Esquire's The 75 Albums Every Man Should Own

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March 9, 2009, 12:01 AM

The 75 Albums Every Man Should Own

Kick off Esquire.com's Music Week with our unranked, incomplete, yet highly tasteful and informative list of the records your music collection requires. How many have you listened to?

Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce Springsteen
Phases and Stages, Willie Nelson
The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
Lust for Life, Iggy Pop
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, David Bowie
Live at The Apollo, James Brown
What's Goin' On, Marvin Gaye
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, Pavement
Illmatic, NaS
Dire Straits, Dire Straits
American Beauty, Grateful Dead
Out of Step, Minor Threat
Aftermath, The Rolling Stones
Paul's Boutique, The Beastie Boys
Led Zeppelin (I), Led Zeppelin
Imperial Bedroom, Elvis Costello
The Cars, The Cars
Being There, Wilco
Destroyer, KISS
The Bends, Radiohead
Gettin' Ready, The Temptations
Highway To Hell, AC/DC
The Dictionary of Soul, Otis Redding
The Headphone Masterpiece, Cody Chessnut
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Soundtrack, Ennio Morricone
Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan
Take a Giant Step/De Ole Foiks at Home, Taj Mahal
Catch a Fire, Bob Marley
MTV Unplugged in New York, Nirvana
Live at Oberlin College, 1966, Mississippi John Hurt
The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1, The Traveling Wilburys
Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas, Townes Van Zandt
Woke On a Whaleheart, Bill Callahan
Rubber Soul, The Beatles
Velvet Underground and Nico, Velvet Underground
Workin' Together, Ike & Tina Turner
The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, Explosions in the Sky
True Stories, Talking Heads
This Is Hardcore, Pulp
Appetite for Destruction, Guns N' Roses
In the Wee Small Hours, Frank Sinatra
Sketches of Spain, Miles Davis
Combat Rock, The Clash
Road to Ruin, The Ramones
Marquee Moon, Television
Animals, Pink Floyd
Doolittle, The Pixies
The Adventures of Slick Rick, Slick Rick
Ready to Die, Notorious B.I.G.
The Unreleased Recordings, Hank Williams
Ten, Pearl Jam
Band of Gypsys, Jimi Hendrix
Brighter Than Creation's Dark, Drive-By Truckers
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Ray Charles
...And Justice for All, Metallica
Fair Warning, Van Halen
Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Z
Pet Sounds, Beach Boys
Exile In Guyville, Liz Phair
Look Sharp!, Joe Jackson
Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder
Rage Against the Machine, Rage Against the Machine
Who's Next, The Who
Left to His Own Devices, Vic Chessnut
Symphony No. 5, Beethoven
Night Beat, Sam Cooke
Songs of Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen
Penthouse, Luna
Buena Vista Social Club, Buena Vista Social Club
Small Change, Tom Waits
Live at Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash
Harvest Moon, Neil Young
Mingus Ah Um, Charles Mingus
Mahler Symphony No. 5, George Solti
Grace, Jeff Buckley

esquire not down w/the 2000s, huh

except for an explosions in the sky record wtf????

I totally only clicked on this thread because I misread it as 'Esquivel's The 75 Albums Every Man Should Own'

xp i say that as someone who likes second-tier post rock

some weird choices in there... Harvest Moon? Band of Gypsies?

And who was the staffer with excellent taste who suggested Mississippi John Hurt & Townes Van Zandt?

surely every man needs a luna record

not to mention exile in guyville for sure o_O

what's the point

of this thread

count up how many of them you own, calculate masculinity.

shoulda been a poll though.

75 Albums Every Dilettante Should Own!

uhhh that's not bad! sort of what i would think an esquire list would be but with some not-obvious choices. my only complaint is they shouldn't have been so scared of gurls but maybe that's the point...

xpost yes seeing townes van zandt in here is cool because i like him but that totally makes sense to me and didn't surprise me at all.

it's an esquire list xpost

maybe we could talk about masculinity and music in this thread, like when did 'sad and profound' (and preferably male lead singer) signify troo manhood.

why do websites insist on making us click thru 75 different slides in order to read 100 word blurbs

cause then you looked at 75 banner ads?

rolling stone is king of this bs

joke is on me for reading rs

lol @ Makes you shout and rant and cry and it surprises you and challenges you and angers you and brings you to your knees. Then it makes you hit play again. - crooked rain, crooked rain

pavement: you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll hurl. wait was that blurb "ironic?"

yeah who wrote that

4 rap records! well played esquire, well played

it's an esquire list.

shocked @ no kanye tho

matt did you know this is an esquire list

oh also dude its an esquire list

MTV Unplugged in New York, Nirvana
It's the last time a huge band recorded a surprising album.

uh what

This reads more like a GQ list with its "So, you're a somewhat affluent white male and you want to find the right social signifier" vibe. Mt favorites:

Exile In Guyville, Liz Phair

Token "chicks have something kinda interesting to say, too, I guess" album

Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder - What's Goin' On, Marvin Gaye

All of these albums are cliches but I'm sick and tired of seeing these two representing the "non-black people who want to appear totally sympathetic with whatever was going on with black people at the time, yeah" category. "It's catchy, sophisticated music, sure - but he was also protesting social injustices, whatever they were. I don't know - I saw the album on some vh1 countdown of important music."

