Desert Island Albums in High School

During my high school years, way back when, I could easily identify my favourite bands and albums. I don't know if at the time I actually thought about the idea of "Desert Island" albums, but even today, I can take a pretty accurate stab at what my Top 10 was back in the day. I'll include favourites right up until the end of my last school year (the month of June) in 1983.

So... if I were stranded on a secluded island back then, with at least the essentials for survival (food, shelter, toothbrush) plus the means to listen to music, I would have chosen these ten Desert Island Albums:

1. Moving Pictures, by Rush
2. Allied Forces, by Triumph
3. Number of the Beast, by Iron Maiden

4. Pyromania, by Def Leppard

5. A Million Vacations, by Max Webster

6. Heaven and Hell, by Black Sabbath

7. Back in Black, by AC/DC

8. Synchronicity, by The Police
9. Women and Children First, by Van Halen
10. The Beatles Second Album, by The Beatles

Goodies from my very first concert - Triumph --

back in 1981

Rush was my A-number-one band back then, and for many years to follow. Another Canuck rock trio, Triumph, ranked a fairly close second. I guess my loyalty to home-bred music showed back then. Keeping within the British monarchy (purely coincidence, though it seemed the best music came out of the UK - and Australia - at the time), we've got Maiden, Leppard, Sabbath, AC/DC, The Police, and The Beatles. Oh, and yet another Canadian act, Max Webster, was in the mix. Van Halen was the only American band to find a spot in my Top Ten. Back in the day, my denim jacket sported buttons and pins of some of those favourite artists, most notably Rush, AC/DC, The Police, and Van Halen. I listened to those Top Ten bands endlessly at the time, and tried to get my friends to try them out, too, but with only some success. My crew back then wasn't into the really heavy stuff like Maiden and Sabbath the way I was. Dummies. 

It was a tough feat to pare my first draft down to just ten, but the following runners-up would have hiked the number up to an even twenty (in no particular order):

Dream Police, by Cheap Trick
Rumours, by Fleetwood Mac
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, by The Beatles
IV, by Led Zeppelin
A Night at the Opera, by Queen
Crime of the Century, by Supertramp
Blackout, by Scorpions
Destroyer, by Kiss
Highway to Hell, by AC/DC
2112, by Rush

It took a while, but in 2007, I finally caught Ronnie 

James Dio singing with the Sabbath line-up. Sheer heaven!

As you can see, my choices nearly all fall into the hard rock/heavy metal category, with just a tiny smattering of lighter stuff. In my Top Ten, only The Police and The Beatles were the odd ones out. But their timeless songs, full of vitality, honesty, and feeling, allow them spots in my Desert Island cassette tape case (because that would have been my format of choice back then). And looking at my next ten, I see that only Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp, and The Beatles (again)  stick out from the heavy rock crowd. 

Yes, I was almost 100% headbanger during my teens. But I kept a fairly open mind so that I could still appreciate the pop genius of The Beatles, the exquisite vocals and musicianship of Fleetwood Mac, and the progressive talents of The Police and Supertramp. In fact, if one more album were to squeak into my runners-up list, it would be the More Of The Monkees album. Those lovable clowns were a huge part of my growing up years and I enjoy their music to this day. 

This ancient Crime of the Century 8-track

tape by Supertramp is still holding up in my

private time capsule

To take a long view on my Top Ten Desert Island Albums of my high school years, I'd say only one or two of those recordings could make my.... hm, maybe not Top Ten, but perhaps Top Twenty in 2015. The one definite is Heaven and Hell, the metal masterpiece starring the diminutive powerhouse, Ronnie James Dio, on vocals. For this fan, Sabbath was never better than on that disc. As for The Beatles, I would now choose Rubber Soul instead of that Second Album. Back in Black, as great as it is, might only crack my top Top Fifty today. It would certainly rank a lot higher in a metal-only list. Hey, I'm not that stupid. 

Tastes and priorities change, and if I am honest with myself, I'd say I don't feel very strongly about many of those Top Ten, or even Top Twenty, albums any more. Sure, I still like most of them, but few would even make my Top Twenty today, even those runners-up from '83. 
Rumours, Crime of the Century, and Highway to Hell are the runners-up that I still love, but maybe only one of them would crack my Top Twenty... with a little luck, my Top Ten... in 2015. That album is Rumours: timeless folk-pop-rock at its best. It's that good, plus it stirs such a warm, nostalgic feeling in me. And that counts for a lot, especially on lonely nights under the coconut tree.

Now... I'd better get back to watching Gilligan's Island for survival tips. Hmm, a monkey-powered CD player?