Rock Island - Rescued

You can't exactly say you're happy to see the rescue boat arrive. Roy finally managed to rig up a solar-powered GPS transponder that signaled your location to the Hawaii coast guard, and within a few hours your adventure was over. Aside from the coconuts and fish (both of which you may never eat again), you enjoyed the warmth and sunshine, the company of great new friends, and 500 of the best songs ever recorded.

You leave the island with a great tan and your MP3 player cranked. You smile at Cinnamon and Ann Marie, and they smile back at you. The rescue team catches this exchange, and wonder to themselves... they want to know... they need to know... which one? Which song is he listening to? You'll never tell...

Rock Island - Chapter Twelve

Tired of the games, you decide to go for a walk. You soon discover a pussycat swallowtail butterfly, one of the rarest in the world. As you excitedly follow the butterfly, you stumble across a thermal vent. You forget the butterfly and run back to tell Roy about your discovery. Soon everyone is taking hot baths and showers, and Roy even manages to create a hot tub using spare parts from the boat and space capsule.

Everyone appreciates your discovery. Ann Marie is especially happy. One night while enjoying a soak in the tub, she asks about the rest of your music. You finish the list:

• Socrates Drank the Conium - It's a Disgusting World
• Spirit - I Got a Line on You
• Stevie Ray Vaughan - Change It
• Styx - Lady; Lorelei; Miss America; Blue Collar Man; Renegade
• Sweet - Restless; Ballroom Blitz; Fox on the Run; Action; The Lies In Your Eyes; White Mice
• Ted Nugent - Stranglehold; Writing on the Wall; Hammerdown; Cat Scratch Fever; Smokescreen; Rawdogs and Warhogs
• Ten Years After - I'm Coming On; Standing at the Station
• The Nice - Rondo
• The Seeds - Pushin' too Hard
• The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
• The Yardbirds - Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
• Thin Lizzy - The Rocker; Angel of Death
• Tiger B. Smith - To Hell
• Toad - Thoughts
• Triumph - Ordinary Man; Too Much Thinking
• Truth and Janey - Down the Road I Go; Remember a. A Child b. Building Walls
• Tucky Buzzard - Which Way, When For Why
• UFO - Doctor Doctor; Rock Bottom; Let It Roll; Mother Mary; This Kid's (incl. Between the Walls); Too Hot to Handle; Lights Out; Love to Love; Chains, Chains; Long Gone; Makin' Moves
• Uriah Heep - Look at Yourself; Easy Livin'; The Magician's Birthday; Sell Your Soul; Red Lights; Cry Freedom; Against the Odds; Between Two Worlds; Overload
• Van Halen - Runnin' with the Devil; Eruption; You Really Got Me; D.O.A.; And the Cradle Will Rock...; Everybody Wants Some!!; Where Have All the Good Times Gone!
• Warhorse - Burning
• Wind - Dear Little Friend
• Zebra - Tell Me What You Want; Who's Behind the Door?; Wait Until the Summer's Gone; Arabian Nights

You're alone with Ann Marie. She catches you staring at her. And then you hear Roy calling for you. "I guess I need to go," you say.

Rock Island - Chapter Eleven

There's not much to do on the island. Everyone is bored and tempers are starting to run high. The captain suggests everyone make up a game or activity. Some of the better ideas are golf clubs made from clam shells and bamboo with avocado pit golf balls, a badminton net and rackets (Roy says he can make the rackets, but he suggests you not ask how he makes the birdies), a bowling alley with bamboo lanes and coconut bowling balls, and turtle races.

At lunch one day (fish, again; no one wants to eat the turtles), Cinnamon mentions that you haven't finished telling her the songs on your MP3 player. Happily, you finish the list:

