Romantic Moods

The Beatles said, "All you need is love", and we've taken them at their word with this playlist of all-time romance classics. These tunes replicate the experience of reclining by an open fire, on a soft rug, with the object of your desires. You're bound to get very hot under the collar and end up shedding clothes. Easy now.

If you've got this far and you're not already a cauldron of seething passion, we can only presume you're listening to these sound-bombs of love out of doors, on an ice-flow somewhere due south of Cape Horn. Don't despair though: all resistance is futile in the face of Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" and Usher's "Hottest Thing".

Thanks to our selection of grooves that are lathered with thick dollops of romance, your evening has been a resounding success. Now it's time to bask in the afterglow of love and offer up some praise. If words don't come easy, Mel Tormé weighs in with "You're a Heavenly Thing".

What is romance, exactly? Is it a walk in the park at sunset, or a plate of oysters by candlelight, or an enormous waterbed with a shag-pile duvet and an in-built whipped-cream dispenser? The truth is that romance is many things to many people, but one factor is constant: the need for a great soundtrack. Here, you'll find all the tunes you'll ever need for an evening of passion — from the manly chest-hairiness of Tony Bennett to the ecstatic womanhood of Destiny's Child.