{"id":47964,"date":"2023-09-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/25-desert-island-discs\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T07:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T07:31:33","slug":"25-desert-island-discs","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/25-desert-island-discs\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Desert Island Discs"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been writing for the Vault, on and off (mostly on), for 25 years.<\/p>\n

My 25th anniversary is sometime this month. I wanted to do something to commemorate the occasion, as frankly it was against the odds that I\u2019d even still be here.<\/p>\n

I considered several ways to celebrate; skywriting was too expensive, a Times Square billboard has been done to death, and I don\u2019t do tattoos. Finally, I decided to take the trope of Desert Island Discs and run with it.<\/p>\n

Below please find the 25 albums I would take into a fallout shelter, a shipwreck, or hospice. No criteria were applied save two:<\/p>\n

1. Two-album limit from each artist
2. no made-up albums, no multi-disc collections (so much for Harry Chapin\u2019s \u201cThe Electra Collection\u201d)<\/p>\n

The albums are not rated in any particular order. These are the albums I go back to constantly. This is, forgive me, the soundtrack my life. My want, my desire, is that everyone who has ever enjoyed my writing pick one they haven\u2019t listened to and give it a spin.<\/p>\n

Thank you for a magnificent, sad, joyful, infirm, transcendent time. Twenty-five years down. I wonder if I can make it to fifty?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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1-2. Alan Parsons Project — Eye In The Sky<\/i> and Turn Of A Friendly Card<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Longtime readers of the DV will know that when I did my ratings of all the Alan Parsons (Project) albums, I had a lot of trouble deciding which disc should be #1. In the end, I went with TOAFC<\/i> and I Robot<\/i>. However, I listen to Eye<\/i> more than Robot<\/i>, and for reasons related to the next entry I swore to limit myself to two Project CDs. Robot<\/i> is a better album, but I like Eye <\/i>more. Eye<\/i> was also the first album I ever bought with my own money.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n\n
\n

3-4. Alan Parsons — The Very Best Live<\/i> and Try Anything Once
<\/i><\/b>
I am not a fan of live albums. Very Best Live<\/i> is a pretty good album, but the reason it\u2019s on this list is the studio tracks, specifically \u201cTake The Money And Run.\u201d I own two copies of Live<\/i> so I can keep one in the car and blast that song as loud as possible, often. Meanwhile, TAO<\/i> is still the best solo work Parsons has done.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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5. Rush — Grace Under Pressure<\/i> <\/b><\/p>\n

This was almost Power Windows<\/i>, and I don\u2019t care what Jason thinks about the production. Go listen to the Shaggs or something, Jason. But I refuse to go through life as a tropical exile without being able to listen to \u201cBetween The Wheels\u201d and \u201cDistant Early Warning.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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6. Amanda Marshall — Amanda Marshall<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

This was a toughie. Everybody\u2019s Got A Story<\/i> may be a better album, and expect to see that reviewed in the next month or two. But without the self-titled debut of someone you should all listen to immediately, I don\u2019t get \u201cLast Exit To Eden.\u201d And that, friends, isn\u2019t happening. <\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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7. Great Big Sea — Road Rage<\/i> <\/b><\/p>\n

Again, there\u2019s an almost here. This was almost Something Beautiful<\/i>. But I was once privileged to see GBS live, and it was either the best or second-best concert I ever went to. Road Rage<\/i> captured that energy perfectly.<\/p>\n

As much as I\u2019d like to continue this Canadian streak I have going:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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8. Barry Manilow — 2AM Paradise Caf\u00e9<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Go ahead, make the jokes; that\u2019s how I know you\u2019ve never heard this CD. If you had, you might understand. Forty-nine minutes, five seconds, 11 tracks, two amazing guest appearances (Sarah Vaughan and Mel Torme), one take. Magic.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n


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9-10. Carrie Newcomer — The Geography of Light<\/i> and The Gathering Of Spirits
<\/i><\/b>
The decision was too hard to make. One gets me \u201cThe Fisher King,\u201d one gets me \u201cLazarus.\u201d Screw it, my list, I can make the rules. If you at all love singer-songwriters, for the love of Bragi, please go find these albums somewhere and listen to them. They will break your heart in a good way.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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11. Peter Mayer (the Minnesota one) — <\/b>The Great Story<\/b>
<\/i>
Everyone should have an album that succinctly describes their entire spirituality and philosophy on one compact disc. This one\u2019s mine. And I have never reviewed it. In fact, I\u2019ve never reviewed any of his stuff. Jason, how do you let me get away with this crap?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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12. Duncan Sheik — <\/b>Duncan Sheik<\/b>
<\/i>
This could be any of the Buddhist singer\/songwriter\u2019s albums. But looking back, with one exception (see entry 13), this is the album I go to most. \u201cShe Runs Away,\u201d \u201cA Body Goes Down,\u201d \u201cBarely Breathing\u201d\u2014it\u2019s a veritable banquet of tight, incisive lyrics and lovely singing and playing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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13. Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater — <\/b>Spring Awakening<\/b>
<\/i>
And now we get to Broadway. One would not normally think that a musical adaptation of an 1893 German play about hypocrisy, sexuality, and societal oppression would make a good musical. It didn\u2019t; it made a great one.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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14. Peter Gabriel — So<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Because of Tony Levin\u2019s hypnotic bass on \u201cRed Rain.\u201d Because of that great, great horn intro on \u201cSledgehammer.\u201d Because in 1986 and beyond, this album kept me from killing someone\u2014including myself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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15. October Project — October Project
<\/i><\/b>
If this album had come out ten years later, it would have sold much, much better. The twin voices of Mary Fahl (contralto) and Marina Belica (soprano) is sheer bliss. This album, which featured over twenty musicians, is a masterpiece of cross-genre music. If you like Tori Amos, Kate Bush, or anyone else in that vein, please, check them out.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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16. The Police — <\/b>Synchronicity<\/b>
<\/i>
I think this is the Police at their best, even though that\u2019s not a popular opinion. But it\u2019s here more for the memories: when I moved back from Texas to Indiana after my marriage fell apart, I realized I could play whatever I wanted<\/u> on the car stereo. So while driving through northern Mississippi, I listened to \u201cSynchronicity II\u201d and sang along madly, loudly, and perhaps badly \u2013 eleven times.<\/p>\n

