Bands/Artists that have done no wrong?

[DebraKadabra]

I'm kinda neutral toward Nothing Song. I appreciate the whimsical way in which it speeds up in a jarring, herky-jerky manner with the goofy vocal style in the chorus

I think that was kind of the point.

but the verses strike me as mundane at times

That may have been the point too - Layne just wrote whatever was in his head at the time the album was finally being recorded as an AiC album and was not able to quote lyrics when pressed (at that time).  1996 was a bad year for Layne, as Demri (the love of his life) died from bacterial endocarditis stemming from their drug use.

Nice bits of trivia in your post though

Thanks!  Helps me to remember them.  Fogey brain and all.

Something I did forget to mention though - Heaven Beside You and Over Now were the other singles from Tripod, and it was in the liner notes of the Music Bank compilation where Jerry had mentioned the possibility of God Am being a single.  I wish either that or Head Creeps had been singles, as both are killer songs.

[kirksnosehair]

Transatlantic is really close.  But on SMPT:e I don't really like "In Held (Twas) In I" and usually skip it and on The Whirwind, I just ended up deleting "Dancing With Eternal Glory" from the playlist, it's too long and plodding and too much of a rehash of everything that came before it. 

[TheSoylentMan]

Nick Drake comes to mind. Would I literally not change a single thing? Well, a couple of the orchestral arrangements on Bryter Layter sound pretty dated now, in contrast to the absolute timeless quality of his music in general. But that doesn't keep me from enjoying every single song across his 3 albums.

Maybe it's unfair to count an artist who recorded so little before he passed. It's the dramatic irony that an artist dies young and immortalizes his legacy in the process. Would you really want to hear a Nick Drake record from the 80's, or a Jimi Hendrix "comeback" album a la Santana's Supernatural? Makes me wonder what a teenage Pete Townshend ("I hope I die before I get old") would think of The Who's Superbowl performance a couple years ago.

[rogerdil]

I too don't believe there's anyone that meets the "perfect" criteria, particularly among artists with a lot of albums, but the closest for me is Donald Fagen (Steely Dan and solo albums), with his weakest album being Morph the Cat.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Came up with another band. Joy Division.

[Scorpion]

Came up with another band. Joy Division.

Totally forgot about them. Love their whole discography.

You know, I think this is the first time that we're having similar musical opinions.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Came up with another band. Joy Division.

Totally forgot about them. Love their whole discography.

You know, I think this is the first time that we're having similar musical opinions.

I got into them way too late. If I had made my Top 50 a little later, both Unknown Pleasures and Closer probably would've stood some chance of making it.

[TheLordOfTheStrings]

Alter Bridge, Animals As Leaders, Badlands, Jason Becker, Coheed and Cambria, Tremonti, System of a Down, Andy McKee... Can't think of many more.

[Scorpion]

Sweet, another System of a Down fanboy! What's your favourite of their albums?

[Jaffa]

Hmmm... I don't think there's any band I would describe as having all 'perfect' albums.  There are several bands I enjoy every album from, but to say that they've done no wrong?  I don't know about that. 

Sweet, another System of a Down fanboy! What's your favourite of their albums?

I know it wasn't addressed to me, but nothing beats Toxicity for me.  After that the rankings get a lot tougher (four-way tie for second place?), but Toxicity is definitely my favorite. 

[TheLordOfTheStrings]

Sweet, another System of a Down fanboy! What's your favourite of their albums?

My favorites are actually their self titled album and STA.

[Rob]

SOAD are awesome!  The song Toxicity is one of my all time favorite songs. Those melodies are just filled with so much nostalgia... It's just such a unique little piece. And the drumming is phenomenal.
Love the Mez / Hyp combo as well and I really hope they're gonna record another album!

[snapple]

Dream Theater, even their clunkers are still enjoyable.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I love SoaD too, but there are a couple songs I feel are just satisfactory. But they come really close to doing no wrong and I love all their albums.

[Rob]

Dream Theater, even their clunkers are still enjoyable.

Agreed.

[theliloutkast]

I would say System of a Down, however, I don't like how they sound live. That detracts from perfection.

As a fanboy, I have to ask: what don't you like about their live performances? When I saw them, it was far and away the best concert that I ever witnessed.

When I saw them live Serj didn't have that great of a performance. He just wasn't nearly on par with what I expected. Afterwards I watched a few videos of him live, and I have to say that it seems like it's fairly common.

I love every album they have ever made, except for a couple songs on their Self-Titled and Mesmerize. Overall, they're easily a top five band in my book. They have been since I was in the 5th/6th grade when I heard Toxicity (Still absolutely one of my favorite songs) for the first time. I love the band, I love their lyrics, and I love the personality of the members. However, they're just slightly under perfect.

[nightmare_cinema]

Hmmm... I don't think there's any band I would describe as having all 'perfect' albums.  There are several bands I enjoy every album from, but to say that they've done no wrong?  I don't know about that. 

Sweet, another System of a Down fanboy! What's your favourite of their albums?

I know it wasn't addressed to me, but nothing beats Toxicity for me.  After that the rankings get a lot tougher (four-way tie for second place?), but Toxicity is definitely my favorite.

