SEMIFINAL 1

Here is this week's bracket. Remember, you can also view the bracket on this site. Voting is now open, and you have until 11:59 PM Pacific time on this upcoming Saturday to vote. Vote either in this thread or e-mail me.

#1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
#104. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie
#120. "Yesterday" - The Beatles
#305. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead


REMINDER: You must comment on ALL the songs in order for your ballot to count.

#104. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie
#305. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead
#120. "Yesterday" - The Beatles
#1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
Easy choice this week.
In first, one of the beautiful song of the best english singer. It's a magic song with a wonderful music.
Between Radiohed and The Beatles, my heart is shared but I put the radiohead's song in the second place because...I heard too much yesterday.
And finally, Like a rolling stone who gives me a headache every time I hear it. The Dylan's nasal screaming with this harmonica's noise kill me. The only "best mega song of all time top cool moumoute" I hate.

1. #305. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead /
Not an easy win, but still the destined number one for this Radiohead-fan. Well, it's simpy one of their best songs and probably the single most interesting one. It beats the 60's classics here. I've heard it a lot, but I always look forward to this one when playing the marvelous OK Computer. One of the highlights on an album with many highlights.
2. #104. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie /
Quite an easy number two, although I like all four songs. Now it's one of the best and one of the most interesting songs of one of my favorite artists. It moves me every time I hear it. I even love to sing along with it.
3. #1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan /
Tough choice for my number three. I've heard this one and number four a lot of times, but I think I grew less tired of this than of 'Yesterday' (I'm still not really tired of any of them). I know it was influential and all, but what really matters is that it's so refreshing and well made.
4. #120. "Yesterday" - The Beatles /
Easily the simplest song in this bracket, but beautiful at that. It used to be my favorite Beatles song, but it falls just short of that now. If I don't have to hear it too often, I still like to hear it once in a while.

A great, and almost flawless bracket. It's a pity not all semi-finals are like this.

#1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
#104. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie
#120. "Yesterday" - The Beatles
#305. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead

AM order is perfect for this one, also in the way its dispersed. Like A Rolling Stone is far and away the best song, miles ahead of even the great Space Oddity. Yesterday is a great song, and I used to really like it and would've put it second, but I'm growing a little tired of it. Paranoid Android is relatively far away from those two songs again, although it is growing on me (the first two minutes anyway). Not the best Radiohead song but I'm starting to appreciate it more and more (there may be hope for me yet).

#1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
I suppose this is where you earn your money, metaphorically speaking, as a bracketologist. These top two are barely separable, so I'll just go with Dylan's consistency of mood...
#104. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie
...over Bowie's handclap infused epic.
#120. "Yesterday" - The Beatles
This was another very close call for 3rd/4th; as much as I want to hate this song, I can't help but really like it.
#305. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead
Just don't feel like Radiohead today. That's not to say I don't like the song and respect it enormously.

Damn, you're breaking it up into four weeks!

#1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan (The easy first here. Not one of my absolute favorite by mr. Zimmerman, but still great.)
#104. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie (I love this song, but this doesn't deserve to be in the final 4.)
#120. "Yesterday" - The Beatles (The song is short, simple to the point.
#305. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead (It's not that I hate this song, but I hate thisw froum's obsesion with Radiohead. The fact that this song has taken out not one but two songs in my top 20 has pushed me over the edge.)

#1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
Rolling Stone had stronger competition in the round of 64 than it does in the semifinals. The charisma of the song and the direct class-anger of the lyrics hit the emotional and the musical notes perfectly.
#104. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie
Definitely a great song.
#305. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead
Another great song, and the first signal that Radiohead wanted to be more ambitious and more experimental than the atmospheric rock songs of The Bends.
#120. "Yesterday" - The Beatles
Not exactly a bad song, but leagues below the competition. It needed a really favorable draw to get this far.

1. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead: Very difficult choice between 1 and 2, but I've been on a huge OK Computer kick as of late (guess I hadn't worn that one out after all) and this is unquestionably that album's greatest achievement. It stuns me every time I hear it.
2. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan: A masterpiece deserving of it's acclaim. I always love it, but I simply don't go to play it as often as PA.
3. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie: Arguably the best Bowie song, but not really in the same league as the two above.
4. "Yesterday" - The Beatles: It sure is catchy and pretty enough, that's for sure. Still though, a pretty easy fourth.

