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Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Vote will stay open until next Sunday at 11pm board time, anyone can vote but you have to have heard both albums. It's okay to only vote in one or two of the matchups if you don't have time to listen to all the albums.

Division 1:

Ol Dirty Bastard - Return To The 36 Chambers vs
Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

Division 2:

The Blue Nile - Hats vs
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.

Division 3:

Roxy Music - Country Life vs
Kraftwerk - Radio-aktivitat

Division 4:

Stereolab - Dots and Loops vs
Dead Can Dance - Within The Realm Of The Dying Sun

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

I've heard both albums in Division 3, so I'll vote!

Roxy Music - Country Life is my vote. I'm still surprised by how unappreciated these guys seem to be around here. I think I'm the biggest fan, going by artist poll results, and that shocks me! Country Life is not their best album, but it is still quite impressive! "The Thrill of It All", "Out of the Blue", "Casanova" and "Prairie Rose" are big favorites of mine. Radioactivity, meanwhile, is my least favorite Kraftwerk album from their golden period (1974-1981). I should probably revisit it again, but when I'm in the mood for Kraftwerk, I always tuck into the 3 albums that come after Radiactivity.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

I just wanted to mention that "Hats" is probably my favorite discovery of the tournament so far, and if "Initials B.B." is any bit as good as "Histoire" this is going to be a killer bracket.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Return to the 36 Chambers
Hats
Country Life
Dots and Loops

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Moonbeam
I've heard both albums in Division 3, so I'll vote!

Roxy Music - Country Life is my vote. I'm still surprised by how unappreciated these guys seem to be around here. I think I'm the biggest fan, going by artist poll results, and that shocks me! Country Life is not their best album, but it is still quite impressive! "The Thrill of It All", "Out of the Blue", "Casanova" and "Prairie Rose" are big favorites of mine. Radioactivity, meanwhile, is my least favorite Kraftwerk album from their golden period (1974-1981). I should probably revisit it again, but when I'm in the mood for Kraftwerk, I always tuck into the 3 albums that come after Radiactivity.


I'm starting to get into Roxy Music and will definitely support them in the next artist poll. Their self-titled and For Your Pleasure blow away Country Life, but "The Thrill of It All" is an amazing opener.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Return To The 36 Chambers
Hats
Radio-Aktivität
Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Division 1:
Ol Dirty Bastard - Return To The 36 Chambers vs
WINNER Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Even if it's the worst album by Coldplay, it's by far, better than Old Dirty BAstard.

Division 2:
The Blue Nile - Hats vs
WINNER Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
Of course Gainsbourg. An album with Initials B.B., Comic Strip, Ford mustang, Bonnie and Clyde or Qui est in qui est out deserve to win any of the division of this game.

Division 3:
Roxy Music - Country Life vs
WINNER Kraftwerk - Radio-aktivitat
I always have a particular pleasure with the Kraftwerk's album and I really love this one. And, I'm sorry, but more the time past, more I found Roxy Music dated.

Division 4:
Stereolab - Dots and Loops vs
WINNER Dead Can Dance - Within The Realm Of The Dying Sun
I'm really happy to see an album of Dead Can Dance. I hope this one will go far.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Vote: Ol Dirty Bastard

Viva La Vida is a very top heavy album. I think Viva La Vida is an incredible song, but the rest of the album is kind of meh. For 36 Chambers, I hate the lyrics, but I love the beat.

Vote: The Blue Nile

I actually discovered this one when it came in 6th in the qualifying round of last year's draw. I didn't connect much with Initials B.B., it has more talk-singing than I usually like.

Vote: Roxy Music

Country Life is at least as strong as Roxy Music's other albums, and I agree they're underrated. Kraftwerk has always sounded a bit antiseptic to me, and Radio-Aktivitat has all these cheesy parts with repetitive beeping noises and sound effects.

Vote: Stereolab

Both are okay. Stereolab gets the nod because it's energetic whereas Dead Can Dance is a little gothy.

Sorry to anti-vote you there Romain.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Haha, no problemo !
Sincerely, the goal of this game is not for me to have a winner but to discovering a lot of new albums and songs. And this is what is happening.
I never hear a Blue Nile song before and I found this excellent.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Stephan
I just wanted to mention that "Hats" is probably my favorite discovery of the tournament so far, and if "Initials B.B." is any bit as good as "Histoire" this is going to be a killer bracket.
As I expected, division 2 dominates this week with the first two albums (I hadn't heard before) to receive an 8.5 in this competition. Such a shame they're up against eachother.

