Hey, you know what’s fun?! Esquire‘s list of the 75 albums that every man should own. If by fun you mean shooting yourself in the face with semen. Which clearly, I do. Let us learn what it’s like to be a man from Esquire.
The Stone Roses, The Stone RosesBrit pop’s platonic ideal.
Lust for Life, Iggy PopIn 1977 Iggy ran off to West Berlin with David Bowie to record an album so juiced with spleen that even cruise-line commercials can’t make it sound safe.
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, PavementMakes 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.
The Headphone Masterpiece, Cody ChessnutThirty-six R&B songs recorded on a four-track at home. Makes you wish the lo-fi approach wasn’t almost exclusively embraced by sad white kids.
MTV Unplugged in New York, NirvanaIt’s the last time a huge band recorded a surprising album.
Woke on a Whaleheart, Bill CallahanBecause we’re all just like a bee that “tries to find purchase in a turning spoke from Memphis to Potomac never giving up hope.”
The Velvet Underground & Nico, Velvet UndergroundMakes you think that a woman’s voice could do any rock band good. Lou Reed’s heroin-addled musical lifeblood, for so long dependent on grit and experimentation, is chastened and made beautiful.
Workin’ Together, Ike & Tina TurnerBecause they never did anything nice… and easy. They only did it nice… and rough.
The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place, Explosions in the SkyWords sometimes mess things up, fumbling, mumbling, and sometimes we need to be reminded what four super-earnest guys can do with some guitars and drums when they really care about what they leave behind. Chuck Klosterman once wrote that listening to Explosions in the Sky could make hanging drywall seem transcendental, and he was right. Make this record your soaring soundtrack to just about anything you might do – driving through snowy fields, playing with your kids after dinner, putting ink into the copy machine – and you’ll feel capable of achieving something powerful and beautiful at the same time.
Exile in Guyville, Liz PhairLiz Phair can make you feel ashamed to be a man. And to want to make it up to her.
Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie WonderStevie Wonder can make magic in minutes, but this complex double album took him two years to produce. Gritty, funky, and lush.
Grace, Jeff BuckleyHallelujah.