#120. "Yesterday" - The Beatles
Simple, poignant and beautiful. One of the best songs ever. One of 15 songs to get my top enjoyment rating of 1.
#1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
Excellent song with engaging musical phrasing, fantastic lyrics and well-delivered vocals. Gets a 5 on my enjoyment scale.
#104. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie
Excellent song by Bowie, but not one of my all-time faves. Gets a 7 on my enjoyment scale.
#305. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead
Not my favorite Radiohead song, but thoroughly enjoyable. Gets 10 on my enjoyment scale.

Not at all understanding the anti-LARS mood, so...

1. Like A Rolling Stone
The first time I heard it knowing that it was supposedly the best song ever, I was quite underwhelmed to be honest. But as time went on, and my musical knowledge expanded, I slowly realised the sheer magic of the song. I listened to it again today (having not listened to it for about a month), and my word I missed it.

2. Paranoid Android
Not a great fan of this song, but I happen to think that this bracket is insanely weak, so Radiohead take second. Don't really think the first 4 songs on OKC work that well together (Let Down onwards is near perfect). To me it sounds a bit confused, not very refined, trying to do too much in not enough time. I used to love this song, but have slowly gotten bored of it.

3. Space Oddity
Nowhere near Bowie's best, though considering how epic Bowie was during the 70s, that says nothing at all. It's utterly haunting and only sounds better with age.

4. Yesterday
Simple, boring, tacky, derivative. Swelling violins do not a good song make.

#104. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie : I hated that song the first time I listened to it, I don't really know why... now it ranks in my all-time list at the same level as in AM. The melody is wonderful and convey beautiful melancholy and sadness.
#305. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead : it might be the most ambitious song on OK Computer but I don't think it is the best, still it is a great piece of music (or even 3 great songs in 1).
#1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan : I slowly learn to enjoy Dylan's music, I'm not a big fan of him but while I thought of him as an annoying musician I now think there are lot of things to enjoy in his albums. LARS is one of those great moments, but still not in the "best ever" category in my opinion.
#120. "Yesterday" - The Beatles : I don't consider that one as a stand-out Beatles track, they have been more poignant, cleverer, more innovative, sometimes in a single song.

1. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead - I can't not put this at #1, even against the titan that is "LARS". It's so incredibly creative and emotionally beautiful that it has to go here.
2. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan - Objectively, it knocks "Paranoid Android", but for me Dylan was more ambitious, biting and lyrically adept elsewhere on Highway 61 Revisited. (Like "Ballad of a Thin Man").
3. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie - A fantastic song, the kind that makes you want to put on the Bowie persona and just let it rocket you into eternity. Its only weakness is that is slightly gimmicky, as is all Bowie. But as gimmicks go, it has some of the best.
4. "Yesterday" - The Beatles - A lovely and very solid song, but the Fab Four would soar on to greater heights later in their career.

1. Space Oddity - one of my all-time favourites
2. Like a Rolling Stone - also a favourite of mine
3. Paranoid Android - not one of my favourites from Radiohead, but still quite a good song
4. Yesterday - the Beatles are my all-time favourite band, but along with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "A Day in the Life," I think "Yesterday" is one of their most overrated songs.

I feel like I'm out of comments on these songs, but here we go.

01. Bob Dylan - "Like a Rolling Stone"
02. Radiohead - "Paranoid Android"

These first two songs are right next to each other right now on my all-time songs list. "Paranoid Android" is far and away my favorite song on OK Computer, which has fallen out of favor with me recently, and "Like a Rolling Stone" is just an obvious, undeniable masterpiece by one of my favorite artists. Something has to give, and in the end the far superior lyrics of Dylan beat the emotional release of the second half of "Paranoid Android."

03. David Bowie - "Space Oddity"

I'm beginning to sort of rediscover this song as one of Bowie's career highlights. Such a creepy and clever concept.

04. The Beatles - "Yesterday"

Not even close at this stage. I'm disappointed the biggest surprises to make this round are cliche classics everyone knows, not underrated gems or new discoveries.

Pretty easy choices this week, as the order here falls in line with the order of the respective artists.

1. David Bowie- "Space Oddity": I used to think this was the only good song on his first proper album, but "Cygnet Committee" is amazing as well. In any case, this is still the highlight, and rightfully so. I got choked up the first time I heard it.

