the easy way to answer this is to use albums that are perfect, front to back. so the first that comes to mind has to be Coheed and Cambria's Second Stage Turbine Blade. neither of these tracks have left my head since the first time I heard them.
opener:
closer:
however. there are far too many perfect albums out there for me to not effortpost a bit. so, for your consideration, in the order I remember them off the top of my head and in Opener/Closer format:
a tale as old as time: a punk band with two vocalists, one who does the alt rock/emo type tracks (Chris, in this instance) and the one who sounds like a drunk little goblin on the punkier cuts (Brendan, of Nihilist Arby's... fame? i think it's funny at least)
it opens with one of the best (and certainly best at the time of recording) Chris tracks across their entire discography and closes on an excellent Brendan one. Raw and Searing Flesh is a beautiful intro to the album that immediately sets the tone, and Disaster March, while not the scrappiest Brendan track on the album, fits wonderfully as the outro with its lyrical callbacks.
eight years between albums, though the first half of the album was released in EP form a year earlier. a band known for their chaotic, grindy screamo with post rock flourishes decides to kick off their second full length with a 7 minute sludge/doom metal track, and it turns out they're really good at that too.
north star inverted is another genre switch. at 11 minutes long, it's the longest CTTS track but only devotes 2 minutes of its runtime to the heaviness of the tracks prior. the bulk of it is an acoustic jam you could sing around a campfire, and for my money is the most touching moment in their discography.
i don't really have some big description for these ones. album has some of the best riffs ever laid to record and these two tracks have my favourite of those riffs. gardenia's got some sick bass work and if the riff that kicks off whitewater doesn't make you feel something, you may be a lost cause. easily the best thing homme's been attached to, and I like QOTSA. just a different beast entirely
thee greatest band. this isn't even my favourite album of theirs (that would be Ten Stories) but without a doubt has their best opener/closer combo. messes of men showcases mwY's new indie rock direction immediately and opens with the line "I do not exist", which is repeated toward the end of in a sweater poorly knit, bringing the album full circle. a sizable portion of my enjoyment of their music comes from aaron's lyrical ability, but to really get into why would probably just devolve into me quoting entire songs here. in a sweater poorly knit in particular is just packed with excellent lyrics and could arguably be the band's crowning achievement, as the entire thing just builds and builds until the final refrain of "the trap I've set for you seems to have caught my leg instead."
you really just have to listen, read along and absorb it, assuming you can get past the weird talk-singing. i know it took me a while to really get into them, but now they're on my mind constantly