1. The Blue Nile - Hats
2. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
3. Roxy Music - Country Life
4. Kraftwerk - Radio-aktivität
5. Dead Can Dance - Within The Realm Of The Dying Sun
6. Stereolab - Dots and Loops
7. Ol Dirty Bastard - Return To The 36 Chambers
8. Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

Good week, nothing I didn't like and many very good albums. Interestingly, all the brackets are (in my opinion) closely matched, which is reflected in my ranking.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Division 2:
The Blue Nile - Hats

Henrik
It was in the end of 2001. My ex-girlfriend and I had been together for 5.5 years but I had gotten interested in a girl at work. I didn't think it was anything serious, but one evening I put Hats in the CD player. I had never paid much attention to it's lyrics before, but now THESE SONGS TALKED TO ME. I lied down on the floor and listened to the songs, again and again. (My ex-girlfriend and I lived separately during the weeks.)

There was "Let's Go Out Tonight", with it's demanding 'Baby, baby, let's go out tonight'. But would it really be a good idea? "The Downtown Lights" raised the issue with the line 'How do I know you feel it?". Then "From a Late Night Train" effectively told me that 'It's over now' with my girlfriend and "Seven A.M." continued with the lines 'Where's the love that shines?', 'Where is the love?' and the painful 'Stop, go, stop, go' part. At this stage, when I had become a complete wreck on the floor, came "Saturday Night" with it's fundamental questions 'Who do you love? / Who do you really love? / Who are you holding on to? / Who are you dreaming of?' Well, there was only one thing to do.

The girl at work is now my wife.
I wish both Blue Nile and Serge could stay though.

Division 3:
Kraftwerk - Radio-aktivitat
I really like Roxy Music but I LOVE Kraftwerk and this is not their best album (although better than Autobahn) but perhaps their most underrated.

Division 4:
Dead Can Dance - Within The Realm Of The Dying Sun
I like Stereolab and DCD about equally, but Realm is DCD's standout album while Dots is one in a row of good Sterolab albums.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Roxy Music - Country Life over Kraftwerk - Radio-aktivitat

The Kraftwerk album seems a bit underrated compared with the rest of their output, but I enjoy Roxy Music a whole lot more. Initially I only liked "The Thrill of It All" from Country Life, but now I like almost all of the songs, albeit not as much as the ones on their three previous albums.

Stereolab - Dots and Loops over Dead Can Dance - Within The Realm Of The Dying Sun

Stereolab is one of my most played bands over the past few months, and everything I've heard from them is incredibly consistent. I appreciated the Dead Can Dance album more than I liked it, but this may be a genre issue more than anything.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Division 1:

Ol Dirty Bastard - Return To The 36 Chambers vs
Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

I don't like Return to the 36 Chambers as much as I would if it really met my expectations, not all the songs are the level of Shimmy Shimmy Ya or Brooklyn Zoo, still it easily tops Coldplay effort.

Division 2:

The Blue Nile - Hats vs
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.

I have to listen to both once more... the first seems to work better as an album, but Initials B.B. has killer singles, the title song and Bonnie & Clyde are among my favorite French classics.

Division 3:

Roxy Music - Country Life vs
Kraftwerk - Radio-aktivitat

Aside from 3 tracks I did not like at all, Radio-aktivitat is an unsuspectingly good discover for me. I like Eno solo work quite a bit, but I never found much appeal in Roxy Music's albums. So easy choice here.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Henrik
It was in the end of 2001. My ex-girlfriend and I had been together for 5.5 years but I had gotten interested in a girl at work. I didn't think it was anything serious, but one evening I put Hats in the CD player. I had never paid much attention to it's lyrics before, but now THESE SONGS TALKED TO ME. I lied down on the floor and listened to the songs, again and again. (My ex-girlfriend and I lived separately during the weeks.)

