Music

It's cliche, but Dark Side of the Moon. There's a reason it's on every list of all time best albums. The whole thing just flows so well together.

Tool - Aenima

Sky Cries Mary - A Return to the Inner Experience

Dead Can Dance - Spirit chaser

Depeche Mode - Violator

Faith No More - The Real Thing.

Discovery by Daft Punk is a no skip for me. Also food and liquor by lupe fiasco.

I know I am alone on this but,

my chemical romance - three cheers for sweet revenge

Radiohead's Kid A has no filler tracks. Anyone who thinks Treefingers is filler is wrong

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

Going by music genre:

Hip Hop: To Pimp A Butterfly (by Kendrick Lamar), The Forever Story (JID), Madvillainy (MF DOOM), Hell on Earth (Mobb Deep)

Electronic: Selected Ambient Works (Aphex Twin), Exai (Autechre), Duntisbourne Abbots Soulmate Devastation Technique (μ-Ziq)

Black Metal: Filosofem (Burzum), Panzerfaust (Darkthrone), Pure Holocaust (Immortal), Exuvia (The Ruins of Beverast)

Death Metal: Scream Bloody Gore (Death), Realm of Chaos (Bolt Thrower), Under the Sign of the Black Mark (Bathory)

Country: Southbound (Doc Watson), Poor David's Almanack (David Rawlings)

I'm just breaking into country and jazz. If anyone has some classic must-listen albums, I'd be all ears.

Revolver by the Beatles

• Good News For People Who Love Bad News, Modest Mouse
• Sgt Pepper, The Beatles
• The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga
• Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Elton John
• Folie a Deux, Fall Out Boy

Blackwater Park - Opeth

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).

• Dream Theater: Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
• Pink Floyd: The Final Cut
• Tool: Lateralus
• The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land

Daft Punk's Discovery does not miss.

"Gorillaz - Demon Days" It is like a story unfolding, where they really have fun with the music, and effortlessly meld through different genres.

Nirvana - Nevermind

This will be a wild mix of genres:

• Portishead - Dummy
• Jean-Michel Jarre - Les concerts en Chine 1981
• The black Keys - El Camino
• ZZ Top - Eliminator
• Console - Herself
• The glitch mob - Drink in the sea

and some albums I already saw here.

Bonus:

• Peter Fox - Stadtaffe => this is impressive because it is one of the very few german speaking artists I like and it is a genre that I usually dislike

Paramore Paramore

Mezzanine - Massive Attack

The Fat of the Land - The Prodigy

• Bat out of Hell - Meat Loaf
• Appetite for Destruction - Guns N Roses
• Good Kid, MAAD CIty - Kendrick Lamar
• When the Kite String Pops - Acid Bath
• Crimes of Passion - Pat Benatar
• Metropolis Part II - Dream Theater
• Master of Puppets - Metallica
• Rust in Peace - Megadeth
• A Boat on the Sea - Moron Police
• Painted from Memory - Evlis Costello & Burt Bacharach
• Operation Mindcrime - Queensrÿche
• American Idiot - Green Day
• Ten - Pearl Jam

• Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
• Ammonia Avenue - The Alan Parsons Project
• A Trick of the Tail - Genesis
• The Kick Inside - Kate Bush

Probably showing my age!

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.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the aeroplane over the sea

Here we go, brace yourselves

Against The Current - Past Lives
Can't Swim - This Too Won't Pass
Chief State - Tough Love [EP]
Before I Turn - Lovelorn
Bearings - Hello, It's You
Dorothy - Gifts From The Holy Ghost
Four Year Strong - Brain Pain
Greta Van Fleet - The Battle At Garden's Gate
Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
Intervals - The Shape Of Colours [instrumental, heavenly]
I Prevail - TRUE POWER
Knuckle Puck - While I Stay Secluded [EP]
Knuckle Puck - 20_20
Mayday Parade - Sunnyland
Micheal Jackson - Thriller
Movements - Feel Something
Neck Deep - All Distortions Are Intentional
Neck Deep - The Peace And The Panic
Neck Deep - Life's Not Out To Get You
Nothing But Thieves - Moral Panic
Palaye Royale - Fever Dream
Paramore - Brand New Eyes
Paramore - Paramore
Paramore - After Laughter
Seaway - Big Vibe
Seaway - Vacation
Sleeping With Sirens - How It Feels To Be Lost
Sleeping With Sirens - Madness
State Champs - Kings Of The New Age
The Story So Far - The Story So Far
The Story So Far - What You Don't See
The Structs - YOUNG&DANGEROUS
Tiny Moving Parts - Pleasant Living
Yonaka - Don't Wait Till Tomorrow
Yonaka - Sieze The Power
Yours Truly - Self Care
Yours Truly - Afterglow [EP]

Thats about it, those are some of my favourite/[near-]perfect albums/EPs.

