I know I have my favorites, but not all my favorites are the best sounding CDs I've ever heard. I do keep some CDs around that, although I rarely listen to them, I like to use them to demo a system or just because they sound so good. Here are a few:

Steely Dan Aja- Right up through Royal Scam, Steely Dan was a band that played jazz-tinged rock, but 77's Aja was a real jazz album and its sound was sumptuous, and still is.

Donald ***en The Nightfly- This has got to be the best jazz album of the '80s. No rock-n-roll on the whole album, but its got the punch that so many jazz albums since has copied. Considering the pablum that passed for so much of the '80s jazz, this might be why this album has stood out for so long.

Bob James Trio Straight Up- Although he is responsible for continuing the tradition of vanilla jazz ala David Grusin, this is a cool CD, and its production is better than anything else he's done.

James Taylor That's Why I'm Here -Not his best work, by far, but one of the best sounding CDs of the mid '80s

Paul Simon Graceland- Yes, this CD got way over-exposed, but it still sounds superb

Steve Winwood Back In The High Life- Another from the same era as Graceland that got way over played, but I just listened to this one a few weeks ago and had forgotten how good it sounded.

Grover Washington Jr Winelight- I was only about 15 when I first heard this 'album' on vinyl at an upscale stereo/audiophile shop in Memphis. It was one of the first CDs I bought.

Dire Straits Brothers In Arms- The first 'must have' CD

Tears For Fears Seeds Of Love- Still have the original release (not the remaster) and I can't hear any room for improvement. This is their last album in my opinion.

Garth Brooks No Fences- I know, I know...but this CD raised the bar in country western music as far as production value and content. Really.

Andreas Vollenwieder White Winds- Yes, that deep resonant bass is actually made with a big old bass harp. I know you huys are probably starting to wince, but this CD still astounds, considering it uses no synthesizers. He never made another album that came close to this one.

Black Sabbath Paranoid- While not too many hard rockers made the transition from vinyl to CD very well, this CD sounded like an epiphany to those revisiting it on CD. Maybe that was because most people were just throwing away their 8-track copies of it. But, for a dark forboding album, its still their most musical, their tightest performance, the protypical heavy metal album. And it sounds superb, even in its first issue. My brother won over many a judge in car stereo competitions with Iron Man.

Supertramp Crime Of The Century- the perfect pop/rock album, with a sound that matched. The production on this album exceeds anything in its genre for a decade after its release (Even In The Quiestest Moments wasn't as good sonically IMO)

Of course all of these albums have one thing in common, they were well written and well performed, but the level of attention to detail in every aspect of production is what I think seperates them from other albums or CDs. What are some your favorites?