Desert Island Revisited

Posted by: JeffS

Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 12:52

Looking back at the original desert island thread got me thinking about how my tastes have changed a bit and I was wondering about the rest of you- are the same albums still your absolute favorites? And how much is the concept of an album really relevant anymore? Does anyone listen to albums straight through, or is it more playlists these days? I'm mostly playlists, though somtimes I put on my favorite albums end to end. Anyway, I was thinking it'd be interesting to see the changes from our original picks.


Desert Island 10
Rush- Moving Pictures
Evanescence- Fallen
Pearl Jam- Ten
Sarah McLachlan- Surfacing
Sting- Ten Summoner's Tales
Rush- Roll The Bones
Clint Black- D'lectrified
Caedmon's Call- Caedmon's Call
Nichole Nordeman- Brave
Steady On- Steady On*

Bomb Shelter 20
Rush- 2112
David Wilcox- Big Horizon
Enter the Haggis- Casualties of Retail
Caedmon's Call- 40 Acers
Copper- The Fragile Fall
Terrie Winkle- Standing Here
Rush- Power Windows
Rush- Hold Your Fire
Caedmon's Call- My Calm/ Your Storm
Steven Curtis Chapman- Signs of Life


*Yes, it's kind of lame to chose my own CD, but heck, I'm proud of it and it has a lot of sentimental value.
Posted by: peter

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 14:38

Qui est "in" (new ones in bold):
1. The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses, by a mile from:
2. Leftfield, Leftism
3. The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld
4. The Happy Mondays, Pills 'n' Thrills 'n' Bellyaches
5. New Order, Substance
6. Portishead, Dummy
7. Orbital, Diversions
8. Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here, (Crazy Diamond wins it for me against Dark Side Of The Moon)
9. Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band, A Special Album
10. Lemon Jelly, lemonjelly.ky

Bomb Shelter 20:
11. James, Goldmother
12. Shortwave Set, The Debt Collection
13. Röyksopp, Melody AM
14. Kirsty McGee, Frost (Sophie wins it against Honeysuckle, though it's a shame Turn The River Back isn't on any of the albums)
15. 808 State, United State 90
16. The Crystal Method, Vegas
17. Nouvelle Vague, Nouvelle Vague
18. The KLF, Chill Out
19. Michelle Shocked, Texas Campfire Tapes
20. The Beatles, Sergeant Pepper

OK, I seem to have discovered some really good albums since 2002, at least two of which (Vegas, Leftism) were on someone else's list back then already.

Peter
Posted by: pgrzelak

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 16:23

Greetings!

In some ways, I am very surprised how much this list has changed since last time. But a lot of it depends on timing and mood, I guess.

I still assume a concept "double album" count as one, especially if they can fit on the same CD. So, in no particular order:

Desert Island 10...
Dave Brubeck: The Last Set At Newport
Echolyn: As The World
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Pictures At An Exhibition
Enter The Haggis: Casualties Of Retail
Horslips: The Book Of Invasions
Jethro Tull: Thick As A Brick
Marillion: Clutching At Straws
Phish: Gamehendge (custom CD from a live concert)
Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon
Rusted Root: When I Woke (willing to swap with a custom CD variation that I will not admit to in public)

Bomb Shelter 20... (never done in my original post)
Blue Man Group: Audio
Broadside Electric: 10th Anniversary Concert (custom CD from a live concert)
Fish: Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors
Gordon Lightfoot: Gord's Gold (a best of collection)
Marillion: The Thieving Magpie (live double album)
Moody Blues: Days Of Future Passed
Myst: Myst Soundtrack
New St. George: High Tea
Pink Floyd: Obscured By Clouds
Renaissance: Live at Carnegie Hall (live double album)

These days, I would probably have a Karma on the island, so there would be a lot of individual stray tracks as well.
Posted by: BAKup

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 16:43

I never did this before, but going to play now.

