Both lose nothing to the game changing selections on your list. With that said…I’m a metal head through and through. Their eighth studio album, The Dark Side of the Moon is, today, considered to be one of the most progressive and conflicting albums ever produced. Where is Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby? Demon Days features contributions from MF DOOM, De La Soul, and many, many more, and includes such gems as “Feel Good Inc.” (you know that one), “Dirty Harry” and “DARE.” Often placed on best album lists, this one lives up to the hype. Sure, the idea of an album about an alien visiting Earth with a message of piece sounds like the making of something that would end up in the $1 bin at your local record store, but not in the hands of Bowie. This is perhaps one of the most groundbreaking albums on the list as prior to Marley, reggae wasn’t a mainstream genre and didn’t fair well on the charts as some other styles. Ah, Tony Bennett. Revolver - The Beatles. Their self-titled debut was good; their follow-up was better. Some time in the distant future, when all genres have evolved into something unrecognizable, people will look back on Led Zeppelin IV as the album that is rock. Boston was more than lucky. You? I’m not a big Johnny Cash fan, but I do own two copies of this righteous record. We are way too quick to judge. Which is to say, go dig a ditch in your backyard, put your phone in a Ziplock bag and bury it. I think elbow’s the seldom seen kid should be there as well.. not sure if you were aware that ‘Legend’ is a posthumous compilation of some of Bob Marley’s most enduring songs. In fact, they may even consider themselves lucky with one. He’s pompous, self-absorbed, and kind of a dick. Before that, you can listen to the two legend’s collaborative album, Ain’t Gone Do It / Terms and Conditions. cliched ? With The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust, the late David Bowie created a fictional universe to explore. While some of our readers I’m sure love it, I had to assume that the vast majority of men that regularly peruse Gentleman’s Gazette are not Eminem and Kanye West fans. Get it here. Do you like Lennon, click here. Good, solid list…..that said, where’s Dylan, the Blues, Big Band and two from Miles? From the title alone you know what you’re getting—an odd, grotesque adventure into Kanye’s mind. You could dip your toes in by listening to “Starman” or “Five Years,” but we’d recommend diving headfirst to fully appreciate what the iconic artist created. click here. It seems like the 70’s were a big deal for the rock genre and English band Pink Floyd sure capitalized on it. The obvious choice when it comes to Weezer is The Blue Album. Violin Essentials is a good blend of the classics with the raw emotion of Chee-Yun. That, coupled with the fact that Pinkerton is actually really great, has given the album a cult-like following. It goes without saying that Maria Callas is one of the greatest opera singers of the 20th century. Peaking at number two on the Billboard, it’s the first jazz album ever to be certified Platinum. With OK Computer they showed the world what they were really about. Even if it’s not my cup of tea, I’m certain another reader will happily agree with you. It’s received critical acclaim and is absolutely worthy of being considered one of the top thirty albums on our list. Listen 3 times before you judge. Despite that, it was named the best record of the year in 2002 by Pitchfork, one of the 100 best albums of the decade by Rolling Stone, and is adored by millions who feel the record is their personal secret. Besides being the first Wu-Tang album and thus introducing the world to the likes of RZA, Ghostface Killah, ODB, Method Man, and more, Enter the Wu-Tang is credited as the album that established the East Coast Renaissance in hip-hop. You may recognize some of these albums from our guide to 30 albums every man should listen to, but this feature will focus exclusively on jazz […], © Copyright 2010 - 2019 - Gentleman's Gazette LLC, The Beatles – Sgt. So congratulations, J.A. It’s a superb album and one you should get your hands on if you don’t own it already. It altered the syntax of the music … in a way I compare to James Joyce’s Ulysses.” Are You Experienced? It was released by Sony Classics and is actually relatively new, coming out in 2013. It’s just an album you need to have and if you only own one album by Tony Bennett – this is the one it should be. It’s your choice. It’s ludicrous, outlandish, and beyond brilliant. not me. Another album that was initially met with mixed reviews, it has since gone down in history being called one of the greatest albums of all time. On a winter day, just drop the needle and let it go. Next, I cut out some genres – or at least limited them. What if some of us don’t like it regardless of the content, and just find it jarring to hear a person rap? Not only did it become a hit both stateside and overseas, but it still feels like a record by that band only you and a few people know about. That was the next factor. Another classic jazz album is John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. Of course it’s subjective, but really, come on. In an age of Spotify playlists and 99-cent downloads, owning an entire album is kinda pointless. There are plenty of bands and artists that had one or two great songs. I like to think I have a small hand in that. A perfect blend of cool and West Coast jazz, the album is based on the use of time signatures that were highly unusual for jazz. Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water. Eminem, and a couple other rap and hip hop artists who defined a generation, are musts. There are two types of people in the world: who have to do something while listening to music, and the others, who instead want to be very concentrated on the melody and avoid distractions. As you may know, the opposite happened. Often viewed as one of the most groundbreaking albums of all time, Pet Sounds from The Beach Boys brings together elements from genres as different as jazz and classical. Most things that are cool become popular and, in turn, see their coolness fade. If you’re interested in this music, click here. It doesn’t. The Ramones were one of the biggest bands of their time and to this day still get a ton of radio play. More here. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1987 along with countless other awards. At just 35 minutes, Nobody is Listening, made after three years filled with collaborations and singles, is a short album.But its 11 tracks leave very little to be desired and manage to bring out all the best qualities of Zayn’s sound while still catering to his own vocal abilities. When Marley worked with the Wailers on the album in 84’, one can only guess he never anticipated the sales and popularity it would achieve. I’m going to guess that number is low considering we’re not even taking into account self-produced music, but imagine my frustration with having to short-list just thirty of the top albums that every man should listen to. I grew up listening to him and to this day, he has remained one of my favorite singers. "We talked about the concept of it, and how people might listen to music, and how it affects people in different ways," Stapleton told Radio.com. Perhaps one of the manliest albums ever recorded, Cash is said to have wanted to perform at the prison after writing its namesake song. Thom Yorke’s voice feels as much an instrument as any of the pieces used. The Eagles were an unstoppable rock band and this is their top selling album with a record of 32 million sold worldwide and 16 million in the United States alone. Despite receiving mixed reviews, Bitches Brew turned out to be Davis’ first gold record. But what makes it stand out from many others in that genre is its ability to make people revisit their confusion over dubstep. Get Time Out here. If I was going to rely on the advice of the “experts” this list would be packed full of Taylor Swift, One Direction, Justin Bieber and maybe the Rolling Stones for good measure. No Ellington? There are albums where every song could be a single. Considered one of the greatest guitar players of all time, this album was home to four songs that made Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Want to listen to Sonny Rollins? Why buy or listen to a full album when you can just grab the highlights, right? No, For Emma, Forever Ago is much more than a breakup album. So, while I take no exception with Miles Davis on your list, I do with him being included twice. Though it was his sophomore album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City really introduced the world to Kendrick Lamar’s unique brand of rapping and telling a story in the process. In fact, the only song that everyone collaborated on is “The Chain.” The process produced a record that sounds like a therapy session, with powerful tracks from Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie all tossed together. Click here. Songs like “Around the World” got them noticed, but it wasn’t until the release of their sophmore album, Discovery, until the robotic French music makers were loved. I placed a phone call to Rolling Stone (it would have been nice if they answered) and I even called a few contacts at some of the major record labels. I have so much respect for Sven and J.A. Time Out is one of those albums on my own personal top 10 lists. She was hailed as La Divina and, in my opinion, this is her best album ever recorded because it shows her range and her dramatic gifts. His rendition of Blue in Green is one of the best ever made. I have a “3 listens” policy when it … You can find it here. They’re just that good. Here you can get The Very Vest of Maria Callas. It’s an incredible album and one that belongs in any jazz lovers collection. Back then, they actually knew how to write songs and they sang them without auto-tune. They have so many popular albums from the White Album to Abbey Road, but I wanted to pick one that was still at the top of the charts, but not as publicly well known as the others. No, that’d be arrogant of me. When it comes to modern music, Waterhouse is a force and brings the age-old swing back to us in a new and thriving way. The Rolling Stones, next to maybe the Beatles are widely considered the most popular musical group in history. It has every song he was ever famous for and plenty of others. And when it comes to cohesion, The Dark Side of the Moon feels like one complete work, not a series of tracks, as each song reflects a different stage of human life, and when listened to in order presents the band’s attempt at describing the human experience. This is a part of the history of musical recordings. There’s no point in listening to any must listen to list that does not include Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks. The second step was to consider our readership. It is incredibly difficult to be both popular and cool. If there’s one album on this list that you might not be familiar with, it’s Untrue, the second studio album