You're stranded on a deserted island. There's no help in sight. However, you have as your only companion a CD player connected to a giant speaker system. You were fortunate to take along a single metal album CD before you went on this cruise and ended in a shipwreck.
The question is, what CD would you choose to have with you?

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A#(inf)

No doubt about it

Tough question, because there's only a handful of albums that I've listened to countless times and over many years that still have never worn out.
Of course it has to be a "perfect" album, but one that still has its rough edges. Music that you can not immediately grasp completely to the last note, but that may still reveal small details even after the umpteenth listen. These details can also be small flaws: a wrong note, a bass string struck a quarter of a second too late, a slightly out-of-tune guitar, odd lyrics - these kind of things. Because nothing is more boring and frustrating than being confronted with other people's perfection all day long while you're stuck in an imperfect situation for an indefinite period of time.

I can only think of one album for that matter: Bathory - Twilight Of The Gods

Written by Starvynth on 02.11.2021 at 23:59

I can only think of one album for that matter: Bathory - Twilight Of The Gods

Hell yes!

Might be a weird answer but I would probably go for Blackwater Park. The reason why it is weird is because it is not even my favourite from Opeth, but I think I could listen to it every day. It even has some boring moments that I might come to appreciate over time...

Written by F3ynman on 02.11.2021 at 20:40

You're stranded on a deserted island. There's no help in sight. However, you have as your only companion a CD player connected to a giant speaker system. You were fortunate to take along a single metal album CD before you went on this cruise and ended in a shipwreck.
The question is, what CD would you choose to have with you?

if it's a deserted island, where do I plug in the cd player and the giant speaker system?

I considered my (supposedly) favorite metal albums, and realized I wouldn't want to listen to any of them too often. They're very specific and effective only in the right mood.

If any album at all, I'd probably pick Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden. It remains interesting on repeated listens, it is diverse and layered, and it's just emotionally wholesome in a way I imagine would be good for you on a desert island. It's serene and hopeful. Who the fuck wants to stare at the sea all day and blast Weighing Souls with Sand? That, or possibly Kate Bush (The Dreaming or Hounds of Love), or even Portishead, but again, that's pretty bleak for a lifetime of solitude.

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.11.2021 at 12:17

Written by F3ynman on 02.11.2021 at 20:40

You're stranded on a deserted island. There's no help in sight. However, you have as your only companion a CD player connected to a giant speaker system. You were fortunate to take along a single metal album CD before you went on this cruise and ended in a shipwreck.
The question is, what CD would you choose to have with you?

if it's a deserted island, where do I plug in the cd player and the giant speaker system?

You have batteries, of course. Otherwise, uh, build something out of the crashed ship

Written by F3ynman on 03.11.2021 at 13:06

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.11.2021 at 12:17

Written by F3ynman on 02.11.2021 at 20:40

You're stranded on a deserted island. There's no help in sight. However, you have as your only companion a CD player connected to a giant speaker system. You were fortunate to take along a single metal album CD before you went on this cruise and ended in a shipwreck.
The question is, what CD would you choose to have with you?

if it's a deserted island, where do I plug in the cd player and the giant speaker system?

You have batteries, of course. Otherwise, uh, build something out of the crashed ship

OK. One album only is still a very tough choice.

Written by IronAngel on 03.11.2021 at 12:58

I considered my (supposedly) favorite metal albums, and realized I wouldn't want to listen to any of them too often. They're very specific and effective only in the right mood.

This is the reason I wouldn't pick something like Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness, or Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale. They might be my favourites, but they're not exactly the kind of thing I want to listen to every time.

Tough question If I can only pick one, I would have to go with my old faithful Oath Bound by Summoning, simply because I can get lost in the atmosphere, and forget about everything that's around me. If not that one then other albums that I would consider would be For To the Nameless Dead by Primordial, At The Heart Of Winter by Immortal, especially if the desert Island has a hot climate, as I can't stand the heat, or one of the first two Tristania albums Beyond The Veil or Widow's Weeds.

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.11.2021 at 12:17

Written by F3ynman on 02.11.2021 at 20:40

You're stranded on a deserted island. There's no help in sight. However, you have as your only companion a CD player connected to a giant speaker system. You were fortunate to take along a single metal album CD before you went on this cruise and ended in a shipwreck.
The question is, what CD would you choose to have with you?

if it's a deserted island, where do I plug in the cd player and the giant speaker system?

