This Perfect World

{{For|articles with similar titles|Perfect World (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox album

| name = This Perfect World

| type = studio

| artist = Freedy Johnston

| cover = Freedy_Johnston_This_Perfect_World.jpg

| alt =

| released = June 28, 1994

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio = Smart Studios
(Madison, Wisconsin)

| genre = Alternative rock, power pop

| length = 40:14

| label = Elektra

| producer = Butch Vig

| prev_title = Can You Fly

| prev_year = 1992

| next_title = Never Home

| next_year = 1997

}}

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url={{AllMusic |class=album |id=mw0000624231 |pure_url=yes}} |title=This Perfect World – Freedy Johnston |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=August 3, 2015 |last=Coulter |first=Kristi}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Consumer Guide

| rev2score = {{Rating-Christgau|hm3}}{{cite book |chapter=Freedy Johnston: This Perfect World |chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=1298 |accessdate=August 3, 2015 |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s |title-link=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |year=2000 |isbn=0-312-24560-2}}

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3score = A{{cite magazine |url=http://ew.com/article/1994/07/15/this-perfect-world/ |title=This Perfect World |work=Entertainment Weekly |date=July 15, 1994 |accessdate=May 19, 2017 |last=Jackson |first=Devon}}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Times

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-24-ca-19131-story.html |title=He's Your Desk Clerk at Heartbreak Hotel |work=Los Angeles Times |date=July 24, 1994 |access-date=May 19, 2017 |last=Cromelin |first=Richard}}

| rev5 = Rolling Stone

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/freedyjohnston/albums/album/261913/review/5940643/this_perfect_world |title=Freedy Johnston: This Perfect World |work=Rolling Stone |date=July 14, 1994 |accessdate=May 19, 2017 |last=O'Dair |first=Barbara |page=102 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007214436/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/freedyjohnston/albums/album/261913/review/5940643/this_perfect_world |archive-date=October 7, 2008 |url-status=dead}}

| rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Freedy Johnston |last=Randall |first=Mac |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/437 437]}}

| rev7 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev7score = 8/10{{cite book |chapter=Freedy Johnston |last=Weisbard |first=Eric |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=201–02}}

}}

This Perfect World is the third album by singer-songwriter Freedy Johnston. It was released in 1994 on Elektra Records.

It is an album steeped in regret and loss. The narrator of "Across the Avenue" is unable to get past the memory of seeing his lover killed in a pedestrian accident. In "Two Lovers Stop," a young couple commit suicide rather than let themselves be ripped away from each other. The title track concerns a dying old man returning to apologize to his estranged daughter for unspecified past misdeeds. Among the other songs, "Evie's Tears" apparently refers to sexual abuse (evidently by a priest), and "Dolores" is based on Nabokov's Lolita. Despite the preponderance of dark subject matter, the album has a jaunty feel as Johnston demonstrates an ability to craft winning pop melodies.

Reviews of the album were overflowing with praise, although those same reviewers also generally felt that it didn't quite measure up to his previous album, 1992's Can You Fly.

This Perfect World was produced by Butch Vig, who also played on the album's minor hit, "Bad Reputation." Other notable contributors include cellist Jane Scarpantoni, who performed on two tracks, and Marshall Crenshaw.