At least.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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17. Peter Cincotti — <\/b>Metropolis<\/b>
<\/i>
Cincotti would have been a great member of the Rat Pack. Similar energy. That said, \u201cDo Or Die,\u201d \u201cGraffiti Wall,\u201d \u201cFit You Better\u201d\u2014there is not a bad song on this disc. There are also two heartbreakingly sad songs, \u201cMadeline\u201d and \u201cTake A Good Luck,\u201d and I\u2019m a sucker for that stuff.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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18. Marillion — <\/b>Clutching At Straws<\/b>
<\/i>
This is the best Marillion album where Fish was the lead singer. I will die on this hill, even though \u201cKayleigh\u201d is the best song from that period. Ten tracks of genius, and an eleventh that\u2019s still okay (\u201cGoing Under\u201d). Tight as your creepy uncle when the wedding has an open bar.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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19-20. Kate Bush — The Hounds Of Love<\/i> and <\/b>The Sensual World<\/b>
<\/i>
So I want to tell a story here.<\/p>\n

I was, years and years ago, a two-time national champion in collegiate speech, in two different events (shout out to my extemporaneous homies). The problem is, our coach wanted us to each carry five events, the max. So I would usually throw together three more events \u2013 one of which was this wacky event called Oral Interpretation, where you could do a mixed-media (for example, one poem, one monologue, one drama excerpt) set around a given theme.<\/p>\n

I had fun with this, including once when I used the lyrics of Miss Kate\u2019s \u201cLove And Anger\u201d as part of an OI script. One of the two judges, after I finished, said, rather haughtily, \u201cDoes Kate Bush even write<\/u> her own lyrics?\u201d And right there, I whipped my cassette of The Sensual World<\/i> out of my backpack and proved she did. True story.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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21. James McMurtry — <\/b>Saint Mary Of The Woods<\/b>
<\/i>
This is the album where McMurtry went top to bottom, all killer, no filler. His portrayals of an America crumbling at the edges and tearing at the seams is powerful, sobering, and sad. Except \u201cChoctaw Bingo,\u201d which is powerful, drunk as hell, and the musical equivalent of that Duck Dynasty<\/i> show. Except it\u2019s good.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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22. Eva Cassidy — <\/b>The Best Of Eva Cassidy<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/i>Sometimes, life isn’t fair.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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23. Spock\u2019s Beard — <\/b>Snow Live
<\/b><\/i>
This was going to either be Snow Live<\/i> or the original Snow<\/i>. I decided on the live version for a few reasons. The crowd is really, really into it; the arrangements are slightly leaner and come across with a bit more ferocity; and as a bonus, you get a live encore of \u201cJune\u201d from The Kindness Of Strangers<\/i>. It\u2019s like getting seven chicken nuggets when you ordered a six-pack.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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24. Dan Fogelberg — <\/b>The Innocent Age<\/b>
<\/i>
This choice hurts, because I lose the Poet of Peoria\u2019s best song, \u201cTucson, Arizona (Gazette).\u201d But in terms of an album, this was Fogelberg\u2019s zenith. Any album where \u201cLeader Of The Band\u201d is the last<\/u> track\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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25. The Smithereens — <\/b>Especially For You<\/b>
<\/i>
The Smithereens were (I use past tense because of the death of long-time vocalist Pat DiNizio; there\u2019s still a band called The Smithereens, but I can\u2019t imagine it without Pat) the four-chord geniuses that everyone said Nirvana was. Grunge is just garage rock that hasn\u2019t taken its medication.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/pclass=\"msonormal\">\n

Finally, I want to say thank you. Thank you to Chris Thelen for giving me the shot; thank you to Jason Warburg for putting up with my on-again off-again schtick for as long as he did; and thank you to all the other authors it has been my honor and privilege to share space with on the \u201cReviewers\u201d page.<\/p>\n

Thank you to Alan Parsons for forty years of joy. <\/p>\n

Thank you to my two ex-wives who put up with my obsession with music as long as they did, especially given I wasn\u2019t making any money off it.<\/p>\n

And thank you to Carla. You are the song, my very dear.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/pclass=\"msonormal\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(I Get That Many Because I\u2019m Special)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":48321,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"tags":[],"feature_type":[5606],"class_list":["post-47964","feature","type-feature","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","feature_type-essay"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/feature"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47964"},{"taxonomy":"feature_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature_type?post=47964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}