Bracketology is back in the saddle again. The second round (now with Even More Grueling Choices) is now underway. And I dunno about you, but I think the brackets look really good after a week off.

Ballots are due at midnight, U.S. Central time, Saturday, October 13 (that’s about 6 am GMT Sunday).

BRACKET A
17. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me”
48. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony”
49. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”
144. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust”

BRACKET B
1. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”
32. The Doors, “Light My Fire”
33. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition”
65. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side”

BRACKET C
9. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”
73. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues”
88. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour”
105. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”

BRACKET D
8. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode”
40. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock”
185. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black”
232. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around”

A friendly reminder, especially for new voters: for ballots to be eligible, you must explain your choices. It’ll be interesting to see what folks have to say about these songs, which we haven’t revisited in over three months.

One other note, for those of you running your own tournament on the side: these brackets correspond to Weeks 1-4 of the first round.

Enough jibber-jabber. Go.

I found myself refreshing this page every 5 minutes, so as to remain "bracketology's oldest friend". ;)

BRACKET A
1. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” - The perfect song to represent for the iPod-decade, strolling through town and singing along. I can't change my mold, no no!
2. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” - Jagged told RS "I wrote it as sort of like a Bob Dylan song." Maybe that's why I like it so much, although I never really saw it as a Dylan song. My god it's beautiful though.
3. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” - The third song in this bracket that's in my top 100. It made it a little easier to rank them, but still sad to put two songs of this calibre in second and third place. Oh well, someone has to win.
4. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust” - Good ol' Ziggy takes the 4th place, an excellent song like I mentioned in the first round.. but not quite good enough to beat the killer competition.

BRACKET B
1. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” - I'm gonna assume I get 2 more rounds to say something about this song, so I'm just gonna stick to: Perfection.
2. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side” - I'm only at the 6th song and I'm already out of superlatives. Damn you schleuse for making me put this in second place!
3. The Doors, “Light My Fire” - Great song, but no match to #1 and #2. Will Young kind ruined this for me.
4. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition” - Written, produced, arranged and performed by a 22-year-old. Incredible.

BRACKET C
1. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” - The best song Prince never (not until Sinéad made it popular anyway, after that it doesn't count :P) performed. With his incredible array of songs, that says enough.
2. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven” - After hearing it so many times, it's starting to loose some of its grandeur. Still, a classic.
3. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues” - Good song, but nowhere close to O'Connor and Jimmy, John, John and Robert.
4. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour” - How did this beat Hotel California? Shame.

BRACKET D
1. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” - What can I say about this song that hasn't been said yet? Not much.. so I'll just quote myself (quoting Berry): "Go Johnny go!"
2. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black” - I remember doing a survey when I was 11, asking people what their favorite song was. 2 kids my age picked this song and I remember not understanding why. Now I do.. brilliance.
3. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around” - So complex and yet so simple. An undeniable masterpiece that unfortunately takes the third place in yet another strong bracket.
4. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” - Very nice song, but it's not the masterpiece the other 3 in this bracket are.

After bracket B I found the pattern. :P

Let the fun begin! And by fun, I mean pain.

BRACKET A
1. THE VERVE, “BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY”: Is there a more ironic case in rock history than this? A moderately successful (albeit hit-less) band reunites, releases a critically acclaimed album containing their biggest hit, relinquishes 100% of the royalties from said hit (to a band from the same country no less!) because of a seemingly harmless string sample. It's a cruel world, Richard, but it doesn't take away from the fact that this is an incredible song (from a incredible record) and one of the best of the Britpop era.
2. DAVID BOWIE, “ZIGGY STARDUST”: A nice enough title track from the Sgt. Pepper's of glam-rock, but a song that doesn't hold up well on its own. Plus, the one immediately following it on that album is much better.
3. THE KINKS, “YOU REALLY GOT ME”: On par with "Louie Louie", in terms of simplicity, but not the good kind - the annoying kind. Further deduction for all the bad covers it inspired.
4. THE ROLLING STONES, “SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL”: Ranks second on the list of my most hated songs of all time. Completely annoying, terribly repetitive, grating, irritating and painful.

BRACKET B
1. STEVIE WONDER, “SUPERSTITION”: A soul/funk masterpiece, and a song that I'll never get tired of hearing. An immortal drum intro with tick-tocking percussion throughout, clavinet virtuosity and a lyrical attack on pseudoscience. The fact that it was written, arranged, performed and produced entirely by a 22 year-old blind kid cements this song as #1 in this bracket.
2. BOB DYLAN, “LIKE A ROLLING STONE”: The sound of Dylan taking a blowtorch to his own folk blueprint. His finest six minutes in my opinion, and it certainly opened the door to a lot of possibilities. It pains me to put in this in 2nd, but Stevie's a genius.
3. THE DOORS, “LIGHT MY FIRE”: Full marks to Manzarek, a virtuoso on the Continental who lays down one of rocks' classic keyboard intros on this song. Deductions for Morrison, who's just plain creepy, and that solo/break is about five minutes too long.
4. LOU REED, “WALK ON THE WILD SIDE”: From a week in the first round that I missed the boat on. Looking back at the comments, the song received quite a bit of laudation from voters, but I'm not overly impressed. It quickly deteriorates into a repetitive cycle of D and G chords played over, and over, and over. Someone really should've taught Lou Reed how to play an A.

BRACKET C
1. LED ZEPPELIN, “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN”: Bonham, Jones and Page execute their parts perfectly here, while Plant puts away the predatory bravado long to write eight minutes worth of Tolkien-esque lyrics about hedgerows, pipers and laughing forests. The song glides along on windswept melodicism until that simple, yet immortal drumfill at 5:53, and you know it's coming - one of the greatest guitar solos in recorded history. A 70s rock masterpiece that defined "epic".
2. WILSON PICKETT, “IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR”: Mr. Pickett walks a fine line between romantic and horndog on this classic R&B groove. Great tune.
3. SINÉAD O’CONNOR, “NOTHING COMPARES 2 U”: Prince composition and arrangement + heartwrenching video = Sinead's single shining moment.
4. EDDIE COCHRAN, “SUMMERTIME BLUES”: Decent for what it is, but more or less out of its league here.

