Desert Island Music Draft Thread *** draft is over ***

[bozzwell]

Public Enemy - Ita Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)

From wikipedia:

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on Def Jam Recordings on April 19, 1988.
Enormously influential, the album's mix of The Bomb Squad's dense, sample-heavy production and Chuck D's politically charged lyrics turned the album into a sensation, peaking at #42 on the Billboard 200.



I think that all my hip-hop picks are either gone or safe, and of the 2-3 picks that I intend to include, this is probably the most important to me. I have a problem with most hip-hop records today, not that I don't like them but they just don't stand very well against the classics such as this one. Thos who remember rap explosion in the 80's will remember how loud, obnoxious, in-your-face and sometimes controversial it was. And it was great.

 

[Spike]

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
I think that all my hip-hop picks are either gone or safe, and of the 2-3 picks that I intend to include, this is probably the most important to me. I have a problem with most hip-hop records today, not that I don't like them but they just don't stand very well against the classics such as this one. Thos who remember rap explosion in the 80's will remember how loud, obnoxious, in-your-face and sometimes controversial it was. And it was great.

Hellfire and damnation! I'm not a big rap guy, so I didn't have too many choices. There goes one of my last chances at a rap pick. Bring the Noise!

 

[tradepeja]

Well I wanted Purple and I can't go on my island without some STP. I guess I'll choose...

Stone Temple Pilots - Core - 1992

What I like about STP is that they kind of sound like Pearl Jam and Nirvana mixed into one. "Plush" and "Creep" are excellent examples. Plush has more of a Pearl Jam sound, Creep has a very Nirvana sound (I actually thought it was a song done by Nirvana the first time I ever heard it).

 

[atxrocker]

that album was great too, another of my favorites.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

One of my all time favorites:
The Sonics - Boom (1966)

Who were the Sonics? Arguably the first punk rock band, and one of the best garage bands the 60s had to offer. A bunch of white dudes from Tacoma, WA who blended R&B with highly overdriven guitar amps, they were the missing link between Little Richard and The Stooges and the MC5. And while there are a few better known bands from the Pac-NW garage scene in the 60s (Paul Rever and the Raiders, The Wailers), these guys are also the ones that clearly influenced the early grunge bands the most.

The Sonics put out two amazing albums in the mid 60's, 1965's Here are the Sonics and my pick Boom. Both albums are fantastic, loaded with high energy covers of R&B and early rock and roll classics along with their originals. I'm going with Boom primarily for "Shot Down", "Cinderella", "He's Waiting" and an awesome cover of "Louie, Louie". But start to finish its a great album. If you were to buy it today you'd also get two of their best tracks from the previous effort "The Witch" (live and an alternate take) and a live version of "Psycho". Even without those two this is a fantastic album.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

And pdxKingsFan continues to lead the league in artists/groups I've never heard of, G³'s recent efforts notwithstanding; he's now five for ten.

C-Diddy is on the clock.

 

[C Diddy]

I'm taking a break from my regularly scheduled program of taking great rock albums of the 90's for a bit. I most likely will return shortly, but in the meantime, I present my 10th pick:

Linkin Park - Meteora - 2003

Linkin Park was not the first group to fuse rap/rock/metal and they are arguably not the best, and this isn't even their debut album, but the sheer awesomeness that is Meteora cannot be questioned. Sold over 15million copies worldwide. Several huge hits, from Numb to Faint to Somewhere I Belong to Lying From You. Breaking the Habit and From the Inside are also great tracks and borderline hits themselves.

All in all, this album has a ton of energy and would definitely keep me pumped up for my stay on the island.

 

[atxrocker]

Linkin Park - Meteora - 2003

Great album. I thought Linkin Park would be gone earlier. Their new stuff sucks (in my opinion, very bad) but their debut album almost made my list. Hybrid Theory got so much play and is so great but ultimately didn't make my list. Meteora was a close second favorite of mine.

 

[Prophetess]

Josh Turner - Your Man

"In early 2006, Turner released his second album, Your Man. The album's first single and title track, "Your Man", was released in late 2005. "Your Man" also climbed the charts slowly, eventually reaching #1 in early 2006. Your Man was certified Gold by the RIAA four weeks after its release, and later went Platinum six months later."

 

[Warhawk]

Well, this one is difficult - I know the artist, but not sure of the album. I'm dipping back into country with this one.

One of my favorite songs in on an album that is possibly one of their weakest overall. The two others I like are generally good but very different - choosing one over the other at this point is not easy. And their live album is the best (and has a rocking song - "Mississippi" - you can't get anywhere else), but it was recorded over a variety of dates so it is not a valid selection. Their other album (semi-political/retaliatory album) just plain isn't very good because it isn't the "fun" sound they were known for.

I'm going with:

Dixie Chicks - Home (2002)

While definitely not the same as their first two releases with Natalie Maines, this album still has some of that Dixie Chicks feel, with "Long Time Gone" being a protest song about today's country radio, "Travelin' Soldier" being a tribute to those going off to war, "White Trash Wedding", and a great instrumental - "Lil' Jack Slade".

