Get a good look at the 16 names here. These are the elites, the final 16. They will all be guaranteed a return next year to reward their perseverance. But we’re not stopping until we have a winner. The level of intensity is rising. This week we will lose eight more teams. Please remember when voting to vote for the song, not the artist. And DO NOT VOTE STRATEGICALLY!!!!! You should vote for the song you like more, not the song by the artist that isn’t going to be a threat to your team. Now that I got that out of the way, let me go ahead and show you this week’s competitors:

U2 (One) vs. The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out)
Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe) vs. Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology))
Bob Dylan (Blind Willle McTell) vs. The Beach Boys (God Only Knows)
Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City) vs.The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want)
Michael Jackson (Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool) vs. New Order (Age of Consent)
Queen (Killer Queen) vs. Steely Dan (Aja)
Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town) vs. Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine)
Coldplay (Viva La Vida) vs. Kanye West (Gold Digger)

U2 (One) vs. The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out) I've always found "One" overrated within U2's catalog. "There is a Light" is beautifully glum.
Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe) vs. Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)) Another great song from Jimi.
Bob Dylan (Blind Willle McTell) vs. The Beach Boys (God Only Knows) Great song.
Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City) vs. The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want) But if you try sometimes, you might find...
Michael Jackson (Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool) vs. New Order (Age of Consent) New Order missed out on the shutout last week, but it looks like they might get it this week. But in all honesty, it's sad to see MJ go out this way.
Queen (Killer Queen) vs. Steely Dan (Aja) I can not begin to tell you how happy I am to see Queen make it this far (and avenge team Sly by knocking out Arcade Fire).
Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town) vs. Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine) I'm not a huge fan of Pearl Jam after "Ten", but they do have some great songs, like this.
Coldplay (Viva La Vida) vs. Kanye West (Gold Digger) I can't believe one of these two teams will make it to the final 8, considering all the great acts that have been eliminated (and that will be eliminated this week).

W - U2 (One) (6) vs.
L - The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out) (9)

L - Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe) (6) vs.
W - Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)) (4)

L - Bob Dylan (Blind Willle McTell) (11.2) vs.
W - The Beach Boys (God Only Knows) (4)

L - Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City) (11.6) vs.
W - The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want) (6)

W - Michael Jackson (Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool) (11.2) vs.
L - New Order (Age of Consent) (11.4)

L - Queen (Killer Queen) (8) vs.
W - Steely Dan (Aja) (6)

W - Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town) (11.3) vs.
L - Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine) (11.9)

W - Coldplay (Viva La Vida) (8) vs.
L - Kanye West (Gold Digger) (11.1)

The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out)
Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology))
The Beach Boys (God Only Knows)
Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City)
New Order (Age of Consent)
Steely Dan (Aja)
Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town)
Kanye West (Gold Digger)

The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out)
Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology))
The Beach Boys (God Only Knows)
The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want)
New Order (Age of Consent)
Queen (Killer Queen)
Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine)
Coldplay (Viva La Vida)

U2 (One) vs. The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out)
Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe) vs. Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology))
Bob Dylan (Blind Willle McTell) vs. The Beach Boys (God Only Knows)
Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City) vs. The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want)
Michael Jackson (Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool) vs. New Order (Age of Consent)
Queen (Killer Queen) vs. Steely Dan (Aja)
Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town) vs. Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine)
Coldplay (Viva La Vida) vs. Kanye West (Gold Digger)

Pass on the last two. Weak match-ups.

U2 (One)
Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology))
The Beach Boys (God Only Knows)
The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want)
New Order (Age of Consent)
Steely Dan (Aja)
Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine)
Coldplay (Viva La Vida)

When's the deadline for voting, Listyguy?

U2 - One
Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe (This one is just raw power)
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows (The best Beach Boys song)
The Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want (none of these are among my faves, but this one got the nod)
New Order - Age of Consent
Queen - Killer Queen
Otis Redding - These Arms of Mine (Quite nice)
Coldplay - Viva la Vida (Actually very good. Beats any rap song any day)

The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out)
One of Morrissey & Marr's finest moments...

Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe)
This is tough, I had to listen to them both twice while doing something else and then revisit the situation...

The Beach Boys (God Only Knows)
Was this The Beach Boys finest moment???

Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City)
Felt Atlantc Cityish today...

New Order (Age of Consent)
This was an easy one for me...

Queen (Killer Queen)
Killer Queen is one of my favorite Queen songs...

Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town)
Looking forward to the PJ20 show next weekend at Alpine Valley...

Coldplay (Viva La Vida)
Despite the hatred for Coldplay on the forum, they keep advancing. Perhaps no other artist has benefited more from the song vs. song format. In this case Viva is a great song, Gold Digger is one of my least favorite Kanye songs...

