Desert Island Draft Thread

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Fuck. Finally.

 

The White Album and Abbey Road finally go. You should all be ashamed that an album by somebody named "Chalie" went first, by the way.

It really was a priority/gaming issue for me. When two of the albums I would have considered top-5ers disappeared before my first pick, planning became a bigger issue. I didn't want a Beatles album top 2 or 3, and it became pretty clear after those rounds that they were not really on top of too many participants' lists. It gave me a chance to make sure I could grab albums I thought might go more quickly among this group (Blonde on Blonde, Surfer Rosa) or that I figured might be a surprise pick of someone whose taste wasn't that familiar to me (the Can or Neutral Milk Hotel albums would fit here). And I still got bit on some things like Aquemini and Bowie nonetheless as a result of a few reaches. In that sense I'm still having fun with the draft, even if the level of "competition" has thinned as it's progressed.

 

But, I'm quite glad I got one of my top 3 Beatles' albums anyway.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

As moderator of said draft...

 

Partly I'm having fun seeing the write ups, however brief they may be and I'm also enjoying the "randomness" of the draft.

 

It's not the type of draft where it's based on 'name recognition' i.e. "Bleach" being taken before "Nevermind" nor is it a draft where everybody has such unique tastes that there is no overlap (although this is partly true but there's still plenty of grousing).

[mw679 0]

Partly I'm having fun seeing the write ups, however brief they may be and I'm also enjoying the "randomness" of the draft.

 

It's not the type of draft where it's based on 'name recognition' i.e. "Bleach" being taken before "Nevermind" nor is it a draft where everybody has such unique tastes that there is no overlap (although this is partly true but there's still plenty of grousing).

 

Agreed. I know somebody mentioned on an earlier page, I think it was Edwin and Milky(I'm not about to sift through 19 pages), that there is 2 ways of looking at this thread. One, you could go for the "competitive" stance and just take what you think the masses would enjoy or you could take the "personal" stance(which, I think, is what most of us are doing.) and take what you would really want to listen to if those were the only albums you could have for eternity. Going in, I had a pretty good idea that there would be some interesting picks, knowing how varied the musical tastes are on the board. So far, the only album I was worried about not getting was Wu-Tang because there was a run of classic hip-hop albums that were going fast. Other than that, it's been more of a waiting game than anything.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Well, the fun trick is balancing the competitive with the personal. I don't think anyone's actually trying to pick the best overall draft in terms of getting votes in the endgame, but although tastes are separate there's still plenty of crossover and grousing, as you pointed out. I might like what I'm picking at #20 more than what I picked at #3, but I like #3 enough to get it on my board when demand for that particular album seemed high.

 

The write-ups are my favorite part too. For the handful of albums I know nothing about at all, it's a cool introduction.

[The Man in Blak 0]

48 hours pass for Vitamin X, so Banky is back on the clock.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Alright fuck it, I'm just going to throw two out there.

 

Elliot Smith - XO (1998)

 

It was a toss-up here between this one and From a Basement on the Hill. Ultimately, I chose this one because of how much I love "Sweet Adeline". Great, great song and a tremendous album. This was my introduction to Elliot Smith and I was hooked from this one on.

 

Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines (2002)

 

Great fucking album. Really the one that got me into way heavier grind metal, peaking with "Unas, Slayer of the Gods".

 

Well, the fun trick is balancing the competitive with the personal. I don't think anyone's actually trying to pick the best overall draft in terms of getting votes in the endgame, but although tastes are separate there's still plenty of crossover and grousing, as you pointed out. I might like what I'm picking at #20 more than what I picked at #3, but I like #3 enough to get it on my board when demand for that particular album seemed high.

 

The write-ups are my favorite part too. For the handful of albums I know nothing about at all, it's a cool introduction.

I agree about the second part. As to the first, I started out a little bit doing the competitive thing but then I figured it wasn't worth the effort so I just started throwing out my taste instead. Although Banky was spot on with his assessment that we might as well just do our own top 20 lists at this point.

[Nighthawk 0]

Actually, I wouldn't give a shit what any of your 20 favorites albums were. This is slightly more interesting.

