What albums are flawless to you?

[Katie3]

I was wrong about Sloop John B, its the track Pet Sounds that was written for a James Bond movie.

[Analogman]

I was wrong about Sloop John B, its the track Pet Sounds that was written for a James Bond movie.

 

 

As Run James, Run - I think.

[Ghost of Electricity]

 

Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat

 

 

 

I guess I have to get involved the pedantic argument as to what flawless means as I think this is the weakest of the four real VU records.

 

 

according to that flawless reference source, the free online dictionary:

flaw·less (flôls)

adj.

Being entirely without flaw or imperfection.

 

I'm a huge VU fan, but "Sister Ray" is the worst thing they ever recorded, most definitely a flaw. In fact, I would say that this record is a flaw in their discogagraphy.

 

The two VU records I would nominate are the first and third.

[tinnitus photography]

'sister ray' the worst thing VU ever did? it's in the top 10!

[mattboh]

I'm not quite certain that there are any flawless rock albums out there, but here are a handful of my favorites:

 

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

The Beatles - Abbey Road

Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes

The Stooges - Fun House

Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings And Food

The Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead

Stevie Wonder - Innervisions

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I'm a huge VU fan, but "Sister Ray" is the worst thing they ever recorded, most definitely a flaw. In fact, I would say that this record is a flaw in their discography.

I basically agree with this, although "The Gift" might actually get my vote for worst thing they ever recorded.

[LouieB]

I was wrong about Sloop John B, its the track Pet Sounds that was written for a James Bond movie.

I do believe this is an old "folk" song. The Beach Boys didn't write it. It was a big hit single for them though. It also sorta sucks; one of those cuts I could do with never ever hearing again.

 

Sister Ray? Love it or hate it, it is a pretty crazy jam.

 

LouieB

[uncool2pillow]

I do believe this is an old "folk" song. The Beach Boys didn't write it. It was a big hit single for them though. It also sorta sucks; one of those cuts I could do with never ever hearing again.

 

Sister Ray? Love it or hate it, it is a pretty crazy jam.

 

LouieB

I must be in the minority who love Sloop John B. For a brief time this spring it was the only song my 5 year old daughter wanted to listen to.

[LouieB]

I must be in the minority who love Sloop John B. For a brief time this spring it was the only song my 5 year old daughter wanted to listen to.

Sloop John B was a campfire favorite when I was growing up, so it isn't that I don't like it, I am merely sick of it. (See CSNY thread). I always thought it was funny that the Beach Boys, kings of the single, copped this song and made a ton of dough on it. It has absolutely no place on Pet Sounds and is a major flaw in the album because of this, in my humble opinion anyway.

 

Your 5 year old loves it? Why not, it is a song about getting drunk and disorderly.

 

LouieB

[Synthesizer Patel]

I must be in the minority who love Sloop John B. For a brief time this spring it was the only song my 5 year old daughter wanted to listen to.

 

i love it too.

actually, one of the reasons why i said Pet Sounds was flawless (and I also said Ys) was that i own the Pet Sounds Sessions Box Set. i think it's probably the only album i can think of where you can break apart how the songs were put together, and every single bit of it sounds incredible - the vocal arrangements are just from another planet, and the way he built up the music can't really be compared to anything else in popular music. you couldn't do that with beatles albums, or the stones etc... there is just something technically brilliant about every aspect of Pet Sounds.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM7aFTxWHjQ

i could listen to that all day, and it's just the vocals

[Synthesizer Patel]

Sloop John B was a campfire favorite when I was growing up, so it isn't that I don't like it, I am merely sick of it. (See CSNY thread). I always thought it was funny that the Beach Boys, kings of the single, copped this song and made a ton of dough on it. It has absolutely no place on Pet Sounds and is a major flaw in the album because of this, in my humble opinion anyway.

 

Your 5 year old loves it? Why not, it is a song about getting drunk and disorderly.

 

LouieB

 

i think it doesn't fit in thematically with the other songs on the album, but the style and execution is the same as everything else on the album.

 

actually i was also going to say Paris, 1919 by John Cale as one of my flawless albums - and that has Macbeth on it, which fits in thematically with the other songs, but not stylistically - which is why i didn't count it as one of my flawless albums, if that makes any sense?

[Terrapin Ben]

Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan

Pet Sounds - Beach Boys

Sgt. Peppers - The Beatles

DSOTM - Pink Floyd

American Beauty - Grateful Dead

London Calling - The Clash

Astral Weeks - Van Morrison

Graceland - Paul Simon

Rain Dogs- Tom Waits

Blood Sugar Sex Magic - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Sea Change - Beck

Paul's Boutique- The Beastie Boys

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco

Pinkerton - Weezer

Blue album - Weezer

The Mollusk - Ween

3 Feet High and Rising - De la Soul

[LouieB]

I like Pet Sounds, even though I don't think it is flawless and I like the harmony and all the rest that is embodied on it, but frankly to say there is nothing else like it in popular music because the Beach Boys sing in harmony ignores a huge body of work by other types of groups that sang complex harmony. Even the Beach Boys did not create their music in a vacuum.

