Desert Island Draft Thread

[Nighthawk 0]

 

John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

 

I hate to be the kinda nigga to pick a Beatles album then turn right around and pick a solo album from one of the Beatles, but I gots to be that kinda nigga.

 

Truthfully, this is my favorite album from any of the Beatles, or the Beatles as a group, though it often gets overshadowed by their collective work. It's really a pretty brutal album, since Lennon is metaphorically Primal Screaming through all of it (and literally Primal Screaming through some of it). Everything is dead and worthless, and you can't put faith in anything, but it says that in a surprisingly positive way. A very cathartic album, if you take it the right way, and some damn fine depression listening, though it's actually not bad for good time listening either (a rarity with such things). And with the desert island theme, what better than an album as introspective as this?

[The Man in Blak 0]

 

TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain

 

Probably seems like an overdraft, but it seemed far too likely that it would be gone by the time things made their way back around. So, time to modernize. A 21st Century Funkadelic, where glitchy synths punch over cheap elephant horns, sitars, and laments in the opener, "I Was A Lover", ominous and beautiful, while Tunde Adebimpe and chorus climb over a wall of distortion into a desperate rave in "Playhouses." Most of the western world probably associates this album with "Wolf Like Me", a blood-burning rush into feral madness, but it doesn't quite hit me like "Province", a power ballad (of all things) delivered atop an apocalypse, declaring love as true courage, a message so bold that even David Bowie was compelled to join on for backup vocals. Let me lay waste to thee, indeed.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

He IMed me to tell me he took this, the bastard. Great choice, though I have another modern-ish pick up my sleeve, so I won't cry too hard.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

I'm really liking The Man in Black's list.

[mw679 0]

 

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble- In Step 1989

 

This is the album that started my whole blues listening experience. I had always heard about SRV but never really bothered to seek out any songs, one day I was flipping through the channels and ended up on VH1 where the video for "Crossfire" came on. I remember just sitting there with my jaw on the floor listening to the solo Stevie rips into. Naturally, I went out and bought the album the next day. This is SRV's "clean and sober" album, he had been out of AA and certain songs("Tightrope", "Wall Of Denial", "Crossfire") deal with that subject matter. This album also contains what some people feel is SRV's best non-blues work, "Riviera Paradise", which delves into jazz(something Stevie had experimented with earlier on "Stang's Swang" on the "Couldn't Stand The Weather" album.) To me, "In Step" represents SRV at his most clear and focused and it's a shame that we lost him a little over a year after this album came out.

[Darthtiki 0]

Load- Metallica 1996

 

Granted, most consider this the "sell-out" album, it was indeed the first Metallica album I purchased as a not-so-fresh-faced kid just out of Junior High. Not as hard or really as classic as the Black Album or Master of Puppets, there are some great tracks and is still light years better than St. Anger. I consider "Bleeding Me" and "Hero of the Day" as being my favorites of the album.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Thus, the MiB/me war continues:

 

Portishead - Dummy

 

My favorite trip-hop album, and host to one of my favorite songs (the opener, "Mysterons"). And I need some chick vocals, too. This was the first totally-off-the-mainstream-radar album I ever "discovered"; I listened to a handful of 30-second samples off some online review site that looked like a shitty Geocities page, found a used copy at my local music store in maybe 10th grade, and thus began my long hypothetical love affair with Beth Gibbons' voice. This whole album fuses a spooky hip-hop aesthetic with cold, scary tunes and superb songwriting. Often lost amidst all the praise for the terrifying loops on "Biscuit," "Wandering Star," and others are the surprisingly awesome guitar parts, particularly on "Glory Box." This is a very tight, constructed, and gut-wrenching album, and ultimately all the instruments are tied together by Gibbons' sultry, sad voice. The end result is one of the most distinctive albums I've ever heard.

[Annabelle 0]

ill pick my two because vitamin takes years to post his albums, and he'd never take the one's i will

 

prince - dirty mind (1980)

neil young - after the goldrush (1970)

[Ravenbomb 0]

Ok, I've a question. There's a website, playedlastnight.com, where you can download the audio from a concert. If live albums count, could a concert download be picked or are they off limits?

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

YEAH Dirty Mind. The only reason I didn't take that was because I'm generally trying to stick with one album per artist for the sake of variety. I fucking love that album.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

While you're busy making rulings, I need to know where musicals stand?

[Annabelle 0]

YEAH Dirty Mind. The only reason I didn't take that was because I'm generally trying to stick with one album per artist for the sake of variety. I fucking love that album.

totally. its my next fav behind purple rain. so rad. controversy is no slouch, neither.

 

im kinda surprised to see neil young get slept on considering all of the crap that has been selected. all of this springsteen before neil young? i don't think so, tim.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Live Concert Downloads... off limits.

 

Musicals... off limits as well.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Cold-blooded on the musicals!

 

Re: Neil Young --he's, oddly enough, one of the artist who I've downloaded en masse and never really explored. One of my failings.

[Ravenbomb 0]

YEAH Dirty Mind. The only reason I didn't take that was because I'm generally trying to stick with one album per artist for the sake of variety. I fucking love that album.

totally. its my next fav behind purple rain. so rad. controversy is no slouch, neither.

 

im kinda surprised to see neil young get slept on considering all of the crap that has been selected. all of this springsteen before neil young? i don't think so, tim.