Count me into the SOAD fangirling... they're without doubt the best band I've ever seen live, they have such energy, I saw them at Leeds Festival 2003 and in Manchester 2005 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7t1LfN4Q_8 just found that, not great quality but so strange to think I was there seven years ago!). My favourite of their albums would have to be Toxicity but I find them really solid overall, I loved Mezmerize/Hypnotize and thought STA had some amazing songs on (Roulette <3 ). I don't listen to them on a weekly basis anymore but I spent my teenage years hammering their CDs and still really enjoy them when I put them on. I go through little SOAD phases every year or two where I'll listen to nothing but them for several weeks...

In fact they're probably the closest to 'perfect' for me in terms of output. A few average songs but across the board they're utterly consistently incredile.

[Scorpion]

After listening to the new Riverside I had to bump this because they deserve to be mentioned here. Seriously amazing band, both SLS and ADHD would probably make my Top 50 now.

[Man-Erg]

King Crimson is the only true answer.

[Kotowboy]

Mastodon for me - they keep getting better as well. I think the next album will be something really special like Crack The Skye was.


And Green Day have yet to release ( in my opinion ) a truly "bad" album. Like an out and out - universally panned stinker, which after

11 albums is really something. Even The Foxboro album was great.

[Kotowboy]

Dream Theater, even their clunkers are still enjoyable.

I have yet to hear WDADU - but even Systematic Chaos ( my least favourite ) is worth listening to.


and RE : System Of A Down. - In my view - Every album they put out was slightly worse than the previous one.

[Pols Voice]

I'd give all ten Spock's Beard albums at least a 4 out of 5 score, but there are some songs I don't like, so they're out. Transatlantic is close, but I don't like In Held (Twas) In I much.

Gentle Giant didn't have any bad songs until The Missing Piece, so that's eight albums in a row of strong material.

Actually, I thought of an example. Proto-Kaw, a sort of Kansas spin-off band. Three albums without a dud song, IMO, plus an archival release of great demos. I'm a Kerry Livgren fanboy. But I can't think of any "perfect" bands with more than four albums.

[BanksD]

Scar Symmetry. 5 Amazing albums (with Holographic Universe being my all time favorite album)

I used to hate Dark Matter Dimensions but after 2 years I think I'm finally starting to love it as much if not more than some of their other work.

[The Letter M]

I'd give all ten Spock's Beard albums at least a 4 out of 5 score, but there are some songs I don't like, so they're out. Transatlantic is close, but I don't like In Held (Twas) In I much.

Gentle Giant didn't have any bad songs until The Missing Piece, so that's eight albums in a row of strong material.

Actually, I thought of an example. Proto-Kaw, a sort of Kansas spin-off band. Three albums without a dud song, IMO, plus an archival release of great demos. I'm a Kerry Livgren fanboy. But I can't think of any "perfect" bands with more than four albums.

Discounting "In Held ('Twas) In I", would TA be a band that has done no wrong? I mean, it's a COVER, so really, it's not original material. If you count that song, you'd also have to count all the other covers on their other albums as well.

-Marc.

[j]

Why does everybody hate In Held (Twas) In I?  I think it's pretty great.

-J

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Because they're crazies.

[TioJorge]

Dream Theater, even their clunkers are still enjoyable.

I have yet to hear WDADU - but even Systematic Chaos ( my least favourite ) is worth listening to.


and RE : System Of A Down. - In my view - Every album they put out was slightly worse than the previous one.

I wouldn't be surprised if you disagreed with me since I think the exact opposite of SOAD, but WDADU is so unimaginably superior to SC; in every way. They're a band I'd consider to be perfect, but in the end I don't think I'd consider them such. Friggin' opinions...

[Pols Voice]

I'd give all ten Spock's Beard albums at least a 4 out of 5 score, but there are some songs I don't like, so they're out. Transatlantic is close, but I don't like In Held (Twas) In I much.

Gentle Giant didn't have any bad songs until The Missing Piece, so that's eight albums in a row of strong material.

Actually, I thought of an example. Proto-Kaw, a sort of Kansas spin-off band. Three albums without a dud song, IMO, plus an archival release of great demos. I'm a Kerry Livgren fanboy. But I can't think of any "perfect" bands with more than four albums.

Discounting "In Held ('Twas) In I", would TA be a band that has done no wrong? I mean, it's a COVER, so really, it's not original material. If you count that song, you'd also have to count all the other covers on their other albums as well.

-Marc.

Covers count towards a band's output when they're on an actual album. It's not a bonus or special/limited edition track like their other covers.

I don't hate In Held, but it has some dubious vocals from everybody but Neal and I would have preferred an original song in its place.

[nicmos]

Shpongle has never put out anything bad.  Over a decade, 4 studio albums, plus some other assorted tracks.

[ReaperKK]

Got some to add on here:

Michael Kelsey
Antoine Dufour

[TioJorge]

Antoine Dufour is a genius and I love him. Such beautiful music. I support his addition. 

[ReaperKK]

Wow didn't think anyone would know who he is, check out Michael Kelsey if you like Antoine, specifically "Submerged"

I got to see Antoine a few years ago at this house in Florida, played to about 20 people, was awesome.

[RichardRG]

M83. With each album, Anthony Gonzalez has had a successful formula and then deconstructed the formula and came back with a new formula on the following album. And he's succeeded each time. Most of the albums are different genres and all of them are at least good.

[senecadawg2]

Antoine Dufour is a genius and I love him. Such beautiful music. I support his addition. 

Antoine Dufour is a genius and I love him. Such beautiful music. I support his addition. 

Good call! 

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

My post in the celeb crush thread reminded me: Slowdive.