Here again, the list Freeman recounts is somewhat subjective. Most of the groundbreaking, or otherwise essential releases of the past twenty-five years or so make the grade. Hip-hop is represented by Public Enemy, De La Soul, Eric B & Rakim, the Beastie Boys, and so forth. Elsewhere, everybody you'd expect from Nirvana to Wilco to Lucinda Williams to Radiohead to the Fugees to Tom Waits makes the cut.
But these sort of lists being what they are by their very nature, it is still nowhere near being complete. Where for example is Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska? Why is Johnny Cash's entire American Recordings series narrowed down to his single cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt"?
To be fair to the authors here (who I am assuming all contributed to the "Treasure Island" list), there is of course no way that a list denoting every important musical event since 1979 couldn't have come up at least a buck or two short. As is, I've yet to find a better representation of at least the modern rock period anywhere than in this book's "Treasure Island" chapter.
For students of rock journalism, especially in its more modern stripe, I would rate Marooned as an essential read. For those seeking only a quickie guide to some great music that crosses a variety of genres, you'd be likewise well served to point your iPods in the general vicinity of this book.
Oh, and feel free to leave your own list of DIDs in the comments section below.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
I can only bring one? I grab more than that on the way to work, and I am supposed to live with only one album on an island? Let the headhunters kill me. It would be less painful.
2 - Rodney Welch
My general answer to this question for years has been Love's Forever Changes. I still love the record, still play it, still want it close at hand, and I could say the same of a number of other great records: Blonde on Blonde, London Calling, Born to Run, Tonight's the Night Beggar's Banquet, Uncle Meat, Moondance, The Basement Tapes, yadda yadda. But that's a boring batch of DIDs to choose from, isn't it? So old and predictable. It reveals someone who hasn't listened to much new music over the past couple of decades. On the other hand, you want a DID that's consistently interesting, which basically means it has to be a towering classic I can still play over and over.
I'll have to mull this over.
3 - Glen Boyd
Those were all fine choices Rodney. A little old? Sure, but they all share the common trait of having aged like fine wine. I would not dispute a single one of these as absolute classics. If it were me, I'd probably throw in things like Horses; Pet Sounds; and What's Goin On. As far as something more modern? I've definitely been grooving quite a bit lately to Porcupine Tree. Maybe some Ryan Adams, something by Radiohead other than OK Computer (like Amnesiac)....you know I could just go and on with this...
-Glen
4 - Rodney Welch
Ditto those three, Glen; especially Horses. It's her best, I think. I frequently spin the three Patti 1970s classics, the other two being Easter and Radio Ethiopia.
Pet Sounds might be a strong contender for DID. I love it, I think it's great, but I've never overplayed it. There's a lot left to discover on it.
I find myself getting in ruts occasionally with the discs I put in the car, that I keep winding up going back to the tried and true. But that is, too, what makes them classics, because you can listen to them over and over again.
There's a reason you play some CDs once every six months, and others -- like Sticky Fingers, currently in the player -- where as soon as it's over I want to play it through again. Some CDs are just the Thing that Won't Leave the Player.
Among newer discs, a contender that comes to mind os Sufjan Stevens Greetings from Michigan, the Great Lakes State but I seem to recall you're a Sufjan non-enthusiast. Oh well.
I like OK Computer too.
I like Arcade Fire's Neon Bible and Regina Spektor's two discs. They're very good, but I don't know if there's enough variety of sound song to song, which you want in a DID. That is a distinguishing characteristic of the ones we've mentioned. There's a whole lot of different stuff on them: soft, strong, hard-rocking, sweet, highs, lows.
5 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!
6 - Matos W.K.
Just to clarify (I'm a contributor to the book), the discography at the end is Phil Freeman's work alone, though I'm sure he consulted people in the book about it. But he's its sole author.