There was "Let's Go Out Tonight", with it's demanding 'Baby, baby, let's go out tonight'. But would it really be a good idea? "The Downtown Lights" raised the issue with the line 'How do I know you feel it?". Then "From a Late Night Train" effectively told me that 'It's over now' with my girlfriend and "Seven A.M." continued with the lines 'Where's the love that shines?', 'Where is the love?' and the painful 'Stop, go, stop, go' part. At this stage, when I had become a complete wreck on the floor, came "Saturday Night" with it's fundamental questions 'Who do you love? / Who do you really love? / Who are you holding on to? / Who are you dreaming of?' Well, there was only one thing to do.

The girl at work is now my wife.


What a great story!

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Division 1:
Ol Dirty Bastard - Return To The 36 Chambers WINNER
vs Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Coldplay not nearly as bad as I was expecting, yet not good enough to overcome ODB, which has a looseness to it that Viva la Vida sorely lacks.

Division 2:
The Blue Nile - Hats vs
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. WINNER
I'm not quite sure what I'm missing with Hats, but to me this isn't even close... the songs, the orchestration, BB... Serge all the way!

Division 3:
Roxy Music - Country Life WINNER
vs Kraftwerk - Radio-aktivitat
Kraftwerk werks for me at some level, but this Roxy Music effort is too strong to deny.

Division 4:
Stereolab - Dots and Loops WINNER
vs Dead Can Dance - Within The Realm Of The Dying Sun
DCD has a great atmospheric quality to it, but I feel as though Stereolab just has better songs. I think DCD has more room for growth- I would not be sad to see this album move to the next round.

Thanks!

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Division 1:
Return To The 36 Chambers hasn't stood the test of time so well, to be honest. Still, it knocks out Coldplay with one hand tied behind its back.
Ol' Dirty Bastard wins.

Division 2:
Very fine album, this Blue Nile one, and its slow pacing songs and autumnal feel only add to the atmosphere. However, after listening to Hats I have this uncontrollable urge to put on something very loud 'n noisy, to balance it. Serge Gainsbourg on the other hand, I can listen to every minute of the day.
Initials B.B. wins.

Division 3:
Two minor classics by two 70s greats. I always liked Radio Aktivitat, Kraftwerk's most song-oriented album up to that point. But I'm even more fond of Country Life. Although Roxy had ditched their outrageous glam outfits in favor of sharp suits by '74, Country Life sounds more decadent than ever. A hugely influential record for the coming synthpop generation. And that front sleeve!
Roxy Music wins.

Division 4:
While Dots And Loops is sandwiched between my favorite Stereolab albums (Emperor Tomato Ketchup and Cobra And Phases), I always considered this a weaker brother in their catalogue. Meanwhile, Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun is Dead Can Dance at their peak. Manna for the Gothic community.
Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun wins.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Division 1:

Ol Dirty Bastard - Return To The 36 Chambers vs
Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

Viva La Vida is great, Violet Hill is a favorite of mine, overall it was a surprise and honestly not as calculated as i thought it'd be, but still is - they should let it go once for an album. Luckily to the album, i'm not a hip hop fan. Everyone has a genre they tend to overlook, i can count on my fingers the hip hop albums i actually care about. This one i admire, the flow is great and Wu-Tang is nice enough to me, but it doesn't hit me like good alt rock, and yes, Coldplay. It's me. I just don't feel like coming back again to listen to. Sorry rap fans.

Division 2:

The Blue Nile - Hats vs
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.

I'm learning french. Not as easy as people make it out to be, but is going well. I love Serge, so a Serge Gainsbourg is always welcome and a helpful to make learn more about a language i've always loved. Unfortunately i can't resist a good story. I have a weak for this, so when i listened to Hats i had Henrik's story in my head and then some flashbacks of my own and a friend of mine is passing through something similar. So even though the music is great by itself and a very hard pick to do this time around, these facts gave a different depth to the album and slightly made me pick it over Serge.

Division 3:

Roxy Music - Country Life vs
Kraftwerk - Radio-aktivitat

I always thought this album deserved more than what receives. I really expected to rank higher inside AM top 3000 albums and receive more love from people overall. Kraftwerk was great as usual, but not my favorite of their golden era.

Haven't heard division 4 yet, just posted these ones now, because i don't want to miss the deadline again.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Many Americans, when they visit Paris for the first time, seek out Jim Morrison's grave. On our honeymoon to Paris, my wife and I chose to honor Gainsbourg's instead. We were rewarded with a personal sighting of Charlotte & her family in a small cafe later during the visit.

