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

Bowie Downunder

22. Not sure I wholeheartedly approve of Esquire's methodology. Or existence.



Everyday I write the book

13.

True Stories? Really?

It's amazing how many weak picks from great artists they have on their list. Road To Ruin? Animals? Harvest Moon? Combat Rock? Aftermath? Not necessarily bad albums but certainly not their artist's finest.

And they list the Traveling Wilburys. Sick.

Anyway, Adams asked for the albums we have heard, here is may list, split into those which I own and and those which I know from listening. The total is 33 and from those albums which I have just heard "Songs In The Key Of Life" is the only one I am sure I'll buy it one day.

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
Led Zeppelin (I), Led Zeppelin
The Cars, The Cars
Highway To Hell, AC/DC
Catch a Fire, Bob Marley
MTV Unplugged in New York, Nirvana
Rubber Soul, The Beatles
Velvet Underground and Nico, Velvet Underground
This Is Hardcore, Pulp
Appetite for Destruction, Guns N' Roses
Combat Rock, The Clash
Road to Ruin, The Ramones
Marquee Moon, Television
Buena Vista Social Club, Buena Vista Social Club
Live at Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash
Grace, Jeff Buckley
Harvest Moon, Neil Young
Look Sharp!, Joe Jackson
Pet Sounds, Beach Boys

Adding those which I have heard:

Dire Straits, Dire Straits
Aftermath, The Rolling Stones
Destroyer, KISS
The Bends, Radiohead
The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1, The Traveling Wilburys
True Stories, Talking Heads
Animals, Pink Floyd
Ten, Pearl Jam
Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder
Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce Springsteen
Who's Next, The Who
Fair Warning, Van Halen

TW GOD OF FOOTBALL

I've got 39 of them. There's 3 or 4 that I've heard but never owned. There are definitely some odd titles on the list. Animals is a great album- but I wonder why it's chosen over Dark Side of the Moon. Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom is good but not his best. I didn't see a Dylan or Zappa title on the list either.

I just noticed Bob Dylan's Blood on the tracks on the list. Still,IMO, there should be a Zappa title on it. What happened to the edit function with posts? I didn't have the option.

Own 36, and have at least a passing familiarity with another 16.

My vote for strangest inclusion is split between the Chesnutts, Cody and Vic.

I don't walk it like I talk it cause I run it

Ha! I had the exact same reaction, schizophrenic. True Stories? Really?

Lame list.

Of the countless dozens, if not hundreds, of album lists posted on TW down the years, I believe this out-sucks them all.

My niceness is another quality others do not now know to handle.

This list is the list of one individual. that's all.

totally fascinating that one of the only women on this list is liz phair, and exile in guyville in particular.

there's bourbon on the breath of the singer you love so much
he takes all his words from the books that you don't read anyway

Yeah, I noticed that its companion list, '75 books every man should read', contained precisely no women.

Adam, I demand you do some background checks on Esquire magazine. Who owns it, when was it founded, that sort of thing. Also, what its target demographic is. As far as I can determine, it's a gay mag for 'hetero' men.

My niceness is another quality others do not now know to handle.

No GWAR???

Non importa quanto si aspetta,ma chi si aspetta.

well, to their credit, they did include flannery o'connor's a good man is hard to find, which is one of my personal favorites.

but, you're right: it seemed like a lot descriptions (for music and books) were along the lines of "this will teach you everything you need to know about women," but to be honest i've never been more floored than when a man can say he's read jane austen.

target audience? not who i would have expected, or they're not doing a very good job.

there's bourbon on the breath of the singer you love so much
he takes all his words from the books that you don't read anyway

In reply to:

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True Stories? Really?

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Probably their worst album. That must be a joke.

Also, The Bends??? Surely everything they've done since has been better.

When Bowie meets Satie | Froggy does Bowie

See, I wouldn't say The Bends is any worse than their other albums, just significantly less ambitious. Taken as a straightforward rock album, it's pretty incredible.

High and Dry is a real stinker, though.

When Bowie meets Satie | Froggy does Bowie

Wash your mouth out Frog.

I used to be with it, but then they changed what "it" was. Now, what I'm with isn't it, and what's "it" seems weird and scary to me.

Even Thom says it's a bad song.

When Bowie meets Satie | Froggy does Bowie