[Maztinho 0]

The Draft aspect does make this a bit more thrilling than just a list.

[Steviekick 0]

oops.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Banky's 24 hours are up, so I'll move us ahead with...

 

Tom Waits - Bone Machine

 

Rain Dogs is my favorite Tom Waits album, but this is #2, and a plenty strong candidate for an all-time list. I'd call it a fringe top-20 pick overall, but one that climbs quickly when I consider the possibility of a life where I can't listen to Tom Waits anymore. One common assessment of Bone Machine is that it's his most sinister, scary-sounding album, and that that's what makes it great. That's partly true, but sells the album a bit short. What really makes it great is that it's probably the most varied album he's ever released, and that despite the variations it's successful and cohesive all the way through. There's nothing scary about "Who Are You," one of his prettiest and most devastating ballads in his career, nor is there anything scary about "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" or "That Feel," the buoyant numbers that help close the album. And of course, there's still plenty of thunder on "Earth Died Screaming" or "Goin' Out West," and lots of the accustomed macabre, twangy, and percussive weirdness. Bone Machine's definitely an artistic peak, but one that also works pretty well as a summary of a career that's included several distinct phases and a whole lot of experimentation along the way.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

No idea what the hell StevieKick is doing...

 

Anyway, Darthtiki is on the clock. Inc can still make his pick and Coat's still on the board for his 11.08 pick if it ever comes.

[Steviekick 0]

My bad. An old PM popped up and I got confused. Sorry guys.

[Darthtiki 0]

Pop - U2 1997

 

Since Joshua Tree and Achtung, Baby were taken, I had to go with my 3rd favorite U2 disc. Though critically panned, it was a good album that fit into the electronic current that was overtaking music in that period (1997-98). While my first real exposure to U2 was when my best friend in Jr. High had become obsessed with Joshua Tree, this album hit right when I became a huge fan of the band. Staring at the Sun, Last Night on Earth, and Gone are my personal favorites, but it has some other great songs such as Discotheque, Please and If God will Send his Angels.

[mw679 0]

 

King's X- Dogman 1994

 

Another must have of mine, this particular album was the first one I'd heard from King's X. I had actually saw a snippet of the video for the title track on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" countdown and I kind of perked up like "what was that?", I jumped online and listened to some samples and went out a picked up the album the next day. This one is considered one of their best, probably their heaviest, some of my faves off of it are, "Dogman", "Black The Sky", "Complain", and their cover of "Manic Depression".

[The Man in Blak 0]

 

Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks

 

It's one of the "classic" Dylan albums, maybe a little too "classic" for most, too easy for Dylan to retreat back into the sound and fury that defined him earlier in his career. But it's necessary for Dylan to return there, to find some foundation for one of the most emotional of his many, many albums, contemplating and demonstrating the many facets and angles of love gone wrong. Maybe it seems like Dylan can cut a timeless song like "Tangled Up In Blue" too effortlessly, but perhaps it's that sense of ease that serves as his greatest tribute.

[Nighthawk 0]

 

The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

 

Glad to have this one. I checked ahead of time to see if it was eligible, and then almost shot myself in the foot by blabbing about how awesome it was and how it was ok to be selected on my other board. But my friends have left it to me, and I take it.

My favorite Beatles album. Began as the soundtrack to a magnificent failure of a film, this is the Beatles to me. We have the title track, to me probably the greatest intro track to an album ever (and I could talk a lot about great intro tracks, so that's saying something), a glorious George Harrison track in "Blue Jay Way", and my all time favorite Beatles song, "I Am the Walrus". It really encompasses a lot about what I love about music, and hell, what I love about life... all wrapped up in a neat little package called "I Am the Walrus". God damn I love that song.

Then we get into the collection of period singles, and oh my god... "Hello Goodbye", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane", "All You Need Is Love"... you shittin' me? Those are some of the best songs ever written. I think you guys were too merciful in not robbing me of this selection.

 

And, less you think I forgot, "The Fool On the Hill", a song among many songs I have at one point described as the theme song for my life:

 

"Day after day, alone on the hill

The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still

But nobody wants to know him

They can see that he's just a fool

As he never gives an answer

But the fool on the hill

Sees the sun going down

And the eyes in his head

See the world spinning around"

 

Amazing.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Taking it would have been just been too digi-mean. I did listen to it like right after that conversation, though. "Strawberry Fields Forever" is so fucking fantastic.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Did I miss a turn?

