The 100 Greatt, Gayt Albums (of All Time)

Contents:

• THE GAY ESSENTIALS: THE 75 ALBUMS EVERY GAY MAN NEEDS TO OWN
• MARV GAYE ALBUMS RANKED
• TOP 50 GAY ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
• ;S 100 GREATT, GAYT ALBUMS (OF ALL TIME)
• MARV GAYE

THE GAY ESSENTIALS: THE 75 ALBUMS EVERY GAY MAN NEEDS TO OWN

As pri month heats up, we took upon the impossible task of roundg out the 20 most important albums to shape gay culture – an sential llectn of blockbter classics and subversive selectns alike.

The Brish new wave four piece’s sophomore album is the group’s personal favore. In fact, two tracks om her sophomore album played pivotal rol recent queer entertament: RuPl’s Drag Race star Sasha Velour went on to snatch the season 10 crown followg a jaw-droppg lip sync to “So Emotnal” and Pose’s Jamal (played by Ryan Jamaal Swa) won hearts durg a dance school dn to the in’s mega-h “I Wanna Dance wh Somebody.

Cher has spent an illtr reer pop reventg herself to the adoratn of the gays, and possibly never moro than her twenty-send stud album, Believe. This album’s smash-h tle track was one of the first popular tracks to e to-tune, which opened a sonic Pandora’s box unto the gay mic scene forever. But given s benchmark as the bt-sellg pilatn album by a solo artist, The Immaculate Collectn is a mt for any gold star gay’s rerd llectn.

MARV GAYE ALBUMS RANKED

On “Free Xone, ” she sgs of gay and lbian upl who are “ee to be who you really are” and her mega-h “Together Aga” rells a iend who died of plitns related to AIDS. A later, the rerd’s biggt triumphs, “Call Your Girliend” and “Dancg On My Own, ” are still regular rotatn at gay bars.

Mother Monster solidified her stat as a gay in wh this album. Nk’s “Raise Your Glass” led the charts at the time, Gaga didn’t mce word about the dience the album’s tular anthem was tend for, sgg, “No matter gay, straight, or bi / Lbian, transgenred life / I’m on the right track, baby / I was born this way.

While his sophomore output Bloom gaed more mercial succs, ’s his enchantg but that serv a spot every queer person’s talog. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, ' 1967"I uldn't help beg fluenced by this tly trailblazg album by the ultimate pop group, who was managed by a gay man, Brian Epste. In the Uned Stat alone, queer and trans folks spent the year workg tirelsly agast more than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills state legislatur (cludg Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and Arkansas’ ban on genr-affirmg re for young people), threats towards genr diverse kids and their fai, a fatal shootg at a gay nightclub, and untls more tragedi and setbacks.

TOP 50 GAY ALBUMS OF ALL TIME

Mic rapper/R&B sger born Danielle Balbuena v listeners to a web of her own sonic sign wh her darg sophomore album You Can’t Kill Me. For his long-awaed sophomore album, unrground NYC rapper Cak Da Killa uld have merely rumed his posn as the motor-mouthed firebrand of his early reer. Wh Hold On, Baby, feels like she’s fally found — the sger-songwrer’s sophomore album strik a balance between sacchare pop hooks and broodg die rock productn that her but never que managed.

;S 100 GREATT, GAYT ALBUMS (OF ALL TIME)

The years may have put a slight stra on his voice, but they’ve only sharpened his penchant for cisive tal of sorrows both small (rejectn “Gay Bar Blu”) and far-reachg (the tle tracks tails a romance the face of racism, which ends tragedy). After a but of experimental, Korn-meets-Brney-Spears sonic fn, many were surprised when Sawayama’s sophomore effort felt more subdued and hive s soft-pop-rock feel.

“Relax, ” particular, was a glorly unlikely chart-topper — was all too much for the BBC, but the fact that was banned by the Beeb didn’t hurt s populary, and as far as smugglg a song about gay culture ( this se sex) to the mastream go, was right up there wh Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Si. Le1f — Dark York mixtapeLe1f himself seems as tired of the “gay rap” label as anyone else. You n see his pot — his mic is ace, and certaly warrants regnn regardls of his sexualy — but sadly, the fact that openly gay rappers are still very th on the ground the days means that anyone buckg the trend is likely to ntue to attract both tert and Majty — Futuristilly SpeakgBeyond the open secret that was Queen Latifah’s sexualy, gay female rappers have also been relatively hard to fd.

Thaemlz him/herself intifi as pansexual and transgenr, and has a great al of fascatg stuff to say about inty polics, genr, and and the Johnsons — I Am a Bird NowAntony’s background li radil gay performance art and theatre, all of which plays to his strikgly sad and betiful but album. Scissor Sisters — Scissor SistersThe qutsential ’00s party album and a wdow straight to NYC’s gay nightlife of the era. Jake Shears, et al, are fantastic pop songwrers, but ccially, they’re not jt that — there’s real emotnal ronance to this album, pecially “Mary” (Shears’ logy to his ad bt iend) and closg track “Return to Oz, ” a strikg portra of how New York’s gay muny has been affected by crystal meth — The Marriage of Te MdsAn album tle that also provis a neat and rather touchg summatn of the relatnship between s creators, who are a uple and have been makg fascatg, cerebral electronic mic together for more than a .

MARV GAYE

Hüsker Dü — Zen ArIt seems strange to clu Hüsker Dü here bee their mic was so genr-ntral — the band steadfastly ma no acknowledgement at all of the fact that Bob Mould was gay and Grant Hart was bisexual, perhaps bee the two were too by hatg one another to worry about anythg else. ” It was the soundtrack to many a ’90s teen’s self-qutng, somethg not exactly disuraged by Brett Anrson and his “I’m a bisexual man who’s never had a homosexual experience” Divisn — That’s So GayFor all s mythology of unnstraed self-exprsn, the ultra-macho world of punk hasn’t always been super gay-iendly, which perhaps explas the emergence of queerre as s own genre.

You uld choose many exampl om s lumari and/or lser lights for this list (I’m particularly partial to largely unherald Atralian band Anal Traffic, who are ungoogleable for obv reasons), and the origal hardre-centric scene has created all manner of offshoots, cludg…Hunx and His Punx — Gay SglSexualy be damned, the important qutn is: do you like rock ‘n’ roll?!