Desert Island 10
Marillion: Clutching at Straws
Thievery Corp: The Mirror Conspiracy
Rush: Moving Pictures
Royksopp: Melody AM
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
Yoko Kanno:Cowboy Bebop OST 1
Ahmad Jahmal: But Not For Me
Kenji Kawai: Ghost in the Shell OST
Big Head Todd And The Monsters: Sister Sweetly
Toad The Wet Sproket: Fear

Bomb Shelter 20
Vangelis: Blade Runner Soundtrack
Tori Amos: Scarlet's Walk
Roger Waters: Amused to Death
Peter Gaberiel: So
Megashira: At Last
Massive Attack: Protection
Juno Reactor: Bible of Dreams
Bob Schneider: Lonelyland
Clandistine: Music From Home
DJ Shadow: The Private Press
Posted by: JeffS

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 16:52

Quote:
Enter The Haggis: Casualties Of Retail
Cool! I take some amount of honor in introducing this one to you, especially given the amount of music from which you had to choose.
Posted by: visuvius

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 16:52

Hmmm, I never did one of these...

Desert Island 10

Depeche Mode - Violator
Depeche Mode - Ultra
Lemon Jelly - Lost Horizons
Daft Punk - Homework
The Very Best of the Smiths - Vol 1
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk
Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
New Order - Substance
Kraftwerk - Minimum Maximum

Bomb Shelter 20

Wu-Tang Clan - Wu Tang Forever
Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antartica
Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses
Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith & Devotion
AFI - Sing the Sorrow
Lemon Jelly - lemonjelly.ky
Nofx - Punk In Drublic
Pet Shop Boys - Actually
The Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation
The Prodigy - Fat of the Land
Posted by: pgrzelak

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 16:55

Indeed! An excellent recommendation!

Edit: Oh, by the way, in case you were not aware, Enter The Haggis is releasing their new album Soapbox Heroes in July.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 17:06

Quote:
And how much is the concept of an album really relevant anymore? Does anyone listen to albums straight through, or is it more playlists these days?

For the purposes of this exercise, remember that the artists themselves still create albums. People with large capacity MP3 players doesn't change that.

There's something about the format of a record album that makes it a work of art unto itself. A carefully crafted piece of music, about 40-50 minutes long and split into two subsections (side one and side two), each subsection split into individual 3-5 minute compositions. Lately, the CD format has modified those specs somewhat, but it's mostly the same thing. For most artists, an album hangs together as a single work, an expression of what the artist was feeling during the months that it took to make the album. The best albums are the ones that have a consistent voice and speak as a whole, even if the album itself contains varying styles, and even if the album isn't a concept album or a rock opera.

Thus, I should remind players that one of the rules of this game is: No compilation or greatest hits albums.
Posted by: cushman

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 17:14

Quote:
No compilation or greatest hits albums.

Greatest hits albums are for housewives... and little girls

(edited to add link)
Posted by: JeffS

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 17:15

Quote:
There's something about the format of a record album that makes it a work of art unto itself.
Yes, I agree, which is why I started the thread. I guess my question is how many people still treat albums like this? I know I don't as much as I used to- and of my personal collection, only the albums I've listed ever get treated as a single "work of art unto itself", regardless of what the artist intended. Most music I own just ends up being singles shuffled into playlists.

From the side of being an artist, when we recorded our CD we hoped that people would listen to it as a cohesive work of art. We spent a lot of time on song placement and tried hard to make sure they flowed well from one to the next, musically and thematically.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 17:16

Quote:
And how much is the concept of an album really relevant anymore? Does anyone listen to albums straight through, or is it more playlists these days?

I either listen to individual albums or a massive shuffle. Albums are important to me. If an artist releases a single I like but the rest of the album is filler, I won't buy it. That has lessened somewhat for me with the advent of being able to buy individual songs for a reasonable price, but I've still never actually done it. (I probably ought to.)