Grace, Jeff Buckley

When you need to convince a lady that you're not the kinda fella to have cheap sex - no, you make love to women. The stand-by.

This Is Hardcore, Pulp

People always confuse the title track with something really sexy to play, when it's too funny, cheesy and oddball.

I'm not quite sure if either of my grandfathers would have owned illmatic.

I am on 22/75ths a man...I knew there was something wrong with me.

i am 10/75ths of a man. and i think i need to get rid of half of those 10

How the fuck did Bill Callahan and Luna make the list???

I own 18 at first count, btw.

bill and dean and clearly men's men

26

but then i'm the type of dilettante motherfucker this shit was designed for i think so

wtf @ having the wrong otis redding, talking heads, willie nelson, miles davis & sinatra albums tho

Challopsquire

There is nothing manly about the Stone Roses

if this is esquire, does that mean chuck klosterman is somehow involved in this?

cody chessnut? seriously?

aw shit, though: i have 28 of them. Busted! The man *can* list our music. . . .

Symphony No. 5, Beethoven

this is an esquire list btw

13/75ths of a man

'Esquivel's The 75 Albums Every Man Should Own'

would read this!!

20/75th of a man. i thought that number would be higher.

some strange picks: Led Zeppelin (I), The Bends, True Stories, This Is Hardcore and fucking Combat Rock?

owned 31 of these at SOME point.. probably closer to 20 now, maybe lower.
such a strange list. they really did pick, if not the WRONG album for some artists, at least definite challops. just. so. strange.

like.. i think maybe the weirdest thing on here is the traveling wilburys maybe! NO ONE needs that album! why not put a tom petty album on the list? or a roy orbison record? it would look less like deliberate contrarianism.

Only 14; no wonder I'm gay.

Brighter Than Creation's Dark, Drive-By Truckers

rong

owned 40+ at some time or another. think the only one i've currently got a physical copy of is johnny cash @ folsom, beat vinyl. would like to have some of the others, but there's always time for stuff.

30 Glaring Omissions from the 75 Albums Every Man Should Own

Buzz up!
Like we said, our new list of essential records is incomplete. Herein, and in no particular order, the music you've been asking about — and the discs that just missed the cut.

Mr. Excitement!, Jackie Wilson

The Doors, The Doors

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John

Closer, Joy Division

Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley

Thriller, Michael Jackson

Reach Out, Four Tops

Girls, Girls, Girls, Motley Crue

Pretenders, The Pretenders

The Joshua Tree, U2

Disintegration, The Cure

Murmur, R.E.M.

Astral Weeks, Van Morrison

Odelay, Beck

Purple Rain, Prince

It Still Moves, My Morning Jacket

Greatest Hits, Sly and the Family Stone

Dookie, Green Day

The Great Twenty-Eight, Chuck Berry

20 Golden Greats, Buddy Holly

King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol. 1, Robert Johnson

Tres Hombres, ZZ Top

The Stooges, The Stooges

Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Queen Is Dead, The Smiths

Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth

Never Mind the Bullocks, Sex Pistols

The Sun Sessions, Elvis Presley

Sweetheart of the Rodeo, The Byrds

Anything by Little Richard

16/29 on this better list, throwing out "Anything by Little Richard" because that is NOT a record. I got my manhood back :-)

I've got 35 from the primary list and another 20 on this addon list. I'm not sure this makes me a "man" tho. I think it's just that I've bought/listened to a lot of "canon" albums.

Ten. lol

The answer is the first 75 Durutti Column albums.

you're all more men than me -I am a woman, and I have only five of these, including the Nirvana unplugged which I can't find. Liz Phair is not one of the five.

The answer is the first 75 Durutti Column albums.

The answer is 75 copies of Esquivel's Greatest Hits.

"For the man who has 74 copies of everything..."

52/75

This list is surely the first to feature both the Chessnut brothers.

18 in the first section..

14 in the second.

Oh, and ....

Never Mind the Bullocks, Sex Pistols

.. it's still 1978 then?

^^ wow...

16/75
28/105

(wow = at w.k.)

Never Mind the Bullocks, Sex Pistols .. it's still 1978 then?

