Butch Walker. My all-time favorite songwriter, very large and diverse catalog. There are Butch songs for any and all moods. And they are all excellent.
Iron and Wine, the Beatles, Portugal. The Man, Led Zep, Minus the Bear, Coheed I would need a band that is upbeat, that varies from album to album, and that has more than 5 albums. Great question!
I keep going back and forth between Anberlin and Paramore. Both extremely diverse catalogues that show off the band's sonic progression and offer a variety of music for varying moods. At the end of the day, I'd probably go with Anberlin just because I have the most personal memories tied to their music and I'm a sucker for nostalgia. Would be nice to reflect on all of the good times I had while I desperately try to crack open a coconut or something.
@Jason Tate - Can I get a ruling here? Do I get the entire Brian Fallon Discography or just Gaslight?
The Beatles are a great pick regardless. Pearl Jam is the easy pick for me. Such a diverse, varied, and excellent catalogue with endless live bootlegs that sound like they were recorded in a studio. Led Zeppelin is also a great pick. I'd be perfectly happy with listening to Bill Withers for a very, very long time too. In terms of more modern picks, I'd consider Thrice, The Appleseed Cast, and Cursive. Sorry I'm going through my thoughts in a post trying to get it out haha. This is a good question. I'm tempted to say Kanye would be a great choice too, but I'm torn because I feel like I get very tired of him at times. One of the better options I've come up with is the Dave Brubeck Quartet. A tremendously diverse catalogue with very talented musicians... and a variety of styles too. Lots of influence from Japan and Eurasia which I absolutely love. Wes Montgomery, Mogwai... ugh too many options. It's crazy how so many of the current bands I love get thrown out the window with this question. I'll just go with Brubeck... no, Pearl Jam. Yeah, Pearl Jam.
I asked a friend this ages ago - and he actually had a super interesting and practical answer. He would pick one of his favorite movie score composers. Such a diverse catalog of sounds and moods, nostalgic ('cause ur listening to the themes of Jurassic Park or Batman all day), and no lyrics so you can really drink in how shitty life is alone on that f**kin desert island. For me, I think I'd also go Jimmy Eat World. Brand New's my fave but....Jimmy.
It has to be Circa Survive (preferably this takes place after The Amulet is released). I know they don't have an extremely extensive catalog, and they aren't the most diverse band in the world, but they mean more to me than any other artist, and I never get tired of listening to them.
This is a rough one. I think I'd have too hard of a time choosing between these: Paramore Fall Out Boy Mayday Parade I might also add All Time Low or A Day To Remember in there.
It had to come down to Butch Walker and Bruce Springsteen for me. And I ultimately chose Butch, because even though I like Born to Run more than any Butch record (or any record, period), Butch has more records I love front to back and more records in or close to my all-time top 10. Plus, those albums were so formative in my listening, whereas I came to Bruce a little bit later. Weirdly, I feel like I'd be losing a little more of myself if I could never listen to a Butch record again--even if choosing Butch means I never get to listen to "Thunder Road."
Radiohead is first to pop into my head and I think thats a good one to stick to. Important question though (to me at least), if the band you choose puts out more albums in the future, do they send those albums to the desert island as well?
Beatles seems like an obvious choice. You would never get bored with Prince's vast discog. Personally, I'd probably choose Against Me!