10 Tracks For The Perfect Album

Feature Photo: Photo by Anton H:

We have all done it. We have all put together in our heads probably the perfect rock and roll album. Of course, for each one of us, it would be different. It is based on personal taste. The Perfect Album is not a compilation of what we believe are the best songs or greatest recordings of all time, or any of that stuff. For the most part, it is like the ultimate mixtape, except we are putting together a side one and a side two, just like the old days. I have often thought of this, usually when I’m driving, and wondered what the ultimate perfect record would be. After a lot of thought, I decided to put it together and share it with everyone out there.

To keep it the same length as most single albums in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the only requirement is to limit each side to five songs. Now, of course, many of the songs I’ve picked are pretty long, and they probably might not have fit on the standard LP unless we were talking K-Tel-quality sound. But we’re going to try to ignore that simple fact. The opening and closing songs on each side are pretty important because anyone who was a record collector understands the value and importance of opening and closing tracks. Also, the second song on each side matters. So a lot of thought went into that. I would love to hear yours. Let me know in the comments what your perfect album would be.

Two big rules

Only one song per artist.

Only five songs per side.

Side One

1 – Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding – Elton John

Is there no more perfect opening track than Elton John’s legendary “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”? Opening Goodbye Yellow Brick Road with more than eleven minutes of theatricality, blistering rock energy, and lyrical devastation, Elton John and Bernie Taupin crafted a piece that functions as both an overture and an explosion of loss and resentment. The album sessions took place at Château d’Hérouville in France in May 1973, with Gus Dudgeon producing. The medley begins as a sweeping instrumental lament, then transforms into a bitter, anthemic breakup song. It is one of the great examples of how perfectly a long-form rock track can open an album. I have listened to this song probably at least a thousand times, maybe more- who knows- but I never get tired of listening to it.

2 – That Smell – Lynyrd Skynyrd

Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve gotten so used to hearing this song as the second track on Street Survivors that my subconscious mind forced me to put it in the second spot on the perfect album. This has always been my favorite song from one of my favorite bands of all time, and it takes me back to being 15 years old. Written by Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins, “That Smell” became one of the most haunting songs on Street Survivors. Tom Dowd produced the album, and the track carries the power of the band’s three-guitar attack along with Billy Powell’s piano and Artimus Pyle’s drums. Street Survivors would become tragically linked to the plane crash that claimed Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines just days after its release. This song so completely defined life for so many of us in the 1970s.

3 – And You And I – Yes

The third song on most albums, especially in the 1970s, was usually reserved for a ballad. Although it may be a little overkill to call this progressive masterpiece by Yes a ballad, it truly is one of the most beautiful songs the band ever released. “And You and I” appeared on Close to the Edge, released on September 13, 1972, and was recorded at Advision Studios in London with Yes and Eddie Offord producing. The ten-minute piece is structured in four movements and features Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford. Edited parts of the song were also released as a single in the United States, where it reached No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ask any Yes fan the name of their favorite song, and as I’ve said many times before on this site, “And You and I” will always be one of the most common answers.

4 – When the Levee Breaks – Led Zeppelin

One of the biggest challenges in putting together this album was deciding which Led Zeppelin song to include. If I wanted to follow my own rule of selecting just one song per artist or band, it was going to be tough choosing only one from my favorite band of all time. I don’t think any other Led Zeppelin song defined their sound and John Bonham’s importance to the band as much as this one did. Originally written and recorded by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929, Led Zeppelin transformed “When the Levee Breaks” for Led Zeppelin IV in 1971. Recorded at Headley Grange, the track became legendary for Bonham’s massive drum sound, captured with distant microphones as his kit thundered through the building’s stairwell. The band turned an old blues song into one of the heaviest and most distinctive recordings in its catalog.

5 – While My Guitar Gently Weeps – The Beatles

The closing song on side one is important but probably not as important as the closing song on side two. That one has to be epic, but this is still one of the most epic Beatles songs ever released, and I would venture to say that it’s an easy argument to define it as one of the most loved Beatles songs of all time. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was recorded for the band’s self-titled double album, commonly known as The White Album, released on November 22, 1968. George Harrison wrote the song and sang lead, while Paul McCartney played piano and bass and Ringo Starr played drums. Eric Clapton contributed the famous lead guitar part, although he was not formally credited on the original album. George Martin produced the recording.

Side Two:

1 – Baba O’Riley – The Who

There was a lot of competition in my brain for this spot because the opening song on side two of an album is one of the most important positions. If you’ve been collecting records your whole life, you know you’ve sometimes pulled an album out of its sleeve and placed it on the turntable without much thought about which side it was. I have written multiple times on this site that the greatest rock song of all time may belong to The Who, and that’s the one I went with to open side two. “Baba O’Riley” opened Who’s Next in 1971 and was recorded at Olympic Studios in London. Roger Daltrey handled the lead vocal, Pete Townshend supplied guitar and the famous keyboard sequence, John Entwistle played bass, Keith Moon played drums, and Dave Arbus added violin. The title combines the names of Townshend’s spiritual mentor Meher Baba and minimalist composer Terry Riley.

2 – Drivin’ Wheel – Foghat

Foghat’s “Drivin’ Wheel” served as a great album opener for their classic Night Shift album. That opening screeching guitar lick instantly captured attention. Dave’s vocals on this track were off the charts. While Fool for the City, the album that featured “Slow Ride,” was the band’s most commercially successful release, I have always felt that Night Shift was their strongest record. Like I said in the opening, the second track on either side has to be really strong, and this one has more than enough energy to fit the bill.

3 – Memory Motel – The Rolling Stones

Like side one, we picked a ballad for the third track. The Rolling Stones’ “Memory Motel” was released on their Black and Blue album in 1976, when Ronnie Wood was becoming part of the band. It’s probably one of the band’s most underrated albums, and this remains one of their most underrated ballads. This is a sentimental song for me because I live on Long Island, and I am very well aware of the motel they’re referring to out east. If you were around at the time, though, “Memory Motel” was widely celebrated when it first came out.

4 – Aja – Steely Dan

Steely Dan’s Aja was my first introduction to jazz, although I didn’t really know it at the time. I just thought it was a great record with very cool songs and intricate parts that were simply captivating to listen to. I didn’t understand the musicianship behind it because I was only 16. The musicians the band hired, combined with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker’s incredible songwriting skills, delivered one of the most fascinating records of all time. Every song on the album is perfect, but “Aja” is about as close to perfection as you can get in crafting pop, jazz, and rock all in one. There are many legendary stories about how this album was recorded and how many takes it took, and it’s pretty clear to me, by listening to how perfect it is, that those stories are probably true.

5 – Jungleland – Bruce Springsteen

The closing song on side two is usually reserved for the most epic piece of the album, and that was certainly the case for so many classic rock albums of the 1960s and 1970s. I think The Doors really set the bar high with “The End.” Every single song on Born to Run is perfect, so how does one end such a perfect album? The answer is with a song like “Jungleland.” I wonder how many mouths dropped open when people heard this song for the first time, because there was no doubt in my mind that it had to be the closer on this perfect album. “Jungleland” is as epic as a rock song can get, both in its musical brilliance and sheer lyrical beauty, and it is both sad and hopeful at the same time.