Any music that I like is perfect music, and anyone who disagrees with me is wrong.

Pete and Martin are very close to perfection. :)

I like heavy metal because it gives me power. My favorite album of all time is Deep Purple In Rock. No matter how bad the day is,it picks me right back up!!

Heavy Metal. It’s imperfections are what makes it 100% perfect.

I really got the feeling that Martin's favorite genere is punk. Now look at Pete's face expression when Martin is talking about punk. Says it all.

I got into Metal at age 14 and then got into Classical Music. I actually began to get a little snobby about Classical - began to see it as 'objectively superior'. Then I changed my mind - I realized I couldn't live without Metal - that it had something special and irreplaceable. I think we have to remember too that Bach and Beethoven represent only 0.0001% of Classical music. They're the elite, most remembered figures. So while we live in a time where there are tens of thousands of Metal bands - we get the impression that the average quality level is lower just because we are exposed to all of the rubbish as well as the greats. Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath represent the 0.0001% of Metal. I think people have rose tinted goggles on the quality of music from any older era - because for example they look back at the Seventies or Eighties and see - wow all the music was great back then! But they neglect to realize that when you live through that time - there's a ton of forgettable stuff that goes by the wayside and doesn't get shown to the upcoming generations who look back at it.

Peter and Martin, two great friends i never met! Rock on dudes 💪

Been working, and listening to all these types of music for the past 50 years. I was at a Grateful Dead concert. A band that can be hit or miss. One of the songs they played I thought to myself.(that’s music to my ears.) may maybe that one moment was perfect music.

The level of sophistication and craftsmanship in the music and lyrics of artists like Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Richard Rogers, Larry Hart, Oscar Levant, Kay Swift, Frank Loesser, Dorothy Fields, Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen and Julie Stein, among many, has never been equaled. Their collective work is known as "The Great American Songbook" for a reason. Over almost a hundred years, the music and lyrics have remained popular, continued to be widely played and have found their own level of what I'd call perfection.

Punk and blues actually have a lot in common. Both being very direct and stripped down forms of music.

Martin, your definition of Pop is just perfect. I like some pop music sometimes, but that's what it is: you don't need to think, everything is "right", it's all about the rainbow and the unicorns. It's candy, it's junkfood... For me, the perfect music, is the right music that touches at the right time in my life. I like pretty much anything from Pop to Black Metal (and Classic & jazz,...) but not at any time. Cheers.

Interesting topic. Martin, I love the way you wax on about your perception of American men looking under the hoods of their ‘77 Camaro lol. Not far off the mark but, a lot of us American guys that love Heavy Metal music have a deeper understanding of a lot of different topics and we’re pretty knowledgeable about things. We might hear an Iron Maiden song about a poem and want to actually pick up a book and read it. There are some artists in Metal that had/ have a great lyricist. Rush, Nevermore, Sanctuary, Megadeth, etc, that touch upon a wide array of topics. Religion, politics, spirituality, drug addiction. These are things a lot of people can relate to. We’re not all knuckle dragging Neanderthals here in the USA.

2 Points: For me perfect music comes with good melodies, because they are universal. There's a reason why Jazz-Musicians chose to play Versions of Beatles-Songs etc. A good melody is undeniable and transcends genre-limitations. That's why for me the very niche genre of Power Pop is rather perfect. People who write great songs, play their instruments and lyrically, they are about the human condition (love, etc. :) ) That's also why in a "IN the Prog Seat" Episode Steven Reid mentioned loving the Bangles and everyone chimed in. The appeal of that music is undeniable. Gosh, what a great genre. 2. point: For me Rock n Roll and all its derivatives is basically a Folk Art, that's why I always saw a huge similarity between early Blues and Punk. "Three Chords and the truth" (as someone said about country I think). The early Punk Bands (Sex Pistols, Ramones, Germs, Damned, Dicks...) really all have aspects in their approach to music that remind me of early Blues. Bonus: Just so to repeat myself: "Gosh, how I love Power Pop". But Metal is cool too.

What a great description of pop music Martin!