• Savatage - Sirens; Midas Knight; Hall of the Mountain King; Gutter Ballet; When the Crowds are Gone; Edge of Thorns; Chance; I Am; Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24); Drive
• Saxon - Princess of the Night; Power and the Glory; Run for Your Lives; Bloodletter; Circle of Light
• Scorpions - The Riot of Your Time; Another Piece of Meat; Can't Get Enough; Lovedrive; The Zoo; Animal Magnetism; Blackout; Can't Live Without You; No One Like You; Rock You Like a Hurricane; Still Loving You; Hit Between the Eyes; Alien Nation; Mind Like a Tree
• Seven Witches - Camelot; Second War in Heaven; Xiled to Infinity and One
• Silent Force - Infatuator
• Silver Mountain - Felo De Se
• Stratovarius - Eternity; Season of Change; Babylon; Infinity; Soul of a Vagabond; Fantasia; Elements; Awaken the Giant
• Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow
• Symphony X - Sea of Lies; Evolution (The Grand Design)
• Tad Morose - Anubis
• Testament - Alone in the Dark; Electric Crown
• Threshold - Consume to Live; Angels; Turn on Tune In; Ravages of Time; Mission Profile
• Thy Majestie - Wings of Wind; The Siege of Paris
• Tierra Santa - Pegaso
• Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry; I Wanna Rock
• Vanderhoof - Nowhere Train
• W.A.S.P. - L.O.V.E. Machine; Inside the Electric Circus; Headless Children; Kill Your Pretty Face; Shadow Man
• War Babies - Hang Me Up; Blue Tomorrow
• Warrior Soul - I See the Ruins; We Cry Out; The Losers; Trippin' On Ecstasy
• White Spirit - Midnight Chaser
• Whitesnake - Fool for Your Loving; Still of the Night; Judgment Day

You're alone with Cinnamon. She catches you staring at her. And then you hear the captain calling. "I guess I need to go," you say.

Rock Island - Chapter Ten

Roy manages to scavenge parts from the space capsule (you weren't hallucinating!) before high tide takes it back out to sea. Oddly, he also finds a Superman refrigerator magnet, an oversized red and white tennis ball, a Mel Torme album, a green t-shirt with a Paddy's Pub logo, and a ventriloquist dummy with the name "Bob" embroidered on the shirt. Now there's talk that Roy's working on a way to get everyone off the island.

"Did you hear about Roy?" Ann Marie asks you. "He's thinking we could be off the island in a few days." You tell her that's great, but she sees you're not as excited as everyone else. "I still want to hear about the rest of the songs you have," she says to cheer you up. It works. You continue:

• Jane - Comin' Again; Early In the Morning; Jane-Session
• Jeff Healey Band - Something To Hold On To; Highway of Dreams
• Jefferson Airplane - Somebody to Love
• Jethro Tull - To Cry You a Song; Hymn 43; Locomotive Breath
• Joe Satriani - Big Bad Moon
• Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son
• Kebnekaise - Resa Mot Okänt Mål
• Kiss - Rock and Roll All Nite; God of Thunder; Shout It Out Loud; Beth; Love Gun; Exciter; Psycho Circus
• Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You; Communication Breakdown; How Many More Times; Whole Lotta Love; Immigrant Song; Stairway to Heaven; The Song Remains the Same; The Rover; Kashmir; Achilles' Last Stand
• Mahogany Rush - Requiem for a Sinner; He's Calling
• Mogg/Way - Muddy's Gold
• Molly Hatchet - Power Play; Fall of the Peacemakers; Devil's Canyon; Silent Reign of Heroes; One Last Ride
• Montrose - Space Station #5
• Mountain - Don't Look Around
• Murasaki - Double Dealing Woman; Devil Woman; Doomsday
• Nazz - Lemming Song
• Night Ranger - Don't Tell Me You Love Me
• Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
• R.E.O. Speedwagon - Golden Country; Take Me
• Rainbow - Man on the Silver Mountain; Sixteenth Century Greensleeves; Stargazer; Light in the Black; Long Live Rock 'N' Roll; Gates of Babylon; Kill the King; All Night Long; Eyes of the World; Lost In Hollywood; Hall of the Mountain King
• Ram Jam - Black Betty
• Road - I'm Trying; Spaceship Earth
• Robin Trower - Victims of the Fury
• Rolling Stones - Paint It Black; Sympathy for the Devil; Gimme Shelter; Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
• Rush - Working Man
• Savoy Brown - Hellbound Train
• Shooting Star - Tonight; Last Chance

Ann Marie wants to listen to some songs, and you happily oblige.

Rock Island - Chapter Nine

You're gathering firewood with Cinnamon when you hear someone whispering, "86, is that you?" You look around but see no one. Then you hear it again, a little louder this time. Suddenly a palm tree shakes.

"Over here," it whispers.

"Um, hello?," you say to the tree.

"86?" the tree asks.

You answer "no" and the tree starts sobbing. "Can you help me?" it pleads. "I don't think I belong here."

 

"Sorry about that Chief," you answer. "I wish I could help, but we're stuck here too."