BRACKET D
1. CHUCK BERRY, “JOHNNY B. GOODE”: For me, the easiest choice of this week - so completely obvious that it should be #1 here. A song so innovative and significant that it was put onto a gold record and shot into outer space on Voyager to represent the sounds of humanity.
2. THE BEACH BOYS, “I GET AROUND”: Noteworthy for its catchy melody and great vocal harmonies, but it's prototypical Beach Boys surf rock - which isn't a bad thing per se, but it's just not something I would label "amazing".
3. THE ROLLING STONES, “PAINT IT, BLACK”: Falls under the category of "good, but bordering on dislike" - where most Stones songs seem to get filed in my world. Few are wonderful (eg. "Satisfaction"), while others are just rubbish (see Bracket #1.)
4. BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS, “ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK”: Rock-bottom of this bracket.

BRACKET A:
1. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”
2. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony”
3. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me”
4. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust”

These are all five-star songs, so I feel ridiculous enough ranking them, let alone trying to explain.

"Sympathy For The Devil" is probably my favourite Stones song; great textures, lyrics, vocals, guitar and woo-woo bits. A real winner.

"Bittersweet Symphony" is kind of a similar song with similar strengths, if lyrically more working-class than Satanic.

"You Really Got Me" is impeccable rock 'n' roll with an inimitable riff. Stellar.

"Ziggy Stardust", I'd still be happy enough to see win. I'd put all four songs first, if I could. I will say that Bowie had far better songs up his sleeves: "Life On Mars?", for instance.

BRACKET B:
1. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”
2. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side”
3. The Doors, “Light My Fire”
4. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition”

Bobby D is pretty much unbeatable, in my estimation. It'll take a Hell of a song to get me to vote against "Like A Rolling Stone" - no song in these brackets could do it.

"Walk On The Wild Side" and "Light My Fire" are about neck and neck - I love the narrative of the former and the organ of the latter. Reed squeaks it though, with one of his rare crossover moments.

"Superstition" is all well and good, but way out of its league, in my estimation.

BRACKET C:
1. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”
2. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”
3. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour”
4. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues”

"Nothing Compares 2 U" is one of the most gorgeous, powerful and heart-tugging love songs of all time, to my mind. Big-ass power ballads don't tend to be my cup of tea, but I just find NC2U amazing. It's also my mum's favourite song, for what that's worth!

"Stairway To Heaven" is OK - four minutes of niceness, four minutes of louder niceness and then a minute of rawk. It's not brain surgery, but it does the job.

"In The Midnight Hour" seems all right enough, but I can't say I'm itching to fill the gap in my collection - while "Summertime Blues" sounds to me exactly like 1,000 other songs, all with titles like "Suchandsuch Blues". Nothing wrong with that, per se, but it doesn't help it stand from the crowd none.

BRACKET D:
1. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black”
2. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around”
3. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode”
4. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock”

"Paint It Black" squeezes some great, unusual guitar noises out and shackles them to a dark ol' lyric. "I Get Around" can't be faulted for melody, though Wilson's production skills were still growing. The two older songs don't even compare, though Berry's is clearly the better of the two.

"The fact that it was written, arranged, performed and produced entirely by a 22 year-old blind kid". Seems like we read the same wikipedia article Anthony. ;)

Haha... yeah, I see that.

I knew he was young and that he wrote and performed everything, but Wikipedia just serves more or less as confirmation. :)

BRACKET A
1. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” – To me, this is “Big” Rock and Roll of the best kind. It’s grandiose and sweeping, but it still feels natural.
2. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust” – I’ve always loved this track, but it’s not as powerful as the Stones S.F.D.
3. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” – Another "Louie, Louie," but not quite as good. Still fun.
4. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” – The string part makes the song. But for an old guy like me, the other three were already firmly entrenched as classics before this one came out. Just bad timing.

BRACKET B
1. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” – I love the internal rhymes throughout every verse. Ex: “You never turned around, to see the frowns, on the jugglers and the clowns, when they all did tricks for you. Never understood that it ain’t no good…” The Hendrix cover from Monterrey is also superb: “You used to be so amused, at Napoleon in rags, and the sweet talk that he used…”
2. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition” – This would win almost any other bracket for me. Too bad Stevie’s up against a power house this week. Very Funky Riff.
3. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side” – Always struck me as kind of a novelty. But a clever one.
4. The Doors, “Light My Fire” – I have always disliked this song. Just boring to me.

BRACKET C
1. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” – Great song easily wins weak bracket (for second round).
2. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues” – Highlight: “I’d like to help you son, but you’re too young to vote.”
3. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven” – A little to magical and mystical for me. As a kid I was more of a “Who” guy than a “Stones” or “Zep” guy.
4. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour” – Good soul number.

BRACKET D
1. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” – This would be the CD that we send into space to explain to the aliens what we humans mean by the term “rock and roll.” It's the blueprint. Side note: I once met Mr. Berry. He was playing a show at a local theater in the early 1980's. Me and my buddy saw a Cadillac out back and thought it might be his. We waited and, sure enough, he walked out by himself carrying his guitar case. He put the guitar case in the trunk and signed something for us. Looking back, I think he was pretty excited to seee that two young teenagers knew who he was and wanted to meet him.
2. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black” – The eastern-inspired intro is cool.
3. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around” – I prefer the later Beach Boys to the more poppy early stuff. Still, cool harmonies here.
4. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” – Reminds me of Happy Days TV show.

