Topic: What albums can you listen to entirely because every song is just that good?

[Green Ideas]

Ok, my Beatles choice would be Revolver.

Some others:

The Stranglers - The Raven
CAN - Soundtracks
Television - Marquee Moon
Kraftwerk - most of them
Lou Reed - Berlin
Leonard Cohen - New Skin for the Old Ceremony
Neil Young - Everybody knows this is nowhere

From Brazil:

Jorge Ben - A Tábua de Esmeralda
Arnaldo Baptista - Loki?

and many others I can't recall right now

[superdave]

Man its been tough to think of something people already have not mentioned. 
Iron Maiden-Powerslave
Iron Maiden-Iron Maiden
Jason Becker-Perpetual Burn  (I have listened to this album start to finish more time than I can remember)
Surprisingly ...  Iron Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death, though one of their newer albums, is also one of their most well rounded from start to finish.  It's not their best album but all the songs are consistently solid.

[bonoferox]

U2 - Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree
John Williams - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Soundtrack
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - 'Once' soundtrack

[David "Stubb" Oswald]

You guys have mostly mentioned a bunch I would agree with, mostly in regards to the prog and rock albums.  My favorite album hands down is The Moon and Antarctica by Modest Mouse.  Its a concept album but I can never piece together how the songs relate to each other, and I think that was Issac's intention.  It starts off dark and moody, and end up dark and optimistic.  Its hard to have something like death make you feel good about life but he manages it.

[lukebourassa]

You guys have mostly mentioned a bunch I would agree with, mostly in regards to the prog and rock albums.  My favorite album hands down is The Moon and Antarctica by Modest Mouse.  Its a concept album but I can never piece together how the songs relate to each other, and I think that was Issac's intention.  It starts off dark and moody, and end up dark and optimistic.  Its hard to have something like death make you feel good about life but he manages it.

Good pick!

"Everyone's a voyeurist, their watching me watch them, watch me right now"

[David "Stubb" Oswald]

You guys have mostly mentioned a bunch I would agree with, mostly in regards to the prog and rock albums.  My favorite album hands down is The Moon and Antarctica by Modest Mouse.  Its a concept album but I can never piece together how the songs relate to each other, and I think that was Issac's intention.  It starts off dark and moody, and end up dark and optimistic.  Its hard to have something like death make you feel good about life but he manages it.

Good pick!

"Everyone's a voyeurist, their watching me watch them, watch me right now"

I like where he sings about how shitty life is and you just have this incredibly dark and somber melody playing.  On mushrooms you feel the world actually get darker around you.  Then it changes to and upbeat melody and he sings, "Its hard to remember we are are alive for the first time, and its hard to remember we are alive for the last time".  It leaves you with this conquer the day feeling.  Yeah life sucks but its all we have.

I would also add Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory by Dream Theater.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

I don't buy music if I don't like the whole album.
Simple as that.

I do have favourites among them though, here are a few.

Silver Jews: Lookout mountain, Lookout Sea
Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump
Man or Astro-Man?: Experiment Zero
The Mountain Goats: We shall all be healed
The Decemberists: The Hazards of love
The Devastations: Devastations
The Drones: Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By
Smog: Red Apple Falls
The Weakerthans: Reconstruction Site

[Neutral Milk]

I don't buy music if I don't like the whole album.
Simple as that.

I do have favourites among them though, here are a few.

Silver Jews: Lookout mountain, Lookout Sea
Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump
Man or Astro-Man?: Experiment Zero
The Mountain Goats: We shall all be healed
The Decemberists: The Hazards of love
The Devastations: Devastations
The Drones: Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By
Smog: Red Apple Falls
The Weakerthans: Reconstruction Site

You picked some really weird choices from some bands I really like.

For Silver Jews I would have said American Water
For Grandaddy I would have said Sumday
For The Mountain Goats.. really all the albums have huge weak points, but I guess I'd pick The Sunset Tree. I just can't listen to an entire Mountain Goats album straight through.
For Decemberists I'd take ANYTHING but Hazards of Love. God, that album is weak. I've only seen them once in concert, but that time the only thing they played was the entire Hazards of Love album straight through. Ugh.

