There are a lot of great albums. But perfect? That’s a far more select group.

How I judge perfect is – do I ever want to skip tracks? Not because I’m not in the mood for a particular song, but because a track is weak. There are a lot of albums with only one or two weak tracks.  But these are albums where every track is strong.

I picked these as much for their range of styles as anything. But there are more perfect albums, some of which I may add later.
Obviously, this is very personal and opinionated, but that’s the fun in it.

	1. WHAT’S GOING ON – Marvin Gaye Also my vote for the best album ever made. I could add the I WANT YOU album to this list too.  I never get tired of listening to these albums, although I am grateful that Motown put out the “alternative mix” versions, to hear different arrangements of these classic jams.
	2. PURPLE RAIN  – Prince Sure it’s the obvious choice, but sometimes that’s the only way to go.  Much respect to 1999, PARADE and SIGN OF THE TIMES, just to name a few.  Why, oh why won’t they release a version with all the long versions of the songs, and all the B sides like “God” “17 Days” and “Erotic City”?
	3. IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK – Public Enemy 1987 was the best year in hip hop.  Eric B. and Rakim, De La Soul and this.
	4. CLIFFORD BROWN WITH STRINGS I first heard this at dinner over Eddie Murphy’s house. It was so achingly beautiful I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.
	5. I AM SHELBY LYNNE I didn’t buy this album, it showed up at my wife’s (then girlfriend) apartment by mistake.  But we listened and loved it.  I’m not a country fan, but this album and Patsy Cline’s Greatest Hits are mighty good music to me.
	6. I WISH IT WOULD RAIN – The Temptations In the beginning, Motown was more known for its singles than its albums, but this early collaboration of The Temps and Norman Whitfield is track after track of well written songs, several of them classics.  The sound of the production is epic without calling attention to itself.
	7. MR. GONE – Weather Report This was first jazz album that I could really get deep into like a P.Funk record.  And it still holds up well.
	8. ONLY BUILT FOR CUBAN LINKS – Raekwon There are so many great Wu Tang albums, from their debut RETURN TO THE 36 CHAMBERS, the first Ol’ Dirty Bastard album, GZA’s album LIQUID SWORDS, Ghostface’s PRETTY TONEY album.  So why this album?  ‘Cause it’s just that damn good.
	9. HIGH LIFE – Wayne Shorter Here’s the co-founder of Weather Report years later, produced by Marcus Miller, who besides being a bad ass bass playing mug himself, produced everyone from Miles Davis to Luther Vandross, make a very deep yet funky album.  When I first bought it, I didn’t get it. Then I played it everyday for a year.
	10. BROWN SUGAR – D’Angelo This album has stayed in my CD player since it came out.  Everybody loves Marvin Gaye, but D’Angelo is the only guy who recreated that seamless groove that Marvin does.
	11. BAND OF GYPSIES – Jimi Hendrix Inspired by the Black Panthers, Jimi assembles an all-black trio of him, drummer/singer Buddy Miles and an old army buddy Tony Cox on bass (don’t sleep, he kills it on the album’s standout track, “Who Knows”).  Calling him the Greatest Guitarist Ever is still not giving him enough props, and this is his greatest album. Nuff Said.
	12. HOT HOUSE FLOWERS – Wynton Marsalis While I disagree with some (okay, most) of Wynton’s pronouncements about pop music, I have to admit he kills some standards on this album.  A very different feel than Clifford Brown, but kinda that same vibe.  Nice, real nice.
	13. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR – Original Movie Soundtrack I went to Catholic School most of my life, but this album taught me more about the Gospels than years of religion class ever did.  Great music, clever lyrics and the best showcase of the late great Carl Anderson, who was so brilliant as Judas I didn’t mind that they cast Judas as a black man.
	14. MAIDEN VOYAGE (AND MORE) – Ramsey Lewis This is really two albums combined onto one CD, but they mesh perfectly.  Ramsey is produced here by Charles Stephney, probably the most underrated producer in pop music.  He defined the Earth, Wind and Fire sound, and discovered a singer named Minnie Riperton (yeah, “Lovin’ You”).  Anyway, the strings, soul and swing on this CD blows people away today when they hear it.  So you gotta hear it.
	15. AFRICA – Miriam Makeba This is another compilation CD, but this one features Miriam Makeba, a South African singer discovered by Harry Belafonte. She delivers Aretha Franklin-level soul power that will make every part of you tingle, dance, scream and fall in love.
	16. FRESH – Sly & the Family Stone This whole period of Sly, from RIOT GOIN’ ON through FRESH and SMALL TALK..all genius music, not unlike that WHAT’S GOING ON/LET’S GET IT ON/I WANT YOU period of Marvin Gaye or Stevie’s six album run. A master at the peak of his powers.
	17. ODELAY – Beck Beck is a bad boy.  This album makes me want to dance and laugh at the same time.  He’s the Talking Heads for the next generation, and that’s a wonderful thing.
	18. THE CHARLIE BROWN SUITE AND OTHER FAVORITES – Vince Guaraldi A beautifully recorded live album that takes some of the most treasured music from our childhoods and expands on it.  The string arrangements are beautiful.
	19. FULFILLINGNESS’ FIRST FINALE – Stevie Wonder Stevie’s stunning run that started with WHERE I’M COMING FROM through MUSIC OF MY MIND, TALKING BOOK, INNERVISIONS and finally peaking with SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE, SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS and HOTTER THAN JULY is one of the most brilliant creative stretches in music history.  I know I’m being a heretic by not picking SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE, but as towering an achievement as that album is, the tightness of the FULFILLINGNESS‘ set gives it the edge here.