Not as good a story as Henrik's but hell, Serge needs all the support he can get right now!

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Brad
Many Americans, when they visit Paris for the first time, seek out Jim Morrison's grave. On our honeymoon to Paris, my wife and I chose to honor Gainsbourg's instead. We were rewarded with a personal sighting of Charlotte & her family in a small cafe later during the visit.

Not as good a story as Henrik's but hell, Serge needs all the support he can get right now!


I liked the story and i laughed my ass off right now after i read the last phrase! Shit, now i feel bad for Serge, i really liked both albums, unbelievable! Damn you bracket makers.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Division 1: Ol Dirty Bastard - Return To The 36 Chambers
I love Ol Dirty, sing-rap go for broke nutjob.

Division 2: Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
Both were pretty good, but I liked the instrumentation on Initials BB more.

Division 3: Roxy Music - Country Life

Division 4: Stereolab - Dots and Loops
Dead Can Dance isn't my thing, would be good on a movie soundtrack though.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

HRS
Division 1:

Ol Dirty Bastard - Return To The 36 Chambers vs
Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

Viva La Vida is great, Violet Hill is a favorite of mine, overall it was a surprise and honestly not as calculated as i thought it'd be, but still is - they should let it go once for an album. Luckily to the album, i'm not a hip hop fan. Everyone has a genre they tend to overlook, i can count on my fingers the hip hop albums i actually care about. This one i admire, the flow is great and Wu-Tang is nice enough to me, but it doesn't hit me like good alt rock, and yes, Coldplay. It's me. I just don't feel like coming back again to listen to. Sorry rap fans.


I think you bolded the wrong album ^^

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Nassim


I think you bolded the wrong album ^^


Oh shit! That always happen! What's the matter with me and this bolded thing?

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

quote :
HRS write
Division 2:
The Blue Nile - Hats vs
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.

I'm learning french. Not as easy as people make it out to be, but is going well. I love Serge, so a Serge Gainsbourg is always welcome and a helpful to make learn more about a language i've always loved. Unfortunately i can't resist a good story. I have a weak for this, so when i listened to Hats i had Henrik's story in my head and then some flashbacks of my own and a friend of mine is passing through something similar. So even though the music is great by itself and a very hard pick to do this time around, these facts gave a different depth to the album and slightly made me pick it over Serge.
End quote

To defend this wonderful album, I have to play with emotions. héhéhéhhéhéhé
Initials BB is an "hommage" to the beautiful love story Serge had with Brigitte Bardot. Passion, art, beauty...their love produced one of the most wonderful couple.
And this song is the most marvellous farewell letter ever written. (when Bardot returned with her husband. The text is admirable, the music, inspired by Dvorak is incredible.
If you love love, you can not vote for anytihng else.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Still time to vote!

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Yep, just over 29 hours to vote.

There are currently two ties, so if nobody else votes there will be even more time to vote.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
The Blue Nile - Hats
Roxy Music - Country Life
Stereolab - Dots and Loops

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Division 1:

Ol Dirty Bastard - Return To The 36 Chambers vs
Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends WINS
I think Viva La Vida is a pretty catchy album, and better than Parachutes. I like Enter the 36 Chambers, and maybe because of that I was expecting too much out of ODB's album; for whatever reason, it didn't work for me.

Division 2:

The Blue Nile - Hats vs
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. WINS

Easiest choice for me in a while; Initials BB is far and away the better album; the orchestration alone is a delight to listen to.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Division 3:

Roxy Music - Country Life vs
Kraftwerk - Radio-aktivitat WINS

This is a fairly close bracket, and I understand those who prefer other works in Kraftwerk's "Big Five." But the title track of this album is one of the most hauntingly beautiful things that Kraftwerk ever did, and the album is a great mix between the band's two poles of great melodies and avant-garde experimentalism. Roxy Music just can't compete for me.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album 2: Round 1.8

Results:

Ol Dirty Bastard - Return to 36 Chambers 8 def
Coldplay - Viva la Vida 4

The Blue Nile - Hats 6 TIED WITH
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. 6

Roxy Music - Country Life 10 def
Kraftwerk - Radio-aktivitat 5

Stereolab - Dots and Loops 6 def
Dead Can Dance - Within The Realm Of The Dying Sun 5

Next vote wins for the tied match.