My adorable darling, I think of you every night and every morning..."

My current favorite song and video. 

The History of Pan!c - Fight! Fight! Fight!

The History of Pan!c - Fight! Fight! Fight!

Have you heard this record yet? No? That's dumb. Correct this immediately. 

Are we manly now?

So there you have it! My complete run down of Esquire's "75 Albums Every Man Should Own" list is now complete. Do I feel like I'm a better person because of this experience? If manlier equals better (which, yes, obviously it does) than yes I do. Do I think Esquire did a good job with this list? Of course not, but really how could they? It's an impossibly arbitrary and artificial task. There's no way that any one of these 75 selections could universally be loved by literally half of the world's population just because they have a penis. But it did give me a chance to hear some stuff I might not normally have listened to, so I am a winner to me and my therapist says this counts.


I also found a companion list called, "The 75 Albums Every Woman Should Own" which was put out by BitchBuzz (who describe themselves as "the honest women's magazine" whatever "honesty" is) as a response to the Esquire one... Part of me thinks it might be fun to do this all over again from a LADY PARTS PERSPECTIVE! What do you think?

Time To Get Manly 75: Jeff Buckley - Grace

I randomly ran across a list of what Esquire magazine claims are "The 75 Albums Every Man Should Own." In this series of posts, I'll explore these manly, manly sounds.

Jeff Buckley - Grace

Jeff Buckley's untimely and shocking demise left a lot of music fans heartbroken. It also meant that his debut album Grace would be his only studio album. Too young! Too soon! I get that. I won't deny his talent and can see why people love him. However, I can't help but feel like holding Grace up as some kind of classic masterpiece isn't more a psychological reaction to his tragic death and the fact that he's holding an old-timey microphone on the album's cover. Sure the songs are good, but by all accounts they sound very dated. Plus wading into a river to go swimming by yourself with all your clothes on isn't manly. It's stupid.

Time To Get Manly 74: Mahler - Symphony No. 5

I randomly ran across a list of what Esquire magazine claims are "The 75 Albums Every Man Should Own." In this series of posts, I'll explore these manly, manly sounds.

Mahler - Symphony No. 5

Though I'm no stranger to classical music, I decided to consult an expert for this release, as I happen to be related to a total Mahler nerd. This nerd (aka my sister Christine) was pleased that Esquire selected this particular recording. "This is one of the four Mahler 5 recordings I own!" 5 recordings of the same piece? This proves that classical nerds are basically the same as Deadheads but without the dreads and Birkinstocks. She did concur that Mahler's Symphony No. 5 was manly. "It's a loud, brooding piece with lots of brass - definitely manly." She also said that Mahler proposed to his wife by sending her the manuscript to the 4rd movement. Pretty much puts any and every other proposal idea from then on to shame. No wonder guys ask women out via text these days. WHY BOTHER TRYING? Thanks a lot, MAHLER!

Time To Get Manly 73: Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

I randomly ran across a list of what Esquire magazine claims are "The 75 Albums Every Man Should Own." In this series of posts, I'll explore these manly, manly sounds.

Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

Whew. I was beginning to think that this list was going to be a little too light in the jazz loafers, but the inclusion of the great Mingus definitely butches it up a bit. Mingus Ah Um is a great place to start for jazz beginners because it somehow manages to be challenging and accessible at the same time. If you listen to this and like it, congratulations! You like jazz. If you listen to this and it doesn't do it for you, congratulations! You're officially gay married to Kenny G.

Time To Get Manly 72: Neil Young - Harvest

I randomly ran across a list of what Esquire magazine claims are "The 75 Albums Every Man Should Own." In this series of posts, I'll explore these manly, manly sounds.

Neil Young - Harvest

Harvest is Neil Young's most popular album and it is home to some of his most well known songs ("Heart of Gold" and "Old Man"). That said, there's basically no way you can convince me that Esquire didn't pick this because of the song "A Man Needs A Maid." Which would be unfortunate both because of sexism, and because the song is kind of embarrassingly terrible. For all Harvest's charms, I would have picked Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. He's looking totally manly on the cover and on sprawling tracks like "Down By the River" ("Down by the river/ I shot my baby") and "Cowgirl in the Sand" ("When so many love you, is it the same?") he gets to show off his guitar prowess and his homicidal mistrust of whores. Win-win for manliness!