Ah go on then, since the main Desert Island Discs post was so much fun. Ten albums you would take to a desert island.
No box sets, that’s cheating. But I suppose greatest hits albums are okay. As are DJ mix albums.
I’m setting a rule for myself of no more than one album per artist, but you can choose to ignore. Up to you.
1. Tubular Bells – Mike Oldfield (2001 SACD quad mix)
2. Sgt Pepper – Beatles (1987 CD)
3. Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One – Liam Howlett
4. Vaughan Williams – A London Symphony (1913 version) – Richard Hickox/ Chandos
5. Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain
6. Gustav Holst – Cloud Messenger (Hickox/ Chandos again)
7. Endtroducing – DJ Shadow
8. Wildflower – The Avalanches
9. Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd
10. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway – Genesis
In 2018 I did one of these on Facebook ten albums over ten days. Oddly enough the last one of the ten has appeared on my memories today. The Rutles.
I’ll check back later and see what they all were (it’s unearthlyo’clock at the mo)
So basically your top 10 (not 8) albums of all time? Think we have done this before. Anyway differently in chronological order of me knowing them, 10 that meant a lot to me not necessarily my 10 favourites, all heard before I was 20 (ish)
Max Boyce – Live at Treorchy
Beatles – A Hard Days Night
Bob Dylan – The Times They Are a Changin’
Rolling Stones – Rolled Gold
The Who – The Kids Are Alright (soundtrack)
The Kinks – A Golden Hour of The Kinks
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
Van Morrison – Astral Weeks
Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Love – Forever Changes
As with my Desert Island Disc songs, I’ll think of plenty of other contenders as soon as I post this, but here are 10 albums I could happily listen to forever, in no particular order:
Pink Floyd – The Wall
Marillion – Fugazi
Peter Gabriel – Passion
Arcana – Inner Pale Sun
Kate Bush – The Hounds of Love
Icehouse – Primitive Man
Bryan Ferry – Boys and Girls
Jethro Tull – Broadsword and the Beast
Nick Cave – Ghosteen
Hawkwind – Live Chronicles
Desert Island albums, in no particular order. Not my choice of the best albums ever (no DSotM!), not even my favourite albums ever (no David Sylvian!), just the albums I never seem to get bored of, the ones that when any one of its tracks happens to crop up on iPod’s shuffle, I’m always happy to hear it.
George Harrison – George Harrison
Al Stewart – Year of the Cat
Supertramp – Greatest Hits
Lambchop – Is A Woman
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
Aztec Camera – High Land Hard Rain
Martin Stephenson – Boat to Bolivia
Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen
Mishka – Above the Bones / Guy With A Guitar (“That’s two albums!”, you say? Well, the songs are all the same, just one is electric the other acoustic, so I repudiate all chastisement as merely further evidence of a toxic woke cancel culture that is destroying freedom of speech)
Rock Follies – Rock Follies and Rock Follies of ’77 (“Two albums, again!”, you say? You might have a point)
I’d also like to take UB40’s Signing Off and Steely Dan’s Then & Now Greatest Hits (though I’d leave Black Friday and Bodhisattva at the airport) but that’s two albums too many, the island would sink, you’d get all narky, I’d go into denial mode and things would just get ugly.
5 of those albums are worth listening to. 😎
I actually prefer the other five, to be honest.
Boat to Bolivia is a great album – nice to see it on your list.
@stevet Have you heard the acoustic version? Just called Bolivia. It’s nice, but every song is just a bit better on the original.
PS. I was hoping to read your review of Bruce in Rome (and whether you visited/liked Piazza Navona).
@Gary I didnt do a review of Bruce in Rome but think I might do.
Didn’t go to Piazza Navona on this trip but have visited before and it is spectacular.
Aye, ’tis. One of my favourite places.