[Karyn]

Since digital music started, I forego the whole album thing.  Most of these are from back in the day when I bothered to listen to whole albums.  I seriously am behind on finding new music.

Metallica - Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightening, ...And Justice For All
Pink Floyd - The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon
Tool - Undertow, Lateralus, Aenema
A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms, 13th Step
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath, Paranoid
Danzig - Danzig II Lucifuge
Disturbed - Believe
Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual, Nothing Shocking
Rammstein - Mutter, Sehensucht, Reise Reise
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot
Violent Femmes - Add it Up

[Green Ideas]

Violent Femmes - Add it Up

Do compilations count?

(Like 'em a lot BTW, but only 3 or 4 songs per album. Think my favorite is "Black Girls", love to dance to it.)

[T.A.P.O.R.]

I don't buy music if I don't like the whole album.
Simple as that.

I do have favourites among them though, here are a few.

Silver Jews: Lookout mountain, Lookout Sea
Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump
Man or Astro-Man?: Experiment Zero
The Mountain Goats: We shall all be healed
The Decemberists: The Hazards of love
The Devastations: Devastations
The Drones: Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By
Smog: Red Apple Falls
The Weakerthans: Reconstruction Site

You picked some really weird choices from some bands I really like.

For Silver Jews I would have said American Water
For Grandaddy I would have said Sumday
For The Mountain Goats.. really all the albums have huge weak points, but I guess I'd pick The Sunset Tree. I just can't listen to an entire Mountain Goats album straight through.
For Decemberists I'd take ANYTHING but Hazards of Love. God, that album is weak. I've only seen them once in concert, but that time the only thing they played was the entire Hazards of Love album straight through. Ugh.

I see what you're saying. But these are my choices
Typically I'll que up a catalogue of an artist, rather than an album on its own.
But for this exercise, I was cherrypicking rather than blanket catalogue.

Yes, the Hazards of love is the weakest record overall, but the album has a theme and I find that I have to listen to it from beginning to end. The rest of their catalogue(that I own, haven't got the latest) I'll go to Mariners revenge and Leionairre's song.
Occasionally I'll listen to Picaresque all the way through. Hazards has kind of poor production value.

Mountain goats... these days I don't listen to them as much, but I stand by my choice. Palmcorder Yajna, Slow West Vultures and Against Pollution are great. I've seen them twice and really enjoyed both shows.

Grandaddy can't do any wrong in my opinion. I love every song.

Everything by the Silver Jews is excellent, but I can't listen to the Arizona record, because the production values and performances really let the material down.

[shrio]

There are some really good choices in here. I too am like an old man at heart and listen to every album I have in its entirety. Only rarely will I ever listen to a song or two off of an album.

But some of my favorites are:

Boris - Smile (both versions are really good and hard to choose between)
Polysics - Absolute Polysics
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
Tom Waits - Closing Time (or anything of his really as long as it isn't Alice or The Black Rider)

[T.A.P.O.R.]

There are some really good choices in here. I too am like an old man at heart and listen to every album I have in its entirety. Only rarely will I ever listen to a song or two off of an album.

But some of my favorites are:

Boris - Smile (both versions are really good and hard to choose between)
Polysics - Absolute Polysics
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
Tom Waits - Closing Time (or anything of his really as long as it isn't Alice or The Black Rider)

Alice is brilliant, but pretty hard to get through. I've not given the black rider a second listen, generally do love his music though.

[shrio]

There are some really good choices in here. I too am like an old man at heart and listen to every album I have in its entirety. Only rarely will I ever listen to a song or two off of an album.

But some of my favorites are:

Boris - Smile (both versions are really good and hard to choose between)
Polysics - Absolute Polysics
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
Tom Waits - Closing Time (or anything of his really as long as it isn't Alice or The Black Rider)

Alice is brilliant, but pretty hard to get through. I've not given the black rider a second listen, generally do love his music though.

I haven't tried listening to Alice in a couple years and should probably give it another listen. As weird as it sounds Alice is the album that got me into him.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

The title track of Alice is pretty perfect as far as song writing goes.