Top 10 CDs to have while stranded on an island...

10. The Broadcast - Cutting Crew

Three songs from the disc were Top 40 hits...but it's the rest of the CD that shines. The last three tracks (Sahara, It Shouldn't Take Too Long/The Broadcast) are fantastic. It's a CD that I usually drop in and turn in and let my mind go. It's smooth flowing and well woven.

9. III Sides To Every Story - Extreme

Extreme died a slow painful death after branding themselves as a hairband with "Hole Hearted" and "More Than Words". III Sides tells the story of a relationship that is ending from the three sides of it. Yours (Tracks 1-6), Mine (7-11), and The Truth (12-14).

"So what" you are thinking. "Yours" is the hard rocking, in your face music that is angry rock and roll. "Mine" is a series of power ballads focusing on the human condition and what it's like to be dumped by someone you love. "The Truth" however is the hidden gem. It's 22 (yes!) minutes of orchestral reflection on going forward and living life. To hear the disc in it's entirety is a journey and a half, going from hard rocking, axe-grinding to power ballads and then into a fully orchestrated mini-opera...WOW!

8. Fully Completely - Tragically Hip

I had summarily written off the Hip after having heard an ex-boyfriend describe them as "a Canadian R.E.M." I like REM...but a scattered few songs. I was forced to sit down and listen to Fully Completely. I was impressed with the depth of the lyrics and the stories they tell, but also how the music seemed written to go with them (yeah, I know that's how it works) but it was more like listening to an audio movie. It all worked together to paint a mental image and mood.

6. Red Sails In The Sunset - Midnight Oil
6. Blue Sky Mine - Midnight Oil

Midnight Oil simply rocks. Red Sails (1985) is from their still earlier rough days but it's still the political rock that we've all come to know and love from the Oils. Blue Sky Mine (1989) is very similar but with a slightly more refined sound and more of the political edge that seemed to be missing from the album between these two. (Diesel and Dust, 1987 is the middle disc).

5. Substance - New Order

The end-all collection of early New Order. If you only buy one CD of New Order's early days. This is it. Infectious retro-dance. Disc two is remixes/remakes. 1963 has a odd twist in the lyrics...

4. Masterfile - Icehouse

Another collection CD. I originally had only heard of Icehouse from the US breakthrough CD "Man Of Colours" (1986). What I didn't know at the time was that there were four previous CDs from Icehouse that were Australian only CDs. Masterfile is the greatest hits from those CDs and introduced me to a totally new sound for Icehouse and quickly catupulted them up my list of top 10 CDs.

3. Human Fraility - Hunters and Collectors

I dunno if "Human Fraility" is a good name for this CD. I'd be much more tempted to call it "Human Strength" or "The Human Condition". It's a collection of songs about love found, love lost, and the hard knocks of life. More "famous" songs from the CD include "Throw Your Arms Around Me" and "Around The Flame"

2. Rites of Passage - Vitamin Z

Wow. Some people know Vitamin Z from their one-hit "Burning Flame" (the original version is on this LP). Burning Flame was re-released on their 1989 CD "Sharp Stone Rain". SSR had a few good songs, but over all was a mediocre CD. I love it, but I can go for long periods without listening to it all. I found Rites of Passage in a used LP store while looking for Sharp Stone Rain a few years ago. I bought it thinking it was the album *after* Sharp Stone Rain. It wasn't, rather it was the preceding album. The album is full of songs that touch on the inner emotions of life and love. "Burning Flame" is about a lover who is going cold. "Every Time That I See You" describes the pain of crossing paths with that love who has spurned you.

I was lucky enough to have found the Official Vitamin Z website a couple of years ago and was able to get a "fan club" only CD copy of Rites of Passage that included all the B Sides. Why why why...why didn't they include Winds of Change and Don't Stop (To Listen To His Music) on the release LP? The power of Geoff Barradale's voice and the lyrics to those two songs send chills down my spine. The first time I heard "Don't Stop" I was crying when it was over. The song just spoke directly to me.

1. Undeniably The Whitlams - The Whitlams

I love the Whitlams. End of story. Picking a favorite CD from their discography was tough. Undeniably is a CD that seems to live in my CD player. It moves you along a story line through the CD. From recollections of childhood friends, to meeting a love, the falling out with and loss of the love, and moving forward after it. It's a CD that has a couple of happy songs buried in a deep melancholy CD.

Songs that stand out off the CD for me...

1995
You'll Find A Way
Don't Love Too Long
I'm Still Faithful