From wiki:

The Dixie Chicks became involved in a dispute with their record label regarding royalties and accounting procedures. After the trio quit in disgust, Sony sued the group for failure to complete their contract. The group countersued.[7]
During the time that the two parties worked to reconcile their differences, the three women found themselves home, in Texas, with each happily married, and they began writing songs closer to their origins without the usual pressures of the studio technicians from the major labels. The result was that Home, independently produced by Lloyd Maines, was released in 2002. For tracks not written by the group, outside songwriters were solicited for personal songs that were considered "uncommercial". Unlike the Chicks' two previous records, Home was recorded without drums and is dominated by very up-tempo bluegrass and pensive ballads, hearking back to earlier days before Maines joined the band. Emmylou Harris added her vocals to one song. In addition, the lyrics of the opening track and first single, "Long Time Gone," explicitly attacked contemporary country music radio, accusing it of ignoring the soul of the genre as exemplified by Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams.
"Long Time Gone" became the Chicks' first top ten hit on the U.S. pop singles chart and peaked at #2 on the country chart, becoming a major success. Over six million copies of Home were sold in the U.S.[8]
In 2003, they gave a performance of The Star-Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXXVII.
The group's independent spirit was alive and well in their cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," which duplicated the top ten country and pop achievements. However, a key track from Home contrasted with past albums; a rendering of Patty Griffin's "Top of the World," for which the subsequent tour was named.


Home dominated the 2003 Grammy Awards by winning four awards, including:

• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
• Best Country Instrumental Performance
  • Dixie Chicks for "Lil' Jack Slade"
• Best Country Album
  • Lloyd Maines (producer), Gary Paczosa (engineer/mixer) & the Dixie Chicks (producers & artists) for Home.

 

[Bricklayer]

Is that the one with "Not Ready to Make Nice" on it?

Always loved that song and the colossal bird they flipped their blackballers with it.

Edit: scratch that. That song would have had to have been on something later after the controversy.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

That was the follow up that Warhawk said "isn't very good". I'm kinda torn because I liked what they did, but they did go a completely new direction. I'm not a huge Chicks fan, but when bands I like do that I tend to go absolutely ballistic. I thought the "Shut Up and Sing" documentary about the Home tour, the incendiary remarks and ensuing backlash and then the recording of Taking the Long Way was fascinating though.

 

[Warhawk]

Is that the one with "Not Ready to Make Nice" on it?

Always loved that song and the colossal bird they flipped their blackballers with it.

Edit: scratch that. That song would have had to have been on something later after the controversy.

That's on "Taking the Long Way" - the CD I didn't like. They took all the fun out of it because they were making it into their "protest" album. If you want to make a protest song, fine, whatever. But I remember the album in general not being very "Dixie Chicks-ish". I haven't listened to it since I bought it - I should probably give it another chance one of these days just to see if it sounds any better now than it did then....

A couple of my favorite songs of theirs are on other albums than the one I chose - Goodbye Earl, Am I the Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way?), and Sin Wagon in particular - but I also really appreciate their sound on Home as well.

Again, hard to choose, and I will probably look at spending one of my last picks on one of their other albums. But I wanted to get one of them in here.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I think they probably felt that while the whole Bush-flap may have shut some doors for them it also opened up others which is why not only was it less "fun" but they went for more of an "adult-contemporary" sound. I remember the "Not Ready to Make Nice" song getting play in all kinds of places that wouldn't touch the Chicks before, so I guess it worked for them.

"Sin Wagon" is definitely my favorite song of theirs.

 

[GoGoGadget]

"Sin Wagon" is definitely my favorite song of theirs.

"Sin Wagon" is just a fun song, and by far my favorite of theirs, as well. Otherwise, they fall into a weird category for me -- I really respect and appreciate their musicianship, and have always liked their sound, but would probably never purchase or listen to one of their albums on my own.

 

[Jerryaki]

santana - supernatural (1999)

from wiki:

Supernatural is a 1999 concept album by Santana. The songs on the album represent one man's personal emotions through its various Cuban and Latin rhythms. It went 15 times platinum in the US and won nine Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.
The album, conceived by Clive Davis and A&R'd by Pete Ganbarg, was phenomenally successful, eventually selling over 25 million copies worldwide; it is generally seen to have revived Santana's dormant career. It included the hit single "Smooth", which featured Matchbox Twenty singer Rob Thomas on vocals, and was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks. The follow-up single, "Maria Maria" (which featured The Product G&B), was #1 on the same chart for 10 weeks. Santana and Rob Thomas won 2 Grammys for their collaboration on the song "Smooth" while Santana and Everlast won another for the song "Put Your Lights on"
Among the other guest artists: Eric Clapton, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, and Cee-Lo.

 

[Bricklayer]

I knew that was big. I did not know it was so big it went 15x platinum in the U.S. Even factoring in crossover appeal, and major sales int he hispanic market, that's still a real monster figure given that I can only the tune off the one huge track (Smooth).

 

[GoGoGadget]

My next pick is probably the newest that will reach my island, unless I decide to swap in some of my alternates.

