Sunday, July 12

Esquire's "75 Albums Every Man Should Own"

By Esquire's own admission, their list of "75 Albums Every Man Should Own" is incomplete, but that still hasn't stopped them from taking on the task. I'm not really sure what the criteria is, but the albums on the list suggest an introspective look at the male experience over what would sound good at a football stadium, although some albums fit the bill (I'm looking at you AC/DC). It's a pretty decent list of records, but I wish that Esquire could have went more into depth as to why I, a man, or anybody for that matter, should own Kiss' Destroyer.

The list (in alphatetical order):

AC/DC - Highway to Hell

Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique

The Beatles - Rubber Soul

Beethoven - Symphony No. 5

David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

James Brown - Live at the Apollo

Jeff Buckley - Grace

Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club

Bill Callahan - Woke on a Whaleheart

The Cars - The Cars

Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison

Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western

Cody Chestnut - The Headphone Masterpiece

Vic Chestnutt - Left To His Own Devices

The Clash - Combat Rock

Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen

Sam Cooke - Night Beat

Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom

Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain

Drive-By Truckers - Brighter than Creation's Dark

Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks

Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place

Marvin Gaye - What's Goin On

The Grateful Dead - American Beauty

Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction

Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys

Iggy Pop - Lust For Life

Joe Jackson - Look Sharp!

Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt

Kiss - Destroyer

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

Luna - Penthouse

Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 5

Bob Marley - Catch a Fire

Metallica - ...And Justice For All

Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

Minor Threat - Out of Step

Mississippi John Hurt - The Best of Mississippi John Hurt

Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly OST

Nas - Illmatic

Willie Nelson - Phases and Stages

Nirvana - Unplugged

The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die

Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Pearl Jam - Ten

Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville

Pink Floyd - Animals

Pixies - Doolittle

Pulp - This Is Hardcore

Radiohead - The Bends

Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

Ramones - Road To Ruin

Otis Redding - The Dictionary Of Soul

Slick Rick - The Great Adventures Of...

The Rolling Stones - Aftermath

Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness of the Edge of Town

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

Taj Mahal - Take A Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home
Talking Heads - True Stories

Television - Marquee Moon

The Temptations - Gettin' Ready

The Travelling Wilburys - The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

Ike and Tina Turner - Workin' Together

Van Halen - Fair Warning

Townes Van Zandt - Live at the Old Quarter

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico

Tom Waits - Small Change

The Who - Who's Next

Wilco - Being There

Hank Williams - The Unreleased Recordings

Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life

Neil Young - Harvest

And before you guys get your boxers all twisted up, Esquire also added a list of 30 more albums that just missed the cut:

Beck - Odelay

Chuck Berry - The Great Twenty-Eight

The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo

The Cure - Disintegration

Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley

The Doors - The Doors

Four Tops - Reach Out

Green Day - Dookie

Buddy Holly - 20 Golden Greats

Michael Jackson - Thriller

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

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

Joy Division - Closer

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

Motley Crue - Girls, Girls, Girls

My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves

Elvis Presley - The Sun Sessions

The Pretenders - The Pretenders

Prince - Purple Rain

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik

R.E.M. - Murmur

Anything by Little Richard

Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bullocks

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

Sly and the Family Stone - Greatest Hits

The Stooges - The Stooges

Jackie Wilson - Mr. Excitement!

U2 - The Joshua Tree

ZZ Top - Tres Hombres

[Idolator via Esquire]