2. Radiohead- "Paranoid Android": It's one of my least favorites on OK Computer, but the "Rain down from a great height" part is pretty beautiful indeed.

3. Bob Dylan- "Like a Rolling Stone": Perhaps someday I'll grow to like this song, but I'm not there yet. The 80s poll introduced me to the first Dylan song I like ("Blind Willie McTell"), so maybe there's hope for me yet!

4. The Beatles- "Yesterday": Sappy pap. I like some sappy pap (Roxette, anyone?), but not this.

i don't feel quite right when i Henry you... but i like it when your little piece of heaven turns too dark..

ps: could you please explain it to the very least of ALL OF US why you made us write these lines? i'm not bitter, we're just curious, and no one's telling you to burn in nazi ovens, because we can see where's it's all comin' from, yet i still think that we have the right to know where and by whom opinions are made of... no hard feelings though, just insights... by us. and no one else

1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan: Easy winner this week, this is a masterpiece of both sound and lyric, and as good a GOAT as anything I can think of, when I'm thinking from a historical perspective.
2. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead: Pretty much since OK Computer came out I've vacillated on what the best song from it is, pretty much always picking something other than this, possibly because a subconscious part of me always wants to avoid the obvious choice. Sometimes the obvious is right in front of you though, and this is, after all that, probably the best thing on OKC. At least until next week.
3. "Yesterday" - The Beatles: BIG drop from 1-2 to this, and yeah, it's just bizarre this is the only Beatles left. They were a victim of match-ups, certainly, though it's refreshing to not see them dominate as usual. Anyway, this is certainly lovely in its little way, and extremely influential, but nothing I ever purposely play.
4. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie: I think Bowie was still working toward perfecting his thing here. It of course has great moments in the chorus, but some of the rest comes off a little callow.

1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan: AM’s perennial #1 song is the only one in this semifinal group that truly deserves to be considered one of the 16 greatest recordings of all time – let alone one of the top four.
2. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead: OK COMPUTER’s masterpiece is a very easy #2. It encapsulates everything that makes them what they are: the audacious mix of textures, the restless experimentalism, the occasional overreaching, and – lest we forget – the whammer-jammer rock band they can be when they want to be.
3. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie: A pure product of its time that has managed to withstand 41 years quite brilliantly, but it’s the second-best Bowie track in the semis.
4. "Yesterday" - The Beatles: All I can do is add to the general consensus that it’s kind of a crime that this is the only Beatles song to make it this far.

1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
I agree, this is the easiest bracket of the week. We're talking about which one of these songs deserves to be in the Final Four. Only one can make that claim: this one.
2. "Yesterday" - The Beatles
I'm not exactly thrilled that any of these last three made the Sweet Sixteen. Don't get me wrong, they are all good songs. I feel like I've been dissing on them and I might have given off the impression that I don't like them. I just don't get excited by them the way a lot of people here do. I'd probably rate all three of them about equal, with the Fab Four getting the slight edge.
3. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead
*sigh* I've made my feelings known. But I'd rather hear it over "Space Oddity."
4. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie
Like I said before, I don't want it to sound like I dislike any of the songs here. I just don't understand why this one is so highly acclaimed. It's a good song, to be sure. But it's not timeless.

1) "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead: The only real masterpiece this week. I like every second of this track, and, maybe, specially the ethnic climate of that instrumental part after "what's this?"; sounds really unexpected in a song with android in the name.
2) "Space Oddity" - David Bowie: One of his best. Beautiful melodies, nice rythm changes during all of the song, and lovable sixties style.
3) "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan: Still don't agree with it being the best song ever, but today I appreciate it and really like it much more than I used to. Only one thing that I continue not understanding: why is this better than all of the other Dylan tracks? They all sound a little similar to me, so I don't know how come this became so unanimously recognized as the best.
4) "Yesterday" - The Beatles: Can't believe this is the winner among all the Beatles' songs. Could have been #3 another day.

Voting for this week is now over.

I'm very sorry it took so long to post this, but here are your...

RESULTS




Semifinal 1 started out very tight, with Radiohead and David Bowie taking an early lead, but Bob Dylan came back with a vengeance and stormed off with a win to become the first artist into the finals. The Beatles never had a chance in this bracket, with only two people voting it in either first or second place.

1. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan (57 points, 9 first-place votes)
2. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie (48, 4)
3. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead (47, 4)
4. "Yesterday" - The Beatles (28, 1)