Nah, it's obviously a ironic reference to John Lydon's recent support of the dairy industry

this mag is for dbags only

^ a man who knows these things

no hard feelings couldn't not do it u understand

hahahah^^^hoos da man!

xp

30/75ths of a man, although I actually own maybe half of those.

Explosions in the Sky hahaha WTF??

Dire Straits, Dire Straits

idk, does even max stan for this shit?

45/75th-percentile-man! lost King Crimson title?

Dire Straits is good, not great.

gross

u no swing?

I own only 12 of these, so I barely even qualify as a human being. Has Minor Threat become the default punk rock option now?

13

token nod to hardcore that isn't black flag xp

If we allow "was present in the room while the album played all the way through", then I've heard 32/75.

eek 57 of the main list, 26 of the add-on list. On the other hand these are some fucking great albums and just because some dumb magazine picks them out shouldn't diminish that.

true stories canon challop lol

heard = 26, though probably not the same recordings of the symphonies

heard: 16
own: 3

Own 38 on the first list, 9 on the additional one; have heard 65 & 26, respectively.

Pretty decent, with some interesting choices (True Stories to represent Talking Heads? Hmm).

haha i own a bunch of these, but i don't think i've ever read an Esquire. it's just a shittier GQ, no? and Dire Straits s/t is great, their best imo.

(True Stories to represent Talking Heads? Hmm)

Yes. That's the weirdest selection since it's almost universally regarded as the worst Talking Heads album.

The other bizarre selection is the Unreleased Hank Williams. What is wrong with the released Hank Williams?

i'm kind of working on the assumption that the weirder selections are kind of like a completist test...i.e. if you own True Stories, you probably own every TH album.

Even though I own 28 of these, this seems like a really dull list.

Dire Straits, Dire Straits

idk, does even max stan for this shit?

― FREE DOM AND ETHAN (special guest stars mark bronson), Tuesday, March 10, 2009 6:23 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

stan is strong but yeah i fuck w/ mark knopfler

dire straits h8rs can ☮ out

― max, Thursday, July 31, 2008 3:24 PM (7 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i think dom is a dire straits dude too

yikes

rip

Men don't need to listen to music made by women, is what I'm getting here.

watch them compete for his hand xp

dire straits aren't NEARLY as big a deal in the US as they are in the UK, fwiw, to us it's like that one cartoon video and a couple classic rock staples, where i get the impression they were a much bigger deal over there.

'brothers in arms' was huge here among uninteresting people.

31/75

i own 56 but they're mostly albums i never want to listen to

^^two kinds of snobbiness in one tiny post ty

i think i personally maintain a copy of about 6 or 7 of these, but about 4 or 5 more are hiding somewhere in the house as part of my dad's collection

and it is a really impressively boring list, aye

'Romeo And Juliet' is a dope song

i don't think i've ever read an Esquire. it's just a shittier GQ, no?
No, GQ's just a shittier Esquire.
I subscribe to Esquire, which actually has a lot of fine writing (Tom Junod,Mike Sager, Scott Raab, etc.). I could do without all the T&A, however. You can get that anywhere.

Dire Straits used to play multiple nights in 20,000 seat arenas in the US maybe 20 years ago. They were definitely a huge band.

I'm proud to say that I don't own a single one of these boring piece of crap records. So dull and corporate. James Brown? The Beatles? Please. That's just what the big fat cats of the world want you to listen to to keep you sedate, fat and buying their capitalist-pig products.

unlike KORN

Korn hates the man, dude.

the man can ban our usic, man!

I occasionally thumb through GQ at the checkout lane and always figured Esquire was a wordier GQ. Then I picked up a couple issues and it turns out their opinions and subject matter are usually worse than GQ, they just write more words.

this is kind of a sweet list because it's so wtf. True Stories?!?! very Esquire, indeed.

i've listened to 38 of them. a lot of these are my fav albums from when I was in 10-15 yrs old

the young fogeys on these lists are definitely the most boring: cody chessnut, vic chessnut, wilco, drive by truckers, explosions in the sky, my morning jacket.

and bill callahan.

lol @ Fuck and Run.

i know Dire Straits were big in the US, but they weren't, like, Springsteen big (where as in the UK, Springsteen wasn't, like, Dire Straits big).

well Exile in guyville but, yeah

"Sketches of Spain, Miles Davis"

rebels fighting the kind of blue machine!

i know Dire Straits were big in the US, but they weren't, like, Springsteen big (where as in the UK, Springsteen wasn't, like, Dire Straits big).

