SEMIFINAL 4

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.

#10. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin
#26. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen
#50. "Common People" - Pulp
#130. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones


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

#1. Stairway to Heaven (4 points) - This is my #1 favourite song of all time, so it was pretty easy.
#2. Gimme Shelter (3 points) - What an amazing Stones song. One of my favourites by this band. So epic.
#3. Born to Run (2 points) - I do love this song, but I think it is a bit overrated.
#4. Common People (1 point) - I also like this song, but it just happens to be my least favourite from this group :)

1/ Stairway To Heaven
There are only perhaps 10-20 songs in the existence of musical history that would rank above Common People. This happens to be one of them. The vocals, the instrumentation, the lyrics the passion, it's just unreal. Best of the best.

2/ Common People
Up there with the greatest tracks of all time. Just flawless.

[MASSIVE GAP]

3/ Gimme Shelter
A really solid track by a band I've never fully got, but yeah, cracking tune.

4/ Born To Run
Again, Bruce is there for me to discover. As it happens, this is a good fourth place, but bottom nonetheless

#10. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin (The last song in my top 10 in the contest. Also off my favorite album. by my third favorite band. Yeah.)
#130. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones (A great song, one of my favorites by the Stones, off what may be my favorite album by them. Those female vocals add tot he epic affect.)
#26. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen (Good song, could be my theme song being a track runner.)
#50. "Common People" - Pulp (And then there was Pulp. I've neen voting against these guys for a few weeks now in survivor, I like this song, but It's not worthy of the final 4 at all.)

1. Gimme Shelter

My Stones epiphany moment has finally arrived. I listened to Exile, meh. Then Let It Bleed, hey this sounds good! Then Beggars Banquet, wow this is awesome. And now I've relistened to Let It Bleed, and it's hit me completely. Its lead off song is one of the best.

2. Common People

Excellent song. Perhaps it toes the line between insightful and pretentious, but nonetheless it's a tour de force, it's what Britpop should be remembered for.

3. Born To Run

Perhaps a little overdone for my tastes, a bit too epic. Regardless when he shouts "Baby we were born to run!" and then like a billion different instruments come in, I defy anyone not to have an urge to, well, run.

4. Stairway to Heaven

It's been made plenty of times, but I do think this is shockingly overdone. There's not enough subtlety for me - it's as if they're saying, "Hey, listen to us, we're being deep!". Which I think reeks of un-genuineness. I can't understand why "When The Levee Breaks" isn't the true classic on IV.

#130. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones
Gotta be a Stones fanboy some more in this game. I love the atmosphere and the emotional feel of the song. I don't think many songs top it.
#26. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen
Back when the only thing from Springsteen I would listen to is Nebraska this song sold me on maybe thinking his arena stuff is good too.
#50. "Common People" - Pulp
I love the feel of the song and the way the song builds on itself, and it might have some of the greatest song lyrics ever written.
#10. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin
A great song, among my top of all time, but this bracket is just that good. Any one of these songs deserves to be in the final.

1. #26. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen: I just love cruising down the Garden State Parkway with this blaring from my speakers. It seems like the appropriate thing to do.
2. #130. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones: the instrumental intro is one of the best album openers of all time. This song is one of the few that achieves apocalyptic-like intensity.
3. #50. "Common People" - Pulp: Who knew that Brit-pop could be so damn heavy? Cocker's lyrical approach is justly lauded, but the band that backs him is really top notch and really delivers a powerhouse performance.
4. #10. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin: The problem with Stairway is that it really isn't that great. It's so obvious in its posturing, and delivers so little that I just don't really see any reason to ever put this one on. Basically I think it fails at doing what the three songs I put ahead of it gloriously achieve.

#10. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin
Fairly close call with Born to Run. STH is my favorite of all time. It delivers plenty of great guitar, moving vocals, intriguing and well executed transitions and much more. I wonder why such a great song is now considered "posturing." These critiques do not resonate with me at all.
#26. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen
Fantastic energy, powerful vocals, and excellent composition. One of my faves of all time.
#130. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones
Excellent song, but a clear 3 for me in this bracket.
#50. "Common People" - Pulp
I discovered this song only after checking out the Rolling Stone top 500 about 4 years ago. It is lots of fun, but musically I don't find it is anywhere in the ballpark of the three songs above.

What an underwhelming Semifinal this is. None of these songs come anywhere close to my top 2000. That said...

1. Pulp - "Common People": This is quite catchy and fun, and that earns it a win in this weak bracket.

2. The Rolling Stones - "Gimme Shelter": A decent Rolling Stones track, but not my favorite by any means.

3. Bruce Springsteen - "Born to Run": His big heavy-hitter, but once again, I like others of his much more.

4. Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven": I'd be happy if I could erase my memory of this song.

A "bof" week !
#10. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin
The only song I really found excellent this week. Even if it become a "cliché" song.
#130. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones
A goog rock song, the pure ennergy of the Stones, it's what we are liking this band I think.
#26. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen
Don't like.
#50. "Common People" - Pulp
I like even less.....actually I really dislike.

#50. "Common People" - Pulp
#26. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen
#130. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones
#10. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin

What a bracket. Common People is perhaps the song I am most likely to listen to at any given moment, and has a spot in my all-time top three, and Bruce is not far behind at #15. Gimme Shelter makes my list at #67 and Stairway To Heaven is also just inside my top 100.

1. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones: It's only gotten better the more I've heard it. It manages to be era-defining and accessible yet produced and played with such urgency that it still sounds like a vital artistic statement today. Definitely the Stones' best.

2. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen: The "Good Vibrations" of the 70s, miles better than "Bohemian Rhapsody," the other intricately produced/progressive/bombastic/over-the-top classic rock standard from 1975.

3. "Common People" - Pulp: Not too long ago this was in my all-time top twenty; now I prefer the nostalgic "Disco 2000" as far as songs from Different Class are concerned. The narrative doesn't entice me the way it used to, but the musical build-up is fascinating.

4. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin: I've rated this in fourth the past three rounds now. The lyrics are substandard and it takes way too long to build up, though I do really enjoy the ending.

1. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones: Another semifinal bracket in which I wouldn’t be unhappy to see any of the selections in the final four – under different circumstances, these could BE the final four. But the Stones’ incomparably menacing masterpiece, with its magnificently slow-building arrangement highlighted by Keith’s snaky guitars – rhythm and lead – at their most silkily satanic, is first among equals for me.
2. "Common People" – Pulp: Another brilliant slow builder, with the arrangement matching the lyrics’ gradual and almost imperceptible shift from semi-detached irony to unfettered class rage.
3. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen: No slow build here – the Boss’ signature song begins at full throttle and never lets up. If anything, it just keeps getting more exciting as it goes on, all the way to a coda that still soars after all these years.
4. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin: SH2B4, for the -ultimate- slow builder. It’s here mainly because it’s the one song in this group that I don’t necessarily feel the need to listen to all the way through if I stumble across it on the radio. Unless – as I wrote previously – Bonham’s come in already.

1. #130. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones /
My favorite Stones' song and one of my general all-time favorite pop songs. Urgent, swinging and rocking.
2. #10. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin /
This love-or-hate song is still around. I guess I belong in the love camp, alhough I've heard this one a little too often.
3. #26. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen /
I like this song, but it's not one of my favorites off the same-titled album. Maybe it's just a bit overdone.
4. #50. "Common People" - Pulp /
Musically the least favorite in this bracket. Lyrically, though, I've come to like the song more and more. The vocal delivery is important as well, but I don't really like the accent.

I can't decide which song to vote for... it's like a 4-way tie !
Anyway, the vote that wins this bracket will have my #2 vote on the final, no matter which one it is.

Oh, the vagaries of the seeding. My #1 in this bracket would have been #4 in last week's...

1. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen: Close call for #1 here, but the balls-to-the-wall Dylan meets Spector of this track still thrills.
2. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones: Really a very scary song, goodbye hopeful '60s, hello cynical '70s.
3. "Common People" - Pulp: Not my favorite Pulp track, but obviously an effective use of gradual crescendo.
4. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin: Another effective use of gradual crescendo. While the end is incandescent classic rock, the rest is just too foofy. Recorders and hedgerows, it makes me wonder...

1) "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen: A week with 3 epic songs, and this is by far the greatest and the best of them. Every time I hear it there's something different that gets my attention. There are uncountable excellent moments, like the sax solo, the instrumental hooks behind the verses, the vocals that sometimes go down to the lowest possible in music scale, but, maybe the best of'em all is that false ending that looks like a soundtrack of a thriller movie. When you think the song is over he returns to sing again the main theme with even more intensity, what finally consolidates the track as something huge in all of the senses.
2) "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones: Aside from the other songs in this bracket, this one is only swingy, irresistible rock-n-roll. Those chords in the arrangement, the verse melody and the backing vocals in the chorus are all blissful.
3) "Common People" - Pulp: Begins as a perfect track, with that synth pulsing behind the song, but, while the music grows, it isn't able to maintain as good as in the beginning. I appreciate the way it grows more and more until ending almost unexpectedly, but, while this had impressed me in the past and made the track almost a favorite of mine, today it doesn't do much for me anymore.
4) "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin: Is this 8 minutes long? Every time I hear this, there seems to have passed only 3-4 minutes. Yes, it is an enjoyable track, with an arrangement that creates an interesting atmosphere, and good changes from one part to another. But I'm just not so fond of classic rock, specially with this kind of vocals and approach to heavy metal.

I've been under the weather all day and I probably am not going to be able to make it to midnight tonight, so I am extending this week's semifinal for 24 hours. Stay tuned for the final. I'll announce that ASAP.

In the meantime, here's my ballot for this semifinal.

1. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones
Easy, easy pick for me. And this one will probably get my vote for #1, should it make it to the final. I'm not sure what I could say at this stage in the game that hasn't already been said by other, more qualified and knowledgeable, people than me. I've never bothered to rank my favorite songs of all-time, but if I did, I would be hard-pressed to think of five songs that I like more than this one.
2. "Common People" - Pulp
I debated putting this one in #3 and the Boss in #2, but at the end I switched the order. Frankly, this just feels right. But those two songs are so, so close for me.
3. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen
It's Bruce's best, and definitely one of the all-time greatest songs. It's just up against some truly sublime competition here.
4. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin
I've said it before, so I don't really feel I need to repeat that I'm just tired of this one.

Voting for this week is now over.

Darn it, I wish I'd voted in time. If you're wondering, I would have voted for:

1. Bruce
2. Zep
3. Stones
4. Pulp

Oh well.

And with that, the last semifinal is in the books. Led Zeppelin took an early lead here, getting first place from the first three ballots, but every ballot (save three) after that placed "Stairway to Heaven" in last place. On the other hand, only three people placed "Gimme Shelter" below second place, and that song cruises into the final four. Here are the results:

1. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones (51 points, 6 first-place votes)
2. "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen (41, 3)
3. "Common People" - Pulp (35, 2)
4. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin (33, 5)