MY OWN PERSONAL BRACKETOLOGY (So far so good)
A: Sympathy for the Devil
B: Like a Rolling Stone
C: Seven Nation Army (greatest riff of the 21st century?)
D: Johnny B. Goode

Bracket A: My nominee for the week’s toughest group. Five of Q’s “ten most perfect songs” are in the round of 64, and two of them are in this bracket. And I’m picking neither of them.
1. THE KINKS, “YOU REALLY GOT ME”: I imagine nobody had heard guitar like this in 1964. And I recently found out how they got that fuzz—they sliced open a speaker cone.
2. THE ROLLING STONES, “SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL”: This is no longer my favorite Stones song (that’s “Gimme Shelter”), but it’s still fantastic.
3. THE VERVE, “BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY”: Lovely and haunting, and, having listened to it again, there’s more to the lyrics than I thought there was. Still, #3 in an overloaded group.
4. DAVID BOWIE, “ZIGGY STARDUST”: Great title track to a great album, but outclassed here.

Bracket B
1. BOB DYLAN, “LIKE A ROLLING STONE”: Bobbo actually had a more difficult bracket in the first round (T-Heads, Beach Boys, and the underrated “Jeremy”). Only “Superstition” is within a light-year of this. I’ll follow (the startlingly dedicated!) Neoptolemos’ lead and wait until the Sweet 16 to comment.
2. STEVIE WONDER, “SUPERSTITION”: AM’s ranking of this song is about right. Top 40, but not top 16. And between this, “Front Line,” and “Isn’t She Lovely,” I hereby name Stevie the undisputed king of the outro.
3. LOU REED, “WALK ON THE WILD SIDE”: I’ll repeat myself—good, not great. It’s Warholesque, yes, but (Debbie Harry aside) that’s not my favorite –esque. Wish we had “Perfect Day.”
4. THE DOORS, “LIGHT MY FIRE”: If you could eliminate the long improv, you’d have a marvelous howl of a man yearning for sex. As it is, Jim can’t leave the tournament fast enough for me.

Bracket C
1. EDDIE COCHRAN, “SUMMERTIME BLUES”: Genius. Possibly in my all-time top 10, definitely top 20.
2. SINÉAD O’CONNOR, “NOTHING COMPARES 2 U”: I’m warming up to this again, but my favorite Sinéad is still the stuff on The Lion and the Cobra.
3. WILSON PICKETT, “IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR”: I was surprised, but pleased, that this took out “Hotel California.” I can’t see pushing it to the next level, but it’s great meaty soul-blues.
4. LED ZEPPELIN, “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN”: Tolkien-influenced rock…explain to me why that’s supposed to be a good thing? Maybe I’ve been harsh on Zeppelin, but this is still the most overrated song of my lifetime. Great performance, yes, but no wit, no irony, no fun…it’s the anti-“Summertime Blues”. And anyway, I prefer Dolly Parton’s cover version.

Bracket D
1. CHUCK BERRY, “JOHNNY B. GOODE”: All three of the surviving songs from the 1950s are up this week, and this is the best of the lot. Very few of this week’s other songs would even exist without this one—and it’s not only influential, but endlessly great to hear.
2. THE BEACH BOYS, “I GET AROUND”: In my head, this is still the essence of what the Beach Boys are—their car’s never been beat, the guys go steady with their best girl, and the bad guys know ‘em and they leave ‘em alone. Sweet.
3. THE ROLLING STONES, “PAINT IT, BLACK”: Eh—good, but doesn’t grab one by the scruff of the neck and give a good shake the way the best Stones songs do.
4. BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS, “ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK”: Having this in the same bracket as “Johnny B. Goode” is jaw-dropping…it’s nowhere close. Still fun, though.

By the way, the winners in my personal tournament this week are the same four songs. Which seems kind of cowardly, but oh well. I thought about taking “Seven Nation Army” first in bracket C, but I couldn’t take the brilliant but plodding White Stripes song over “Summertime Blues.” Maybe if it had been “Fell in Love With a Girl.”

BRACKET A
1. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust”- Great opening riff as simple as it might be.
2. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony”- It sure would have been cool if it was going up against The Last Time rather than Sympathy.
3. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”- Great song but lyrically it's overrated.
4. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me”- The Kinks before the Kinks were amazing. It's a good song but not great and it's a real shame it's what most people think of when the band is mentioned.


BRACKET B
1. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”- Can't dispute this one. Maybe in a couple rounds but it's tough to argue that this is one of the best.
2. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition”- I'm more of the "Little Stevie Wonder" sound but I like this enough.
3. The Doors, “Light My Fire”- I like the short version. A little bit.
4. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side”- The Velvet Underground are great and Transformer has a lot of great songs on it but I just don't like this one.

BRACKET C
1. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues”- Good song in a bracket where all you have to be is good. The only knock on this song is the amount of terrible covers it's seen. Blue Cheer is really the only one that did it justice. Is Eddie Cochran the Nirvana of the 50's in the fact that he inspired a lot of kids to make bad music?
2. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour”- Good but doesn't compare to the other soul classics we've seen in the tourney.
3. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”- Sinead bails Zeppelin out of the bottom spot.
4. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”- I think the music video brought this song to heights it never would have seen. It's a good song but to be placed as one of the greatest songs of all time is a little ridiculous I think.



BRACKET D
1. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black”- How is it that the Stones had such a hard time breaking from their mold and then came up with this? Many more hits were to come for sure but not anything like this.
2. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around”- For the most part, all of the Beach Boys songs are good. But, how can you rank I Get Around any higher than Wendy or Be True To Your School? They all sound the same even though that's not a bad thing. It's like this song and the other favored early Beach Boys songs were just picked from a hat and claimed the best. Are they really?
3. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode”- What can I say? These next two songs blew the music world to pieces but they just don't hold up next to the music we're comparing it to.
4. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock”- To add a little more, isn't it weird that a good portion of people who are into rock/pop today are much more inclined to listen to the music that early rock and roll was rebelling against than early rock and roll?