He wasn't?

dire straits have sold millions upon millions of albums and concert tickets in the states and can be heard on the radio somewhere in the u.s. 24 hours a day/7 days a week/12 months a year, but, yeah, i guess they aren't as big as springsteen here.

he wasn't that big:
35 Bruce Springsteen The River Jun 1981
28 Bruce Springsteen Dancing In The Dark May 1984
38 Bruce Springsteen Cover Me Oct 1984
4 Bruce Springsteen Dancing In The Dark (re-entry) Jan 1985
16 Bruce Springsteen Cover Me (re-entry) Mar 1985
5 Bruce Springsteen I'm On Fire / Born In The USA Jun 1985
17 Bruce Springsteen Glory Days Aug 1985
9 Bruce Springsteen Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town / My Hometown Dec 1985
18 Bruce Springsteen War Nov 1986
16 Bruce Springsteen Born To Run May 1987
20 Bruce Springsteen Brilliant Disguise Oct 1987
13 Bruce Springsteen Tougher Than The Rest Jun 1988
32 Bruce Springsteen Spare Parts Sep 1988
11 Bruce Springsteen Human Touch Mar 1992
34 Bruce Springsteen Better Days May 1992
32 Bruce Springsteen 57 Channels (And Nothin' On) Jul 1992
2 Bruce Springsteen Streets Of Philadelphia Mar 1994
28 Bruce Springsteen Hungry Heart (re-issue) Nov 1995
26 Bruce Springsteen The Ghost Of Tom Joad May 1996
17 Bruce Springsteen Secret Garden Apr 1997
39 Bruce Springsteen Lonesome Day Dec 2002

The UK gets stuff right sometimes

Phases & Stages, Fair Warning, Being There, Night Beat, Dire Straits - all personal faves i've never seen on any of these types of lists before fwiw

i'd have thought Dire Straits were bigger than Springsteen here (if by bigger we just mean sold more albums) yeah

But didn't they sell a lot of albums 'cos they put out the 1st ever CD in Britain... or sumthin'?

Dire Straits had only one more top 10 hit than Springsteen tho, and fewer singles (if only thru being active for less time)

also:

28 Bruce Springsteen Dancing In The Dark May 1984
4 Bruce Springsteen Dancing In The Dark (re-entry) Jan 1985
21 Big Daddy Dancing In The Dark Mar 1985

Now, I could be wrong here, but I thought the Bruce didn't get top 10 w/DITD until *after* Big Daddy's version...

Brothers In Arms: 13xPlatinum in the UK, 9xPlatinum in the US
Born In The USA: 3xPlatinum in the UK, 15xPlatinum in the US

no Ernie K-Doe, Esquire don't know nothin about nothin. #75: Here Come the Girls!!!

mind you...

36 Bruce Springsteen Born To Run Nov 1975
16 Bruce Springsteen Darkness On The Edge Of Town Jun 1978
2 Bruce Springsteen The River Oct 1980
3 Bruce Springsteen Nebraska Oct 1982
1 Bruce Springsteen Born In The U.S.A. Jun 1984
33 Bruce Springsteen The Wild, The Innocent And The E. Street Shuffle Jun 1985
4 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live/1975-1985 Nov 1986
1 Bruce Springsteen Tunnel Of Love Oct 1987
2 Bruce Springsteen Lucky Town Apr 1992
1 Bruce Springsteen Human Touch Apr 1992
4 Bruce Springsteen In Concert - MTV Plugged Apr 1993
1 Bruce Springsteen Greatest Hits Mar 1995 Notes
16 Bruce Springsteen The Ghost Of Tom Joad Nov 1995
12 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live In New York Apr 2001
1 Bruce Springsteen The Rising Aug 2002 Notes
1 Bruce Springsteen Devils And Dust May 2005 Notes
33 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Hammersmith Odeon London '75 Mar 2006 Notes
3 Bruce Springsteen We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions May 2006 Notes
21 Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band Live In Dublin Jun 2007 Notes
1 Bruce Springsteen Magic Oct 2007 Notes
1 Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream Feb 2009 Notes

The second list is much better, it is less earnest and doesn't have the "urgency" about it that the first one does.

looking at wiki, i'm kinda surprised to see that even the last dire straits album went platinum in the states. i don't even remember that album. brothers in arms did 9xplatinum. the first album went to number two on the u.s. rock charts. sultans of swing was immediately huge on the radio here.

i would apologize for introducing the false dichotomy that has now swallowed this thread whole, but it's not like any good was going to come of this thread to begin with

I know what I hate. I hate seeing Mississippi John Hurt sitting on some guy's shopping list of "stuff I gotta have".

"heeeyyyyy, let's make a stock list of take it or leave records for the whiteboy demographic with a smattering of black artists thrown in for the requisite cred"

i can almost guarantee the only people taking this list seriously are on this thread

yeah, i think even in the Esquire offices someone just shouted "hey guys, LISTICLE TIME!" and everyone wrote a few random albums on a post-it note and stuck it on a wall.

until today i was unaware of Esquire's literary trad. ("Esquire began as a racy publication for men, published by David A. Smart and Arnold Gingrich. [2] [3] It transformed itself into a more refined periodical with an emphasis on men's fashion and contributions by Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.")

where's the dance music? not expecting MAW, but no horrible Prodigy or similar?

you're seriously asking for dance traxx on a list of macho manly men records?

