I am pretty firm in my belief that The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is the greatest album in existence. I've never heard anything more powerful in my life.
Joanna Newsom's Ys was another transcendent experience for me. It's really unique and special and a modern classic, and fuck anyone who doesn't like her voice. Seriously.
I think the universally acclaimed rock album I enjoy the most is probably Dolittle. It is just the perfect mixture of fun and crazy and weird and catchy. Not many other rock classics really do much for me. I do enjoy Radiohead, but I think I like their more recent, less rocky stuff more; Kid A is probably the album of theirs that deserves most to endure, in my opinion. When I heard National Anthem for the first time, I was like, "yeah, I think I really like what these guys are doing here, this is something different and cool."
I really love Sufjan Stevens, but I don't think he's quite made a masterpiece yet. He's come sooo close! If he could somehow mix Illinois with Age of Adz, he would truly have one of the greatest albums ever. As it is, he's kind of my ultimate comfort musician, and definitely one of the best musicians alive; people who dismiss him as a generic indie artist are way off the mark. Anyway I can't say any particular Sufjan album is one of my favorites, but his body of work as a whole is up there.
Other albums I've really enjoyed include Tom Waits's Bone Machine (I think it's his best? Gah, can't decide), Boredoms' Vision Creation Newsun, Can's Future Days, and . . . probably some others that I can't think of right now.
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