A problem with Martin's argument is that kids do like heavy metal. Loud distorted guitars are not an acquired taste like coffee or whiskey. It appeals to kid's tastes because it's NOT sophisticated. It's more primitive. Heavy metal is basically an adolescent taste. As we get older we learn to appreciate finer music like classical and jazz while still retaining an affection for heavy metal.

There is actually quite a bit of improvisation in classical music and Western art music in general. Tony MacAlpine did a good interview with Rick Beato about a year ago where he talked about the misconception of baroque and classical music being completely rigid.

37:00 Martin whipping out the Hip Hop CD's 💿 was a jaw dropping moment 🤯 🤣 I also enjoy some of the 90s stuff also, I'm typically a classic hard rock and metal guy but I have a lot of variety in my collections too. Classical symphonic orchestral music is also a taste of mine, there's no right or wrong with personal taste right? Cheers Gents, fascinating chat as always!

I never considered metal to be perfect music. Do I love metal? Yes, absolutely I love metal music to death. But am I going to act like it's the greatest music ever? Both yes and no. Music was never meet to be perfect. I'm not even sure what I would consider to be perfect music. I just see it as art. Music is art. What is art? Art is what you make of it, no matter if it's music, movie, or painting. Art is art. Art is a way of self expression. It makes you who you are as a person. And metal music is a form of art.

Whatever type/style of music you like, is perfect.....to/for you

I like all genres of music from all decades including metal. If it makes you feel good then its a perfect music

When I was a pre teen listening to Marilyn Manson and Eminem, one day I got Stained Class by Judas Priest. I put it on and experienced perfection. Theres a Green Day compilation called "God's Favourite Band". That should be Judas Priest's title!

For me perfect music is music that moves you, whether it moves your body or your mind. It will be subjective to the listener of what is perfect and what is moving to me may not move you in the same way. My tastes are all over the place and there are a lot of songs, bands, artists, and genres that move me in ways that others do not. Every genre has its own unique capability to be perfect to a different person just as every person is unique. Great topic today!

watching this after the Iron Maiden concert in Prague and I can tell you for sure that heavy metal is indeed the perfect music...

Love the analogy of having an ice cream cone with a beer Martin, when trying to listen to vocals in jazz. As a general rule, I do not like ice cream with my beer! 😂

It's a fun topic to discuss, but IMHO there's no such thing as perfect music. It's often the imperfections that set one musical style or band apart from another and make that music unique.

So much content, I get to feeling for these dudes families!

It's all about what music does for you in relation to where you're at in that moment. I love Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus in the morning to get me going, then Porcupine Tree and King Buffalo in the evenings to wind down. It's "perfect" when it scratches that itch just right that YOU needed scratched in a specific way. Situational, based off our life experiences, what's going on that day, the weather, mood, a lot of factors... With all that said, I find heavy metal to be MY perfect music. It's the culmination of decades of music evolution in my own life that just got heavy, louder, more technical, and more beautiful along the way as my tastes developed and became more refined with my own life experiences. Still waiting for a band to top Opeth for me on this journey. They have managed to wrap it all together in a way that has profoundly changed my life and how I look at music. I guess you could call that some type of perfect🤘🧝‍♂

I think it just depends on the specific sub genre of metal and the artist that writes the music. If you're going for full on Tech- death, progressive metal stuff, then yes you're bound to produce music that's super clean and proficient yet if your goal is being the best black metal artist or something it's those imperfections (noisy production, out of tune instruments, unclear song structures) that make your music appealing. It's all the idea and its means.

The "perfection" of prog is in large part the journey on which the song or album take you. You don't end in the same place you began.

Metal is just a more powerful version of classical music.

For me the epic In prog music is the equivalent of what a smash hit was in the 70s. Once Supper's Ready Close to Edge and Thick as a Brick became huge albums, Many prog bands started to do it. Also every genre of music has its snobs. Believe it or not both blues and metal have a ton of snobby obnoxious fans.

Correct on stereo equipment Martin back in the day as a student i worked summer holidays in Tandy which never really took on in here in the UK . We were trained to sell their hi end equipment and customer services brought more back than was kept by the customers lol.

