What album would you choose?

The winds coming off the Pacific Ocean gently rustle the leaves of a nearby tree and mix with the sound of the waves hitting the shoreline to create a relaxing symphony of sounds. I could easily fall asleep thinking of the image, but a perplexing question has taken over my thoughts. I can’t stop thinking of what else I might choose.

Would I choose A Purple Rain perhaps. Maybe a hotel where “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave?” Or what about Lonely Hearts Club Band? They could certainly stand up over time to any other band I might choose. Or should I choose a Thriller, or prefer to look at the Dark Side of the Moon, or listen to a bunch of Rumours?

The choices are endless. 

All alone on a deserted island

Okay, okay, here’s the challenge, I’m sending you packing to a deserted island. But I’m giving you one album to take with you to keep you company. What album are you taking? 

Stephen Colbert had actor Bradley Cooper on the The Late Show several months ago and asked him what one song he would choose to listen to if he could choose just one. His response: Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. Of course, I decided to take Colbert’s question one step further. What album would I choose?

Prince and the Revolution’s Purple Rain; Eagles’ Hotel California, The Beatles The Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; Michael Jackson’s Thriller; Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon; and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours tend to show up on many of the top lists.

I asked my son. Now he’s pretty savvy when it comes to music and popular culture, but he went a completely different direction. I thought he might choose something from Led Zeppelin or rappers Travis Scott or Kid Cudi. Instead, he chose Mac Miller’s Faces. I may not agree with his choice, but it’s hard to disagree with his logic. His read of the situation: If you’re stuck on an deserted island, you’d get sick of the same album every day, but he considers the songs on the mixtape album to cover many different types. 

Image by Matthias Groeneveld via Pexels.

Lots of options

When you talk great singers and best selling albums, Madonna, The Queen B, as in Beyonce, Adele, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift all have their fans. You could throw Michael Jackson, Kayne, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Eminem on that list too. There’s definitely lots of choices for the heavy medal fans in the crowd, including AC/DC, Metallica, or Guns N’ Roses.

You’ve got Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross and the Supremes for the Mo-town sound. There’s lots of other choices too, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Queen, The Grateful Dead, Elton John, Sting, and Billy Joel to name a few. Of course, Bruce Springsteen comes to mind, but some might point to Born in the USA, while others would probably point to Born to Run or Nebraska or some of his earlier work. 

On the country side, I haven’t even mentioned Garth Brooks’ No Fences or Shania Twain’s Come on Over. Pure country folks would point to Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison or Loretta Lynn’s Coal Miner’s Daughter, Ray Charles Modern Sounds in Country, or Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors and many others.

I know a friend or two who will shoot me if I don’t mention Paul Simon with or without Garfunkel. My 90s’-grunge friends will shoot me death glares if I don’t mention Nirvana’s Nevermind or something from the Foo Fighters. Finally my wife will send me to the doghouse if I don’t mention her favorite: James Taylor’s Greatest Hits released in 1976, featuring “Carolina in my Mind” and “You’ve Got A Friend.”

I’m not even mentioning some of the great classical music scores of all time from Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Wagner. I haven’t even gotten into the great musicians of the world. I know I could listen to Yo-Yo Ma “all day, every day.”

Image by Jose Antonio Gallego Vázquez via Pexels.

A drum roll please

As I look over this list, I’m appalled at some of the musicians and albums I haven’t even mentioned, David Bowie, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Lauryn Hill, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holliday, The Beach Boys, Bob Marley, and Jimi Hendrix. Saying all that, I would probably choose U2’s Joshua Tree or their Best of 1980-1990 album. How can you argue with songs like “With or Without You,” “Where The Streets Have No Name,” or “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For?”

Hey, I’m a mid-80s kid. It’s hard to take the 80s out of me.

I listen to any of those songs on that album and I’m automatically taken to another place in time. I’m sitting in the study lounge in my dorm watching MTV’s premiere of the video release of “With or Without You” with the rest of the guys from my floor. I listen to “Where The Streets Have No Name” and I’m sitting on my friend’s deck, listening to the album, trying to catch some sun and study for our upcoming Economics 101 exam, all the while drinking beers and chatting up the girls in the next apartment. If I close my eyes for a few minutes and listen to the album, I’m young and carefree again.

Now one minor trivial detail: If I’m going to have electricity on this deserted island to play my album, can we throw in some AC too? Maybe even a refrigerator and a few waters and beers? I imagine it’s going to get hot on this island.

What would be your album choice?

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This is the second in a series on the ways music touches our lives. Let me know what you like to listen to and what you think of the series. I’ll be taking a break from the series on Wednesday, but will be returning with three more posts later this week.