Gentlemen by Afghan Whigs

Gentlemen, the Afghan Whigs' fourth album, came out on October 5, 1993, and it was the Cincinnati band's first record for a major label, Elektra, after their years on Sub Pop. Greg Dulli produced it himself, mostly at Ardent Studios in Memphis, and he wrote the songs on the road touring Congregation, their 1992 album. Dulli sang and played rhythm guitar, Rick McCollum played lead, John Curley was on bass and Steve Earle rounded out the lineup.

It's a breakup record, and a nasty one: a song cycle that follows a toxic relationship all the way down to its bitter end, with Dulli spitting grim, acid-tongued lines like a man who knows exactly how much of the blame is his. What sets the Whigs apart from the grunge pack is the soul in it. The guitars crunch and snarl, but the grooves slink and swing like an old soul revue, and Dulli croons and wails like he's been raised on classic R&B. "Debonair" struts in on a coiled, seductive riff, the title track throbs with menace, and "What Jail Is Like" is pure bruised swagger.

Critics have come to rank it as the band's finest hour and one of the great breakup albums, a record nobody should skip when they're digging through the '90s. It got a deluxe remaster for its 21st anniversary and a whole volume in the 33⅓ book series, and the What Jail Is Like EP followed it.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.