You quickly lead Cinnamon away as the tree sobs louder. "That was weird," she says as you find another spot to gather firewood. Before you can answer, she asks for more songs you have with you. You happily continue:

• Mägo de Oz - Réquiem; Van a Rodar Cabezas
• Masterplan - Enlighten Me
• Masters of Reality - She Got Me (When She Got Her Dress On)
• Megadeth - Peace Sells; Holy Wars…The Punishment Due; Hangar 18; Rust In Peace…Polaris; Symphony of Destruction; Foreclosure of a Dream; Countdown to Extinction; Kick the Chair
• Mercyful Fate - Gypsy
• Messiah's Kiss - Prayer for the Dying
• Metal Church - Fake Healer; Rest In Piece (April 15,1912); Date with Poverty; Monster
• Metallica - Fight Fire with Fire; For Whom the Bell Tolls; Fade to Black; One; Enter Sandman
• Michael Schenker Group - Victim of Illusion; Into the Arena; Lost Horizons; Rock You to the Ground; Captain Nemo
• Mob Rules - Pilot of Earth; Outer Space
• Monster Magnet - Powertrip
• Morgana Lefay - Madness
• Mötley Crüe - Live Wire; Shout at the Devil; Looks that Kill; Too Young to Fall in Love; Wild Side; Dr. Feelgood; Kickstart My Heart
• Nightwish - She Is My Sin; Bless the Child; Dark Chest of Wonders; Wish I Had an Angel; Ghost Love Score
• Overlorde - Snow Giant; Metallic Madness
• Ozzy Osbourne - Over the Mountain; Believer; S.A.T.O.; Diary of A Madman
• Queensrÿche - Revolution Calling; Operation: Mindcrime; Speak; Spreading the Disease
• Rage - Heartblood; Immortal Sin; Dies Irae
• Ratt - You're in Love
• Red Wine - Sombra De Poder
• Riot - Hard Lovin' Man; Dream Away
• Rob Rock - The Hour of Dawn
• Running Wild - Treasure Island
• Samson - Vice Versa

Cinnamon wants to listen to some songs, and you happily oblige.

Rock Island - Chapter Eight

Early one morning, you decide to take a walk around the island. As the sun rises, you see what looks like a meteor heading directly for the island. You run to the edge of a cliff to look for it. Instead, you see a space capsule. An astronaut is rubbing sand from what looks like a bottle. When he opens it, smoke pours out and suddenly a beautiful girl is standing in front of him. You rub your eyes and pinch yourself, thinking you're still in bed dreaming. When you open your eyes again, the pair is flying off in a helicopter. Confused, you walk back to your hut.

You tell Roy about your story, and he is curious about it, but Ann Marie clearly thinks you were hallucinating. She tries to change the subject, but nothing works until she asks you about other songs on your MP3 player. You pick up where you left off:

• Deep Purple - Hush; Kentucky Woman; Bird has Flown; Child In Time; Flight of the Rat; Hard Lovin' Man; Fireball; No One Came; Highway Star; Pictures of Home; Smoke On the Water; Space Truckin'; Rat Bat Blue; Burn; Sail Away; Stormbringer; This Time Around - Owed to 'G'; Knocking at Your Back Door; Perfect Strangers; The Spanish Archer; Strangeways; Anya; Soon Forgotten; Sun Goes Down
• Doors - Break on Through (To the Other Side); Light My Fire; Strange Days; When the Music's Over; Not to Touch the Earth; Love Her Madly; L.A. Woman; L'America; Riders on the Storm; Ships w/Sails
• Dust - Love Me Hard; From a Dry Camel; Pull Away/So Many Times
• Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Barbarian
• Foghat - I Just Want to Make Love to You; Slow Ride
• Food Brain - That Will Do
• Foreigner - Long, Long Way From Home
• Fuzzy Duck - Mrs. Prout
• Gillan - Mr. Universe; Are You Sure?; Sleeping On the Job; On the Rocks; Running, White Face, City Boy; For Your Dreams; I'll Rip Your Spine Out; Driving Me Wild; Demon Driver
• Golden Earring - Radar Love; Kill Me (Ce Soir); Twilight Zone
• Grand Funk - Heartbreaker; Inside Looking Out; We're an American Band; Shinin' On; Bad Time; Dues; Out to Get You
• Granicus - Prayer
• Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Talking about music is a good distraction from the day's events, but it's time to stop, knowing that there are other songs for another day.

Rock Island - Chapter Seven

Everyone's exhausted after a long day of fighting off a tribe of headhunters. They didn't look that threatening with their silly war-painted faces and straw skirts, but they fought hard. You're not sure how, but everyone finally scared them away. Now you're relaxing, nursing a few minor wounds and drinking coconut milk (yuck), and wishing it was spiked with something from Dovey's hidden stash.

