Desert Island Disc Challenge: Fleetwood Mac ’25 Years – The Chain’

Editor’s note: As part of CMN’s ongoing music journalism program, we asked our team of music writers to take on the age-old challenge of choosing one piece of music they would like to have with them if they were stranded on a deserted island. It’s an absurd notion, but also irresistible. See all the different approaches they took to the challenge right over here.

There is the age-old question of “If you were forced to live on a deserted island what one album would you bring?” My answer would without a doubt be the Fleetwood Mac boxset 25 Years – The Chain.

While some may choose something more modern, you could never go wrong with a classic. I was raised on classics — from Bob Dylan to Willie Nelson and Elvis to Led Zeppelin — but one band that I really felt a connection with from a young age was Fleetwood Mac. There was just something about the calming nature of Stevie Nick’ voice to the pounding beats from Mick Fleetwood that reverberate deep in my heart. Their songs always brought a smile to my face.

So it goes without saying my all-time favorite band is and will always be Fleetwood Mac. It also goes without saying  that if I were to be deserted on an island with only one album, it would be one of Fleetwood Mac’s.

So why not bring a boxset with 4 CDs? Ergo: 25 Years – The Chain.

I would imagine living on a deserted island would cause some intense panicking, and a lot of crying, so what better song to accompany such a heartbreaking moment than “I’m So Afraid” or even the dulcet tones of “Songbird.”

There are several different reasons behind choosing this boxset.

I am one of those people that can listen to one album exclusively for months at a time, but once I’ve had my fill, I can’t listen to it again for several months, with the exception of a few albums. I know if I would be forced to live on a desert island and I could only listen to one album, that would be the cause of my downfall. Not the isolation or the scarce living conditions, but the fact that I would have to listen to the same 12-15 songs for the rest of my life.

If I had the boxset, that’s 72 songs. With that amount of choice, there are several songs to match every emotion I would feel stranded on an island: happiness (“Rhiannon”), the intense need to let off some steam (“The Chain”), the deep anger of being forced to live alone (“Go Your Own Way”), and deliriousness (“Tusk”). Not to mention the fact that playing 72 songs on shuffle definitely provides much more room for a change of pace versus a standard single album

Having Fleetwood Mac with me during this drastic change of my life would also provide that feeling of not being entirely alone. Growing up on classic rock and finding my love in Fleetwood Mac is one thing I will carry with me for as long as I live, and if I were to be forced to live on my own on an island in isolation, I would need some semblance of a connection to my old life.

And in the end, that is what would get me through living on a deserted island.