@slobberchops has nominated me for this challenge he came up with. All it needs is one post and there are no prizes, but then good posts can earn rewards anyway.

Here are the rules he has made for it:

Name FIVE albums you would take if you were stranded on a desert island for ONE year with just a CD player, USB devices capable of playing tunes or a good old fashioned record player.
For each of the albums, link a tune from YouTube or an alternate source which to you is the standout song.
Provide a short story on why you like this album or the artist so much.
Use the tag #desertislandchallenge on your post
Nominate THREE more people for the challenge, try and pick music people!

Only five? Okay, so it's only a year and that's enough time to really appreciate some good music. I often listen to Desert Island Discs where celebrities get to choose eight tunes for their island. At least with albums you will get a lot more tracks to enjoy.

It's not easy to choose five, but it's just for fun, so here's some that I think repay repeat listening. I've just been down to the vaults to see what I could find.

CDs

David Bowie: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)

Bowie has always been around through my life, but I've grown to appreciate him more in recent years. My wife is a massive fan. We saw him several times together and she went to a few gigs I didn't. I'm currently reading Paul Morley's book about him, which has lots of interesting insights. This album has some stomping rock tunes that must have seemed amazing back then and still have amazing power. I only got the album a few years back. This opening track has a very non-rock drum beat and sets the scene. I love how Bowie always looked cool even when his band looked a little ridiculous.

Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

Another from the 70s. This is one from my student days, but it was old then. I bought my 20th anniversary edition some time later. Perhaps the perfect prog album. Roger Waters deliberately kept the lyrics simple, but there's so much audio experimentation going on. They were true pioneers.

This track comes mid-way through and has a change of style with piano and slide guitar before one of the classic vocal performances by Clare Torry. She later sued the band for royalties as she was only paid £30 for the session.

King Crimson: Thrak (1995)

This incarnation of King Crimson featured two drummers and Chapman Stick player Trey Gunn. Adrian Belew sings some weird songs, but the album is a feast of great rhythms. I picked this up without having heard much of it as I was just eager to get more by the band. I got The Compact King Crimson compilation as one of my first CDs, but it took a while before I explored further. There's still plenty of albums I haven't got, and that's not even considering the many live recordings out there. I couldn't find too many tracks on Youtube, but I chose this fun little song.

Björk: Homogenic (1997)

I've loved Björk for some years even though I tend to listen to a lot of guitar-based music. There's just something about her voice and the musical collages she conjures up. I could have gone for Vespertine as well, but this will do. Hunter really got into my head when I heard it. with that relentless drum beat. Definitely something of the Bolero about it. I've seen her live twice, both times at Hammersmith.

Steven Wilson: The Raven Who Refused to Sing (2013)

This could have been any of his last few albums, but this one really blew me away. I got into him via his band Porcupine Tree. His 'solo' projects are a little different. They can still be heavy, but are perhaps more cinematic. This is based on a set of ghost stories he came up with, but I really couldn't tell you all the details of the stories. I just enjoy the sound of them. I've also seen him twice, but that was on the subsequent tour for his follow-up album. I'm highlighting Drive Home as the video is great and it has an epic guitar solo by Guthrie Govan. Reminiscent of classic David Gilmour.