Cinnamon sits down next to you, also drinking coconut milk (the fresh water ran out long ago and it takes time for the infrequent rains to replenish the supply). She asks you about other songs on your MP3 player. You pick up from where you left off:

• Guns 'n' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle; Sweet Child O' Mine; You Could Be Mine
• Heavenly - Chapter One: Lust for Life
• Helloween - Time of the Oath; Departed (Sun Is Going Down); King for a 1000 Years; Occasion Avenue; The Bells of the Seven Hells
• Iced Earth - I Died for You; Melancholy (Holy Martyr); Devil to Pay; Hold at All Costs; High Water Mark
• Iron Maiden - Remember Tomorrow; Wrathchild; Killers; The Number of the Beast; Run to the Hills; Hallowed Be Thy Name; Where Eagles Dare; Flight of Icarus; To Tame a Land; Aces High; 2 Minutes to Midnight; Powerslave; Rime of the Ancient Mariner; Seventh Son of a Seventh Son; Tailgunner; Futureal
• Jaguar - Eighties
• Joe Stump - Blackmore's Boogie
• Jon Oliva's Pain - Through the Eyes of the King
• Judas Priest - Victim of Changes; Sinner; Exciter; Hell Bent for Leather; Breaking the Law; Hellion/Electric Eye; Freewheel Burning; Love Bites; Painkiller; Night Crawler
• Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy; Silent Goddess; Desert Reign; Nights of Arabia; Lunar Sanctum; Forever; Mirror Mirror (Elizabeth Part I); Requiem for the Innocent (Elizabeth Part II); Fall from Grace (Elizabeth Part III); Center of the Universe; Farewell; III Ways to Epica; Rule the World

It's late and everyone's tired, so once again it's time to stop. But it's good to look forward to tomorrow (as long as there are no headhunters).

Rock Island - Chapter Six

You and Ann Marie are exploring the island when suddenly you spot a cruise ship through the palm trees. You both run to the beach. Although the ship is far away, sounds from the loudspeaker carry across the ocean (you hear Cruise Director Julie McCoy paging someone named Gopher to the bridge). Unfortunately, the ship is cruising away from the island and no one sees or hears you. Dejected (but not terribly so), you sit on the beach and watch the ship sail away.

"So tell me some of the songs you have with you," Ann Marie says. Wow, deja vu, you think. You scroll through your MP3 player, reading classic rock song titles aloud:

• Aerosmith - Dream On; Sweet Emotion
• Alice Cooper - School's Out
• Angel - Mirrors  
• Aphrodite's Child - Four Horsemen
• Armageddon - Buzzard
• Atlee - Jesus People
• Atomic Rooster - Vug
• Axe - Rock 'n Roll Party in the Streets
• Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Let It Ride
• Badlands - Winter's Call; Soul Stealer
• Birth Control - Just Before the Sun Will Rise
• Black Sabbath - Paranoid; Sweet Leaf; Children of the Grave; Supernaut; Sabbath Bloody Sabbath; Symptom of the Universe; Dirty Women; Never Say Die; Neon Knights; Lady Evil; Heaven and Hell; Trashed; Zero the Hero; Digital Bitch; Anno Mundi; I
• Black Spirit - Crazy Times
• Blackfoot - Teenage Idol
• Blue Öyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper; Revenge of Vera Gemini; Take Me Away
• Bow Wow - James in My Casket; Fallen Angel
• Budgie - Zoom Club; Napoleon Bona, Pts. 1 & 2; I Turned to Stone
• Buffalo - Sunrise (Come My Way); Intro: Pound Of Flesh / Shylock
• Captain Beyond - Frozen Over
• Cream - Sunshine of Your Love; White Room
• David Bowie - Golden Years

And once again, with power dwindling, you stop, but unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) there will be another opportunity to finish the list.

Rock Island - Chapter Five

You're walking on the far side of the island with Cinnamon when you spot (or think you spot) two men off in the distance. One has gray hair and reminds you of that "rich Corinthian leather" guy. He seems fairly tall, but that could be misleading as the other man is short; maybe even a little person. You think you hear the words "ze plane," but then Cinnamon is talking to you and turn your attention to her, the vision (or was it real?) already forgotten.

