Vote for your winners, results posted tomorrow:
#1 Blur vs. #16 Tori Amos
#8 Lupe Fiasco vs. #9 System Of A Down
#5 The Killers vs. #12 Bright Eyes
#4 Weezer vs. #13 Nas
#3 Coldplay vs. #14 Ben Harper
#6 Vampire Weekend vs. #11 Mariah Carey
#7 Cypress Hill vs. #10 Interpol
#2 Pavement vs. #15 Jack Johnson
#1 - Blur - Though Tori got some consideration
#8 - Lupe - Tough voting against SOAD
#5 - Killers - Easy choice for me
#4 - Weezer - Like Nas, but his Greatest Hits comp still wouldn't be as great as Pinkerton and I can not in good faith hold what Weezer has become against them, at least not this early.
#3 - Coldplay -
#6 - Vampire Weekend -
#7 - Cypress Hill -
#15 - Jack Johnson - Just a personal choice, nothing against Pavement
Today’s group has a couple of fantastic bands as the 1 and 2 seeds, but not much to write home about after that…
#1 Blur
Pass.
#12 Bright Eyes (Brandon Flowers is really starting to chap my hide.)
#4 Weezer (I’m in agreement with Slick on this one. I never understand people who think that, for instance, the three decades of intermittent crap and embarrassing touring the Rolling Stones have done since Some Girls somehow “subtracts” from their achievements from 1964-1978. Similarly, Weezer deserves to be known for their fantastic first two albums, not the bleah they’ve emitted on a regular basis since.)
#3 Coldplay (holding my nose a bit, yes)
#6 Vampire Weekend (A clear victory for the Upper West Side over Long Island.)
#10 Interpol (Cypress Hill is a LOT of fun, but Interpol, which I’ve recently discovered, is awesome.)
#16 Tori Amos
Always felt Blur was overrated.
#8 Lupe Fiasco
#5 The Killers
Weak albums, but a few great singles.
#4 Weezer
One great album versus the kind of rap I just don't get.
pass
#6 Vampire Weekend
Mariah Carey is on the list of 'Pop stars unjustly categorized by critics.' But the lack of a consistent album puts her below VW.
#10 Interpol
#2 Pavement
#1 Blur: They have some catchy singles, for sure! I still like Gorillaz more, though.
#8 Lupe Fiasco: Not big on System of a Down at all.
#12 Bright Eyes: If only to not vote for The Killers.
#13 Nas: If only to not vote for Weezer.
#14 Ben Harper: I'd pick The Killers and Weezer over Coldplay. Their aggressive embrace of all things beige is truly a horror to behold.
#6 Vampire Weekend: Not big on Vampire Weekend, but the majority of Mariah's output is shameful.
#10 Interpol: Finally, an artist I kinda like here!
#2 Pavement: If only to not vote for Jack Johnson.
And yet again, the 90s/00s bracket is a pretty big dud, in spite of me loving quite a lot of 90s and 00s artists. It makes me fear that my faves either just missed the cut or will face off against each other early on.
RESULTS:
Blur 64.5% / Tori Amos 35.5%
Lupe Fiasco 58.1% / System Of A Down 41.9%
The Killers 62.5% / Bright Eyes 37.5%
Weezer 64.5% / Nas 35.5%
Coldplay 75% / Ben Harper 25%
Vampire Weekend 65.6% / Mariah Carey 34.4%
Cypress Hill 51.6% / Interpol 48.4%
Pavement 59.4% / Jack Johnson 40.6%
