Division 1:

2 The Beatles - Help (1965, #595)
def 15 Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas 6-4
def 10 The Millennium - Begin 7-5
vs
11 Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In The West (1968, #2851)
def 6 Chuck Berry Is On Top 6-1
def 14 Beach Boys - Smiley Smile 6-5

The Beatles' only album to escape the first round against the last remaining soundtrack. Both have had close votes getting to the third round.

Division 5:

1 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998, #512)
def 16 The Boredoms - Super AE 8-5
def 8 Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen 10-2
vs
4 Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap (1998, #1171)
def 13 Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile 8-4
def 5 Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty 9-7

The probable favorite of the tournament tries to hand Belle and Sebastian their first loss.

Division 3:

1 REM - Life's Rich Pageant (1986, #668)
def 16 Bruce Springsteen - Live 1975-1985 8-3
def 9 The Cars - Heartbeat City 13-1
vs
4 Depeche Mode - Violator (1990, #456)
def 13 XTC - Oranges and Lemons 7-6
def 12 Ry Cooder - Paris, Texas 8-3

One album currently the subject of another thread in which everybody seems to agree it's underrated against one of the highest AM ranked albums left in the draw which has a few strong supporters here.

Division 7:

2 Joanna Newsom - The Milk Eyed Mender (2004, #2000)
def 15 The Killers - Hot Fuss 8-2
def 7 TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes 8-4
vs
11 Sufjan Stevens - Michigan (2003, #1713)
def 6 The Strokes - Room On Fire 9-4
def 14 Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans 10-3

Two 00's freak folk albums that came before the artist's most famous album, with similar AM ranking, neither of which has had any trouble getting through the draw so far.

The Beatles - Help!

I'm not too big on soundtrack albums in general, with a small few notable exceptions.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane over the Sea

My second favorite album of all-time, so it's not too tough of a choice.

Depeche Mode - Violator

I'm not a Depeche Mode fan, although I think half of Violater is amazing. This is a close one for me.

Sufjan Stevens - Michigan

I love Sufjan Stevens and dont really like Joanna Newsom, so not a difficult choice.

1 The Beatles - Help! (This one pains me... love them both)
5 Belle & Sebastian - Boy With The Arab Strap
3 REM - Life's Rich Pageant (It's REM week at AMF!)
7 (pass)

Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In The West
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Depeche Mode - Violator
Sufjan Stevens - Michigan

Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In The West
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Depeche Mode - Violator
Joanna Newsom - The Milk Eyed Mender

Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In The West
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
Sufjan Stevens - Michigan

The Beatles- Help!
Neutral Milk Hotel- In The Aeroplane Over the Sea
R.E.M.- Life's Rich Pageant
Sufjan Stevens- Michigan


will albums like Summerteeth, Bandwagonesque and others that were originally high acclaimed but dipped to moderate acclaim after the tournament started be counted?

Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West
Belle and Sebastian - The Boy with the Arab Strap
R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant
Sufjan Stevens - Michigan

1 The Beatles - Help
5 Pass
3 REM - Life's Rich Pageant
7 Pass

The Beatles - Help!

The Beatles might have some overrated albums, but this one is chronically underrated - it's one of their strongest albums with possibly the best melodies. It's one of the perfect bridges between pop and experimentation.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

I love the Belle & Sebastian album (Top 100 all-time for me), but "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" is my number 1 album.

R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant

Both decent albums, but I think that the edge goes to R.E.M.

Sufjan Stevens - Michigan

"Michigan" is almost as good as "Illinois," so while the Newsom album is decent (much better than "Ys"), have to go with "Michigan."

Div. 1: Help
Div. 5: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Div. 3: Life's Rich Pageant
Div. 7: The Milk-Eyed Mender

Division 1:
2 The Beatles - Help (1965, #595)

Division 5:
1 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998, #512)

Division 3:
1 REM - Life's Rich Pageant (1986, #668)

Division 7:
11 Sufjan Stevens - Michigan (2003, #1713)

Help!
The Boy with the Arab Strap
Lifes Rich Pageant
Michigan

Now I'm ready to vote. I had to listen to Life's Rich Pageant and Violator again.

Help

I don't think it's their best, but it has some classic pop songs.

The Boy With The Arab Strap

NMH is super-overrated. They're not gonna lose this vote, of course.

Violator

I like them both, but Violator's more consistent and different from other stuff I listen to.

The Milk Eyed Mender

Easy vote for me, but both are good.

Division 1:

2 The Beatles - Help (1965, #595)

Division 5:

1 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

Division 3:

4 Depeche Mode - Violator (1990, #456)

Division 7:

11 Sufjan Stevens - Michigan (2003, #1713)

One day left to vote. None of the votes are that close right now, but things have turned around before.

2 The Beatles - Help
4 Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap
1 REM - Life's Rich Pageant
11 Sufjan Stevens - Michigan

Easy choices for the four :

11 Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In The West
4 Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap
4 Depeche Mode - Violator
11 Sufjan Stevens - Michigan

The Beatles - Help
Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap Depeche Mode - Violator
Sufjan Stevens - Michigan

Sorry no time for comments

Some comments (but nothing about the albums I'm voting for).

The Boy With The Arab Strap
B&S have won all their duels so far and I want they win again. So the reason I had In the Airplane Over the Sea higher in my all time list last time we did the poll doesn't matter. GO B&S!

Violator
Depeche Mode played tonight in Helsinki (Arena). But I was watching ECSTATIC SUNSHINE, JASON URICK and
TOMUTONTTU in Semifinal with 30 other odd-music fans.

The Milk Eyed Mender
The triple cd project sounds a bit suspicious to me, especially because the new songs I have heard didn't blow my mind (and not even close). Milk Eyed Mender is still very good album and I listen to it more often than Ys (and Michigan).

Results: (A few minutes early, but I don't see two votes flying in in the last ten minutes)

Division 1:

2 The Beatles - Help 12 def
11 Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In The West 5

The Beatles stay alive and eliminate the last soundtrack. Help goes on to face Comme a la Radio.

Division 5:

1 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea 10 def
4 Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap 7

Belle and Sebastian mount a late comeback, but too little and too late. They drop to 7-1. Aeroplane goes on to meet XO in probably the highest power matchup in the fourth round.

Division 3:

1 REM - Life's Rich Pageant 10 def
4 Depeche Mode - Violator 8

Still, no first seed has lost since the first week. Life's Rich Pageant survives a an REM themed week at the forums and goes on to face Speaking In Tongues.

Division 7:

11 Sufjan Stevens - Michigan 12 def
2 Joanna Newsom - The Milk Eyed Mender 4

I'm not nearly as surprised by the result as I am by the margin. I thought if Michigan won it'd be close, but instead it's a blowout. Sufjan goes on to face Thunder, Lightning, Strike, and is the second lowest seed still alive in the tournament.

Jonathon: At this point the game is too far along to add newly qualified albums. If this game were ever done again from the start, those albums would be eligable, and stuff like Either/Or, Silent Shout and Violator wouldn't be.