Queens of the Stone Age -- Songs for the Deaf (2002) -- Had a hard time picking an album here, and would likely smuggle the rest of the band's (and their side projects'/early incarnations') catalog with me, but knew I had to have some QOTSA on the island with me and went with one of the two albums through which I first discovered them. While it has been hailed by many as the band/album that singularly resurrected rock/metal, I don't particularly agree since it came out at the same time that many other bands were also "single-handedly" resurrecting various forms of rock/metal (specifically the "The" bands that started popping up everywhere). However, I do agree that this album is packed from start to finish with great songs. I tried to pick a favorite to include with this little write-up, and got completely stumped -- 13 of the 14 tracks could easily qualify depending on my mood, and the one that doesn't count as a favorite comes awfully close. Also, the other thing about this band and this album... everything about their sound -- somewhat dirty, loud, relentless drum lines (provided by Dave Grohl on this CD), driving guitars/bass, Josh Homme's voice -- simply drips with sexy and, quite frankly, that's a must on my island, too.

 

[D-Mass]

Tom Petty - Wildflowers (1994)

Admittedly, I'm not the biggest Tom Petty fan in the world. I mean, I like to get drunk and belt out a few bars of "Free Fallin'" as much as the next guy, but he's not exactly a huge part of my music collection. That said, this is a GREAT album. I will often skip past the most popular tracks, "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "You Wreck Me" just to get to some of the other stuff. I love it from beginning to end. Whether you're a Tom Petty fan or not, you should give this album a listen.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I said back in the sixth round that there are only two artists/groups that I think of when I hear the term "baby making music."

This is the other one:

Teddy Pendergrass - Life is a Song Worth Singing - 1978

While there are other albums by Teddy with songs I like better, this one has more disco tracks and, when I consider the "desert island" aspect of this exercise, this album would be better suited to a solitary island life. Honestly, I like Teddy a little better, but you can't properly appreciate Come Go With Me and Turn Off the Lights without the company of the opposite sex...

Now, if I can take Teddy with me to the Babe island...

 

[Kingzrool]

I have the number one pick, and I choose Spice by the Spice Girls. I would then write a brief reason why I chose that album at 1.01. Even something as simple as "Wannabe was the underrated hits of the mid-90s, and it changed my life" would be acceptable.

So where is the big Spice Girls pick?

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Never lead with the Big Joker.

 

[Bricklayer]

Alrighty then, recent picks have decided me which way to go on this twain:

Green Day -- American Idiot (2004)

I have had this sitting out there for some time now, but was reluctant to add a second album by the same artist to my island. But damn if I did not really like this one, and a number of its singles remain in heavy rotation on my Ipod to this day. And what makes taking a second Green Day album more feasible is that they reinvented themselves for this one, and rather brilliantly at that. There are still more traditional punk tracks on it, including the title track, but the whole thing is done in the form of a rock opera dabbling in many genres, with the band stepping forward to really launch a scathing political broadside. It was the freshest they had sounded in a decade at elast, and it was huge hit. Went 8x platinum in the U.S., hit #1 in a dozen different countries on the way to over 14 million in sales, and saw American Idiot, Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me When September Ends etc. climb all over the singles charts. Will cost me a bit of island diversity, but I'm real happy to have this one with me.

 

[atxrocker]

Queens of the Stone Age -- Songs for the Deaf (2002)

now i know you hate me.

 

[GoGoGadget]

Now, if I can take Teddy with me to the Babe island...

I've been assuming that each island would contain all of the items/babes picked from whichever draft(s) you're in.

 

[D-Mass]

Green Day -- American Idiot (2004)

Yet another one I was naive enough to think might fall to me later. Great pick...

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I've been assuming that each island would contain all of the items/babes picked from whichever draft(s) you're in.

Well, I'm not moderating the other drafts, so I can't speak for them, but I can speak for this one: There may be music on the babes island, but there are no babes on this island. You're all alone with your music.

 

[tradepeja]

I'm sort of surprised and I hate to be a negative nancy, but I really dislike new Green Day. Maybe I'm the only one though.

 

[Spike]

I won't go anywhere without:

My adidas!

I'm not letting this one slide any further, as it may not make it back. Thank you for bringing back Aerosmith.

Run DMC - Raising Hell (1986)

Darryl McDaniels, Jam Master Jay and the Reverend Run wore black leather suits, gold chains and Adidas with no laces. They looked like drug dealers, and plenty of people thought they were. In reality, they were middle class kids from Queens desperate to become rock stars, and Raising Hell was their defining statement. They opened with "Peter Piper" ("Now Peter Piper picked peppers, but Run rapped rhymes/ Humpty Dumpty fell down, that's his hard time") to show off their spitting speed, followed it with "It's Tricky" to prove their ferocity, "My Adidas" to test their promotional skills and "Walk This Way", the first rock-rap collaboration to hit the Top 10, to show off their catholic tastes. And those are just the first four tracks. Raising Hell is rap's first masterpiece, and it's just as audacious now as it was two decades ago.

 

[GoGoGadget]

Run DMC - Raising Hell (1986)

Awww, man! Spike, you be illin'.

I was counting on this one lasting longer.