Actually, if you look at Stevie Wonder's career--child star later makes good with poppy, funky masterpieces--it kind of resembles Michael Jackson's. (Although, of course, in their later stages, Michael eventually became completely dysfunctional, while Stevie just recorded horrible duets.)

I don’t understand the distribution that has done schleuse
I believe that in the first round it followed a different criterion.

For example, Bracket B is made up of songs with worse positions, one to one, that Bracket A.

The equitable distribution is this one. I have done it distributing the 64 songs according to its position in A.M. so that bracket is left balances.


BRACKET A
017. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” (1964)
027. Michael Jackson, “Billie Jean” (1982)
092. U2, “One” (1991)
103. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” (1964)

BRACKET B
001. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
049. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” (1968)
051. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, “The Tracks Of My Tears” (1965)
232. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around” (1964)

BRACKET C
009. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven” (1971)
038. The Beatles, “Hey Jude” (1968)
066. David Bowie, “Heroes” (1977)
146. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” (1969)

BRACKET D
008. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” (1958)
039. The Clash, “London Calling” (1979)
065. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side” (1972)
150. The Beatles, “Penny Lane” (1967)

Sorry, the correct phrase is

"For example, Bracket A is made up of songs with worse positions, one to one, that Bracket B."

Otis - Think of it this way. The original bracket of 256 songs was distributed evenly. From that point on, the winning songs advance without any re-seeding between rounds. So if a low-seed upsets a higher seed, it basically takes over the position of the higher seed (making the AM number - which was just a starting point - irrelevant).

No entiendo. Esto es una llamada a Honorio y a Miguel ¿podrías traducir lo que dice Loophole?

I do not understand. This is a call to Honorio and Miguel you could translate what Loophole says?

Now I have understood it.

The winners of bracket 1, 2, 3 and 4 happen to bracket A
The winners of bracket 5, 6, 7 and 8 happen to bracket B

OK, but I believe that bracket is left more balances with my system.

Es difícil explicar en mi español mal, otisredding, pero intentaré.

Establecí los brackets al principio de modo que agruparan a los ganadores de los brackets uno a cuatro juntos en el segundo redondo, incluso si las canciones en posiciones peores ganaron. La misma cosa con los brackets cinco a ocho, los brackets nueve a doce, etcétera.

Habría podido cambiar las canciones la manera que usted hizo después del primer redondo, pero decidía que no. Bracketology fue creado en la imitación de los torneos de los deportes (como torneos del tenis, o, aquí en los Estados Unidos, torneos del baloncesto), y la mayoría de ellos no cambian las posiciones para cada uno redondo.

Lo siento que no puedo explicarlo mejor. Espero que no era confuso.

(¿Honorio, ayuda?)

Oops. Never mind, you got it.

Lo has explicado muy bien. Muchas gracias. Con este invento tuyo lo estamos aunque pasando muy bien aunque es muy difícil elegir entre canciones tan maravillosas.

Gracias de nuevo.

De nada, otis. ¡Gracias por participar!

Sorry, I'm late to translate. But Schleuse, you explained it perfectly in Spanish

Well, probably not "perfectly," but thanks (I had to use the AltaVista Babel Fish site for the difficult bits).

BRACKET A
1. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” - The most evil folk tune to feature two solid minutes of "ooh ooh's"
2. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” - The fake Stones song gets beat by the real one. I guess the plagiarism lawsuit is justified because this song really is a rip-off of peak-era Stones singles. Of course only sampling's illegal, not copying (thank goodness) but that doesn't help the Verve, who already owe 100% of everything to creditors.
3. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust” - I prefer the rock tunes on this album more than the psychedelic singles. Give me Suffragette City or Moonage Daydream any time.
4. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” - riff-rock at it's most classic (and shallow).

BRACKET B
1. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” - This one's a strong contender for top place. See what harmony does for Dylan? You'd think he'd learn his lesson and write more riffs.
2. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition” - This tightly structured funk stomp is going to get trounced by a sloppy mess of guitars, Hammond and froggy vocals.
3. The Doors, “Light My Fire” - A snappy keyboard riff and soon-to-not-be sober Morrison take us to the 60's California night-life.
4. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side” - Reed responds by taking us to New York, where the concept of fun is a little more twisted.

BRACKET C
1. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven” - Had People Get Ready won it would have been the easy choice for this bracket. Stairway to Heaven still takes it, though it really is nothing more than a thoughtful guitar line.
2. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour” - Soul music at its finest. Even Cheney would have fun listening to this.
3. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” - Strong performance from a vocalist whom makes every word count.
4. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues” - Cochran got lucky with a weak bracket last time. This summer's ending early.

BRACKET D
1. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” - When practicing for this round (yes, I did practice) I kept putting this song second. I guess I preferred Jagger's sadism over Berry's good-time riffage. Maybe I was just sick of colours. Either way I'm in a much livelier state now.
2. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black” - Another visit to the dark side of rock but this time the journey's a little less dynamic.
3. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around” - Snappy vocal harmonies won't save this feel-good hit of the summer from dropping in the second round.
4. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” - Elvis, but even more plastic. This is corporate hit-making at its most devilish.

BRACKET A
It was easy to decide on the first and last, but numbers 2 and 3 were a very close call!

1. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” - Beautiful opener of one of the best Britpop albums ever. I remember the video clip, making the song too long to watch, but I could endlessly listen to it. Top, to next round please.
2. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” - Another strong opener, from Beggars. Where the repetition in Bittersweet Symphony does not annoy, here it actually does. Therefore, song is just a bit too long for my taste and "only" gets spot 2.
3. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust” - I have a love-hate relation with the Stardust album, his most acclaimed one which I often doubt. The Stardust song is pretty good, but not outstanding, like e.g. Suffragette City on the same album.
4. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” - The Kinks are not my cup of tea. Nice to hear on the radio once in a while, but not really a song to sit back and enjoy listening to.