There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
God Only Knows
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Age of Consent
Aja
These Arms of Mine
Viva La Vida

U2 (One) vs. The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out)
Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe) vs. Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology))
Bob Dylan (Blind Willle McTell) vs. The Beach Boys (God Only Knows)
Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City) vs.The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want)
Michael Jackson (Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool) vs. New Order (Age of Consent)
Queen (Killer Queen) vs. Steely Dan (Aja)
Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town) vs. Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine)
Coldplay (Viva La Vida) vs. Kanye West (Gold Digger) Gold Digger remains one of my favourite Kanye songs. It has been getting a lot of backlash on this forum recently and I should probably have picked another song, but I seriously didn’t think it would have any problems against Viva La Vida. Like other managers before, I clearly underestimated Coldplay’s ability to score a cheeky goal or two against a team who think they’re better.

U2 (One)
Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology))
The Beach Boys (God Only Knows) - Too bad Bill was too late changing the song, because God Only Knows really requires a hard hitter. I would've liked a day or so between the rounds as well, but that's too late now.
The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want)
New Order (Age of Consent)
Steely Dan (Aja)
Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine)
Coldplay (Viva La Vida)

The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out)
Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe)
Bob Dylan (Blind Willle McTell)
The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want)
New Order (Age of Consent)
Queen (Killer Queen)
Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine)
Kanye West (Gold Digger)

Thanks!

U2 (One) — The Bank of America version is better, but this one's pretty good, too.
Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe) — Very close, but I like the album this one comes from better.
The Beach Boys (God Only Knows) — Not my favorite track off Pet Sounds, but good enough here.
The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want) — Not many easy matchups this week.
New Order (Age of Consent) — Except for this one.
Queen (Killer Queen) — A Queen song with bit vs. a wimpy lounge-jazz number that doesn't do itself any favors by going on for 8 minutes.
Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town) — Another close one, but the Redding track is a little slight to win here.
Kanye West (Gold Digger) — One of my favorite Kanye tracks.

U2 (One) beats The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out) - I have been perhaps a bit too dismissive of this Smiths song in the past. It has some catchiness and works well in that overwrought 80s ballad kind of way. But it is not as good as it is purported to be. Listening to One again though, I think it just might be as good as it is purported to be. I'll take it over any of the most acclaimed songs from those classic 1991 releases, except Tribe's "Check the Rhime" and "Scenario." (Yes, I think it's better than "Summer Babe" also.)

Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)) beats Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe) - While not quite the equal of the epic "Inner City Blues," "Mercy Mercy Me" is a prime example of how ground shaking What's Going On was and how relevant it remains today (not just thematically and lyrically but musically as well). It's sometimes easy to gloss over what a shock this album must have been for fans of Motown in general and Gaye in particular. The shock and primal force of "Hey Joe" may be more immediate, but the impact of "Mercy Mercy Me" lingers longer and and burrows more deeply.

The Beach Boys (God Only Knows) beats Bob Dylan (Blind Willle McTell) - Okay. "God Only Knows" is still an intensely flawed song. It ends weak. That breakdown section starting a little more than a minute in is awful, and the doo woppy vocals thereafter are only so-so. It is a testament to what an incredible melody Wilson wrote that it beats a not bad song from 80s Dylan.

The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want) beats Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City) - A fave of mine from the Stones. Another fabulous Jagger performance. And a fitting bookend to their magnum opus "Gimme Shelter" on Let It Bleed. Both are famously signposts (in different but complementary ways) for the death of the dream of the Sixties. And both provide, amidst the doom and gloom, great hope for optimism of what will survive that death. No wonder the Stones did so well in the next decade. "Atlantic City," the song has much of the immediacy of Springsteen's vital 70s recordings. But the recording and the production doesn't share the strength of the song.

New Order (Age of Consent) beats Michael Jackson (Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool) - Tough call. I adore young MJ. His voice is so pure and beautiful here. The song could have been a tad better. But "Age of Consent" gives me what I love from "New Order" what I love from them. I strong driving forward movement that compels lots and lots of dancing.

Queen (Killer Queen) beats Steely Dan (Aja) - "Killer Queen" is a delight, of a piece with the great work they did a year later on A Night at the Opera. "Aja" is unfocused... it's not the length as much as the song fails to register an impact.

Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine) beats Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town) - "Elderly Woman..." is a showcase for Vedder's vocal talents. That's not a good thing. Sorry, but Otis wins on just one "Come back!" 2d single into his career and he's already got the perfect ability to sing beautifully even while he's shouting.