An interesting thing happened there just a few weeks ago. Some climate activists jumped in the fountain and dyed the water temporarily black. They got shitloads of abuse from the public, with people furiously shouting abuse, even throwing things at them, and insulting them on social media. “Vandals! Bastards! Throw them in jail!” Exact same thing happened a few days later at the Trevi Fountain, with the same public reaction. Then just a few days after that, the water in Venice’s green canal was turned temporarily green by the use of a chemical, fluorescein, to test for leakage in the wastewater networks. The general public reaction to that was one of mild curiosity.
Let’s make the water turn black –
I did that Facebook thing 5 years ago. Just looked it up and it’s still valid
The Who Quadrophenia
Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks
Stiff Little Fingers Inflammable Material
Pink Floyd The Wall
Beatles Abbey Road
Big Country The Crossing
Marillion Misplaced Childhood
Henry Priestman Chronicles Of Modern Life
Dexys Midnight Runners Searching For The Young Soul Rebels
Carter USM 30 Something
In no particular order, well apart from the order in which they are written.
Song of the Dying West – Jackie Leven*
Schools Out – Alice Cooper*
Blinking Lights and other Revelations – Eels
Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot – Sparklehorse
Bob Mould – Bob Mould
Copper Blue – Sugar
Harp and a Monkey – Harp and a Monkey
Unknown Pleasures – Joy Division
Kerber – Yann Tiersen
Rock n Roll with – Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers
* other titles by this artist could easily be here
Ooh, my kind of thread.
In no particular order:
Rolling Stones – Exile On Main St
Iggy & The Stooges – Raw Power
Van Morrison – Into The Music
Various – The Harder They Come Soundtrack
Sly & The Family Stone – Greatest Hits (the original 1970 comp)
Patti Smith – Horses
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
Big Star – Radio City
The Who – The Who By Numbers
Joy Division –Closer
Beatles – White Album
Roxy Music – First Album
David Bowie – Diamond Dogs
Joy Division – Closer
Brian Eno – Another Green World
The Slits – Cut
Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells
Malcolm McLaren – Paris
Frank Zappa – Freak Out
This morning’s selection. As if I had just 1 hour to grab 10 albums before the boat left to my new island home.
The Soft Machine – Volume Two. The one where Robert does lots of singing.
Miles Davis – Get Up With It. Contains his tribute to Duke Ellington “He Loved Him Madly”
King Crimson – Red. Savage stuff.
Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto – Getz/Gilberto. Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano. Beautiful.
Weather Report – Heavy Weather. Jaco shows his stuff and Joe’s keyboards go polyphonic.
Joni Mitchell – Shadows and Light. Ultimate jazzy-Joni with a top-flight band.
Terry Riley – A Rainbow In Curved Air. A psychedelic masterpiece. Trailblazing.
Sarah Tandy – Infection In the Sentence. Superb recent Britjazz.
Funkadelic – One Nation Under a Groove. Delicious.
Duke Ellington – The Complete Ellington at Newport ’56. The Duke reminds the rich white folks how to go wild.
There would be other choices grabbed from the racks on other days.
Off the top of my head, and in no particular order…..
Kate Bush / Hounds Of Love
Pink Floyd / Wish You Were Here
Genesis / Selling England By The Pound
Dire Straits / Alchemy
Albert King / Born Under A Bad Sign
XTC / Skylarking
Porcupine Tree / Deadwing
Steven Wilson / Hand Cannot Erase
Supertramp / Crime Of The Century
Prefab Sprout / Jordan The Comeback
Lots of correlation with my Desert Island tracks, as expected. Whilst some of the above will always be there, there are some which will change if I do this in an hours time…..
I also love doing these, in no particular order.
Billy Bragg . Workers Playtime.
Andy White. Rave On.
Elvis Costello. Armed forces.
World Party. Private Revolution.
Ian Dury. Do it Yourself.
Christy Moore. Unfinished Revolution.
Bruce Springsteen The River
XTC. Black Sea.
Martin Stephenson. Salutation Road.
Elvis Costello. Taking liberties.