My favorite album is The Stranger by Billy Joel, love all tracks there! Close seconds are Glass Houses by Billy Joel, Rubber Soul and Revolver by The Beatles.

But I think those are pretty popular already, so gonna throw out some other ones in case you wanna check out new things :)

• Man Up by The Blue Van
• Costello Music by The Fratellis

And if you wanna try some Brazilian music:

• Frejat Ao Vivo No Rock In Rio by Frejat
• O Baile do Nego Véio Ao Vivo Em Jurerê Internacional by Alexandre Pires
• Ao Vivo No Olimpo by Grupo Revelação
• Monobloco Ao Vivo by Monobloco

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.

Pearl Jam's Ten for me

The first two that came to mind:

• Bob Mould - Workbook
• The Stone Roses - self-titled debut

• Close to the Edge - Yes
• Illusions on a Double Dimple - Triumvirat
• Focus 3 - Focus
• Asia - Asia
• Pretty much every Steely Dan album up to (and including) Gaucho

A few that I don't see mentioned ...

• Carol King - Tapestry
• Pearl Jam - Yield
• Van Morrison - Moondance
• Fountains of Wayne - self titled

how do you not have Dark Side of the Moon in that list?

Both Bostons debut album and Rage Against The Machines self titled are stellar.

in rap, since i haven't seen that genre come up much in this thread yet: Run the Jewels is a rare band which i think has an essentially perfect discography. when their "worst" album is a joke-y remix album that's still pretty good, you know you have something special going on

Reading through these posts I’m totally blown away by the diversity of some of the posters’ selections. Also…a LOT of albums I need to check out!!

• The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace Is There
• Fugazi - The Argument
• Slint - Spiderland
• American Football - LP1
• toe - The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety
• The Cure - Disintegration
• TTNG - Animals
• Sunny Day Real Estate - How It Feels to Be Something On
• At The Drive-in - Relationship of Command
• Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me

Talking Heads- Remain in Light

Others have already listed some of my favourites, but top of my list would have to be Kate Bush - Hounds of Love. Not only is every track perfect, but there are so many layers and nuance and mystery to the tracks that you can (I have!) listen to it regularly for nearly 38 years, and still never tire of it.

There's even a still more perfect album within that album: The Ninth Wave.

Circa Survive - Blue Sky Noise

BTBAM - Colors

Styx's most recent album Crash of the Crown (2021) is a masterpiece and easily one of their best 3; I'd also include their 2017 album The Mission in their top 3 as well. So so good.

Kansas' Point of Know Return (1977) is iconic for a lot of reasons ("Dust in the Wind", that gorgeous cover) but is phenomenal and peak Kansas (though Masque (1975) just beats it out as my personal favorite).

Brothers in Arms (1985) by Dire Straits is a magnificent one to just put on and get lost in.

I love the Eagles, but I can't say they ever put out a perfect album. Desperado (1973) is the closest I'd pick. It may be sacrilegious, but I really don't care for Hotel California (1976); the title track is spectacular, but I don't really vibe with anything else on there.

And as @_ed@sopuli.xyz mentioned, Boston (1976) is a perfect ride start to finish.

Social Distortion - Mommy's Little Monster

Bad Religion - Into The Unknown

Agent Orange - Living In Darkness

Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique is and always will be an absolute masterpiece to me. It was awesome 20 years ago and still goes hard to this day.

Mew - Frengers Architecure in Helsinki - In Case We Die of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? Tally Hall - Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum The Strokes - Is This It? The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Nightmare of You - Nightmare of You The Fiery Furnaces - EP The Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder Memory Tapes - See Magic

EPs Voxtrot - Raised by Wolves Locale A.M. - The Characters Miami Horror - Bravado

Love Collective Soul and Rage Against the Machine. I’ve got a few:

• Big Data - 3.0. Great story exploring AI ethics before it was hype.
• Panic! At the Disco - A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. I wish I got the alternate timeline where the band continued this direction rather than going for pop. So much chaotic good energy.
• The Donnas - Spend the Night. This one is just plain fun.
• The Beatles - Let it Be. Two of Us is my favorite on this one, but every song can stand up on its own.

• Michael Jackson - Off the wall
• She Wants Revenge - self titled
• Metric - Synthetica
• Prick - self titled
• The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You
• ISIS - Oceanica
• Lovage - Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By
• Pixies - Doolittle
• Massive Attack - Blue Lines
• Sigur Ros - Takk...
• Cake - Fashion Nugget
• Madonna - Confessions on a Dance Floor