I keep looking at this list and I think, "I wouldn't mind listening to any of these". But I have a computer and I would be listening to them in increments. Also, collectively they create a certain mood that is kind of dour. Which is why they should have included Michael Jackson, or a different Cure album, or ANY other "clubby" records. What is macho manly man about being miserable? What about Van Halen?

you're seriously asking for dance traxx on a list of macho manly men records?

hey some of those disco guys are remarkably well built

i'd settle for one grand funk album. the manly man's dance band.

This is a bizarre list. Annoying sincere record twerps don't listen to Morricone, do they? Come on, I've been to these guys' houses.

maybe we could talk about masculinity and music in this thread, like when did 'sad and profound' (and preferably male lead singer) signify troo manhood.

^^this is an interesting qn - i have absolutely no idea what the answer is, it's kind of bemusing to me.

nb i have 8 of these albums

of which i maybe listen to 2 regularly. i really should get that cody chesnutt promo to a charity shop.

did someone ask for manly music?

all my earliest experiences and representations of 'masculinity' in pop came from fruity 80s romantics with crazy hair. i dunno if it was mainly hip-hop that changed this.

Because if you listen to "Party Ass Gay Friends" it means you are not serious or adult enough for today's workforce.

off the top of my head here are 25 better testosterone boosters, if ya don't own them I submit u are a girlyman

motorhead - ace of spades
slayer - reign in blood
schoolly d - best of
ac/dc - dirty deeds done dirt cheap (aussie version w/ jailbreak)
black sabbath - any of first 6, get all 6 to prevent teh gay
butthole surfers - see black sabbath
howling wolf - moanin' in the moonlight
lightning bolt - wonderful rainbow
stooges - fun house
vu - white light white heat
miles davis - black magus
black flag - damaged
link wray - rumble!
scratch acid - the greatest gift
odb - return to teh 36 chambers
johnny thunders & the heartbreakers - LAMF
chrome - alien soundtracks
stones - exile on main street
james brown - love power peace
iron maiden - killers
flipper - album generic
electric wizard - dopethrone
mingus - black saint & the sinner lady
big black - atomizer
gza - liquid swords

aka albums girlfrenz h8

no Hard Again by Muddy "Mississippi" Waters, no cred, man.

Watch it, some of those "testosterone" people are art fags and we don't want your girlfriend finding out about that.

Korn hates the man, dude

^ have new band name now, thx ^

off the top of my head here are 25 better testosterone boosters, if ya don't own them I submit u are a girlyman

How are they working for you so far?

sounds like you are harboring some kind of prejudice against art fags, that's not cool

xp

"Let me help you, miserable white boy!"

this thread has now turned almost dadaesque.

I don't actually own any of those albums, alfred, I just read about them on the internet and am trying to be helpful

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/personal_ad.jpg

haaaa i own more things on EIII's list than the esquire one

If you listen to AC/DC you beat up women.

thanks for the warning

oh no!

this is an awesome list i agree w/abt 85% of it altho they picked the rong metallica album for sure and anyone who played oberlin is probably a retard and a communist

theres a bunch of like soul and rnb albums i handt heard about before will theres some vast knolwedge here 4 sure will have to d/l some of these

you know, Edward, Esquire is more about being a well-rounded, well-dressed ADULT MAN than the testosterone-seething art-hulk you're imagining.

your list is like "how to be the coolest 17 year old at the Magic: The Gathering table"

i thought esquire was some kind of law talk or a british distinction for getting through public school w/o turning fagmo

The Dictionary of Soul, Otis Redding

^^^ d/ling this rite now btw

your list is like "how to be the coolest 17 year old at the Magic: The Gathering table"

fyi no1 even plays this anymore grandpa adn they all the kids at d&d tournaments listen to touch records compilations and femme fatale

This is a bizarre list. Annoying sincere record twerps don't listen to Morricone, do they? Come on, I've been to these guys' houses.

― u s steel, Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:22 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

You are Burt Stanton & I claim my five dollars.

xpxp

i play magic the gathering but usually listen to pentangle when i do it ;)

(still the coolest kid at the table fyi.)

20 ALL TIME ULTIMATE BRO RECORDS.

^^ for comparison

you know, Edward, Esquire is more about being a well-rounded, well-dressed ADULT MAN than the testosterone-seething art-hulk you're imagining.

what magazine is devoted to testosterone-seething art-hulks, would subscribe

Decibel, natch.

Has ILM ever liked a list?

it's more about the journey

speaking of which where the fuck are Journey on this?

