The redoubtable Julian Sanchez received this meme from a very complicated post by Jason Kuznicki. The gist seems to be “Hey, name five perfect albums.” Kuznicki:
I continue to be fascinated by the idea of the “perfect” album — the rare compilation where every track is outstanding, and where all of them fit well together, such that you never want to skip a single song.
But the gist is not the point. The point is to essay on various musical issues and themes. This is something Julian and Jason do very well, but for all my music obsession I have trouble going that deep.
My musical history, briefly: I only started liking pop music when I was 14 and needed something that would make my stints mowing the lawn pass by a little quicker. I grooved on Meat Loaf’s second Bat Out of Hell, then on the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper, and that started me on the hunt for pop with good melodies. Apart from a detour into metal fandom (which never got too serious since I was too wimpy to go to any shows) I’ve generally kept looking for the same thing in my music: Melody. So I can enjoy “Knockin’ at Your Back Door” by Deep Purple or “Salvation” by Elton John or “At the Helm” by Del tha Funkee Homosapien in equal measure. This means that I buy a lot of music. Pro: I can initiate and maintain a conversation about music with almost anyone. Con: If you converted the cash in my savings account to $100 bills and started stacking them, the pile wouldn’t quite reach the top of the 69 Love Songs box.
Another con: I don’t overthink music. This doesn’t seem like a problem, until you consider that when I set out to become a journalist nine years ago I figured music would be what I cover. I’ve written reviews for a number of small publications, and sometimes the analyses have poured out of me. But rarely, and often not centered completely on the music itself. I’ll find myself talking about the process of recording a record or putting together the band that made it, which other music listeners (and serious music writers) can brush off as irrelevent. I am worringly obsessed with packaging and, yes, list-making. One game I play is to take a band that’s never been compiled, or compiled well - The Smiths, The Skids, Sparks (there is a good Sparks comp but it’s out of print), to name three that start with an “S” - and cobble together a best of or multi-album best of. Many audiophiles would consider this a useless exercise. It might be, but this is how I think of music; I internalize it while trying to do right by the people who created it.
After reading the essays by Julian and Jason I made some fast, Malcolm Gladwell-style judgments and thought of albums that fit Jason’s bill. I passed by a number of albums that everyone generally agrees are perfect. Rubber Soul? OK, explain to me how “Doctor Robert” isn’t a stinker. The Joshua Tree? The second side is boring. Here was my back of the envelope list:
20/20 - 20/20
Can - Future Days
Leonard Cohen - The Songs Of Leonard Cohen
Creedance Clearwater Revival - Cosmo’s Factory
The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
Del tha Funkee Homosapien - Deltron 3030
Depeche Mode - Black Celebration
Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire De Melody Nelson
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Tommy Keene - Songs From The Film
King Crimson - Discipline
Pet Shop Boys - Very
Scott Walker - Scott 4
And here’s my 5.
If I can pass on the meme, I choose: Rich, Ellen, and Jim.