Generally speaking, though, if an artist can't put together an album worth listening to, they generally don't have the talent to put together a single song worth listening to with any frequency, in my experience.
Posted by: JeffS

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 17:17

Quote:
Edit: Oh, by the way, in case you were not aware, Enter The Haggis is releasing their new album Soapbox Heroes in July.
Woo Hoo! I was not aware. I still haven't seen them live, which apparently is 10 times better than the CD. I'll definitely be picking up the new one when it comes out.
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 18:55

Quote:
Does anyone listen to albums straight through, or is it more playlists these days?

I only listen to whole albums. There was a period of time where I soldiered through and listened to every track on my empeg in suffle mode, but aside from that three month period I've almost never listened to playlists. In fact, I'm usually pretty slow when listening to new music, because I tend to listen to whole albums repeatedly until I know every little nuance. I almost have to get sick of it before I move on to something else. If it's a particularly good album this can take weeks!

I really have to get in on this. I had a top 25 favorite albums list put together with commentary, but the desert island idea is slightly different.
Posted by: pgrzelak

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 19:27

Greetings!

Guilty. I have one. There is a Greatest Hits on there... Let's see...

Replace Gordon Lightfoot: Gord's Gold with Vince Guaraldi: A Charlie Brown Christmas.

I would make an exception for live / concert albums. While I agree that it may have songs from various other albums, as long as the performance is solid, it is really capturing a point in time of the band's career. Especially if the entire recording is captured live from one session, or if the band edits and releases it themselves as a mix from a single tour.

In many cases, there are works available live that are not available at all in studio form (Phish: Gamehendge & Broadside Electric: 10th Anniversary Concert) or are (in my personal opinion) a different or superior work to the studio edit (Renaissance: Live From Carnegie Hall disk 2 - Scheherazade live with a 20+ minute Ashes Are Burning & Marillion: Thieving Magpie - Misplaced Childhood played through live).
Posted by: BAKup

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 31/05/2006 20:00

I have to agree with the exception on the live album. There are just some live albums that were so well done, that they capture something that is almost impossible to repeat in the studio.

Also, the soundtrack albums I've got in there are all done by that artist, and just for that show/movie, so I'm going to have to stand by them Also the fact that I still listen to them even after 5+ years since they were released.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 01/06/2006 00:57

My first go was 26 albums, so I have a little addendum:
    Desert Island 10
  1. Sparta - Wiretap Scars
  2. Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
  3. Bob Mould - Workbook
  4. Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
  5. The Who - Live at Leeds
  6. Get-Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
  7. Husker Du - Zen Arcade
  8. Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights
  9. Nirvana - In Utero
  10. Local H - No Fun EP & Sugar - Beaster (two EPs counts as one album, right?)

    Bomb Shelter 20
  11. Wilco - Summerteeth
  12. U2 - Achtung Baby
  13. Ozma - Rock and Roll Part Three
  14. Peter Gabriel - I/Car
  15. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
  16. Pixies - Doolittle
  17. Radiohead - The Bends
  18. Genesis - Duke
  19. Weezer - Weezer (Blue)
  20. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

    Awfully Small MP3 Player 25
  21. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
  22. Snapcase - Designs for Automotion
  23. Dust Brothers - Fight Club Soundtrack
  24. Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
  25. Husker Du - Candy Apple Grey
I'm sure if I spent more time I could swap categories some more, but I'm calling it quits.
Posted by: frog51

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 01/06/2006 05:52

Normally I listen to either full random, least often played or a tweaked most often played, which doesn't keep up with my acquisition - I still have over 1500 tracks I have never listened to <sigh>

But when I listen to albums, I think these would be the ones I would choose:

Desert Island 10

Metallica - Ride The Lightning
The Cult - Manor Sessions
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
Pink Floyd - Delicate Sound of Thunder
Radiohead - The Bends
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Gary Moore - We Want Moore
Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien
Queen - A Kind of Magic

Bomb Shelter 17 (ran out of ideas)

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Metallica - Kill 'Em All
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
The Doors - Weird Scenes Inside The Goldmine
Offspring - Smash
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
The Almighty - Powertrippin'
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
The Cult - Electric


Today's favourite

Lordi - Get Heavy
Posted by: JeffS

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 01/06/2006 07:14

Quote:
U2 - Achtung Baby
Very interesting that this made your list and "The Joshua Tree" didn't. I've always felt like I was supposed to prefer "The Joshua Tree", but end up listening to "Achtung Baby" more often. One reason for this is that the recording quality on "The Joshua Tree" sounds they placed a glass up to the wall of the room in which the band was playing and then recorded what came out.

