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.

Top Albums - A - Z

This was a fun list to compile. Three other albums (Megadeth's Rust In Peace, Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind*, and Twisted Sister's Stay Hungry) would have easily made the list were they not edged out by slightly higher-rated albums. It's interesting to note, too, that both 1976 and 1983 feature four albums in the list, while no other year featured more than two albums.

* Don't feel too bad about Piece of Mind losing out here; it was surpassed by Iron Maiden's own Powerslave album. But if you want to swap the two, I'd have a hard time arguing against that.

As lists go, I think this is an excellent cross-section of domestic (U.S.) and international classic rock, hard rock, metal, and progressive / power metal. The albums here should be a part of every rock and metal fan's collection.

Top Albums - A - Z

91.79 -- Assault Attack - Michael Schenker Group (1982)

93.73 -- Born Again - Black Sabbath (1983)

89.75 -- Carved In Stone - Rage (2008)

91.00 -- Desolation Boulevard (U.S. version) - Sweet (1974)

90.41 -- Era - Bow Wow (2005)

93.67 -- Free-for-All - Ted Nugent (1976)

94.24 -- Give Us A Wink - Sweet (1976)

90.12 -- Headhunter - Krokus (1983)

98.14 -- In Rock - Deep Purple (1970)

86.36 -- Jeanne d’Arc - Thy Majestie (2005)

90.73 -- Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2 - Helloween (1988)

92.75 -- Lovedrive - Scorpions (1979)

95.70 -- Machine Head - Deep Purple (1972)

90.13 -- Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden (1982)

93.02 -- Operation: Mindcrime - Queensrÿche (1988)

94.86 -- Powerslave - Iron Maiden (1984)

96.37 -- Queensrÿche (EP) - Queensrÿche (1983)

97.98 -- Rising - Rainbow (1976)

91.28 -- Stormbringer Ruler - Domine (2000)

91.64 -- The Dungeons are Calling - Savatage (1984)

89.80 -- Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator - Ayreon (2000)

91.16 -- Volcanic Rock - Buffalo (1973)

91.45 -- Wake the Sleeper - Uriah Heep (2008)

90.29 -- Xiled to Infinity and One - Seven Witches (2002)

88.60 -- Yesterday & Today - Yesterday & Today (1976)

85.22 -- Zebra - Zebra (1983)

Time and A Word...

Well, more like 30 words. Or 30 bands, to be specific. As an addendum (of sorts) to the previous post, I thought I'd have a little fun and get these great bands out there once again. The bands are listed horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, and are forwards and backwards. Check out the list below the letters for the band names hidden within.

Q D F B J I K A S A R U M N M O X Y A F
X G A S K I N O D M V J I O V E W U G J
T S H B U F F A L O Z Z A T T A C K E R
R S F A Q C E W F R F Y I G S R V G T K
E A G H W D I J V E H J O B I X H J I N
T N R S J U O N D Y W W M F R C V L O I
T E L I X I R Z A U Y E Y D L T L P U O
I G H V A H F K E R K I E E O E R G A B
O O Y E D S A L B X G F N D R D I B P U
A Q V V N I K D O B L U A S D U T L W L
R U I E F U A C I D M Z J G B H M O C L
I F R D R Z I R W Q S Z D U A G R O I A
G D U A S L T V C I D Y N I L D S D Z N
A V S B J P O B U F E D A O T R X Y U G
K S D U I O T R R U R U H J I A S M G U
R Z B G K L T E D S K C T H M Z C A B S
I D S T R A Y D S E I K U S O Z O R R W
G S E I B A B R A W F D R Q R U T Y A U
E E S D Y I R G G H K L T D E B G H S D
T F K W A H R E T N I W A G H S U G N A

Acid, Angus, Aria, Attacker, Bloody Mary, Bodkin, Buffalo, Bull Angus, Buzzard, Elixir, Fuse, Fuzzy Duck, Gaskin, Granicus, Killer, More, Moxy, Murasaki, Overlorde, Sir Lord Baltimore, Stray, Sword, Toad, Totty, Trettioåriga Kriget, Truth and Janey, Virus, War Babies, Weed, Winterhawk

Top Ten (and others) - Obscure Bands

Some of you may know these bands, but I'm guessing that most people haven't heard of them or at least aren't very familiar with them. It's an interesting mix that includes bands from all over the world, including four U.S. bands in the top ten. The top ten list includes three albums from this decade that definitely deserve your notice, while the notable releases are predominantly from the 1970s and 80s.

If you'd like more information on any of these bands, post a comment below or in the chat box on the right and I'll get back to you.

Obscure Top Ten (actually 11, because of a tie):

91.52 -- Murasaki - Impact (1976)

91.16 -- Buffalo - Volcanic Rock (1973)

91.04 -- October 31 - Meet Thy Maker (1999)

90.97 -- Aria - Armageddon (2006)

90.82 -- Elixir - The Idol (2003)

90.27 -- More - Blood & Thunder (1982)

90.23 -- Overlorde - Return of the Snow Giant (2004)

90.18 -- Saviour Machine - Saviour Machine I (1993)

90.13 -- Toad - Toad (1972)

90.00 -- Attacker - Second Coming (1988)

90.00 -- Trettioåriga Kriget - Trettioåriga Kriget (1974)

Other obscure releases:

89.81 -- Acid - Maniac (1983)

89.72 -- Sortilège - Métamorphose (1984)

89.60 -- Killer - Wall of Sound (1981)

89.60 -- Buzzard - Gambler (1984)

89.57 -- Bull Angus - Bull Angus (1971)

89.35 -- Virus - Thoughts (1971)

89.32 -- Moxy - Moxy (1975)

89.29 -- Fuse - Fuse (1970)

89.28 -- Silver Mountain - Shakin' Brains (1983)

89.21 -- Billy Lee Janey - Soul Driver (2008)

88.82 -- Angus - Warrior of the World (1987)

88.74 -- Apocalypse - Apocalypse (1988)

88.67 -- Brocas Helm - Into Battle (1984)

88.62 -- Gamma - Gamma 1 (1979)

88.47 -- Sword - Metalized (1986)

88.46 -- More - Warhead (1981)

88.44 -- Winterhawk - Revival (1982)

88.37 -- Gaskin - End of the World (1981)

88.28 -- Twenty Sixty Six and Then - Reflections On the Future (1972)

88.23 -- Lucifer's Friend - Lucifer's Friend (1970)

88.21 -- Totty - Totty (1977)

88.16 -- Fuzzy Duck - Fuzzy Duck (1971)

88.06 -- Bodkin - Bodkin (1972)

87.82 -- Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come (1970)

87.56 -- Virus - Revelation (1971)

87.41 -- Stray - Stray (1970)

87.38 -- Weed - Weed (1971)

87.04 -- War Babies - War Babies (1992)

86.31 -- Truth and Janey - No Rest for the Wicked (1976)

82.74 -- Granicus - Granicus (1973)

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).