The usual caveat that half of these could change tomorrow applies
AC/DC – If You Want Blood
Air – Moon Safari
The Beatles – Revolver
Louis Brennan – Dead Capital
Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
Fairport Convention – Unhalfbricking
Thea Gilmore – Rules for Jokers
Richard and Linda Thompson – Pour Down Like Silver
Richard Thompson – Semi-Detached Mock Tudor
Tom Waits – Looking for the Heart of Saturday Night
This changes daily, but todays choices would be;
Nas – Illmatic
Fionn Regan – The End Of History
SOAK – If I Never Know You Like This Again
Taylor Swift – 1989
The National – Alligator
The Human League – Dare
Adem – Homesongs
I Am Kloot – I Am Kloot
The Teardrop Explodes – Kilimanjaro
The Smiths – Louder Than Bombs
*puts on ungrateful curmudgeon hat*
The whole point of Desert Island Discs was that the castaway not only chooses the 8 records, 1 book and 1 luxury, but uses those items as hooks to hang a short audio autobiography.
Just listing 8-10 pieces/sets of music, although catnip for list-loving AWers, is a bit pointless without some accompanying explanatory text.
Otherwise, isn’t it just a double dose of those occasional random 5 track play threads.
@sawarpe
I thought that, too. So given that the two threads have just devolved into lists of songs/albums with no rhyme or reason for them being there, I’ve refrained from posting. Hope I don’t get marooned on a desert island any time soon!
That’s why I gave a brief reason for each choice above. Also I’ve tried to grab (in haste) 10 albums I don’t think I’ll tire of.
I appreciated that effort, Mike, thanks!
“ isn’t it just a double dose of those occasional random 5 track play threads “
Not really, @salwarpe: unless you’re implying that all the tracks posted in the two threads were picked completely at random, eg by using random play on an iPod…
Come to think of it – we haven’t had a Randomiser thread for ages!
No, fitter, I don’t think they were picked completely at random (might have been more interesting and less predictable if they were). Although for other AWers, they have as about as much meaning as if they were.
Um…ok then. Apols.
If it’s just favourite album lists one wants. Here’s one we made earlier :
Yebbut, we’re not being asked for Best Albums of All Time, ever. See Gary’s post above.
Anyway, as an outlier on this site, I usually disagree with Best Album/Song of all time, even when I vote. What was our Official Favourite Song again? Something by the Specials?
No hits Clash I believe. Not my choice.
On reflection, I think you’re right – although I can’t find the thread…
This is the one I had in my head
But that’s what most people are doing I believe, I posted different albums (with some crossover)
You hold yourself to a different (and higher) standard, @dai…
Lifes Rich Pageant: R.E.M.
Louder Than Bombs: The Smiths
A Walk Across the Rooftops: The Blue Nile
Here Come the Snakes: Green on Red
Solid Air: John Martyn
Skylarking: XTC
Paul Simon: Paul Simon
Swordfishtrombones: Tom Waits
Pink Moon: Nick Drake
Revolver: The Beatles
dang, Louder Than Bombs is perfect
Kick Inside – Kare Bush
Hex – Bark Psychosis
Steve McQueen – Prefab Sprout
Yellow Bellied Wonderland- Oddfellows Casino
Station to Station – David Bowie
House of Love – House of Love (the Creation album)
Bryter Later – Nick Drake
Metal Box – PiL
High Land Hard Rain – Aztec Camera
Let England Shake – PJ Harvey
Bonus compilation
Singles – The Pretenders
In no particular order :
Chicago – Chicago II
Bill Withers – Live At Carnegie Hall
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night
Duke Ellington – Live at Newport 1956
Miles Davis – Filles de Kilimanjaro
Nick Drake – Bryter Layter
Kenny Burrell – Midnight Blue
Joe Zawinul – Brown Street
Ry Cooder – Get Rhythm
Don Rendell & Ian Carr Quintet – Phase III
Midnight Blue is a great choice.
I see we both alighted on Ellington’s Newport 56 as well. Great minds etc.
Not necessarily on my list of best albums ever (though many are), but these are all important to me
David Bowie Station to Station
Emmylou Harris Wrecking Ball
Bob Dylan Blood of the Tracks
Creedence Cosmos Factory
Van Morrison St Dominic’s Preview
Rory Gallagher Live in Europe
Richard and Linda Thompson Pour Down Like Silver
Bruce Springsteen Wild The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle
Lucinda Williams Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Television Marquee Moon
Love – Forever Changes…that’s it for now.