Random notes:

I don't know much about Dire Straits but Mark Knopfler - 'Boom Like That' has some of the best lyrics ever. Great drinking song as well.

Explosions In The Sky - did the editor insist on one postrock album and randomly chose the most listenable and 'cool'?

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Soundtrack, Ennio Morricone - why would anyone want to hear this over and over again? The title track already sticks in your head forever.

In general they picked the wrong album for half the bands listed. but at least they are good bands (for the most part)

Joe Jackson made the list! PROPS

I have an esquire subscription, I should check and see if this has came yet.

esquire not down w/the 2000s, huh
― He grew in Pussyville. Population: him. (call all destroyer)

fuck da 2000s

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Soundtrack, Ennio Morricone - why would anyone want to hear this over and over again?

Because they like it?

i think there needs to be a capt lorax thread called "Random notes"

suggest ban

(i have 20 of these btw)

xp

Esquire's the 75 suggest bans every man should own

my point was that it would get annoying fast. (according to the tunes I remember from the movies). not that they are bad

I remember a month or two ago there was a listen-ability meter near the table of contents.. and Andrew Bird was ranked dead middle. I didn't know that he was popular enough to be in esquire magazine. Esquire amuses me.

do we have to sb anyone with an opinion? sheesh

cap if u wanna start a random thoughts thread on i love cricket i would definitely read it

my point was that it would get annoying fast.

My point was that not everyone agrees with you.

The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
The Bends, Radiohead
Gettin' Ready, The Temptations
True Stories, Talking Heads
This Is Hardcore, Pulp
Doolittle, The Pixies

This is interesting if only for pointing out the holes in my CD collection (can't believe I don't own Animals, for example).

Also, Beethoven 5 over Beethoven 9? Really?

True Stories, Talking Heads

^^this is seriously such a bizarre pick for such a "canon" list.

would take any fugazi album over minor threat

also not feeling band of gypsys and ...and justice for all as picks over earlier material.

You are right about Fugazi. But Esquire readers like to feel guilty.

those are my favorite hendrix & metallica albums...does that mean i should start reading esquire? :/

of all the albums to choose to beef with, mofos are picking Morricone??

your list is like "how to be the coolest 17 year old at the Magic: The Gathering table"

― blappy gilmore (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, March 10, 2009 12:48 PM (Yesterday)

lollll

What's wrong with Luna? Penthouse is one of the best albums of the 90s. And Wareham's whole lyrical thing is about being a modem male with good hair, eating and drinking, etc.

She didn't turn up at the airport.

Men don't need to listen to music made by women, is what I'm getting here.

― mh, Tuesday, March 10, 2009 8:58 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

i haven't read this thread, but this is the first thing that occurred to me. Nico, Tina, and Liz Phair are the only women I see listed up there, not counting band members (like, say, Britta Philips)

The list might have more women had it been slanted more heavily to country, of which there's very little. For lots of reasons country has had women artists with higher profiles relative to men than mainstream rock (at least I'd say this is true, thinking of Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Shania Twain, the Judds...).But I gather the Esquire audience doesn't listen to much country (well aside from a little alt-ish-country maybe like Wilco or, shit, I bet there are some people who call the Nirvana unplugged record country).

An extreme US bias in that list, I would say. I mean, it's not that there are no UK albums. Even Stone Roses, who are usually mainly in UK oriented lists, are in there. But generally, very dominated by American music, and Americophile British music.

that's because America is fucking awesome

yes!

RAWK!!!

i forgot about that ultimate bro records thread! thaT HAS great stuff on it. i stand by my list:

July - July
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Doc At The Radar Station
Dizzy Gillespie & Stan Getz - Diz & Getz
Youth Of Today - Break Down The Walls
The Litter - Emerge
Scratch Acid - Beserker
The Beatnuts - Stone Crazy
Mott The Hoople - Mott The Hoople
Nazareth - No Mean City
Howlin' Wolf - LIve And Cookin' At Alice's Revisited
Blue Oyster Cult - Mirrors
Roky Erickson & The Aliens - The Evil One
Black Uhuru - Vital Selection
Discharge - Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing
Ghostface Killah - Ironman
John Coltrane/Archie Shepp - New Thing At Newport
Flipper - Album
J.J. Cale - 5
Fripp & Eno - No Pussyfooting
SSD - How We Rock

but all the lists on that thread are awesome.

An extreme US bias in that list, I would say. I mean, it's not that there are no UK albums. Even Stone Roses, who are usually mainly in UK oriented lists, are in there. But generally, very dominated by American music, and Americophile British music.

― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, March 11, 2009 3:05 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

American music is simply better. Even when Brits make good music, they are often imitating American forms. So there.