It's a magic cd player.

Written by M C Vice on 03.11.2021 at 22:53

It's a magic cd player.

Well if it's so magic, tell it to play some varied music. Cmon, only one album!?

Even though Painkiller is my favourite of all time, I would take Crimson Glory's Strange And Beautiful. For some reason, I have always considered this album to be perfect for that particular situation you describe. I also hope that Starvynth would be in the same shipwreck so that I can listen to Twilight Of The Gods too. If we expanded this to non-metal, I'd take The Cure's Disintegration.

By the way, you have not said which one would be your pick.

Written by Karlabos on 03.11.2021 at 23:02

Written by M C Vice on 03.11.2021 at 22:53

It's a magic cd player.

Well if it's so magic, tell it to play some varied music. Cmon, only one album!?

The player is magic. The cd isn't. Magic cds, pfft. how silly.

The Light at the End of the World from My Dying Bride would fit the situation. Just read the lyrics on the title track.

Written by nikarg on 04.11.2021 at 00:14

By the way, you have not said which one would be your pick.

My favorite is also Painkiller. But maybe I'd choose my second favorite for this occasion: Storm of the Light's Bane.
But I'll have to check out all your suggestions - maybe I'll change my mind

Dream Theater's Metropolis pt. 2. It's been my favorite album for a few years already and I cannot seem to get tired of it.
Otherwise probably Windir's Arntor, but this one fits more specific moods so I'm not too sure.

This is easy. Johnny Cash At San Quentin 1969, the full version where he plays San Quentin twice in a row and with all the talking to the inmates between songs. You would never feel lonely

Written by nikarg on 04.11.2021 at 00:14
I also hope that Starvynth would be in the same shipwreck so that I can listen to Twilight Of The Gods too.

No worries, mate. There will always be a free place reserved for you on my sinking ship.

Judgement by Anathema. It has all the feelings and emotions I need for a stranded island and I hope no one comes to my rescue.

Metal album: King Diamond/ Songs for the Dead (I'm not big into live albums, but it's great and has some variety)

Non Metal album: Kate Bush/ The Dreaming

I think I'd go with Ayreon - 01011001. High on my list, good long album with a variety of sounds and moods.

My favorite album is probably the Thorns self-titled album, but it's something I don't listen to all that often. If I had to pick only one to listen to every day, I'd probably go with Watain - Lawless Darkness.

Dream theater - awake

Deftones : Around the Fur

Tiamat - A Deeper Kind Of Slumber. I'll listen to this album in 50 years (unless I'm dead by then) and it won't have gotten any older by then either, it's timeless, endlessly entertaining, and my favourite album of all time, all genres.

Runners-up are King Crimson - Red, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A#∞, but nah, I'd go with Tiamat as my first and only choice.

Revisiting this (thanks for all your replies, guys!), and at the moment I could see myself listening to either Virgin Black - Sombre Romantic or Kypck - Cherno on a deserted island non-stop. High quality music and diverse, interesting musicianship - that's the key

Well, it seems 94 of us are stranded on the deserted island, with the magic cd player, right?
Can we exchange albums?

Instant answer. I didn't even have to think about it for more than a minute.

Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

Top 5 album of all time for me if not my favorite album ever. Hands down my favorite from the 90s in any music genre. I have many reasons for this. I listened to it when I was 15 and it blew me away. My entry to sludge metal and one of the key albums for me when it came to my introduction to more extreme metal music. I know all songs by heart and I can't seem to get bored at all. At 69 minutes (nice), it is also long enough that I can listen to small doses at a time or listen to it in one go and get immersed immediately. But the absolute #1 reason is that to me this album is so varied that it works for different moods which would be key for a long period of time listening to nothing else. It has catchy, rebellious and fun riffs (for example "Tranquilized", "Cheap Vodka" and "Dope Fiend") but also very sick, brutal and twisted songs ("Finger Paintings Of The Insane", "Jezebel" and "Dr. Seuss Is Dead"). For tranquil moments filled with introspection I have the gorgeous acoustic ballads "Scream Of The Butterfly" and "Bones Of Baby Dolls".

When The Kite String Pops has almost everything I want in music.