I often think about stellar albums. The ones where they’re really isn’t a skip-able track. Off the top of my head, these come to mind: The Beach Boys Pet Sounds, Collective Soul Collective Soul (blue album), Bush 16 Stone, and Green Day Dookie. What are some of your perfect albums?

    • It’s odd but Kid A didn’t click with me until after I’d heard Amnesiac. I think the follow-up album might’ve worked as a kind of gateway into a more electronic sound.

      I listened through Amnesiac maybe half a dozen times before I was curious and tried Kid A again, and it was like I was hearing a completely different album. It’s funny to have my opinion of an album change so much by listening to something else entirely.

  • This is going to be a random list but:

    Tool - Lateralus

    Green Day - American Idiot

    Power Trip - Nightmare Logic

    Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory and Meteora

    Basically anything by Animals As Leaders

    Iron Maiden - Number of the beast

    Sepultura - Arise and Chaos AD

    Nirvana - Bleach and Nevermind

    Elder - Lore and Reflections of a floating world

    Blood Incantation - Starspawn

    Killswitch Engage - Alive or just breathing

    Bongripper - Satan Worshipping Doom

    Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

    Architects - LF/LT

    Dr Dre - 2001

  • Ok, now that more people have posted long lists, I don’t feel so bad about mine ;)

    • Arcade Fire – Funeral
    • Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today
    • At The Drive-In – Relationship of Command (also their EPs Vaya and In/Casino/Out)
    • Kae Tempest – Let Them Eat Chaos
    • Mercury Rev – Deserter’s Songs
    • My Morning Jacket – Z
    • Public Service Broadcasting – Every Valley
    • Radiohead – OK Computer
    • Radiohead – In Rainbows
    • The Decemberists – Picaresque
    • The Diggs – Commute
    • The Dismemberment Plan – Emergency & I
    • The Libertines – s/t
    • The Mars Volta – Deloused in the Comatorium
    • The Notwist – Shrink
    • Tokyo Police Club – A Lesson in Crime (just a fantastic debut; barely an album though)

    German:

    • Deichkind – Niveau Weshalb Warum

    Some may be an acquired taste (PSB?, also I know that The Libertines’ is not everyone’s favorite – but it’s mine :). The Arcade Fire, even though I don’t listen to them these days that much, is decade-defining for me, as is Radiohead’s OK Computer (together with Nevermind, although for some reason it didn’t make this list).

  • The Black Crowes - Southern Harmony Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

    Honorable mention

    The Black Keys - Thickfreakness The White Stripes - Icky Thump CeeLo Green - The Lady Killer

    I have very little concept of what songs are from which albums anymore thanks to modern streaming subscriptions.

  • The first album that I ever bought back in the day from my pocket money was Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park.

    Only later I found out that this feeling of listening to every song of an album multiple times without getting bored or just not liking some or most of them is not the norm.

    I enjoyed the album right away. But only after being disappointed in all other albums that I bought over the next months I started to realize what an incredible gem Hybrid Theory is.

    I had the same magical feeling with Meteora. Sadly, the following albums could not keep it up for me.

    I still love HT and M to this day and listen to it monthly. Amazing albums by an amazing band.