Though I'm not that familiar with Metal music, I really enjoy the channel. Today's show was fantastic. I really appreciated the discussion of the other types of music that was discussed, especially the segment on Jazz. Great show. I believe that there is great music to be found in every type of music. Whatever floats your boat as we say in Canada. What I like the most about this channel is the relationships you have with all the contributors you have. Music should bring people together even though we may at times disagree on what album is great or not so great. It's all good.

The title of this video is perfect for Betteridge's law: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no." Which is the correct answer to this question. I will still see the video later, of course!

Finding the perfect music in an imperfect world is the journey for each of us. The magic is in the alchemy, and each person must find their own elixir. We are all wired a little differently, so each of us has a little different mixture of chords, tonality, tempo and vibration that we search for. And at any given time, what we are searching for determines what we consider ‘perfect’ at that moment. What riff gives that surge of adrenaline? What melody enhances your serotonin levels? What tone gives that hit of dopamine? Once you find what works for you, you can spend a lifetime immersing yourself in endless possibilities. From the most primal urges to the most cerebral compositions, music offers something for each aspect of us.

As a huge fan of music, period, from metal to prog, to classical, jazz, funk, indie rock, and much more, this was one of the most enjoyable, thought-provoking discussions I've heard on SOT! Great job, Pete and Martin! For me, the "perfect" music can differ from day to day. Sometimes, I want the musical technicality of metal, prog, and experimental jazz. Sometimes, I want the deep, raw groove of blues and funk.

Mr Pete. I’d love to see you expound upon this topic to include genre. That’s a rabbit hole I know. It seems redundant to cover NWOBHM again but, Algy Ward just passed and Tank were very influential in that scene. They’re highly respected. There’s some bands that don’t get too much attention and Tank were definitely one of them. The early stages of Thrash. I was there for that with the really underground stuff. Thrust, Hallows Eve, Nasty Savage, At War, Whiplash, Dark Angel. Then move on to NYC Hardcore vs west coast Hardcore.

The answer to that question would be YES. It's in the blood and to these ears, it's perfect, well, the bands I like anyway. Bottom line: Nothing is perfect, unless a particular piece of music hits you at the right place at the right time. And FOR ME, Metal is the ultimate music.

For me,Metal is a perfect music. It is my passion,my religion,my life. I can't imagine living without it. Yes,it is perfect.

Not sure if it`s possible to call any one genre or style of music "perfect", but I can think of certain songs that strike me as such. Some songs seem to have the perfect combination of notes, chord changes, melodies, vocal and instrumental performances, along with just the right feeling and attitude. When nothing can be taken away or added to the song to make it any better, to me, that`s a perfect song.

There are perfect songs but no whole genre of music that can be called perfect, especially when something like Jazz or Metal encompases such a diverse range of styles and artists.

Popoff and Pardo are at it again and class is in session about "perfect music". Another very interesting discussion over the genres included. As a fan of classical music, include a little more comment regarding such as the pleasure or hearing experience of the music can be strongly emphasized by a change in tempo or, in live performance, the effect of the conductor and her/his interpretation of tempo, emphasis, etc. But, as concluded and as agreed, we all hear things differently and one person's perfection may be another's cacophony. Thanks, gents. There ya go!

Very relevant conversation in these times of the dawn of the AI. Thanks 🍺🤘!

The perfect music is what you personally enjoy. Nothing less, nothing more. Completely subjective. I know folks who live and die by the Beatles, others consider them completely childish and boring, others consider Grateful Dead as perfect, while some find them unlistenable! You, the music YOU enjoy is prefect….for you! We can all agree only Bob Dylan is universally PERFECT!! 😂

always look forward to the fun house, great show once again. thank you.

Did I hear it right that Martin said he had 18,000 CD's? Holy cow.

The concept of perfect music is quite tricky. In order to obtain perfection one needs to check all the boxes, it takes planning. But if you do all this planning, then the music may lack imagination and inovation. And aren't creativity and inovation mandatory to perfect music? Maybe they are not essential to write a perfect "song", but aren't they essential to create perfect "music"?

