The folks over at OUT magazine just named the “100 Greatest, Gayest Albums of all Time,” which is a list that the world has waited far too long to read. I was quite honored when OUT asked little ol’ me—music writer and professional gay—to cast my vote for the 10 Gayest Albums of all-time or, as I prefer to call it, the “10 Albums That Probably Made Me Gay From Playing Them So Much As A Teenager.” Enjoy.

1. The Smiths – The Smiths
Listen, if you didn’t spend at least a little bit of time in your teen bedroom writing bad poetry and/or crying while this played in the background then you might not really be gay. Just sayin'. This shit is dramatic. Seriously, when was the last time you sang along with the final lines of "Reel Around the Fountain?" (Some people see no worth in you / Oh, but I do / I dooooooooo) I’m crying right now just thinking about it. Debut albums don’t get any better—or more melancholically gay--than this.

2. Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell
Another sparkling debut, the first Depeche Mode record is a pretty fey, sexually ambiguous affair. In 1981 this kind of synth music sounded really futuristic, but hearing it now it kind of sounds like it was made with toy keyboards by queer robots. Vince Clarke jumped ship after DM released Speak & Spell and went on to make even gayer music with Yaz and Erasure (arguably the gayest group EVER). “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “New Life” make this one worth owning.

3. Kitchens of Distinction – Strange Free World
Not only was this British band one of the greatest unsung shoegazer acts of their time (late '80s, early '90s), they were one of the only bands with an openly gay singer AND openly gay love songs as well. I remember seeing the video for “Drive That Fast” on MTV’s 120 Minutes—a black and white clip that featured a beautiful shirtless boy with long hair running in slow motion through the streets of London—and feeling my heart break into a million tiny pieces at that very moment.

4. The B-52’s – The B-52’s
I interviewed The B-52’s earlier this year and I couldn’t help but mention to them that they were they first band that I ever remember hearing and actually recognizing as being something totally queer—before I even knew exactly what that meant. Everyone in the band laughed, but Fred Schneider was quick to point out “We probably made you gay. Sorry about that!”

5. Bronski Beat – The Age of Consent
As a boy who grew up in a small rural farm town, the importance of Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy” is not to be underestimated. Erasure might be the gayest band ever, but this is surely the gayest—and greatest—gay song ever. All hail Jimmy Somerville! Run away! Turn away! Run Away! Turn away! Run away!

6. Suede - Suede
This record came out when I was in college (aka the golden age of drunken dorm room experimentation) and the androgynous couple making out on the cover was a pretty implicit statement of purpose. “The Drowners” and “Animal Nitrate” are brilliant songs, but I’ll mostly always love this album because it helped me make out with a lot of straight dudes back when I was 22.

7. Imperial Teen – Seasick
Early '90s indie-rock was a pretty grungy affair—angsty dudes and really mad girls everywhere—which is what made Imperial Teen such a breath of fresh air. They wrote perfect pop songs with crush-worthy lyrics about crushes: Butch is pink / Butch is blue / You like strawberries / and I like you…

8. Talk Talk – Spirit of Eden
Most people remember Talk Talk because of “It’s My Life,” the band’s song that was memorably covered by No Doubt, but it’s a shame that folks aren’t more familiar with the rest of the band’s catalog. Talk Talk made five great albums during the late '80s and early '90s, none of which sound anything alike. I guess there is nothing explicitly gay about this band, but the music is hyper-emotional and, in the case of Spirit of Eden, incredibly beautiful. “I Believe in You” was the soundtrack to one of my first major heartbreaks and I still can’t listen to it without bawling my eyes out (and yet I still want to listen to it all the time).

9. Pansy Division – Wish I’d Taken Pictures
If you had access to the T. Cole Rachel photographic archives, which are safely locked away in my basement, you could find pictures of me from the mid '90s in which I have long hair (dyed bright red and green), multiple facial piercings, and love for wearing combat boots with shorts. Anyway, it was during this time that I saw openly (and brazenly) gay punk band Pansy Division open for Green Day. Then I went and bought this record because it had a picture of two cute guys making out on the back. What could be more punk rock than punky gay dudes making out? Nothing, my friend.

10. Belle & Sebastian – Tigermilk
When I had finally exhausted all of my old Smiths records (sometime in 1995) and decided to start listening to Pavement like it was my full time job, along comes Belle & Sebastian to totally soundtrack the remainder of my college years. This was music for boys like me—boys who were just too sensitive for this world, boys who wore old man cardigans and nerdy glasses and had vague aspirations towards veganism. I seriously sat around and wrote impossibly bad poetry while listening to Tigermilk, which is perfect background music for when you are feeling creative yet…somehow wistful. Now I listen to it when I’m writing my stories for V Magazine.

Read OUT’s list of the “100 Greatest, Gayest Albums of all Time”

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