 

LouieB

[Synthesizer Patel]

I like Pet Sounds, even though I don't think it is flawless and I like the harmony and all the rest that is embodied on it, but frankly to say there is nothing else like it in popular music because the Beach Boys sing in harmony ignores a huge body of work by other types of groups that sang complex harmony. Even the Beach Boys did not create their music in a vacuum.

 

LouieB

 

they aren't just singing in harmony though. yes there are lots of other interesting vocal groups, but i can't think of any that do what the beach boys do, certainly not combined with the music. if you know some i'd love to hear their names - i'm always open to new (old) music.

 

nobody does anything in a vacuum, so that doesn't really mean anything - unless you mean that nobody in any field of the arts, science etc... is any more important than anyone else.

[LouieB]

There were many scores of doo-wop, gospel, country, quartet singers and all sorts of other groups before the Beach Boys ever showed up. I am not denigrating what Brian Wilson did, but he didn't invent harmony, that's all. What he DID do was package it in a way that seemed new. And he managed to sell millions of records.

 

LouieB

[Synthesizer Patel]

There were many scores of doo-wop, gospel, country, quartet singers and all sorts of other groups before the Beach Boys ever showed up. I am not denigrating what Brian Wilson did, but he didn't invent harmony, that's all. What he DID do was package it in a way that seemed new. And he managed to sell millions of records.

 

LouieB

 

i'm sure cavemen put together some fine harmony groups too. man didn't invent recording equipment and think, "shit we better find something to do on this thing!" obviously everything has it's origins in something else, but also things have their pinnacles too - i view pet sounds to be just that. obviously if you think the beach boys music was just them packaging something they knew would sell then clearly you're never going to see it in any other way than a good cobbling together of influences.

[jff]

i'm sure cavemen put together some fine harmony groups too.

 

Here's the pinnacle of cavemen harmony:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKITpVovTAE

[PopTodd]

This is one that never seems to make my Top 100. But then, every time that I listen to it, I find it pretty much flawless:

Hell, most people who are fans of the band don't even consider it their best work. (They usually point to Tantilla). So what? This is what I consider to be a flawless album. All the songs are aces, and there are just occasional bits (very small bits) of extraneous studio noise and banter that add a lot to the overall feel of the album. It resonates with me.

And...

"Never"

is a particularly effective "you broke my heart, so fuck you" tune.

(Especially at the end, when the line "I never think of you/I don't think of you..." gets more and more intense. Awesome, heartbreaking, and almost nauseating in its resonance, as I think that we have all felt like that at one point or another.)

[uncool2pillow]

Sloop John B was a campfire favorite when I was growing up, so it isn't that I don't like it, I am merely sick of it. (See CSNY thread). I always thought it was funny that the Beach Boys, kings of the single, copped this song and made a ton of dough on it. It has absolutely no place on Pet Sounds and is a major flaw in the album because of this, in my humble opinion anyway.

 

Your 5 year old loves it? Why not, it is a song about getting drunk and disorderly.

 

LouieB

She's a sucker for a good melody and harmonies. Plus she loves the line "This is the worst trip I've ever been on." And it's about a boat. Lots for a kid to like.

[LouieB]

i'm sure cavemen put together some fine harmony groups too. man didn't invent recording equipment and think, "shit we better find something to do on this thing!" obviously everything has it's origins in something else, but also things have their pinnacles too - i view pet sounds to be just that. obviously if you think the beach boys music was just them packaging something they knew would sell then clearly you're never going to see it in any other way than a good cobbling together of influences.

Actually I think that the Beach Boys were kind of the end of the line on some of this. They took the influences of the quartet singers, soul groups, gospel groups, doo-wop, early rock, including the girl groups and added fun and the sun. After them folks sang less harmony and played guitar a whole lot more. Pinnicale? Obviously!!! This is the reason Pet Sounds is important. But the Beach Boys didn't invent harmony singing.

 

LouieB

[Tweedling]

The Natch'l Blues - Taj Mahal

[Terrapin Ben]

The Pinnacle of cavemen harmony. sorry its a video of a video...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJvALOZhEm4

[remphish1]

All I meant by flawless is an album you wouldn't change anything in. As in you wouldn't change the track order, remove any songs, shorten any tracks etc...basically an album with a flow.

[Synthesizer Patel]

Actually I think that the Beach Boys were kind of the end of the line on some of this. They took the influences of the quartet singers, soul groups, gospel groups, doo-wop, early rock, including the girl groups and added fun and the sun. After them folks sang less harmony and played guitar a whole lot more. Pinnicale? Obviously!!! This is the reason Pet Sounds is important. But the Beach Boys didn't invent harmony singing.

 

LouieB

 

i think when you're talking about this, i can understand it from their earlier work - yes their early stuff has all those influences you said. but, by the time you get to Today! and Summer Days (Summer Nights), and then on to Pet Sounds they've gone well beyond those influences you mentioned - or maybe they just started using more influences like classical music and jazz etc... i don't know - but, nobody else was doing it like them. Also, one thing you can always say about The Beach Boys - when anyone ever says that a band "sounds like the beach boys" you know it's gonna be a good thing. You can't ever say that about people who say such and such sounds like "Dylan/Neil Young/The Rolling Stones/Brian Eno/Especially The Beatles/Prince/Michael Jackson etc...." That's gotta count for something!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkGOirRalMs

[Sir Stewart]

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking (except for the song ... ha ha just kidding)