Cool show. I'd like to suggest a discussion on gatekeeping in the future. That's a pretty hot topic these days.

Hi Pete & Martin, Love your show - recently discovered Sea of Tranquility, and I'm kinda on a binge watching run through your "catalogue". (Re)-Discovered a lot of classics and obscure stuff (especially from the Prog Rock corner). However, I'm 8 minutes into this here podcast, and I have to admit: I'm not quite getting it. What do you mean with "perfect" exactly? Is perfection even something that can be discussed on an objective basis? And if it is all subjective - couldn't we just have avoided the term "perfection", and maybe just called it "taste" or something like that? Don't get me wrong - I love what you do, and I love what Martin brings to the table. But I'm a bit confused by this one :D ... Let's see where the rest of the vid is going, i guess... ;)

Great show guys; the question is, perfect for who?… me at six years old hearing Bay City Rollers “Saturday Night” or my grandmother, her entire adult life listening to every note of “ La boheme” in pure happiness… lots of “perfect” just depends on who and when…

What is perfect? All music is subjective to the listener, Metal is perfect for me because I love heavy guitar riffs, creative and high cailbar musicianship and the huge variety of styles and influences in Metal.

Great episode. Martin cracked me up with his descriptions of punk and pop.....😂. Fun episode. I look forward to it every Friday.....

It's funny to think Super Tramp jump-started my progressive rock binge.

Donati and Sherinian are two favorites of mine . I will definitely be trying to tune in for that one ! Thanks Pete and Thanks Martin

There is no "perfect" music. Well, except for Bach.

Thank you for a very interesting subject and discussion! I think that Martin´s distinction between child and adult taste is too simplified. I´m maybe an exception but I have a classical background so I listened mostly to classical music when I was a child. Does it mean that I had an adult taste as a child or does it mean that classical music appeals to children? In one of my favourite movies ever, Amadeus, Mozart was portrayed as an unique musical genius and an incredibly childish person at the same time. In my opinion Mozart makes perfect music. It´s simple and complex. It´s joyful and serious. And everything at the same time. Bach made perfect music. His use of counter melodies was totally unique, but when I listen to his music it feels like everything is in right order at right place. However I´m not listening that often to either of them anymore. When I go back to my childhood, I loved The Magic Flute by Mozart and The Last Command by W.A.S.P. side by side. I loved a Finnish band called Dingo which was a New Wave rock band. They used a lot of romantic lyrics and pop hooks in their music and they had a very (small)girl dominated fan base. I loved the unmasked era of Kiss and I loved Twisted Sister as pretty much every boy in my age did. I remember that thrash was too one dimensional to me but I also loved Iron Maiden. The fact of the matter is that my taste has broadened when I´ve grown older but it hasn´t actually changed that much. On the other hand I´ve always loved sugar and I´ve always hated beer. In addition if we use cathegories like child taste and adult taste, we should at least use also teenage taste. For instance I could put black metal in the frame of teenage taste but never ever in the frame of adult taste.

I'd be interested in a tangent: specific examples of perfection for a genre. I don't really see how to argue that a genre itself can be perfect, but I could talk all day about perfect instances. e.g. Dokken's "In My Dreams" is perfect hair metal; Mozart's 40th is a perfect symphony, etc.

Not to sound crazy but but I'm sure I do. All. Music is perfect We've heard it our whole lives it's music to the ears. Never mentioning a. Particular kind of music we all get to fill in the blank

HM has an oeuvre - it has a history that performers have to build on. This puts in the company of classical and jazz. If someone writes sth that sounds too much like ACDC they get ridiculed (you can hint at predecessors but not try to copy them). HM fans are discerning (they analyse music) and hold it to high standards. The challenge that it faces is that it is limited by its instrumentation - you have to put heavy guitars and a narrow range of vocalist styles to the fore. That is why it is so hard to find good metal music written since the 90s (although there is plenty to be found).

Great last point guys.