BRACKET B
Strong bracket, do we really have to decide here? Ah well, here are my votes ...

1. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” - Strong lyrics, strong sound, and here he sings better than ever before: Close to perfect song.
2. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition” - Perhaps not as groundbreaking as Dylan's and Doors' songs in this bracket, but I just LOVE this funky and catchy song!
3. The Doors, “Light My Fire” - All credits to this song go to the man, who did not see the organs, but plays the organ . Even J.S. Bach would be a fan of Manzarek, I bet ya.
4. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side” - As with Light My Fire, I must have heard this song so often, that no new inspirations come to mind when listening. Let me be clear again here, all 4 are fantastic songs, but since I do like some of the Underground songs more, I have to disappoint Lou and put his song last here.

BRACKET C
Weakest bracket of this week, IMO. Would not have picked any of these for the last 16 ...

1. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven” - By many, seen as the perfect rock song. Although I am not much of a hard rock fan, I do like Zeppelin's albums and Stairway is their heavenly statement.
2. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour” - A lot of good soul songs were released in the 50's and 60's, this being one of them. Not outstanding, but nice.
3. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” - A beautiful love song full of emotional expression.
Hold some tissues stand-by while listening to this outburst, not to say when watching the touching clip to this song.
4. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues” - A great song from the fifties, but that's exactly the problem: It's not timeless and does not make a big difference to other rockabilly songs.

BRACKET D
Another strong bracket with only one negative outlier.

1. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” - For me, there are three highlights from the 50s: "That'll be the day", "Heartbreak hotel" and this one, being the only of the three songs that made it to round 2. Chuck just keeps it simple and plays rock 'n' roll as rock 'n' roll should be played. And this is THE ultimate rock 'n' roll song!
2. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around” - This song reminds me of the early 80's. Yes, the 80's. Being all dressed in black and part of the doom generation, listening to Joy Division and other suicidal music, I visited some
cousins overseas in Canada. Sitting in one of their sports cars, they played this song and said
"do you know this, we like it, it's called the Beach Boys" and I thought "no way, get out of here!" .
Now, 25 years later, I love this hoppy-boppy, let's go surfing, whoo-hee-hoo song. Whenever I'm in a bad mood, this song will cheer me up.
3. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black” - Strong opener of the US release of Aftermath, their best
album in my opinion. On same level as "I Get Around", but since there I have nice associations whereas
this song reminds me of "Tour of Duty" too much, it's gonna be spot 3.
4. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” - No competition to Chuck and Co. Song became a hit, and that's what it was meant for, nothing more, nothing less.

Off now, don't hesitate to have a great weekend!

BRACKET A
1. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust” (Fabulous melody, great vocals, killer riff. And I'm trying to forget how great it is when Sufragette City kicks in right afterwards.)
2. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” (Not as good a riff as Ziggy. But still very good. Amazing that Ray Davies winds up doing such different and BETTER work than this a mere four or five years later, and yet this is still a great song.)
3. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” (One of my favorite Richards solos, and I love the background "hoo hoos." Lyrically overrated. As a defintive illustrative of the "Bad Boys of Rock and Roll," I prefer the subtler thematically and better musically "Gimme Shelter."
4. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” (Killer strings sample. Fair vocals on the first verse. And then it gets more and more repetitive as the song wears on.)


BRACKET B
1. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition” (Incredible all around. Perfect marriage of arrangement, vocals, and groove. In a sterling 70's career, this is the highlight. (With "I Wish" a close second.) Wonder at his most funky and least schmaltzy.)
2. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” (Tough to knock this one down. Just because it's not my favorite Dylan doesn't mean its not up there. So hard to compare this with "Superstition." I guess that in the end, what truly lifts my spirits is the funkier stuff.
3. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side” (Very good, but not as great as the best of his stuff with VU. It doesn't build in intensity or dynamics, and usually I like that in favorite songs. But I can't knock that here - this song's more the steady, unchanging gait that I remember from walking the NYC streets at night.
4. The Doors, “Light My Fire” (Are the Doors the most overrated band of all time? Well... they're not as objectionable as the Eagles.)

BRACKET C
1. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven” (I'm surprised to stick this here, and my doing so is a testament to how weak this bracket is. But when you get past the obnoxious cult of this song, and acknowlege how silly the lyrics are, it is a very well constructed, peculiarly catchy song. Speaking of, have any of you heard Dolly Parton's cover of this. It's great.)
2. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues” (Fun, but not as much fun as the thematically similar "Yakety Yak")
3. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” (Admittedly moving, even if entirely too overwrought.)
4. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour” (This is one of my least favorite "classic" soul songs and soul singers.)

BRACKET D
1. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” (More so than Elvis, more so than Little Richard - Chuck Berry was the greatest 50's rock n' roller. And this is his defining (although not greatest) song.)
4. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around” ("The bad guys know us so they leave us alone." Hee. That's silly stuff. But as a strange California-ized adaptation of doo-wop, this is an intriguing song.)
3. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black” (Don't like parts of this song that much, but the lyric about the girls in their summer clothes is appropriately scary, and raises the level of this song.)
40. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” (Good song. A little inert. Hard to imagine it causing "Blackboard Jungle" riots. This didn't come out of a particularly good first week ballot.)

Thank you, Schwah, for validating my choice in Bracket B. Not that I needed the validation, but it's nice to know that someone else would take Stevie over Bobby. And yes, that doesn't mean it wasn't a difficult choice.

And what is that... four separate mentions of Suffragette City so far? (me, jonmarck, DrDre and Schwah). Interesting.

I've never compared Yakety Yak to Summertime Blues before but I see what you're saying. The Coasters are really underrated.

