Five Perfect Albums®

Inspired by Gabe's list of favorite TV shows, and not being a real TV junkie myself, I thought I'd offer up my list of five Perfect Albums®.

First, a definition. To be a Perfect Album®, a record must meet the following three criteria:

1. It must be able to be played completely through without ever having to hit the FFW button. It must not contain any "filler" songs that take up space between the good songs on the album.

2. It must be considered in its entirety, and it must be cohesive (i.e., all of the songs must fit together sonically, yet not sound exactly alike).

3. You must still be able to hear nuances you've never heard before even after the 1,000,000th listen. (For example, put on headphones, turn up the volume, and concentrate on the individual instruments, and I guarantee you that you'll hear something on "Back in Black" that you never did on the FM dial.)

Now without further ado, five Perfect Albums®:

1. Back in Black: AC/DC

Released in 1980, less than a year after their first lead singer, Bon Scott, got drunk, fell asleep in a car, and froze to death, "Back in Black" made AC/DC megastars. But while you may have heard "You Shook Me All Night Long" eight billion times on the radio, EVERY SINGLE SONG on this album is a classic. The riff from "Have a Drink on Me" is possibly the coolest guitar riff ever produced by human hands. If you haven't listened to this entire album, do yourself a favor and go buy it RIGHT NOW.

2. All the Nations Airports: Archers of Loaf

Nobody knows who the Archers of Loaf are except my friend Jason and me. They should. These guys came out of Chapel Hill, NC and created the most original, catchy, utterly cool music I've heard in the last 15 years. On "All the Nation's Airports," the band hit its zenith, coming together to form an album that drips with guitar lines so intertwined that when Jason and I saw them in concert in San Francisco on this tour, we couldn't tell which guitarist was playing what. And we were standing in the front row, WATCHING THEIR HANDS. Immensely cool album.

3. Sticky Fingers: The Rolling Stones

Mick Taylor. Does that name ring a bell for you? If it doesn't, you're not aware of the most talented lead guitarist the Stones ever had, and the guy who makes this brilliant guitarfest of an album possible. His lead work on "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" sets the bar for every "jam" that came afterwards.

4. New York: Lou Reed

Make no mistake, Lou Reed's catalog is sketchy. Like Neil Young, he follows his own creative muse, and he has done some incredibly bad albums--and some incredibly brilliant ones. This one is my favorite. It's a straight-up rock and roll album that's stripped down to the bare minimums and perfectly gets across the feels, smells, and image of New York City. Put it in and you won't turn it off until it's done.

5. Bossanova: The Pixies

Often overlooked, this album, IMHO, is the best one the band ever made. Although it's pretty much all Black Francis (Kim Deal was losing the power struggle for songwriting and vocals by this point), the album takes on a hard-edged, yet weirdly fantasy-like feel that all fits together perfectly. Joey Santiago's playing on this album is the best he's ever done with the band. "Rock Music." "Dig for Fire." "Havalina." Awesome.

This isn't a complete list, and I welcome your suggestions for YOUR perfect albums.

Keep rockin'.