"So tell me some of the songs you have with you," Cinnamon says. This is music to your ears. You scroll through your MP3 player, reading heavy metal song titles aloud:

• Angel Dust - Follow Me, Pt. 2; Surrender
• Anvil - Bedroom Game; Metal On Metal
• Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Set Your Controls
• Axel Rudi Pell - Casbah; Live for the King
• Blood Ceremony - Master of Confusion
• Brainstorm - Hollow Hideaway; Trinity of Lust: Shiva's Tears; Worlds are Comin' Through
• Bruce Dickinson - Tears of A Dragon; Accident of Birth
• Butthole Surfers - Who Was in My Room Last Night?
• Candlebox - You
• Cans - The Key
• Circle II Circle - Out of Reach
• Cornerstone - Welcome to Forever; Once Upon Our Yesterdays
• Dark Moor - Nevermore
• Def Leppard - Rock Brigade; Wasted
• Dio - Holy Diver
• Dogface - Not Wanted
• Domine - The Ride of the Valkyries; Dawn of a New Day - A Celtic Requiem
• Dream Theater - Pull Me Under; Take the Time; Caught in a Web; Scene Four: Beyond This Life; Glass Prison; Great Debate
• Edguy - Out of Control; Piper Never Dies
• Elixir - Born Loser
• Fastway - Another Day; Say What You Will
• Feinstein - Rebelution; Streaming Star; Inferno
• Force of Evil - Dawn on Dominion/Hell on Earth
• Galactic Cowboys - I'm Not Amused
• Gamma Ray - Heading for Tomorrow; Rebellion in Dreamland; Heart of the Unicorn; New World Order; My Temple; Spiritual Dictator
• Great White - Desert Moon

With power dwindling, you stop, but unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) there will be another opportunity to finish the list.

Rock Island - Chapter Three

You're sick of coconuts. Coconut milk for breakfast. Coconut-crusted fish for lunch and dinner. Big hairy balls of... and suddenly you're lost in thought. Big Balls. AC/DC. But it's not on your MP3 player. Should it be? It's a great song. You'll have to consider adding it. And then the thought passes as Cinnamon asks if you want to join her in gathering coconuts. You immediately say yes, you love coconuts.

She asks about the music you listen to. You smile and tell her you're a metalhead, and rattle off some classic metal bands. You have Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Metallica and Scorpions with you. But wait, there's more. You also have some great Euro-metal bands like Helloween, Gamma Ray, Kamelot, Nightwish, Stratovarious, and Threshold. "I'd love to hear them sometime," she says. You leave happy, in spite of the coconuts.

Rock Island - Chapter Two

The huts (three of them: one for you, the Captain and Roy, one for Cinnamon and Ann Marie, and one for the married couple) have been built and all supplies have been scavenged from the wreckage. Roy built other solar-powered items, including a refrigerator/cooler in which to store the fish, ceiling fans (made with palm fronds; quite cooling, actually), and a vacuum cleaner (just because he was bored).

One day, while fishing with Ann Marie, you learn she played bass in a classic rock cover band and rode a Harley Low Rider on weekends (and you thought midwest farm girls were shy and wore pigtails and red checkered shirts). Just the mention of John Entwistle, Jack Bruce or Geezer Butler sends her into a rock monologue that makes you weak in the knees. You mentally check the songs on your MP3 player... The Who? Check. Cream? Check. Black Sabbath? Yeah, you have that covered.

Rock Island - Chapter One

After the initial shock of the shipwreck, it's apparent that everyone must work together in order to ensure survival. You're on hut-building detail along with the smart guy (Roy is his name, you later learn) and the boat's captain (who only seems to own a single blue shirt a few sizes too small). The two single women, Cinnamon and Ann Marie, take on the fishing duties, while the older couple (who seem a bit too snobby, and who have way more clothing than was necessary for a three hour cruise) reluctantly agree to gather the remaining useful supplies that washed up on the island.

At night, while talking to Cinnamon, you learn she's into metal. She tells you she followed a hair metal band from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, and stayed in LA to pursue acting. Work was tough to come by, but after a while, she found steady jobs first in commercials and later on TV, mostly on soap operas.

Rock Island - The Premise

While on a three hour excursion off the coast of Hawaii, your boat capsizes during a freak storm. All seven passengers manage to swim to safety on an uncharted island. Some supplies, such as fishing poles and an ample supply of water, also wash up on shore. More importantly, you manage to seal your 2GB MP3 player* (and the headphones) in a waterproof plastic bag before the ship sinks. Unfortunately, the charge is low and you have only a few hours of playing time left. Fortunately, one of your cruise-mates is a very smart man (perhaps even a professor, but you're not sure), and he informs you that he can use supplies from the wreckage to convert your MP3 player from USB-powered to solar-powered.

*I'm sure most of you have MP3 players with much greater capacities, but where's the challenge in deciding on 500 songs if you can carry thousands with you? And I also realize a 2GB player most likely won't hold 500 songs, but it's a nice round number to work with.

Now that you have food and water, you hope your taste in music will help keep up the spirits of the other passengers until you're rescued. Of course, no one knows how long that will take.

To be continued...