The list might have more women had it been slanted more heavily to country, of which there's very little. For lots of reasons country has had women artists with higher profiles relative to men than mainstream rock (at least I'd say this is true, thinking of Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Shania Twain, the Judds...).But I gather the Esquire audience doesn't listen to much country (well aside from a little alt-ish-country maybe like Wilco or, shit, I bet there are some people who call the Nirvana unplugged record country).

― Euler, Wednesday, March 11, 2009 11:03 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

if there was more country it'd just be more badass outlaw male country icons along the lines of Cash, Nelson, etc. not Shania Twain.

no no, most guys love listening to Shania Twain

yeah I know, I was just saying that women being underrepresented is partly a function of what genres they focused on...which is a function of how badass outlaw they want the albums to be...it goes round in circles.

yeah, but you could make that argument in a dozen different directions and it'd still be wrong...R&B is pretty heavy on significant female artists too, but if they added more R&B to the list it'd be Al Green, not Aretha

I don't get it, why Al Green over Aretha? I mean it obviously matters a fuck, but I don't see that it's pro-male songs rather than pro-genres-where-males-are-the-biggest-names.

ah fuck it, I am not enough of a bro to get this, I think.

I would be shocked and amazed if Al Green was on the radar of these listmakers, to be honest.

(ie, I expect they'd pick more Stevie albums)

Al Green would not be the most obscure pick on that list by a long shot...anyway it was just a random example out of a hat, insert any canonical male soul singer.

hai, Otis.

Al Green was on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, therefore not obscure

well Otis is already on there. as is Sam Cooke. both of whom I think AG is at least as famous as. xpost

I think Al Green is more famous than Sam Cooke by far.

these days, yeah, probably.

yeah my point is not "no one would know who the amazingly obscure Al Green is", my point is "these guys wouldn't actually give a shit about Al Green and would pick other Stevie Wonder albums"

I don't think the list is as much about marking the canon as it is making out music that a guy cultivating a certain kind of masculine image would listen to. Now that I get this, I can see why they mostly leave off women and country music.

a) there's only one album per artist, it's pretty clear that's an unspoken rule and b) why wouldn't someone who gives a shit about Redding, Cooke, the Temps, Ray Charles, etc. not give a shit about Green? why is that so implausible?

er double negative there sorry

I dunno, does Al Green project too vulnerable an image for this list? The bulk of these albums project a hard-boiled image that e.g. I'm Still In Love With You seems too soft for, image-wise.

so............do you understand why Shania Twain isn't on the list now?

lol, yes I do, a light has flashed

this list would be a good soundtrack for "Lonely guy just thinking baout things" thread

i just saw the al green pick as one of those "you need to put this on your hi-fi when your special lady is over" kinda things.

al green's "I'm so lonely i could cry" is the definitive version in my mind.

also, no black sabbath on the esquire list is pretty goddamn shameful.

I just ordered different Townes Van Zandt & Sinatra albums from BMG for reasons unrelated to this list.

(I think I have 33)

a) there's only one album per artist, it's pretty clear that's an unspoken rule and b) why wouldn't someone who gives a shit about Redding, Cooke, the Temps, Ray Charles, etc. not give a shit about Green? why is that so implausible?

a) Yeah, I got that; the lack of Green and the inclusion of everyone else you mentioned makes me think these guys don't care about Al Green.

b) See a), plus he's the only one out there in the artists we've listed with a record actively preaching.

morbs, which townes did you get? i could burn you most of them, you know.

Green's religious music makes his secular music off limits? what?

I had 3 free CDs coming to me, as BMG is ending. It's the twofer of High, Low and in Between and The Late Great Townes Van Zandt.

oh you're in for a treat.

yeah i am gonna have to agree with some dude and suggest that people are no more put off green's secular work than they're put off the secular work of like, the staples singers.

Green's religious slant makes his secular stuff less appealing for the purposes of the list posted at the top of this thread. I agree with the larger point.

Everything I'm talking about here is in the confines of what I believe to be the mindset behind the makers of this list; I don't imagine that most people who aren't serious music-for-music's-sake aficionados are going to think of Metallica and Al Green as being easy bedfellows in their CD collection.

it's all top forty dog.

hahahaha like anyone making this list gave a fuck whether Al Green became a minister or not

kudos

20/75, I am a failure of a man

My dad has just two: Dire Straits and Traveling Wilburys. Unshakeable cornerstones of Dadrock.

9/75 and there are a fuck of a lot of records on here I actively hate, including some of those nine I own or have owned. And I'm actually OK about that.