This Desert Island music thingy has given me an idea for another one but let this one run it’s course.
Bob Dylan – Biograph
More for the moods they evoke and remind me of……
Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers/Bongos Over Balham
Fairport Convention/Liege & Lief
Hot Licks, Cold Steel & Truckers Favourites/Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen
Jackie Leven/Songs From the Argyll Cycle, Volume 1
REM/Fables of the Reconstruction
Waterboys/Room to Roam
Levellers/Levelling the Land
Jarlath Henderson & Ross Ainslie/Air-fix
Good to see a mention of the Ol’ Commander and the boys. A fine little rockin’ combo.
Personally, I’d prefer either “Live From Deep In The Heart Of Texas” or “We’ve Got a Live One Here”.
I was excluding live albums or best of compilations. But, now you mention it, 8 best ofs wouldn’t be a bad option, IMHO. Now there’s a thread!!!
These might be my ten…
A Love Supreme – John Coltrane
Imperial Bedroom – Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Heart of the Congos – The Congos
Manassas – Stephen Stills
Djam Leelii – Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck
69 Love Songs – Magnetic Fields
Penguin Eggs – Nic Jones
Live at the Blue Note: Complete – Keith Jarrett
Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas – Townes van Zandt
Ys – Joanna Newsom
Ys? You’re just trying to wind us up now, duco, arent you? Someone will be suggesting Carrie and Lowell next….
You did ask:
Prince – Sign o’the times.
John Martyn – Grace and Danger
Paul Simon – Still crazy after all these years
Lucinda Williams – Essence
10,000 Maniacs – In my Tribe
Nathalie Merchant – Ophelia
Elvis Costello – King of America
Leonard Cohen – Songs of
John Prine – In Spite of Ourselves
Jason Isbell – Southeastern
I mourn the ones that are not on there but really should be.
Its bad enough getting shipwrecked without being deprived of your lifeblood.
I own nine of those.
Compared to most of you lot, I have very mainstream, conservative tastes. But if I was really about to be shipwrecked on an island, no one cares.
Fabs – White Album
Stones – Exile on Main Street
Dame – “Heroes”
Joni – Hejira
The Orb – UF Orb
Wacko Jacko – Thriller
Spacemen 3 – The Perfect Prescription
St Etienne – So Tough
Abba – The Album
Neil Young – Time Fades Away
The Beatles – Revolver
CSNY – Deja Vu
Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
John Mellencamp – Big Daddy
Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark
Tom Petty – Wildflowers
Pretenders – Pretenders
REM – New Adventures in Hi Fi
Neil Young – Freedom
Joni Mitchell – Hejira
Kate Bush – The Dreaming
Julian Cope – Fried
Ravel – Le Tombeau de Couperin
Sonerien Du – Gwerz Penmarc’h
XTC – Apple Venus Vol 1
Supergrass – In it for the Money
Steve Reich – Music for 18 Musicians
did you say 10?
King Crimson – Starless and Bible Black
Lau – Race the Loser
Louder Than Bombs – The Smiths
The Undertones – The Undertones
Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot – Sparklehorse
Spirit of Eden – Talk Talk
Boxer – The National
Ágætis Byrjun – Sigur Ros
Diamond Mine – King Creosote & Jon Hopkins
A Walk Across The Rooftops – The Blue Nile
The Best Of James – James
Still – Joy Division
There are 3 compilations in there. Bands I love too much to pick a single album.
1. Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue
2. Miles Davis – On The Corner
3. Miles Davis – A Tribute To Jack Johnson
4. Joni Mitchell – Blue
5. Alice Coltrane – Journey in Satchidandanda
6. Thelonious Monk – Palo Alto
7. Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington
8. Money Jungle – Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach
9. Aretha Franklin – Spirit In The Dark
10. Steely Dan – Aja
No In A Silent Way??