At any rate "Achtung Baby" ALMOST made my list (it would definitely fall in the next five), whereas "The Joshua Tree" wasn't really a consideration. I was feeling weird about this when I was making my list because TJT is so highly regarded, but now I feel a bit better since I guess I'm not alone . . .
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 01/06/2006 10:39

Quote:
Radiohead - The Bends

Nice. Good to see this made two lists. I've had several discussions with people as to whether or not it was better than OK Computer. Honestly, I think OK Computer is a better album, but I enjoy The Bends far more. I love that album (although it would probably just miss my list).
Posted by: robricc

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 01/06/2006 11:47

Desert Island 10
Faith No More - The Real Thing
A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms
Onesidezero - Is This Room Getting Smaller?
Days of the New - Days of the New (Red)
Lostprophets - The Fake Sound of Progress
Second Coming - Second Coming
Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 (both full albums)
Deftones - White Pony
Cellophane - Cellophane
Abdel Wright - Abdel Wright (This makes the top 10 for variety purposes)

Bomb Shelter 20
Faith No More - King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime
Prick - Prick
Our Lady Peace - Naveed
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory
Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3
Sevendust - Home
Nevermore - Dreaming Neon Black
Taproot - Blue-Sky Research
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
Papa Roach - Live and Murderous in Chicago (DVD Audio)

Slightly Larger MP3 Player 30
Mad Season - Above
Tool - Undertow
Failure - Fantastic Planet
Skunk Anansie - Post Orgasmic Chill
Alice In Chains - Facelift
Finger Eleven - The Grayest of Blue Skies
Seven Mary Three - Rock Crown
Silverchair - Diorama
Tonic - Lemon Parade
God Lives Underwater - Empty
Posted by: DWallach

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 01/06/2006 13:16

Desert Island 10

1. Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington, "The Great Summit"
2. Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald, "The Best Of" (or, if I can have the 3-CD "complete recordings" set, I'd take that instead)
3. Duke Ellington, "Live at Newport '56"
4. Benny Goodman, "The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings"
5. Bobby McFerrin & Yo-Yo Ma, "Hush"
6. Lyle Lovett and his Large Band
7. Afro-Cuban All Stars (self-titled)
8. Basella (Ella Fitzgerald with the Count Basie Orchestra)
9. Oscar Peterson and Count Basie, "Satch and Josh"
10. Ray Brown & Gene Harris, "Soular Energy" (hard to nail down any one best of these guys - but no desert island is complete without Gene Harris and Ray Brown)

Bomb Shelter 20

11. Bobby Timmons, "Moanin' Blues"
12. Oscar Peterson, "Night Train"
13. Blue Man Group, "The Complex" (either the DVD-Video or DVD-Audio)
14. Talking Heads, "Stop Making Sense"
15. Louis Armstrong, Hot Fives & Sevens (typically a 3-CD set)
16. Leftfield, "Leftism"
17. Orbital, "In Sides" (hard to pick so few of this genre)
18. G. Love and Special Sauce (self-titled)
19. Cake, "Fashion Nugget"
20. Bjork, "Gling-Glo"
Posted by: cushman

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 01/06/2006 13:53

Desert Island 10

1. The Jayhawks - Tomorrow The Green Grass
2. Cake - Prolonging The Magic
3. Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
4. The Crystal Method - Vegas
5. Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
6. The Presidents Of The United States Of America - The Presidents Of The United States Of America II
7. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
8. G. Love And Special Sauce - G. Love And Special Sauce
9. Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet
10. Rob Zombie - American Made Music To Strip By