Kanye West (Gold Digger) beats Coldplay (Viva La Vida) - Strong matchup between very good, but not great songs. "Viva La Vida" I hated on first listen but quickly grew to like. It soars like an anthem should and is nimble. Should sound pretentious, but there is a quality where Martin seems to be saying don't take the theme so seriously. But that's part of the problem... it's empty calories. "Gold Digger" has an incredible beat built around the Ray sample. The rap is, like often with Kanye, not always as clever as he thinks, yet he pulls the shit off through pure force of will. If anything my one real complaint is what he does to the beat in the crucial, turnabout, third verse. That silly sound he adds to the beat undercuts the canny switch to the female perspective. But his super hit still beats Coldplay's. Question for the audience... could Kanye really have been the first rapper to rhyme "gold digger" and the n-word? I feel like someone must have done that before him.

The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out): 10
U2 (One): 8

Great Smiths will beat great U2 almost every time for me, but this is outstanding Smiths stuff, here. All the drama plus Morrissey's gorgeous delivery make "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" an enormous joy. "One" is beautiful in its own right, but there are several U2 ballads that I prefer to it.

Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe): 9
Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)): 8

"Hey Joe" is immediately gripping, and that immediacy pays off - it's my favorite Jimi Hendrix song by some distance. "Mercy Mercy Me" is the highlight of an overrated album for me - moving and pertinent. But it's up against a real favorite.

The Beach Boys (God Only Knows): 10
Bob Dylan (Blind Willle McTell): 8

"God Only Knows" is sacredly beautiful and convinced me to give The Beach Boys a try. For its part, "Blind Willie McTell" is doing the same, as Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 Revisited have left me pretty cold on Dylan, but the lush piano of "Blind Willie McTell" is wonderful, and Dylan's voice is much more palatable than normal.

The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want): 9
Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City): 3

My favorite Stones track really takes off with the backing chorus to become quite a powerhouse. I had a sort of curiosity about Nebraska, but listening to "Atlantic City" all but killed it.

New Order (Age of Consent): 10
Michael Jackson (Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool): 4

That driving, ebullient joy of "Age of Consent" crystallizes just about everything I love about them, and I feel a lot of myself in it. Meanwhile, I consider myself a Michael Jackson fan, but I am generally apathetic to Jackson 5 material and early MJ solo stuff, and "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" does nothing to challenge that notion.

Steely Dan (Aja): 6
Queen (Killer Queen): 3

"Killer Queen" shows that Queen was well on their way to the ridiculousness that plagues their most beloved stuff. Steely Dan is a tough nut for me to crack. The vocals are so, so bland, but thankfully "Aja" has some long instrumental passages to keep my attention. I had this marked as a 5, but those synths at the end made me perk up. Is there more Steely Dan/Donald Fagen material akin to those last 20 seconds?

Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine): 6
Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town): 2

Otis is always a joy to listen to, but the backing track to "These Arms of Mine" is a little too cutesy for me to really love it. That said, it easily outpaces the annoying, aggressive acoustic strumming and frogthroated vocals of the Pearl Jam track. Yikes.

Kanye West (Gold Digger): 7
Coldplay (Viva La Vida): 2

Schwah's comments were very interesting in this matchup. "Empty calories" should be the tagline to every Coldplay song in my book - they try so hard to be meaningful, but the overwhelming blandness of it all is practically unparalleled in the past few decades. Meanwhile, that rubbery synth in "Gold Digger" is actually what makes me uprate it to a 7. I like it despite my reservations about its content because it's insanely catchy, and that little synth bit seals the deal.

Less than a day left to vote!

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out ++ beats One =

One is one of those songs that's 'Nonspecifically virtuous'. If you don't listen very carefully it sounds like something warm and fuzzy about people coming together. If you listen a little closer, you notice how generic it is. The song is so impressed with its good intentions it forgot to have a tangible message.

Hey Joe +++ beats Mercy Mercy Me ++
Blind Willie McTell +++ edges God Only Knows +++

I really think if both of these songs were equally well known the dynamic of the match would be different. If Listy hadn't moved the song change deadline one day earlier and only said anything in places I didn't read in time I would have played the L bomb. If Blind Willie McTell were on Highway 61 Revisited maybe it'd be a close match. Instead, it's a concert obscurity most people haven't heard, and it's against something on Pet Sounds.

Atlantic City ++++ beats You Can't Always Get What You Want

My favorite 'Steen other than Born To Run.

Age Of Consent + beats Everybody's Somebody's Fool +
Aja = beats Killer Queen -
These Arms Of Mine ++ beats Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town ++
Viva La Vida +++ beats Gold Digger --

The only Coldplay song I think is seriously a great song against one of Kanye's songs where he just kind of takes an existing classic and says things he thinks are witty.

Go Michael Jackson and Otis Redding! (Even though I voted against MJ!) Most of the groups I really liked in pool B are gone already!

I'm guessing it was a sort of placeholder and he expected to change it depending on who he was facing. Then again, it is a fantastic song, and I agree that the race would've been slightly different if it was more well known. That said, and despite being probably the biggest Dylan fan on the forums, I still think God Only Knows is the better song and should win.