Just read some other picks.

Yeah, there seems to be a groundswell for Suffragette City. Which didn't even make the first round.

And Schleuse, glad we're in agreement on Dolly's version of Stairway, if not Zep's.

Right,business time

Bracket A
1)The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony:Wow they really own nothing of it? Easily the best song on the album and in this bracket
2)The Kinks - You Really Got Me:A great kickstart for guitar based rock
3)David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust:Surprised it's acclaimed actually - prefer others on the album more
4)Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil:Well out of it's depth here I think - can't stand it

Bracket B
1)Stevie Wonder - Superstition:I know LARS is the best song here but thinking of the song I prefer to listen to,well Superstition - can't resist a funky groove,also I think one of the best r&b singers ever
2)Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone:Well of course,seen as the greatest song ever but it's not actually a song I listen to a hell of a lot
3)The Doors - Light My Fire:Well I guess the 7 minute version can drag a bit in the middle,maybe the organ's finest moment in rock
4)Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side:Another solid song at #4 - the excitment sort of fades after several listens for me though...

Bracket C
1)Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven:Rock's most played song - maybe not quite #9 of all time,great guitar solo - although I don't think it's one of the best - pretty predictable...
2)Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U:Weepy ballad - not the sort of stuff I should be listening to,but yeah it's great and as far as her other stuff - nothing compares 2 this
3)Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour:Very strong song to have at #3,tough bracket - great groove,vocals and horns
4)Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues:Great song but can't compete with these others

Bracket D
1)Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode:Maybe the definitive rock'n'roll song - certainly from early rock it is,absolutely no question Chuck wins this bracket
2)Bill Haley & The Comets - Rock Around The Clock:One of the few other songs from the 50s that I really love - the big bang I guess for rock'n'roll
3)Beach Boys - I Get Around:Prefer songs where Mike Love isn't singing lead but still,good song,great harmonies as ever
4)Rolling Stones - Paint It Black:OK - that's all I can think of

Right, so this is my first time posting in Bracketology, which meant to really join in the fun it was a 64-song job, not a 16-song job, for me. I went thro all the brackets these songs came through, and I only actually picked 7 of these 16 as winners. Oh well, not sure what that says about me, but either way, I love all these songs as well...

BRACKET A
1) The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony. The first record I ever owned was Urban Hymns (I was 9), and whilst I didn't get it at first, it is now one of my favourite albums of all time. Everyone knows this song, but in reality it doesn't fit into the album very well, but it is one of the best stand-alone songs ever, imo.
2) The Kinks - You Really Got Me. Incredibly hard to choose between this and #3, but the vibrant energy here just carries it through for me. Can't imagine how it must've sounded in 1964.
3) The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil. It might actually be my favourite Stones number, which tells you something about the strength of this bracket. Awesome vocals from Jagger.
4) David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust. Good song, but not my favourite from the album. Slightly surprised there are only 3 higher rated Bowie songs on the site.

BRACKET B
1) Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone. THE most acclaimed song of all time. Took me a little while to appreciate why, but I can't get enough of it now. For the nerds out there, if you haven't already seen it, there's a great article on the song at "http://www.reasontorock.com/tracks/like_a_rolling_stone.html".
2) Stevie Wonder - Superstition. If you could only bottle that moment when it kicks in. Probably my favourite Stevie Wonder song, and not actually that far behind Dylan here.
3) The Doors - Light My Fire. It seems this is a bit of a marmite song. I fall on the 'really like it' side, and I actually enjoy every second of Manzarek's keyboard solo. Still only #3 tho.
4) Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side. It won what I thought was a weak bracket, and can't quite keep up here. I like the bass groove (as if I just typed 'groove'!), and the lyrics are great, but not quite in the same league for me.

BRACKET C
1) Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven. I do find it slightly overrated, but a comfortable winner nonetheless in this group. Don't get me wrong, it is a phenomenal song, but any song that gets served the rhetoric that this one does is likely to struggle to live up to its hype. Incidentally, this is the only song here that won its bracket when I ranked them myself.
2) Sinéad O’Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U. Still trying to get over the fact that this beat Imagine, which I would have had above Stairway here, but there you go. Heartbreaking song tho, delivered in a way Prince never could manage.
3) Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues. Not my favourite 50s rocker, but still enjoyable. The Who's version is better, for sure.
4) Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour. Hmm, I dunno what it is about this one, I just can't seem to strike a bond with it like I can with most of the other 60s soul tracks that come up here. Good, but I have to put it last.

BRACKET D
1) Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode. Just play the first 15secs over and over all day and I'd be happy. Awe-inspiring guitar playing, especially considering the era. Best track of the 50s for me.
2) The Beach Boys - I Get Around. You know how people say that 'God Only Knows' is the perfect love song? Well I reckon this is damn near the perfect pop song. Doesn't go a second longer than it needs to, giddy harmonies, etc, it's just really exciting.
3) The Rolling Stones - Paint It, Black. Again confined to 3rd place in the bracket, although I don't feel quite as guilty this time. Great single, but 3rd place feels about right for it.
4) Bill Haley And His Comets - (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock. Now I don't doubt that if you were a teenager in 1955, hearing this must've been an incredible experience. Hearing it in 2007 though, it isn't. Not terrible, but not competition against the others.

Been enjoying watching this unfold since I found this site a few weeks ago...figured I may as well jump in.

BRACKET A
1. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”: It's sort of the bizzaro version of We Didn't Start the Fire, isn't it? A stunning, sweeping song with a wonderful atmosphere to it.
2. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony”: The sort of song that sounds like it's always been around, and always will be.
3. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust” - It's hard to judge this song without the context of the whole album. That being said, it stands up own it's own: Great riff, great lyrics.
4. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” - The song is a one-trick pony. But what a trick that riff is. Still, it's just not on the same level as the other songs in this bracket.

