Records To Die For

Once each year, since 1991, we've asked our writers, both hi-fi and music, to name two of their favorite albums of all time—albums that are, to them, "to die for." It has long been one of our most popular features.

Originally a light-hearted conceit based on a phrase that was popular at the time (footnote 1), there never was a real implication that anyone would give up their life for this music. Yet, for many of us, it has always carried that baggage. So, while this has long been my favorite Stereophile feature, I've never cared for the name.

Immediately after I became Stereophile's editor, I started playing around with the name. Music, after all, is the stuff of life. So what's all this about dying?

I quickly learned that the phrase "to live for" is much more popular than "to die for," and always has been. And, as measured by its appearance in published works, "to live for" has never been more popular.

My favorite formulation of this notion—because of how it captures the connection between living and dying—was laid down by the late music critic John Swenson, in his March 2021 My Back Pages essay. He called his favorite records "death-row discs." These are records that, at the end of your life, you'd want—you'd need—to hear one last time. Maybe the records—and that desire—would even keep you alive a little longer.

This year, I'm making it official: Records to Live For. R2D4—Records to Die For—is now R2L4.

How does it work? Writers choose two albums they care about a lot. There aren't many rules. Writers must not repeat a previous selection, although they can choose a new reissue of a previous choice. The other rule is that it must be possible to obtain the record, even if it requires sacrifice, loss of wealth, or serious determination. I've been soft on this rule: These recordings are worth some sacrifice to obtain.

Without further ado, here it is: Records to Live For, 2023.—Jim Austin

---

Footnote 1: Like almost every pop-culture phrase of the last half-century, this one has had a movie named after it—rather, three of them, including a well-known Gus Van Sant film with an all-star cast from 1995, the year the phrase's popularity peaked, according to Google's N-gram viewer. There have also been two novels. In music, there have three songs by that name (including a recent one by Sam Smith), an album (by hardcore metal band Integrity), and a Finnish goth-metal band (with slashes between the words: To/Die/For). In 2013, American pop-noise band Scarling released a single called "Who Wants to Die for Art?" Yes, that's it exactly! No one wants to die for art!—Jim Austin