"Marooned" is a Greil Marcus-approved homage / follow-up to "Stranded," the classic collection of music essays which asked 20 rock writers the famous question, "What album would you bring to a desert island, and why?" Whereas the original got responses from journo legends like Lester Bangs and Robert Christgau and featured albums by The Kinks and Van Morrison, this update solicits the new generation of music writers - everyone from hip hop scribe Jeff Chang to The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle, plus Simon Reynolds, Michaelangelo Matos, Douglas Wolk, Pitchfork's Daphne Carr, the Boston Phoenix's Matt Ashare (word!), etc. Features essays on albums from the Meters, Brand Nubian, Alice Coltrane, The Cars, Dio, Miles Davis, Spiritualized, Iron Maiden, My Bloody Valentine, Stereolab, Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and much more. 330 pages.

reviewed by Chris Lemon-Red