Perfection vs. Completion

I apologize up front if this post isn't especially compelling or insightful, but it's just what happens to be on my mind a lot these days. See, as most of you know, I play in a band called Hello Monster, and as most of the people who know that are aware, we have a new album due out... soon-ish. Needless to say, as music is kind of the big thing in my life, the impending album weighs heavily on my thoughts a lot of the time.

In addition to song names, album names, album artwork, and promotion (along with a whole other host of small-ish details), the primary job we have on our table at the moment is agreeing on the final mix for the album. This process has been relatively painless, though it is time consuming. However, the big hangup is an issue I find myself facing not only with the band, but also in my life as a whole: at what point do you simply say that you are finished, and at what point do you continually draw out a project to make sure it's up to the highest standard?

I'm not saying that I am unhappy with the album. Quite the opposite; it sounds pretty fantastic. My issue is, especially considering what we're paying for it, I (and my other bandmates) want to be sure that it sounds just plain fantastic with no "pretty" qualifier. Our slogan throughout the process to this point has been "no compromises" but in my mind there also comes a point where you have to take a step back, throw your hands up and say "enough is enough" and be done. As I have discussed this with friends who have done more recording than I have, you listen with such an attention to detail, that whatever changes get made or don't get made often end up forgotten a few months after an album is released.

I think in some ways, my personal writing suffers from the same obsessive need for revision. Not this blog, this is much more a "brain dump" of writing, and that's part of the reason I want to get back to doing it more often, but anything else I write for the band, for my own enjoyment, and even for work, I find myself wanting to tweak over and over until I am convinced that it is absolutely the best it can be. I don't know that, as a writer, I'll ever reach a point where I think that something I write is absolutely fantastic. I view everything as a work in progress (and believe me, some progresses are significantly slower than others), and for that reason I feel like nothing is ever really done.

Is there an answer? Can it be healthier to just pronounce something finished if there might be lingering doubts in the back of your mind, or is it better to keep hammering away at the small details and tweaks that eventually drive you up the walls, all in the sake of "no compromise"?