Trying to Forget the Crushing Defeats since 2009

LOST: I hate it.

I’m not really sure when I started hating the ABC television epic LOST, but I’m pretty sure it started around season two or three. As someone who watched neither LOST nor Prison Break, my skepticism grew the further these shows dragged on. I mean, how hard is it to get off the island or get out of prison? Or die trying?

But none of that matters, really, because LOST is back for its epic last season and it’s got me thinking about…polar bears.

Not really.

I’ve actually been thinking lately about the concept of “Desert Island Discs,” the answer to that age-old question of “which albums would you keep with you if you were stranded on a desert island?” So I sat down, hoping to come up with a list of ten albums, and ended up with 15 instead. I’ve split them into one group of ten, and one group of five (the “honorable mentions”).

A word about my “desert island discs:” I fully admit that they’re not perfect. But what all ten winners (and the honorable five, to some extent) have in common is that they changed my life, both musically and literally. Each album is significant because they’ve shaped my style, a lot.

Ed. Note: this post went on so long, we’re going to split it up into two parts. Albums 1-5 are up this week, and 6-10 next week. In addition, all links will take you to the iTunes Store where these albums are available for sampling and purchase. If you buy them, I get money.

Ok, then–let’s get it on:

1) “Crash” by Dave Matthews Band — It’s happened more times than I’d like to remember: I’m sitting with friends and someone goes “ugh…I HATE Dave Matthews.” Without thinking, I always come to Dave’s defense. “It’s love it or hate it,” I say, and I love it, thanks to this album, my first DMB CD. It’s soft at times, hard at times, and with a couple of good songs from the radio. My take-away song: “Drive In Drive Out,” which tops my list of the greatest driving songs of all time.

2) (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? By Oasis — I’ll fully admit that I don’t like every song on this album, but that hasn’t stopped me from adoring this album. Sure, “Wonderwall” is the song of choice for douchebags with acoustic guitars playing songs on College Quads, but Oasis makes my list for it’s crunchy, raw sound and the fact that it was my first foray into the great world of BritRock. My take-away song: “Champagne Supernova,” which taught me what “getting high” meant and still carries one of my favorite melodies.

3) “Drops of Jupiter” by Train — Ah, Train. I discovered Train some time around middle school, as I was trying to exit what I nicknamed my “awkward phase.” Still, I’ll remember Train as my first obsession, the first band I saw live, the first band I would crank from my little boombox in my tweenage bedroom. I still remember Drops of Jupiter as “Four Minutes and Twenty Seconds of Perfection” for its great use of orchestra and expansive melody. It’s my take-away song, despite the fact that it was used in “All About Steve” with Sandra Bullock.

4) “Only By the Night” by Kings of Leon — Look, we’ve already had the fight about “selling out” and I know that Only By the Night is Kings of Leon’s fourth album. But this album does more than “sink indie music to the mainstream”: it brought rock music up to a new level, and my appreciation of KoL is immense. For someone who had all but left Pop/Rock for its unoriginality (and the fact that Nickelback is still around), Kings of Leon re-opened my eyes to one of my historically favorite genres. Take-aways: Either “Notion” or “Crawl”, depending on my mood.

5) “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay — By the Summer of 2008, I had heard (nearly) everything there was to say about Coldplay. It’s too pop, people said, and I hate Chris Martin. This band sucks and all of its music is utter shit. Being eager to fit into the music snob circles, I took delivery of “Viva la Vida” hoping to hate it. I wanted Coldplay, a band I had long loved, to be “long in the tooth” and become irrelevant so I didn’t have to explain why I liked them anymore. Naturally, however, Viva la Vida was a masterpiece. Unlike albums past which had some good songs (Yellow and Rush of Blood), or concept albums that were half great and half not-so-much (X&Y), Viva la Vida was storybook good from start to finish. My take-away? There isn’t one. Just listen to the entire album, in a row. The whole thing.

We’ll see you next week for part two.