If you were stranded on a deserted island, what five albums would you want with you to listen to? I started thinking about this topic a while back, and I still don't know if I'm satisfied with my answers. But I'm rolling with it anyway. I'm not sure what got me thinking about this, but I did. And as I was thinking about it, I decided to put some restrictions on the answers to really make it difficult and make you think. So the major restriction is that you cannot select compilation albums. This means no greatest hits collections, no best of genre albums, no Now! discs. And why only five, you may ask? Because if I said ten, that would make it easier. Five really makes you think about what you would want to listen to.
While I was thinking about my five albums, I tried to pick a variety of genres. I like everything from hip hop to doo wop to R&B to Motown to grunge. How would I ever pick albums to represent everything I liked? The answer is I can't. So I tried to pick albums that I knew I would enjoy the entirety of, while also picking a variety of genres. In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm still second guessing my picks. I suppose I should just get it in writing before I take another two months to ponder my answer. So, here they are, my five albums.
Outkast - Aquemini
This was probably the easiest choice on my list. Those of you who know me know I'm a huge Outkast fan, so the question really was not if I would choose an Outkast album, but which Outkast album would I choose. The more I've listened to Outkast recently, the more I realize that Aquemini is their best album. Although, you really can't go wrong with any Outkast album, but I'm choosing this one because I think it is the most solid top to bottom.
Prince - Purple Rain
Any album with Purple Rain, the song, should get consideration for inclusion. It's almost heavenly. The rest of the album is pretty darn good too. Prince is an amazing musician and this is one of his best albums. Plus it's a good combination of R&B, funk, and pop. A nice blend while being stuck on an island.
MC Hammer - Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em
Yea, I went there. I grew up wearing this tape out. That's right, I had this album on cassette tape. And I knew every word to every song. I probably still do. Plus, I can get some exercise while dancing along to songs on this album. It's that good.
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
I almost didn't include this album, but I didn't think it would be appropriate to be stuck on a deserted island and not have any Beach Boys music to listen to. While I would prefer to have an album with Surfer Girl or Good Vibrations on it, this is their best top to bottom. Plus it's a nice change of pace from what I have so far.
The fifth album is where it got really tricky. Did I look for a good doo wop album? Should I choose a Motown album? Would another hip hop album be overkill? So many questions. But let's break it down. When looking for a doo wop or Motown album I realized that those groups put out so many albums that most of them contained songs I was unfamiliar with and only one or two hits. This is where the no compilation rule makes things tough. So I'm back to picking albums that I enjoy from the first track to the last track. I considered quite a few different albums, such as Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, Warren G's Regulate, Boyz II Men's II, No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom, and a number of Mariah Carey albums. As I'm typing this, I'm still having trouble deciding. But this is what I ultimately settled on.
TLC - CrazySexyCool
Why did I decide on TLC? Well, I thought it represented a good blend of upbeat and slow songs, plus it's just a really good album. I thought Snoop or Warren G would have been hip hop overkill, and didn't think I would consistently want to listen to No Doubt, even though the album is good. So it boiled down to Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, or TLC. Boyz II Men was a little too slow overall and Mariah is, well, Mariah, and I couldn't decide on one of her albums. So I looked closer at TLC and decided this would be an excellent choice.
So that's my list. I welcome any comments you may have and invite you to try to come up with your own list.