I remember reading that Donny Osmond's fave song to play live is "Crazy Horses". Kind of feel sorry for the dude, he seems to be a metalhead at heart.

Your damn straight it is!! It would take me all night, to list all the benefits that metal has given me, for 37 years now. It's been there for me every single day!!

No way metal is perfect - its too limited to be perfect for me as a variety in music is key. Really there is no one perfect genre. There are most definitely perfect metal songs along with nearly perfect metal albums. It just comes down to great songs, appealing convictions, personas, atmospheres, sentiments, etc. Music is a way to transfer so much feel and unique humanistic qualities. It could be Seek and Destroy by Metallica, The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, All I've Got to Do by The Beatles, Lady Evil by Sabbath, Uptown by Prince, Could You Be Loved bu Marley, Fuzzbox Voodoo by ZZ Top, Casedega by Petty, etc.

Pete and Martin‘s definition of Heavy Metal is very broad I suppose. To me the term is very much connected to a specific type of heavy rock music I don’t particularly like. My answer is: It can be perfect to an individual just like any other genre.

Is this the most abstract and philosophically-oriented topic on the Funhouse yet? That said there's just no way i could even fathom talking about this. I have no conception at all of what "perfect music" might be. Words like "pure sound" are mentioned here but, what is that? A single note, unending singular vibration? That might be perfect but would anyone listen to it? I just can't fathom the concept of "perfection" very well, i guess, especailly as we're talking about art, which is given to us by creators who do it because they have to, need to, not in a quest for the perfect thing, which is something that's impossible to measure. There are albums I might find absolutely flawlessly pleasing to my brain and heart, but others might and certainly are likely to feel differently about them. And genres are so varied in terms of quality, so talking about individual albums or songs is the only way I could even begin to approach this.

Prog is my favorite genre but I love lots of other genres. I've just never liked dance music, with some exceptions of course, so things like hip-hop are off my radar. Because of what pop is like I believe that is the hardest genre to write a perfect song in. For every Baker Street there's a million Who Let the Dogs Out. Ugh!

Always Great Topics and Discussions

Perfect for me might not be perfect for you. It's a matter of taste or likes. And then again, nothing is perfect, maybe almost perfect are better words ... Good episode/discussion.

Love the show guys normally but not convinced this one worked.

Different types of music become 'perfect' for a certain mood. Pop is for less intellectual moods or mindsets. Jazz for a more intellectual mindset. Some music has both. Smooth Jazz essentially smooths out the abstract elements of regular jazz; it makes jazz less intellectually complex. Heavy Metal must be an emotional tool for purging aggression. There is/was a band called Comfort in Distortion (love that name). The average person hears true metal music as noise, I hear it as a thunder storm; visceral and exciting, and again, a purging of rampant emotions. Or, is it NOT purging, but taking in that emotion just to feel the thrill. Like staring into a fire. Ultimately, my favorite is heavier prog. That could even be Yes, Genesis, ELP, and others with their heavier rhythm sections. Or Sabbath, DP, LZ, Heep with their embellishments on basic rock songs. Current perfection for me; SCOREDATURA; instrumental modern metal, touches of prog with soloing and song structures. Last thing: as far as vocals, I really need perfection (to my taste), not necessarily a perfect singer, but a perfect texture and personality; Gabriel, Daltrey and Townsend, Anderson (both), Lake, Plant, Gillan, Byron. Even Ozzy, Lydon, Jagger, Joey Ramone, Springsteen, Staley, Cornell, Weiland.

he got his A's and E's kinda mixed up but God bless him for it, i seen Gregg Allman in an interview one time and Gregg said Rap is short for repulsive! i totally laughed my ass off. man! i sure do miss that guy. \m/ \m/

So we can't download this video

Big fan of you guys. Been watching this channel for years, along with The Contrarians and the podcast. That being said, I still don’t understand what the hell you guys are talking about here, haha!! As you mentioned near the end, “perfect” music is completely subjective to the individual, time, and place so I really don’t understand even attempting to attach that label to any one genre (or song for that matter). You can’t really debate what the perfect meal is, or the perfect film, or vacation, or spouse, can you? Love you guys, and the conversation is sort of interesting, but I feel like defining anything as the “perfect” music is an exercise in futility. Love the content though. Thanks!