BRACKET B
1. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”: It just builds...and builds...and builds until those four words come shooting out of his mouth, changing music history with it.
2. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side”: Sometimes, you don't need 20 chords changes and a soaring chorus to make your point. Doo doo doo....
3. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition”: Fantastic collage of sounds, and Stevie's undeniable masterpiece...but the lyrics don't do anything for me, and so it falls here.
4. The Doors, “Light My Fire”: Very groovy...but 7 minutes? Is that really necessary for this song?

BRACKET C
1. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”: Of course, 8 minutes is probably too long for this one as well...but it pretty much defines the term "epic rock song". Overplayed, sure, but overplayed for a reason.
2. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”: Two of my favourite Prince songs are this and Manic Monday. Does that make me a bad person? Wonderful chord progressions on this one, and Sinéad sings it pitch-perfect.
3. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues”: In this competition, "nice 50's rock" seems to be a bit of an insult...but that's what it is.
4. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour”: If I were a soul guy, this would be higher up. But I'm not, so it's not.


BRACKET D
1. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black”: I know this is not the best song in this bracket. And yet, that rumbling, unrelenting beat sucks me in every time. Sorry Chuck.
2. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode”: The 1st rock standard for a reason. To say "it still holds up today" would be an insult - it flies past most music issued today.
3. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around”: A notch down from the previous two - it says something about the Beach Boys that they could write and sing such great songs effortlessly, and yet this is considered their "lightweight" period.
4. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” - A solid template-setter: Nothing more, nothing less.

With all the love for Wonder I've decided to give Superstition (and Light My Fire) a few listens, and I want to switch them around. Superstition #3 and Light My Fire #4. Pretty please.

Sorry, but I don't think this is right; a voter should not be allowed to change their votes once posted.

I pretty much like all these songs so I'm going to use my iTunes play counts to decide.

BRACKET A
49. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” - 28 plays
17. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” - 16 plays
48. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” - 10 plays
144. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust” - 10 plays, I'll give it to Bittersweet Symphony just cause I feel I do like that more.

BRACKET B
1. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” - 16 plays
33. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition” - 8 plays
65. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side” - 3 plays
32. The Doors, “Light My Fire” - 4 plays. Okay, I'll actually give this to Lou Reed because I hate this song and I'm pretty sure all four plays are from when I let someone borrow my iPod. Plus, Lou gave the beat for one of my favorite Tribe Called Quest songs.

BRACKET C
73. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues” - 7 for the original + 12 for The Who version.
88. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour” - 5 plays
105. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” - 4 plays
9. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven” - 3 plays. Yeah, this song has three good minutes and the rest is so pretentiously boring it hurts.

BRACKET D
8. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” - 3 plays. I may not have listened to it much, but that's because every time I play my guitar I play this song because I enjoy it so much.
185. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black” - 3 plays
232. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around” - Not on my comp. I actually like this song a lot so I wonder why it's not on there so I'll put this over Bill Haley
40. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” - 0 plays

BRACKET A
1. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” - The dark princes of rock 'n' roll for a reason. Sinister.
2. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” - Music that gets you in the gut, that's if you like music and/or have a gut.
3. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” - It's catchy, I like it, but I'm still scratching my head a little over this one.
4. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust” - It's no the best song on the album, I think it gets by mostly on name recognition.

BRACKET B
1. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition” - This is purely a personal choice, because I couldn't decide between one & two. But this one elicits a more emotional response.
2. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” - I noticed a thread on here somewhere asking why Dylan is so great. Exhibit A.
3. The Doors, “Light My Fire” - Psychedelic carnival rock at its finest. Tough to put third.
4. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side” - Finally, an easy choice. It's not bad, but merely good doesn't cut it this high up.

BRACKET C
1. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven” - Wins this bracket a little bit by default. The other songs aren't bad, but this is the weakest bracket of the week.
2. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” - Prince wrote a winner, and Sinead stripped it down to its essence with a wonderful performance.
3. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues” - I like the early rock 'n' roll energy. Toss up between two and three, but most of these are a toss up.
4. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour” - Legendary blues, but it's not always my thing.


BRACKET D
1. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” - If he had written nothing else, his place in history would still be assured.
2. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black” - See "Sympathy for the Devil."
3. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around” - One of the Boys' best up-tempo songs. A blast.
1. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” - It may be an original, but it's gone as far as it should.

In response to Neoptolemos' vote change and Anthony's objection:

1. I'm going to allow this particular change, for two reasons. First, I've never stated a policy about whether or not a voter can do that (in fact, I seem to recall that I allowed it once in the first round). Second, in this particular bracket (B), it seems very unlikely that Neoptolemos flipping Stevie and the Doors is going to matter.

2. Now, however, I'm going to state a policy: from now on, once your ballot is posted, you may not alter it. Anthony, I thought about it and decided you're right; if voters are permitted to change their rankings at will, we could potentially have some serious issues. Although I am certain that Neoptolemos is acting in good faith, I do think the precedent has problems. So, no more.

The choices in the second round are very difficult, and the choices in future rounds will be harder still...and that's as it should be. I'm sure we've all posted ballots and later had our doubts about our choices, but if we're allowed to act on those doubts, I could see the Sweet 16 and Final Four in particular turning very, very messy. And if the choices are REALLY hard...well, if necessary, we've got an eight-day voting period for making tough decisions.

Fair enough?

Well said, yeah, I agree with that.

Thanks.

BRACKET A
1- David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust”
2- The Kinks, “You Really Got Me”
3- The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony”
4- The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”

BRACKET B
1- Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side”
2- The Doors, “Light My Fire”
3- Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”
4- Stevie Wonder, “Superstition”

BRACKET C
1- Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”
2- Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”
3- Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues”
4- Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour”

BRACKET D
1- Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock”
2- The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black”
3- Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode”
4- The Beach Boys, “I Get Around”

It seems a little odd to be making comments all over again for the same songs. Hopefully I don’t completely contradict something I said earlier.