for electronic musician Burial. It’s often a love / hate relationship and we can’t all be expected to like the same songs. So that was the next factor I considered. Personally, I am a big fan of classical music and of course I like the Goldberg Variations by Bach. If a song were a movie, for me this one would be an eight-minute slice of life on a busy street corner in a grungy metropolis… it was crazy good and I enjoyed it so much I went over to iTunes and bought that live performance and a studio album version for comparison. And in the darkest corners is apparently where Kanye stores his most brilliant ideas, because the tracks sound like Kanye on steroids. No. It's got a section specifically made for keeping track of albums you physically own! It’s the most perfect album on a list of perfect albums. I mean, simply wearing a tux and a suit doesn’t cut it in my opinion, especially if you are involved in illegal activities and kill others. It was released on 4 May 2007 in Ireland, 7 May 2007 in Europe and 15 May 2007 in North America. Find it here. Since that time, it’s gone on to be one of the most influential albums ever recorded in the history of music. Led Zeppelin IV was when they got it all right. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced? The first single, "Ordinary Day", was released in late April. Through surrealist imagery and different voices, Ocean crafted one of the most complex albums about love and loss that would make any singer-songwriter jealous. Besides, it’s a polarizing genre to say the least. A very brave attempt! For a lazy Sunday, you could do far worse than letting the record drop on Kind of Blue. And getting together is kind of what music is all about. Also, regarding earlier comments, while the list is quite strong, the exclusion of rap oriented recordings is a bit glaring. It’s cool, jazzy and takes me back to a better time when the sun is hot, the palm trees are swaying and there’s a cool drink in my hand. You can find all your favorites artists and albums. However, if you where to have added another Country album, I would have said probably Willie Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger should make it there. His rendition of Blue in Green is one of the best ever made. You may remember Nick Waterhouse from an in-depth feature we did on him a number of months ago. Then he paired them with words. Every track is perfect. No Louis Armstrong? I think about the classical albums (Callas and Pavarotti), you like it or not, one of the most iconic classical album is Glenn Gould’s Goldberg-variations by Bach. Anyway, this may sound controversial, but should people of the Mafia be regarded as gentlemen? In the right hands, however, this type of music can be as exciting as any grand score from an 8-piece band. I consider this album far superior to sgt peppers and abbey road. But don’t let Kanye the guy turn you off of Kanye the artist, because some of his albums are damn near perfect. Do you like Simon & Garfunkel? This was the first album ever released by Verve Records and Fitzgerald’s work with the label resulted in an album that showed the very peak of her range and vocal prowess. Not to mention I could throw out the standard writer’s argument of free speech and yada-yada-yada…. Sun Sessions is the one record of his that takes all of his first, and most important songs and packs them into one album. More of Johnny cash here. You don’t become the best-selling jazz record of all time with just a few good cuts. We mean, it is the one with all the hits—”Buddy Holly,” “Say It Ain’t So,” “My Name Is Jonas.” The Blue Album is great. The fifth and final album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is considered their most ambitious and exemplary recording ever produced by the duo. For those who enjoy classical music as much as I do, Chee-Yun is one of the best violinists alive today. Some feel he was overrated but other’s think he’s a genius. It’s his unique sound and talent that put him in this list. The "Ordinary Day" video was shot in the city of … Sure, they … Both a commercial and critical smash hit, Led Zeppelin’s fourth studio album is filled with some of the most iconic rock songs of all time—”Going to California,” “Black Dog,” and a little ditty called “Stairway to Heaven.” While Led Zeppelin is no doubt one of the most important rock acts in history, it’s not as if every album they put out was perfect. That being said,w hat hip hop album would you list here? I put that record on Girl you know what song And I let it play again and again You're in every line Takes me back in time Yeah tonight I'm wondering What are you listening to Is it a cover band in some college town bar Where it's na-na-na's and air guitars Or is it something to get you through Just a sad song playing on the radio station Tears still fall and hearts still breakin' Cause you're hanging on Or is it a love song about someone new What are you listening … Not quite as popular as Imagine, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was Lennon’s debut solo album and according to the critics, his finest solo album full of honest and artistic integrity. But, does that really qualify the album they’re on to be considered one of the 30 best albums ever made? Sgt. If Maria Callas is one of the most influential sopranos, than Plácido Domingo is one of the great tenors and a conductor known for his ringing and dramatic tone, strength and versatility. click here. Want to listen to Sonny Rollins? 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