I dig the philosophical and deep nature of this video! Jazz argument wins.

I am the same with hip hop as Martin. A minute fraction of all the releases since like 1980 I can actually enjoy.

I guess there are certain genres like progressive rock or classical that require a certain "perfection" in playing instruments, but otherwise music should be about emotion. I'd rather hear a singer who may not always sing perfectly than a singer who sings perfectly but comes across as a robot.

Very interesting conversation this one. I guess "perfection" in any style is achieving an ideal balance between emotion and dexterity. However, debating if a certain style is more "perfect" than another is like debating if a dog is more perfect than a cat. I would say a cat but a lot would disagree. After a certain point, every style of music is extremely demanding and difficult and each demands its particular technique which is not by any means superior or inferior to the others

Is Deep Purple perfect music? The beginning of speed metal with the song Speed King. Jazz-like improvisation in the live elongated tracks of Made In Japan. Did the first collaboration with a classical orchestra more than once in the seventies. Absolutely did blues with Mistreated. Absolutely did pop with Woman From Tokyo. Touched on prog with Fireball. With Glenn Hughes entering the band some funk and r and b are introduced. They split up in the seventies (for a time) and individually they explore almost every genre. Glenn Hughes does a true disco album with Four On The Floor (even if he was a hired hand). Jon Lord continues with classical. They about all enter the realm of pop music with Ritchie Blackmore/Roger Glover bringing in Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner for Rainbow. Tony Carey leaves Rainbow for solo pop music and the funk Planet P Project. Roger Glover does electronic music with Mask and country rock with his Guilty Party. We find ourselves in fusion jazz if we explore Ritchie Blackmore's first replacement in Purple Tommy Bolin and Bolin's playing in Billy Cobham's Spectrum album. Today look at Blackmore playing renaissance music. The only reason Purple members did not explore thrash or hip-hop is that would be a bridge too far for the older musicians they are. Purple's willingness to explore probably contributed to their loss of stature over the years. In the seventies they were regarded with Zeppelin and Sabbath. Even retroactively they have lost that perch.

Music for me is emotion and Metal can get the emotion across better than other genres.....any other genre argument.... oh ya? Well we have a double kick!

'Perfect' music would be following somebody's rules as to what is considered the 'perfect' tone for an instrument, the 'perfect' (most obvious) chord progression, the 'perfect' pure voice, the 'perfect' combination of sounds...and who wants that? I'd rather listen to people following their own rules. I might like some and I might hate others but I'd much rather listen to imperfect music. (And, as a prog fan, prog is far from perfect - most of us love the idiosyncrasies of the mellotron)

I always thought that jazz was not perfect... Improvised music in a called out key. The most perfect music is classical then I would say the near perfect music would be prog as it has classical influence. Metal rock punk is rebellious forms of music that dared to be less structured.

Charleston Chews are great fresh (Cheap Trick), and frozen (Nazareth)😁

martin was on fire on this one :)

PERHAPS ... because it is most reminiscent of another genre of my fave type of music: classical. Orchestral, film soundtracks, concertos, etc.

Perfect music is the genre your in the mood at the time sometimes jazz is perfect sometimes death is perfect and so on when I'm sick jazz is perfect and after hard day at work Doom is perfect

It's not perfect music, but an underappreciated one.

As far as I am concerned the only perfect music is the music my band made in the 80's but sadly the world did not agree. Joking apart another great show, thanks lads.

The hardest part of deciding what is perfect , is deciding which bands belong in which genre, and that’s a can of worms best not opened. However if you were to name 20 influential ‘metal bands’ from the last 50 years I would guess you would find influences from classical symphonic music, jazz, blues, the pop of the Beatles, NWOBHM punk influences prog with prog metal. So maybe Metal is the perfect music because it steals from all other genres.

