So. The list, in alphabetical order by artist, because that's how the discs are shelved:

• Gentlemen by the Afghan Whigs. A fantastic portrait of a disintegrating relationship, with biting lyrics ("She said 'Baby, forever,/ But I don't like to be alone/ So don't stay away too long'/ Baby, forever,/ Well it's Tuesday now,/ I hear him breathing inside of her."), crunching guitars, and a little bit of soul-music crooning mixed in. "My Curse" with guest vocals by Marcy Mays is one of the creepiest songs I've ever heard, and the desperate yearning in the cover of "I Keep Coming Back" gives me chills. It's a tragedy that these guys never really hit it big.
• 1965 by the Afghan Whigs. To be more specific, it's a tragedy that this album didn't sell a billion copies. Described on their (now defunct) web site as an album where "guilt takes a back seat to lust," this is the Whigs making a party album. The whole record is perhaps best summed up by the lyrics (from "Somethin' Hot") "Baby, you don't know/ Just how I lie awake/ And dream a while, about your smile/ And the way you make your ass shake"-- Greg Dulli isn't any more well-adjusted on this record than on Gentlemen, but he's decided to take the whole tortured-alternadude-slash-soul-singer thing, kick out the jams, and just have fun. Allan Bloom would hate this record, but it kicks enough ass to make the Whigs the only band with two albums on this list.
• Abbey Road by the Beatles. Partly, this is nostalgia-- Abbey Road provides the soundtrack for my earliest fragmentary memories. But this is a really solid album, too-- not so much a singles record, but the late Beatles at their very best. Sgt. Pepper gets play for being the first concept album, and the White Album has more famous singles, but Abbey Road is where they put it all together, and did it right.

• Making Movies by Dire Straits. Yeah, fine, "Hand in Hand" is sappy and "Les Boys" is filler, but somehow they fit on this record. And "Romeo and Juliet" is worth inclusion in the "great hopeless love song" canon, while "Tunnel of Love" and "Skateaway" are great tunes.
• Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan. Dylan's famous breakup album, and one of the great downer records of all time. Everybody knows "Tangled Up In Blue," but "Idiot Wind" is one of the great bitter breakup songs, "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts" is vintage playful Dylan, and "If You See Her, Say Hello" does a wonderful job of capturing a certain kind of just-been-dumped desperation.
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