Bracket A

The verve are way out of their league here. That song is a typically fluffy modern UK pop track – pleasant but thoroughly disposable. I was a massive Bowie fan at one time, but not anymore: his arch, mannered vocals now irritate the hell out of me, so even when I can get on board with one of his tracks musically (as I can here) whatever pleasure I get is minimal. The Kinks track is cool proto-punk, though I think the Pretty Things had a dozen songs that were harder and better. I don’t think the Kinks became really great until they wimped out around ’66 or so. Sympathy… is one of the most stirring, propulsive songs I've ever heard. It’s also one of the few party tracks I can tolerate – I’ll take a room full of people chanting ‘hoo-hoo’ over an American Pie sing-a-long any day.

49. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”
17. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me”
144. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust”
48. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony”

BRACKET B

Dylan’s one of my favourites, and LaRS is still one of the most thrilling, primal rock songs of all time. It rocks harder than just about anything that came before or anything that has come since. I almost put Superstion last purely on strategic principles (it’s the only song that could pose a threat to Dylan, I believe), but I like it far too much for that. I don’t care for either of the next two songs much. Reed’s track is just another empty pose in a career full of them. Jim Morrison was a goofy man in a decade that sometimes took goofy men too seriously. Not that I dislike the band – they were often great, especially when they rocked.

1. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”
33. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition”
65. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side”
32. The Doors, “Light My Fire”


BRACKET C

If overplay has diminished my ability to enjoy a lot of classic rock, it’s completely crippled any love I might have once had for Stairway. It’s really impossible for me to listen to it anymore (and I like Zeppelin – they’re not a favourite, but I do like them for what they are), so I can’t give it the top slot. Summertime Blues is punk before there was punk – tough, funny and snotty, and it’s pretty catchy too. Sinead’s version of Nothing Compares 2 U might be the most beautiful pop recording of the last twenty years, but I just can’t bring myself to rank it above my 1&2 slots. In the Midnight Hour is a nice frat-rock anthem.

73. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues”
9. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”
105. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”
88. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour”


BRACKET D

Johnny b goode still sounds fresh. After god knows how many bar band covers and plays on oldie stations, it’s still always a pleasure to hear it. The Stones and Beach Boys songs are solid classics, and the bill haley song is too cheerful for me.

8. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode”
185. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black”
232. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around”
40. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock”

Yes, level has increased. Very much : a lot of 4 or 5 stars, and 4 giants’duels for 1st place.
A week full of classics.
Funny : all number ones and 2 number two’s were songs I used to play with my first band, when we were learning our rock’n roll ABC
At this level, smalls details make the difference.

BRACKET A
1. David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust” ***** : I had first put the Kinks first, and then I listened to the 2 songs again, and Bowie had a very slight advantage. Due to what ? melody, voice, sound of the guitars, lyrics. And most of all, panache.
2. The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” ***** : The first hard rock song ?
3. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”**** : Why third ? A little long, these lyrics are cool when you’re 20, but then they seem so simple. But the music’s great, the background vocals and all..;
4. The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” **** : second time I really listened to it, I got tired : it’s too damn clean, you picture yourself a big TV commercial with cars flying and everything (I seldom watch TV, was there a commercial with that song ?)

BRACKET B
The best of all
As for bracket C, the choice for first place was excruciating
1. Stevie Wonder, “Superstition”***** : This drum intro, and then of the best riffs ever (the best ?) This song was originally written for Jeff Beck and was an attempt at blending funk with rock, at a time when Wonder used to tour with the Stones. Result : an explosive mixture.
2. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”*****: I had decided it’d be first, and I just changed my mind. Well so be it... The difference is nothing. Maybe the production which is a little messy ?
3. Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side” ***** : Why 3rd ? Because there are two giants before it. The song is a pure marvel : the two basses (upright and electric), the sax solo in the end, and this lyrics..That song is a novel in itself.
4. The Doors, “Light My Fire” ***** : Why 4th ? Too long, for sure. This song if it had been just 4 minutes long would be one of the best of the 60s. The solo is excellent but doesn't need to be that long.

BRACKET C
Here again hard choice between one of the best songs of the 70s and one of the best songs of the 50s
1. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”***** : This song is a miracle. In a sense it has nothing to do with the rest of Led Zep’s works. It’s a perfect image of the 70’s. It’s one of the most played songs, but for me her (funny I typed her) charms are still intact. Plant sings beautifully, he doesn’t squeak . And the guitars...they are simply perfect. So no matter if the lyrics are a bit silly (I have the advantage of being French so if I want I can forget about the lyrics quite easily)
2. Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues”***** : Could this possibly be the summertime record/song of all time? In any discussion of what it's like to be young and broke and persecuted by your family and job, this song has to rank pretty darn high. Its subjects are so broadly drawn that they'll never really go out of style, unlike other lyrical sentiments of the '50s. Of course, the original by Eddie Cochran -- the song's co-writer -- is still the champ, a marvelous mix held together by the most basic of rhythms with a strong acoustic guitar flavor that makes it timeless. AMG
3. Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour” **** : solid r&b
4. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”** : it’s not that<:/i>bad, but “compared”to the rest it doesn’t hold a second

BRACKET D
1. Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode”***** : What can I say ? Rock and roll will never die..
2. Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock”*****: I used to hate that song because in my country, it’s a favorite at very bourgeois parties where people dance rock’n roll, or it’s always played at wedding parties at the beginning so the old folks can dance. But it’s a fucking killer indeed . the beginning of it all
3. The Beach Boys, “I Get Around”***** : One of my favorite pre Pet Sounds tunes can do nothing against the 2 50’s giants.
4. The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black”****: Not my favorite Stones songs, but yet a very good one