Punk was the pure antithesis of perfect music and purposely so, the reality is we all like what we like across all musical genres and I know it would be a stretch to include classical music in the show given that the core content is rock music but it is probably the purist music of all.

I would argue that Dream Theater is the most perfect music exists. Its heavy, technical, sophisticated, creative, innovative and never the less extremely beautiful and just enough catchy. I would also argue that blues is the perfect harmony.

I find that I prefer progressive music over formulaic music now. And by progressive, I don't necessarily just mean "prog". And if those progressive artists are occasionally "heavy" I enjoy that more than artists who are solely heavy. I like bands and artists that create their own musical pathways. Give me artists that furrow new fields. I don't think any genre attains perfection. There are very few songs or pieces that approach perfection either but there are bands and artists who strive for their own apotheosis. And a crucial ingredient is the evolution of a band's or artist's creative output throughout their careers. Change is integral. The only styles/genres I do not appreciate are Adult-Oriented Rock (Soft Rock), MOR (Middle of the Road) music and contemporary auto-tuned Pop/R & B. And many artists across various genres fall into the first two categories (or end up there later in their careers). Cheers.

I was a headbanger in the early 80s when we had the NWOBHM with Saxon, Iron Maiden, Budgie, Judas Preist, Dio, Black Sabbath with Dio. I get a warmth when I think about Heavy Metal. It’s a happy place to go in my mind. Songs that I’d say represent Metal well to me are Break it up by Foreigner, Neon Knights by Sabbath and Dallas 1pm by Saxon. Thes probably my go to for metal is Ozzy with S.A.T.O.

As Pat Metheny said, "Compared to Bach, we all suck!!". Tend to agree that Bach is likely perfection. Love the rant on prog rock perfection, they are really trying I agree. Everyone's definition of "perfection" is going to differ. Love this topic! Very engaging.

Metal is for the most part my favorite music but I would say that blues is closer to perfect than metal is. You find blues in all rock genres, jazz, metal, Native American music, Asian. and other styles as well. Other than that I'd say any music that serendipitously meets the listener where they are at the moment of auditory contact is perfect music.

Someone once said the best instrument of all is the human voice. Going back thousands of years, people must've created instruments to sort of mimic the human voice. An analogy might be, instead of just telling stories or writing stories, people started acting out stories by making theatrical plays. The writing or telling of stories being the human voice, the theatrical play being a simulation of the story. ???

Any genre of music is perfect to me

I think ginger baker answered that question, in “Beware Mr. Baker.”

If there is perfect music, you must consider The Blues to be such. Instrument(s), and voice; how simple and unadulterated. It's arguably the root of everything as we know is music, no matter what genre. Jazz, classical, and 60s and 70s RnB dominates the 2nd tier of perfect. All are alterations on the blues form. Rock, heavy metal, progressive __________ (fill-in the blank) and even Punk are all further derivatives of the previous. Raucous, gritty, and distorted, they are far from perfect, yet to my ears are pleasant and interesting to listen to. Pop, I agree with Martin, is the "everyday man's" music meant to be accepted by a wide variety of people. Like in Goldilocks, "it's just right." Yet there is a big difference, in my opinion of Pop from the 50s - 80s, and 90s to present day. Early Pop was melodic in voice and instrumentation. Sometimes thought to be even "sanitized." The present Pop is autotuned, and homogenized, i.e., UNLISTENABLE! Same goes for hip hop and rap. Poetry with basic beats. The "music" backdrop is rarely original, but snippets, or samples of familiar melodies and music of tried-and-true artists. In summary, who needs perfect since it comes down to individual tastes.

Perfect Death/Thrash Metal! Another HARD Question.. I Guess = 1. COMECON = Converging Conspiracies! 2. Morbid Angel = Bessed Are the Sick or Altars of Madness.. 3. King Diamond = Abigail 4. DEATH = Any of the albums! 5. ENTOMBED = Clandestine= Runner up = NOCHTURNUS = "Threshholds! Mortification = Self titled! So BRUTAL!!

For me, Rush’s Xanadu is pretty much perfect. And Judas Priest’s Unleashed in the East.