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

No, I think you're right on target--it's your 12th pick now, as Milky just went.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Oh, cool. Well, enough mucking around in the nineties and such for a while; back to the music of my childhood:

 

 

 

The Isley Brothers - The Heat is On

 

I'm listening to this right now; this album was a favorite of my mom's when I was a kid, and it's grown on me, too. When I was a kid, my favorite song on the album was the political anthem "Fight the Power," but as I got older, my favorite became "For the Love of You."

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

My next pick is...

 

 

 

 

 

Snoop Dogg - Tha Last Meal

 

 

I figure I have to get a Snoop CD and since Doggystyle was taken, I'll take my second favorite.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

I'd be interested in seeing a breakdown of poster's ages, to see what bearing, if any, it has on their selections. A quick glance at the draft board shows that the Sperm leads the league in albums that were released before Dec 31, 1979 (9), while Cowboy13012 leads the league in albums that were released after Jan 1, 2000 (5). I don't know why, but I find that mildly fascinating.

 

So far, I personally have picked seven albums that were released before 1980, and have, to this point in the draft, only picked one album that's been released in my son's lifetime, and this is not a coincidence: when I think about what twenty albums I'd want to be stranded on a desert island with, I find myself hard-pressed to think of much of anything that's come out in the last fifteen-twenty years or so.

[Copper Feel 0]

So, this is extremely late in coming, but oh well.

 

 

Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)

 

There's something about Paranoid which I find to just be fascinating. It's probably the mixture of heavyness, and more progressive elements. Or it could be the sheer monotomy. The songs on this album don't exactly vary a whole lot, "Planet Caravan" is probably the only truly divergent song on the entire record. But repetitive as it might be, Tony Iommi's blistering guitar riffs and solos make it more than a worthwhile listen. Power chords piled on top of each other complemented by drums that're rawly produced, and suprisingly literate lyrics about war, abandonment and the downside of drug use. What a great formula. My favourite songs on here are "War Pigs", "Ironman" and "Hand of Doom".

[Annabelle 0]

sly & the family stone - there's a riot going on (1973)

[The Man in Blak 0]

12.06 - Bob Dyland - Blood on the Tracks 1975

 

Dylan, Dylan, Dylan Dylan Dylan.

[Guest College Party]

Do not go gently into that good knight.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

So, this is extremely late in coming, but oh well.

 

There's something about Paranoid which I find to just be fascinating. It's probably the mixture of heavyness, and more progressive elements. Or it could be the sheer monotomy. The songs on this album don't exactly vary a whole lot, "Planet Caravan" is probably the only truly divergent song on the entire record. But repetitive as it might be, Tony Iommi's blistering guitar riffs and solos make it more than a worthwhile listen. Power chords piled on top of each other complemented by drums that're rawly produced, and suprisingly literate lyrics about war, abandonment and the downside of drug use. What a great formula. My favourite songs on here are "War Pigs", "Ironman" and "Hand of Doom".

 

Unless I missed something, you already took this for pick 11.07.

[Maztinho 0]

So, this is extremely late in coming, but oh well.

 

There's something about Paranoid which I find to just be fascinating. It's probably the mixture of heavyness, and more progressive elements. Or it could be the sheer monotomy. The songs on this album don't exactly vary a whole lot, "Planet Caravan" is probably the only truly divergent song on the entire record. But repetitive as it might be, Tony Iommi's blistering guitar riffs and solos make it more than a worthwhile listen. Power chords piled on top of each other complemented by drums that're rawly produced, and suprisingly literate lyrics about war, abandonment and the downside of drug use. What a great formula. My favourite songs on here are "War Pigs", "Ironman" and "Hand of Doom".

 

Unless I missed something, you already took this for pick 11.07.

 

I think he might be referencing his write up, which I don't think he did. Or he just wants two copies.

[Copper Feel 0]

Yeah, that's it. It wasn't my turn anyway.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Whose turn?