 

Yeah. Here I was worried someone would take Silver & Gold before I got it, and nobody'd even taken Harvest or Rust Never Sleeps yet.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

I'm kind of curious where Slim was going with the musical. Are you one of those Grease people?

[Nighthawk 0]

Rocky Horror.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Fiddler on the Roof.

 

I'd pick it, no joke.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I have nothing to add except to say that I enjoyed Milky's Ordell Robbie-esque way of introducing his solo Beatles pick.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

VX's 8 years to pick are up, so I'll make my next pick. I'm a bit uncertain as to what I want to do down the homestretch, so I'm just going to go with the all-time favorite I've been saving up:

 

Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963

 

The greatest live album I've heard, one of the greatest albums period I've ever heard, and my third or fourth favorite album of all time. I didn't pick it till now because I knew no one else would take it, but I should get it off the board. Sam Cooke is awesome and had some fantastic songs, but I've never heard someone as in control of a crowd as he is here, or as perfectly attuned to the setting, sounds, his band, etc. Master of it all. Nothing tops "You Send Me/Bring It On Home To Me," and a fair number of classics like "Chain Gang" and "Cupid" are reinvented with a level of grit, lust, and charm that never even seemed missing from the versions played on oldies stations all the time. An already superb artist takes his craft to another level, really capturing the potential of the near-limitless ceiling of live performance. I think this is required listening for anyone who considers himself a fan of soul music, and pretty definitively awesome.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Two ball-busting picks in a row, dude. Though, interestingly enough, it's the last one that's actually more frustrating, since I had that one tabbed to round out some soul in my collection. The next couple of rounds will determine whether I mail you a turd sandwich for picking Dummy or not.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I'm really glad I grabbed it, then. At this point I think there's only one other album left on the board from my 20-25 favorite albums, so the last 6 choices are going to be interesting, particularly if I stick with not duplicating artists. Though that ship has kind of sailed, anyway--stuff like The Bends or Dirty Mind probably would have filled those slots, and they're spoken for.

[Darthtiki 0]

 

Double Live - Garth Brooks 1998

 

Since compilations were off the table, I couldn't choose "The Hits" and I could not decide between his first 3 albums (Self-titled, No Fences, Ropin' the Wind), I decided to go the live album route. This two disc live set contains all Garth's biggest hits and captures his amazing live show, which ranks as one of my favorite concerts ever. Highlights include, the long version of The Thunder Rolls (previously unreleased), Ain't Goin' Down til the Sun Comes Up, The Dance, Rodeo, and the previously unreleased to the public live version of "Friends in Low Places".

 

 

[Annabelle 0]

garth brooks? man....come on.

[mw679 0]

 

Montrose- Montrose 1973

 

Seeing as I missed out on getting Van Halen's debut, I figured I'd go with the album that influnced their sound. A great but short album featuring Ronnie Montrose on guitar and a then unknown guy by the name of Sammy Hagar on vocals. As I said the album is short, it clocks in at a little over 30 minutes but there is so much packed into that timeframe, that I have to take it. Just a great listen top to bottom, no skippable tracks for me on this. Standouts are ""Bad Motor Scooter", "Rock Candy", and "Make It Last", which Van Halen used to cover in their early club days.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Writeup forthcoming, since all hell is breaking loose at work today, but here's my pick:

 

 

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

[Gary Floyd 0]

Thus, the MiB/me war continues:

 

Portishead - Dummy

 

My favorite trip-hop album, and host to one of my favorite songs (the opener, "Mysterons"). And I need some chick vocals, too. This was the first totally-off-the-mainstream-radar album I ever "discovered"; I listened to a handful of 30-second samples off some online review site that looked like a shitty Geocities page, found a used copy at my local music store in maybe 10th grade, and thus began my long hypothetical love affair with Beth Gibbons' voice. This whole album fuses a spooky hip-hop aesthetic with cold, scary tunes and superb songwriting. Often lost amidst all the praise for the terrifying loops on "Biscuit," "Wandering Star," and others are the surprisingly awesome guitar parts, particularly on "Glory Box." This is a very tight, constructed, and gut-wrenching album, and ultimately all the instruments are tied together by Gibbons' sultry, sad voice. The end result is one of the most distinctive albums I've ever heard.

If I were to pick a favorite trip-hop album, it would probsbly be Massive Attack's Mezzanine. It's perfect from start to finish, without a skip worthy tack, and sees the group experimenting with their sound to perfect effect. And Group Four" is fucking perfect.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I like Mezzanine lots and considered it for a pick, but it's a bit of a slog to get through sometimes; I find it a little overwhelming. Also, while I've always generally enjoyed Massive Attack's predilection for rolling in a bunch of different vocalists, the all-Beth-Gibbons all-the-time of Dummy gives the entire piece a more unified feel than Mezzanine, which is part of what I generally go for when I want something moody and dense. That makes it a more useful niche-filler for me in a list of 20 choices.

[RHR 0]

Wait a second...I am confused...how can Garth's Double Live be considered a pick? If that is the case...why can't I pick any of the over 100 commercially available Pearl Jam "Bootlegs" which are just live shows?

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

I haven't made a pick in a week; who the hell am I waiting on? And why do you guys keep changing up your names so it's harder to keep track of you?