"I know all the 'classic' records that people are supposed to list," Ryan Adams says. "I mean, I love Blonde on Blonde. But these records are the ones from throughout my life that I really would take to a desert island--although I might trade them in for a lighter or a raft." Recuperating from the broken wrist he suffered during a January concert, the roots-rock tune machine listed a few personal faves from his misspent North Carolina youth.

45 GRAVE AUTOPSY (Restless, 1987) "This is a record I got when I visited my uncle in Arlington, Virginia. He worked for a company connected to NASA, which I thought was cool, because I was super into astronomy. I knew 45 Grave had some connection to the Germs and Gun Club. The cover looked kinda goth, so I took it home, and it was so fucking good. I lived in a small town with no girls to date or people to impress. It was just me and my record player."

THELEAVING TRAINS FUCK (SST, 1987)"When I got to Chapel Hill, even though I was too young to be part of a scene or go to shows--I was 13 or 14--I was old enough to skateboard across town, through a rough area, to where the pawn shops were. I would have five or ten bucks and peruse the pawn shops for one- or two-dollar cassette tapes. By the time I got Fuck, I had met someone who helped me tune my guitar. I learned some chords, and realized I was writing stuff that sounded like the Leaving Trains. So I think it's really influenced my songwriting, to this day."

GALAXIE 500 ON FIRE (Rough Trade, 1989) "A friend of mine had a car, and we were driving to school, wondering if we should go. School passed by and we said, 'Fuck it.' We went to this place called Schoolkids Records in Chapel Hill. I read a review of Galaxie 500 that described them as 'psychedelic, slow, and woozy.' I bought this tape and we played it on the drive back. I kept thinking, 'There must be a fast song coming up.' It was hot, there was no AC, and both of us nearly fell asleep and crashed the car."

CIRCLE JERKS VI (Relativity, 1987)"It's kind of totally not correct to list this, but this is a record that was really aware of itself and really rocked. 'I'm Alive' was a real anthem for me. This was the summer of 'I can play guitar, I'm skating, but I'm living at home and I wish I could move.'"

GREG SAGE STRAIGHT AHEAD (Enigma, 1985) "I heard Straight Ahead shortly after I moved to Raleigh. I asked my roommate, 'Dude, have you heard of this guy Greg Sage?' and he said, 'Dude, that's the guy from the Wipers.' This is the most depressing record ever. It starts out like, 'Keep moving forward,' but it ends up being a loner's masterpiece. I put it on before a show we played in upstate New York. By the time it was over, everyone was depressed and not talking to each other."

DANZIG DANZIG (Def American/Geffen, 1988) "I loved Samhain [ex-Misfit Glenn Danzig's previous band], but this was absurdly good. It was really defining for me. This was when I went out and became a fake punk in North Carolina. I had a prevarication [sic] for witchy stuff. I think there's some sort of power in that imagery when you're younger. I also remember this cassette smelled really good."

THE REIVERS TRANSLATE SLOWLY (DB, 1985) "I loved this record so much. There was a soft edge to some of the underground bands from this period, like the Reivers and Salem 66. I had so many 'Japan-core' compilations that I needed something to chill out with. This record really influenced my guitar playing. I realized it was okay to hang out on some major chords for a while."

ANTIETAM BURGOO (Triple X, 1990) "This record also had a lot to do with how I wanted to play guitar. It's all so pretty, especially 'Imagining Green.' Tara Key is phenomenal. Her songs would describe New York, and I would dream about what they meant."

POLVO CELEBRATE THE NEW DARK AGE EP (Merge, 1994) "This was originally a triple seven-inch. Their first record was good, but this was better, because it was so scrappy. People said Polvo sounded like Sonic Youth, but I always thought they had their own thing going on. This was like music from a cartoon."

JONES VERY WORDS AND DAYS (Roadrunner, 1989)"I must've owned eight copies of this. The best description is that it sounds like the Police because it has these atmospheric parts, and Hüsker Dü because it has that kind of lost American sound."