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Taking One Discography to a Desert Island

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Aug 2, 2017.

  1. Melody Bot

    Your friendly little forum bot. Staff Member

    This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

    Last night, while listening to some music and having a beer, I tossed out a question on Twitter that I’ve always found fascinating:


    Desert island game, but you have one band’s full discography only, who do you go with? I’m thinking I’d have to pick Jimmy Eat World.

    What I’ve always liked about this question is that it forces you to make decisions beyond just thinking about a favorite band. If your favorite band doesn’t have a large catalog then you’re stuck for a while with only three albums. And if you are looking for diversity in music styles, or strength in numbers, then there’s another way you can go. The idea of a band’s entire body of work, and looking at it as a whole, has been a long running theme of mine. After asking out the question, and getting promptly dunked on by none other than Mark Hoppus,1 the answers started coming in.

    At first it was a bunch of what I expected from our little music scene. Lots of Brand New, Blink-182, Yellowcard, and Thrice. And then all of sudden the answers started to change. I’m not sure how or where it started,2 but the tweet ended up going a little viral and spreading way further than the small group of followers that know me and the kind of music I have written about on a daily basis for years. The replies started coming faster and it was way more Billie Joel, Rush, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, and Barbra Streisand. It was funny to watch the conversation completely change from the kind of music I’ve been listening to and writing about over the course of a few hours. And, because it’s the damn internet, that also meant I now had quite a few people that really didn’t like my pick (or some of the early replies).

    Those that have read my writing for years know how much I like Jimmy Eat World. I’ve talked before about how I think they have one of the best catalogs in our little scene and they just keep putting out great music. My thought process is that I love the band, there’s a lot of music in that catalog, and there’s enough style changes so I’d have something for every mood while I’m sitting on island. Now, after getting a few snarky tweets about how could I not pick The Beatles or The Rolling Stones,3 I kinda wish I went with something even more out there: A Wilhelm Scream, Propagandhi, Strung Out? Might as well earn the snark.

    All-in-all it was a pretty hilarious evening, and I’m curious to see how our community would answer this question. So, if you wanna hit the comments I’d love to see what the prevailing artist and catalog in our forums ends up being.

    Oh, and if I had to make a list of artists to choose from (the whole point is that it is hard and you have to pick just one), it would probably be something like this:

    • Jimmy Eat World
    • Bad Religion
    • Blink-1824
    • Thrice
    • The Gaslight Anthem
    • Brand New
    • Paramore
    • A Wilhelm Scream
    • The Beatles
    • Michael Jackson
    • Andrew McMahon
    • Butch Walker
    • Carly Rae Jepsen
    • Yellowcard

    I dunno, that I’ve got off the top of my head when I think about great discographies I’d be ok pulling from on an island somewhere.


    1. I need to make this tweet a mug so I can drink tea out of it.


    2. I think somehow it got passed around a few sports writer circles.


    3. Definitely sports circle.


    4. Apparently bullying works.

     
    Ska Senanake likes this.
  2. bobby_runs

    where would i be if i was my brain Prestigious

    Kendrick if we forget about the K Dot stuff

    The Staring Line even though the only have three full lengths. They've got enough for me to get by on the Island
     
    Ska Senanake and skogsraet like this.
  3. irthesteve

    formerly irthesteve Prestigious

    Oh my god Mark's tweets actually had me laughing out loud over here hahahah @Jason Tate that's amazing.

    The Beatles are my pick for a few reasons.

    1. Absolutely one of my favorite bands
    2. Huge catalog of albums and singles
    3. Extremely diverse, they evolved so much
    4. If allowed, the extreme depth of their bootlegs, recording sessions, and more would lead to infinitely long listening sessions
     
  4. jols

    Trusted Prestigious

    guided by voices
    modest mouse
     
  5. aniafc

    Trusted

    Yeah that tweet from Mark was gold. Definitely need to frame it haha.

    JEW is a good selection. Motion City Soundtrack would be it for me, except I can't fully get into Go.

    I would probably go for The Maine - mainly because everything since Pioneer has been gold. Then I'd have the first two for nostalgia sake. And to me, it's not that the first two records are bad, but they're completely different from the rest of their discography.
     
    Mr. Serotonin likes this.
  6. FTank

    Prestigious Prestigious

    Jimmy Eat World would be a serious contender for me too, but I'd have to give Green Day some real thought.
     
