces. Their songs are so distinct and individual that it is rare for them to feel entirely comfortable placed next to each other. The mostly aborted concept of the album is also apparent and gives the album a wandering focus. And I fucking hate With A Little Help From My Friends.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Armed Forces (1979) - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

A New Wave pop classic with tune after tune after tune. The American version excluded Sunday's Best* often seen as the weak link and replaced it with What's So Funny (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding. Includes Oliver's Army, Accidents Will Happen, Green Shirt...

*one of my favourite tracks on the album.  I'm such a contrarian.

I've only recently put effort into exploring Costello (this year I've been absorbing the back catalogue of classic artists that I should have been listening to years ago) and this album is fucking class. I love Green Shirt a great deal.

[thraxx]

I'm an idiot, of course Forever Changes is a perfect ten.

I should also have put Tindersticks' 1st, but also their 2nd.  Even though their 3rd is my favourite.

I've changed my mind. If You're Feeling Sinister is pretty much perfect. Stuart Murdoch's songwriting is exemplary, it's tuneful, witty, eloquent, odd and subversive. The carefully rehearsed school hall arrangements are magnificent. It's a fully complete piece of work, a quietly confident statement from a pop craftsman totally in simpatico with his musicians.

A stunning piece of work, really.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRybFTKAhOc&list=PLB875NdHRlOFSV21hAE5gO4Zw1qTqXPPK

Pretty much sums up what I thought about If You're Feeling Sinister from the very first listen.  One of about 5 albums that blew me away from the first listen, in a sublime understated gentle way of course.