Speaking a moment ago about desert island albums, here are my top ten, in order (most necessary to least – and I’ve probably done this here before, but for now, this is what I’m taking):
1) Miles Davis – “Kind of Blue” – Like an old friend, I can go back to this album for the familiarity it provides. Like an old book, I can go back to this album for the intellectual stimulation I get. Like that old favorite book, I grab something new from each listen.
2) The Beatles – “Revolver” – Although I love the medley that covers the end of “Abbey Road” more than any other rock song ever, I can’t put any other rock album above “Revolver.” In the era of Cream and other jam bands, is it brave to have put a song like “For No One” on the album? Minimalist, simple, and perfect.
3) Jimi Hendrix – “Electric Ladyland” – Some of this pick, certainly, is quantity over quality. At least a little. This is a sloppier album than his first two, but I couldn’t live twenty years in seclusion without being able to hear “1983…” and “Rainy Day, Dream Away.”
4) John Coltrane – “My Favorite Things” – If you were to ask me to play you a song that communicated the emotion “hope,” I’d play you the title track. If you were to ask me to play you a song that communicated how it feels to leave your love in the past, I’d play you “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye.” This album tugs at me like few others do.
5) Outkast – “Aquemini” – As much as I love “The Love Below/Speakerboxx,” I think this is their best album by a long ways. There’s not a better act working today than Outkast.
6) Miles Davis – “In a Silent Way” – There is so much Miles out there I wouldn’t want to live my life without, but this album seems to find its way into my CD player more often than any other. At once both meditative and energetic, it’s about the most well structured avant-garde piece anyone’s ever put together. And when Tony Williams finally moves from brushes to sticks for that brief ten seconds? That could very well be my favorite moment off of any album ever.
7) Raekwon – “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx” – For variety’s sake, I’m taking two or three hip hop albums to the island. This album represents, for my money, the most listenable of all the Wu releases (Ol Dirty Bastard’s first album is the most genius of the bunch). The album plays like the story arc of a gangster movie, and features some of the strongest production RZA ever put together.
8) Bob Dylan – “Blonde on Blonde” – Not only do I love casually listening to this album, but it also makes me feel like I should listen harder, trying to “crack the code” of what he’s really trying to say. I would probably bring this one if for no other reason than I really feel like I should sit down with this album and listen to it twenty times through carefully in order to make sure I get the most out of it.
9) The Beatles – “Abbey Road” – “Sgt Pepper” is overrated. That’s all I’m saying about that.
10) Miles Davis – “Bitches Brew” – This wins out over “Jack Johnson” on the virtues of being double-disc. It’s also very, very dense and I know I could listen to this one hundreds of times through without feeling like I had.