  7. LightWithoutHeat

    You're not a teammate on my team

    Steve Vai
    Led Zeppelin
    Frank Zappa
     
  8. bmir14

    Trusted Supporter

    Quality obviously trumps quantity, but being on an island, you also at least have to consider quantity (both song lengths, album/song counts, etc.) That being said, Coheed would be a serious contender for me.

    Also, i apologize for using the word "trump" in that statement.
     
  9. generalmills9

    Newbie

    This is such a difficult decision, since I always tend to change my mind. Right now I'm torn between Dance Gavin Dance and The Early November. Both have sentimental value and I find myself going through their discography quite often. However, I think I'd have to go with Dance Gavin Dance to get me through the loneliness.
     
    js977 likes this.
  10. carlosonthedrums

    Cooler than a polar bear's toenails Prestigious

    Deftones. No one who knows me is surprised.
     
  11. mattfreaksmeout

    Trusted Supporter

    I responded to Jason's tweet by trying to get away with just picking Jack Antonoff so I could get Bleachers, fun., and Steel Train. But it'd be a massive toss up between that and Motion City Soundtrack because they literally have covered every emotion I've ever felt and mood I've ever been in. They have fun pop songs and dark brooding indie rock songs, and I never ever get tired of them.
     
    Jason Tate likes this.
  12. y2jayjk

    Trusted Prestigious

    Every Time I Die no question
     
  13. iCarly Rae Jepsen

    run away with me Platinum

    I'd rather die, but I guess Weezer is the choice for an Island in the Sun hip hip
     
  14. Davjs

    Trusted

    Linkin Park for a little bit of everything, Thrice or Metallica. (hope it includes live albums too because all three have amazing live albums).
     
    js977 and House Of Wolves like this.
  15. After thinking about this long and hard, I really think I'd have to choose Blink-182. They're my favorite band and I could listen to them forever. Even their shittier stuff can find its way into my rotation sometimes.

    My other pick would probably be Owen, but his music kind of blends together a little too much that I'd be afraid I'd get sick of it faster than I would with Blink.
     
  16. Bane

    The spiciest meme

    Yea my mind first went to Every Time I Die haha but I could probably think of a few more
     
  17. Behind the Barricade

    https://www.behindthecade.com

    Linkin Park for me. Very diverse for me and I think that's what you need on an island. If you listen to the same thing over and over again, you'll lose your mind lol
     
    Davjs likes this.
  18. Fox83

    Trusted

    Jimmy Eat World for me, followed by Van Halen. I know it's weird, but here we are.
     
    LightWithoutHeat likes this.
  19. Davjs

    Trusted

    Nah, Van Halen makes sense, esp since you get two different singers with different styles and such. Nice pick.
     
    Fox83 likes this.
  20. Dog Fish

    Mutt

    There's a band called Now That's What I call Music! (fans just call them "NOW!") that have over 60 LPs in their discog. Each album has about 20 songs that sounds completely different from each other. Definitely my pick.
     
  21. Guys Named Todd Aug 2, 2017
    (Last edited: Aug 2, 2017)
    Guys Named Todd

    Regular Prestigious

    The Beatles are an obvious pick for the people who take the question a little too literally. Obviously if I was trapped indefinitely, I'd want an enormous and diverse catalogue filled with some of the greatest music of all time. It's not a fun answer, though.

    If I had to pick someone interesting, I'd probably cheat and pick like Hanz Zimmer or something so my beach prison nightmare could at least have an epic score.
     
    carlosonthedrums and Jason Tate like this.
  22. Mr. Serotonin Aug 2, 2017
    (Last edited: Aug 2, 2017)
    Mr. Serotonin

    I'm still staring down the sun Prestigious

    THIRD EYE BLIND all day. Almost no bad songs in the whole discorgraphy, a mix of a bunch of tones and genres, awesome lyrics...plus they've gotta have like 75 songs or something crazy.

    EDIT: Butch Walker is very close too.
     
  23. LiveFast_DieOld

    Regular

    Frank Turner for me
     
    Turkeylegz likes this.
  24. Bayside 182

    Wolverine Supporter

    not necessarily my choice, but I think A Day To Remember would be a solid choice because they have many different styles from screaming, to acoustic, to pop punk, to rock.....so it would keep it from getting repetitive. That being said I don't like them that much and I'd have to go with either Bayside or Oasis.
     
    BEsterley and Davjs like this.
  25. CarpetElf

    douglas Prestigious

    Easy choice for me - The National