First, much respect to bands who meticulously construct their albums to provide a great listening experience. Albums can be sequenced thematically to help tell a story, or artists may simply choose to try to make things flow, finding the perfect balance of heavy and soft, making sure not to have too much repetition while keeping the listener engaged throughout. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a record that flows thematically and stylistically.

For this exercise, we take on something larger in scope, attempting to create the perfect rock record while using the blueprint already laid out by rock artists track by track over the decades. We break down the best Track 1s, Track 2s, Track 3s and so on, then try to construct one great rock listen from top to bottom.

It’s a more difficult task than you might suspect and is open to personal preference. This one is ours, attempting to weave a rock album filled with classic cuts, putting our focus primarily on the flow rather than attempting to weave themes together, though there are moments where that happily works out.

A few points of interest came up during this exercise, noting how many acts front load their records with the best songs. This was particularly true with Track 1, which is the first impression listeners will get of your new music. Therefore, there’s a wealth of stellar choices to select from in picking a Track 1.

Tracks 5 and 6 are also particularly strong, especially for older cuts given how most albums were composed of Side A and Side B and bands wanted to start Side B strong. This became less essential once CDs and eventually digital music became the primary platform, eschewing vinyl.

The other interesting point of note was the abundance of rock power ballads in the latter portion of records. They provide a nice change of pace, especially when interest may start to wane.

So, join us as we share our Perfect Rock Record, and try to construct your own if you enjoy the exercise. If you’d like to hear our “Perfect Rock Record” in full, check here.

Constructing the Perfect Rock Record

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