U2 (One) vs. The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out) : though TIASTNGO is one of the few Smiths song I really enjoy, I'll go with the magnificent One, as over the top as it might be.
Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe) vs. Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology))
Bob Dylan (Blind Willle McTell) vs. The Beach Boys (God Only Knows)
Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City) vs. The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want) : though it might be one of my fav Springsteen song (which is not necessarily saying much but still)
Michael Jackson (Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool) vs. New Order (Age of Consent)
Queen (Killer Queen) vs. Steely Dan (Aja)
Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town) vs. Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine)
Coldplay (Viva La Vida) vs. Kanye West (Gold Digger) : Gold Digger might not be among Kanye's very best, it still easily bests the pretty annoying Viva la Vida.

Well, I can only speak for myself, but "Blind Willie McTell" is by far my favorite Dylan song that I've heard.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot, we may have a tie this week, so I will go over the tiebreaker rules for the elimination round:
-Vote will stay open for 24 hours from the time voting endsfor the regular week
-The manager can chose any song, reguarless of whether or not they have used it another week. However, if the same team gets into a second tiebreaker, they cannot use the same song they used for the first tiebreaker
-If a manager does not chose a song after 12 hours (or whenever I wake up the next day), their song will be defaulted to the team's top song on acclaimedmusic.net

Managers, if you think your team may get into a tie this week, feel free to post the song you will use ahead of time.

The Smiths
pass (have never liked either of these artists)
The Beach Boys (3rd favourite song of all time, Dylan could never beat it imo)
Rolling Stones (poor choice for Bruce)
pass
Steely Dan
Otis Redding
Kanye West

Ugh! Almost lost the deadline!

One
Mercy Mercy Me
God Only Knows
You Can't Always Get What You Want
pass
pass
pass
Viva La Vida

U2 (One) def The Smiths (There is a Light that Never Goes Out) 10-9
In an upset of epic proportions, U2 defeats the Smith’s top song, which finished in the top 20 in the last songs poll. I must say I was expecting U2 to get blown out, not win.
Marvin Gaye (Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)) def Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe) 10-8
I will also admit I underestimated Marvin. At first, it looked like Jimi was totally screwed, losing 5-1 early, and 9-5 going into the final day. But, he pulled within 9-8 near the end. This one hurts.
The Beach Boys (God Only Knows) def Bob Dylan (Blind Willle McTell) 16-3
In a matchup that spurred a call for a new song changing system, The Beach Boys blow out Bob Dylan.
The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want) def Bruce Springsteen (Atlantic City) 15-4
Not really close here.
New Order (Age of Consent) def Michael Jackson (Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool) 16-1
So for the second straight week New Order only gives up one goal. I feel bad for the guy who has to face them next….oh, great!
Queen (Killer Queen) ties Steely Dan (Aja) 9-9
This one was a little closer than some of the earlier ones. Steely Dan tied it on the final goal. So, we will now have our first tiebreaker of the tournament.
Otis Redding (These Arms of Mine) def Pearl Jam (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town) 11-6
I’ve run out of things to say. Wasn’t really too close here.
Coldplay (Viva La Vida) def Kanye West (Gold Digger) 10-8
So Coldplay wins again. I bet Moonbeam’s happy. (I know I am).

This tiebreaker will remain open for 24 hours from now. The winner will move on to face New Order, the loser is eliminated.

Queen (Bohemian Rhapsody) vs. Steely Dan (Reelin in the Years)

I place my vote for Queen.

I've been listening to a lot of Steely lately and Reelin' is one of the songs that is shooting up the charts, but it's up against the only thing Queen did that could possibly match the Dan's musical prowess. It hurts, since I enjoy Steely a lot more than Queen nowadays, but we're voting for the songs, so: Queen.

Steely Dan (Reelin in the Years)

Steely Dan here.

Steely Dan

Early Queen might take my vote here, but in this case, Steely Dan.

I'm glad the Stones advanced over Springsteen, but I'm a bit shocked that Stones song beat that Springsteen song.

Have to vote for Steely Dan. If it was for vocals only, Queen would be an easy choice. But, Steely Dan's Reelin' in the Years speaks to me with at least some measure of skeptical sincerity, while Bohemian Rhapsody is in essence a lovely farce with some very well executed vignettes and transitions.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Queen, dammit!

So, a tiebreaker is always between the most acclaimed song from each artist?

Bohemian Rhapsody

On any other matchup between Queen and Steely Dan I would have voted for Steely Dan without hesitation. But if it's "Bohemian Rhapsody" against "Reelin' in the Years" I'm afraid my vote goes to Queen...

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody gets my vote too.

Queen for me

Bohemian Rhapsody

Queen def Steely Dan 9-5

Interesting note: Only two B-Pools have teams remaining in the competition, each with two teams.