Also from Esquire:
The Ten Types of Music No Man Should Own
Actress Mary-Louise Parker has some helpful advice for you: If one of these appears in your music collection, you're never getting laid again.
1. Records by any act whose name is of a Greek or Latin etymology, i.e. Styx, Megadeth, Yanni.
2. Any recording of Carousel, original Broadway cast or national tour.
3. Any recording by an act or artist who owns a copy of any recording of Carousel.
4. Any soundtrack involving earnest undersea creatures who sing or play drums as they struggle to find their way home.
5. The soundtrack or singles from that aerobics movie with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
6. Any album containing a pop song with recordings of whales or dolphins in the background.
7. Any album by Paul after George died, any album by George after John died, and any album by Ringo after Elvis died.
8. Any of the volumes of Lilith Fair: A Celebration of Women. The DVD is equally, if not more, unacceptable.
9. Any album released between 1984 and 1988 by men wearing unitards or kimonos. Except Boy George.
10. Any tracks or bootleg recordings of the Kiss: Alive II tour. Unless you are twelve.

40/75

its funny i dont own or have a huge number of albums on this list but ive probably heard all of them all the way through more than once

I'm calling bullshit on #2 on Mary-Louise Parker's list.

I'm calling bullshit on #2 on Mary-Louise Parker's list

i'd never heard of carousel

7. Any album by Paul after George died, any album by George after John died, and any album by Ringo after Elvis died.

haha i like this

Mary Louise Parker can say or do whatever she likes

Where is the Sabbath? They didn't even make the B-team list? My lifelong boycott of Esquire will continue.

dude you don't even wanna know what Cat Fancy said about Technical Ecstasy

Carousel may be Rodgers & Hammerstein's top achievement, and the best Broadway musical ever to feature spousal abuse, petty theft, suicide and a ghost dad.

sounds pretty bangin

2. Any recording of Carousel, original Broadway cast or national tour.
3. Any recording by an act or artist who owns a copy of any recording of Carousel.

Time to junk the Esquire list then, Mary-Louise, since Dire Straits' "Tunnel of Love" opens w/ a quote of The Carousel Waltz!

no wonder Billy Crudup left her barefoot & pregnant.

"Tunnel of Love" is on Making Movies, smart guy.

reread her #3 again, Bono.

lol bono is such an excellent and obtuse insult, a++

Oh that's low.

xpost Agreed, point to Morbs. Now I'm all insecure. Is it the glasses?

I'm more surprised that Morbs likes Dire Straits.

hes a lovestruck romeo

xxp: I think it was when you waved that white flag to get my attention in that bar.

I'm pretty sure I don't own any DS; they were inescapable in early '80s.

Do like Knopfler's Local Hero score.

I had fond memories of Brothers in Arms from childhood, so downloaded a copy a few weeks ago. It's kind of horrifying. I mean, it really sounds awful now.

Knopfler's score for Wag the Dog is also very nice.

first side of making movies is all i need of dire straits. but i REALLY do like that first side.

i would listen to love over gold too if someone made me listen to love over gold. i always did like "industrial disease".

"So Far Away" is great!

(xpost)

1. Records by any act whose name is of a Greek or Latin etymology, i.e. Styx, Megadeth, Yanni. Yo La Tengo?
2. Any recording of Carousel, original Broadway cast or national tour. I own an e.p.
3. Any recording by an act or artist who owns a copy of any recording of Carousel.elvis costello
4. Any soundtrack involving earnest undersea creatures who sing or play drums as they struggle to find their way home. I have no idea what this is referring to
5. The soundtrack or singles from that aerobics movie with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. ?
6. Any album containing a pop song with recordings of whales or dolphins in the background. Fred Neil, eat yr heart out
7. Any album by Paul after George died, any album by George after John died, and any album by Ringo after Elvis died. So, owning "two virgins" is alright?
8. Any of the volumes of Lilith Fair: A Celebration of Women. The DVD is equally, if not more, unacceptable.If you sayso
9. Any album released between 1984 and 1988 by men wearing unitards or kimonos. Except Boy George.still reading
10. Any tracks or bootleg recordings of the Kiss: Alive II tour. Unless you are twelve.it is over

xpost There's a couple good songs, but the big hits date worse than you'd even expect.

local hero soundtrack is good. so is the one for Cal.

as much as i love the movie, i can't remember what knopfler's music for last exit to brooklyn sounded like. but i haven't seen the movie in years.

i actually saw them live on the brothers in arms tour and i fell asleep. i was really stoned though. and they played forever.

I still have Brothers in Arms in my iTunes playlist, so I couldn't have hated it that much.

I like "One World." "Can't get no fancy notes on my blue guitar." Picasso feels his pain.

as a woman, I call bullshit on #1 - would be more likely to get w/dude who owns Xenakis albums than not.

there's also esquire's 50 songs every man should be listening to
I don't recognize many of them by name. I wanna download Train Song by Feist and Ben Gibbard

I change my mind, the youtube makes me think it's a boring song (I like plenty of lounge and slow songs but that wasn't my thing)

http://www.mensfitness.com/lifestyle/entertainment/183