	20. HELLO NASTY – Beastie Boys Hip hop is still pretty much a singles medium, but certain artists really put the work in and make a broader statement.  HELLO NASTY not only holds up to me, but actually has grown in my estimation over time.  It’s a more ambitious album than the lauded PAUL’S BOUTIQUE and pulls off everything it attempts.
	21. SUPERFLY – CURTIS MAYFIELD  Superfly the film is not a musical, but the Curtis Mayfield soundtrack acts as a Greek chorus providing a counterpoint to the movie’s narrative. Plus every track is banging.
	22. PORTRAIT – 5TH DIMENSION   The 5th Dimension were the furthest pop end of 70s soul, but Billy Davis was very soulful. This album includes their magnificent rendition of the “Declaration of Independence” (which tastefully segues into “A Change Is Gonna Come”); plenty of pop hits and that dope Leroy Neiman painting on the cover.
	23. FELICIANO! – JOSE FELICIANO Elegant and spare production, incredible guitar work and powerful vocals make this album a masterpiece.
	24. INGÉNUE – K.D. LANG Gets in a lovely pocket and never lets go. Mellow but moving.
	25. TALES OF KIDD FUNKADELIC – FUNKADELIC Picks up where Hendrix and Sly Stone left off and makes true black rock. And yes, rock is black from the beginning, but this is bbbbblllllllaaaaaccccckkkk. With ambition and not an ounce of fear. Geniuses at work.
	26. DIRTY MIND – PRINCE Prince’s first album is great. His second album is great. But this is his first perfect album. This is his declaration of independence, him leaving all competitors in the dust.
	27. NEW MOON DAUGHTER – CASSANDRA WILSON Her originals, her covers…Cassandra Wilson does it all brilliantly. She makes jazz for today.
	28. BACK TO BLACK – AMY WINEHOUSE Her many imitators have never captured her lyrical wit, the poignancy of her vocals, or the swinging groove of her production. I also love every alternate mix.
	29. LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL – HARRY BELAFONTE We listened to this album every Sunday growing up. It’s a musical trip around the world, with all of his charm, humor, power and sincerity coming across on the recording. The arrangements are great, and the recording is top notch.
	30. ASK RUFUS – RUFUS I’ve run out of adjectives to praise this album. It’s Chaka Khan. It’s Rufus at its peak. Man, it would be so great if she did a concert where she did this album track for track. Like Stevie Wonder did with “Songs In The Key Of Life”.
	31. MISSISSIPPI – COREY HARRIS The drum and fife era of black music is lovely recreated in this banging album by Corey Harris. Soulful, funky, bluesy, rootsy….it’s a must have.
	32. MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION – PARLIAMENT   As a kid, I approached this album with the same skepticism I had when I saw the poster for Star Wars. I couldn’t believe that what the album cover was promising me was actually going to be delivered inside. But it was.
	33. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE – ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK One of the many things that makes Brad Bird’s THE INCREDIBLES so great is their tasteful biting of the score for You Only Live Twice. These cues stand alone apart from the film, although they evoke the scenes perfectly.
	34. LET’S TAKE IT TO THE STAGE – FUNKADELIC P.Funk is my favorite band so this is an easy addition to me, but the band, in its fully realized phase at the time of this recording, was making two to four great albums a year at this point.
	35. CASINO ROYALE – ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK I love Burt Bacharach, and I dig Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. So what’s not to love about this album? Add Dusty Springfield’s sexy rendition of The Look Of Love nestled among the best comedy music cues ever written, and it’s got everything.
	36. GRADUATION – KANYE WEST  Kanye West is a genius. The production, the lyrics, growth from album to album is incredible. I don’t get how people get distracted by personality and gossip and miss the goods. Graduation is a perfect title for the album since it’s a summation of all the lessons learned in his first two fantastic albums.
	37. A QUIET STORM – SMOKEY ROBINSON An album so powerful it created a whole musical format. Smokey is often overshadowed by label mates Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson, but his contributions as a songwriter have immensely enriched the Great American Songbook. This album is a great example why.
	38. PROMISE OF A FUTURE – HUGH MASAKELA  Miles Davis gives props to Hugh Masakela in his autobiography, and this album is a great reason why. His combination of South African high life, swinging jazz and 60s soul is irresistible.
	39. HONEY – OHIO PLAYERS  We’ll never have music this good again. The lushness of the horn arrangements, the tightness of the grooves, the playfulness of the lyric and vocals, the Ohio Players could have been a funky jazz band, but instead decided to be a jazzy funk band. They took the harder road and we are all the better for it.
	40. CLONES OF DR. FUNKENSTEIN – PARLIAMENT When I first saw this album cover in the store, I stared at it for what seems like an hour. I can talk about the quality of the costumes, props and concept behind the photo shoot forever, but the bottom line is that the title was predictive: there have been generations of artist who were born from this album.