Bomb Shelter 20

11. The Jayhawks - Smile
12. Counting Crows - August And Everything After
13. Radiohead - The Bends
14. Grandaddy - Sumday
15. Aimee Mann - Magnolia [Soundtrack]
16. Jack Johnson - On And On
17. Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
18. Beck - Odelay
19. Pearl Jam - Ten
20. Orbital - In Sides

Slightly Larger MP3 Player 30

21. Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York
22. Morrissey - Vauxhall And I
23. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
24. Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
25. Urge Overkill - Saturation
26. Led Zeppelin - II
27. Over The Rhine - Eve
28. David Gray - White Ladder
29. Matthew Sweet - 100% Fun
30. Cypress Hill - Black Sunday

Egad, that was hard.
Posted by: canuckInOR

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 01/06/2006 17:03

Quote:
OK, I seem to have discovered some really good albums since 2002, at least two of which (Vegas, Leftism) were on someone else's list back then already.

Oooh, I can take credit for Vegas.
Posted by: FireFox31

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 03/06/2006 02:09

It's my first time on the desert island, and I'm feeling uninspired, so this hardly compares to my carefully crafted favorite 100 artists and second 100 favorite artists.

Desert Island 10 in no order except the first
Sting - Soul Cages (for my past)
Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction (for truth)
Dead Can Dance - Into the Labyrinth (for beauty)
Beethoven Symphony # 6 Pastoral (for morning)
Paul Oakenfold - Tranceport (for night)
The Police - Ghost in the Machine (for happiness)
Get Up Kids - Four Minute Mile (for sadness)
Rush - Hold Your Fire (for escape)
Dave Brubeck - Time Out (for bliss)
They Might be Giants - John Henry (for variety)

Oakie had to fight tough competition for that spot; namely Portishead - Welcome to Portishead (bootleg), Delerium - Spheres or Karma, and of course PaulWay. And Brubeck somehow snuck past Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, and Wayne Shorter.

In typical fashion, a big multi reply:

Jeff: Sting - Ten Summoner's Tales - first CD I ever bought and still love it.

Peter: Portishead - Dummy - Live versions on "Welcome to Portishead" of Sour Times, Pedestal, Over and other are worth checking out.

Bitt: Get-Up Kids - Something To Write Home About - I never would have guessed, but seeing the rest of your quality list, it makes sense.

Dan: Bjork - Gling-Glo - A quality entry among your giants of jazz. She's so expressive to convey the message without understanding a word she's saying.

Mark: David Gray - White Ladder, Matthew Sweet - 100% Fun - Excelent!
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 03/06/2006 03:51

Quote:
Joshua Tree

Yeah. It's not even next in consideration for me. Achtung Baby is probably followed by The Unforgettable Fire, then War, then Joshua Tree. Part of is due to overexposure, and part of it is due to a little lack of viscerality.

Personally, I find that a lot of those big-name 80s albums don't hold up so well. The one that always comes to mind for me is So, although overexposure isn't a problem for me there; I can still listen to Sledgehammer and Big Time and In Your Eyes over and over and over again. The non-single tracks on it are weak to me, though, and I think that's usually where a good album stands out. (No offense to whoever it was that listed it.)
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 03/06/2006 03:54

Quote:
The Bends

As much as I am loath to admit it, I like big pop songs, and OK Computer doesn't really have any. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have great songs, but The Bends is just more immediate without much loss of depth.
Posted by: cushman

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 03/06/2006 10:55

Quote:
They Might be Giants - John Henry (for variety)

This is my favorite TMBG album! It was on my short list and would be in my top 50 definately. I probably wouldn't take it to the island/shelter because I can sing all of the songs by heart anyway.
Posted by: DWallach

Re: Desert Island Revisited - 03/06/2006 12:00

If I was going to have a TMBG album on my island, I'd probably go for Apollo 18. Not only does it have great songs, but it has a full band, rather than the now very cheesy-sounding drum machine of their earlier work. And, the "fingertips" could help with that whole stuck-on-an-island thing.

(That was also the period that I was a serious TMBG groupie. I saw them an awful lot in the early 90's.)