The qualifiers from the last round were:
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Elliot Smith - Either/Or
The Replacements - Tim
Depeche Mode - Violator
The National - Boxer

I've decided on a middle ground between 2 and 10. 5 albums will qualify for the elimination round for each block.

In addition to your ballot, vote on how you'd like the scoring to work.
The original plan: 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1
Otisredding's idea: 20-17-15-13-11-10-9-8-7-6

The question is really, do you want to give far more weight to your absolute favorites, or do you want your lower half votes to have more of an impact?

And, my own ballot...

1. Beck - Midnite Vultures
2. Yes - Close To The Edge
3. X - Wild Gift
4. Beck - Sea Change
5. Outkast - Aquemini
6. Nick Cave - Tender Prey
7. The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
8. Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica
9. Elliot Smith - XO
10. Cocteau Twins - Treasure

I would like to vote for the second point scheme...

1. Sonic Youth - Dirty
2. Beck - Sea Change
3. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
4. Beck - Midnite Vultures
5. Pearl Jam - Vs.
6. Sonic Youth - EVOL
7. Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
8. Hot Chip - The Warning
9. Elliot Smith - XO
10. Fugazi - Repeater

01. Lady In Satin. Billie Holiday
02. A Wizard, A True Star. Todd Rundgren
03. Giant Steps. The Boo Radleys
04. Mirrored. Battles
05. Music For 18 Musicians. Steve Reich
06. This Is Hardcore. Pulp
07. Genius Of Modern Music Vol. 2. Thelonious Monk
08. Future Days. Can
09. Somethin' Else. Cannonball Adderley
10. The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of. Wes Montgomery
(11_1/2. Cut. The Slits)..tough last choice..

1. Neon Golden - Notwist
2. The Moon & Antarctica - Modest Mouse
3. You Forgot It In People - Broken Social Scene
4. Treasure - Cocteau Twins
5. Repeater - Fugazi
6. Somethin' Else - Cannonball Adderley
7. Orbital (Brown Album) - Orbital
8. Bossanova - Pixies
9. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx - Raekwon
10. Future Days - Can

And I vote for the second scoring method.

1. Elliott Smith – XO
2. Pulp – This Is Hardcore
3. Beck – Sea Change
4. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
5. U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
6. The Beatles – Let It Be
7. Todd Rundgren – A Wizard, A True Star
8. Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People
9. Suede – Dog Man Star
10. Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible

I'd go for the first scoring system, since I think that I love the first few albums and only enjoy the last couple. This difference will probably only grow more as we go further.

oh, ok, second menu..

Actually i agree with what someone said in the 501-600 thread that we might like our 10th choices a lot in the lower rankings, but once we get to the 2000-3000s there might be a larger quality discrepancy between 1 and 10. So maybe you can use the second method until a certain point, then start using your original system later on. But if you must use one method for the entire poll, I'd go with Otisredding's.

1. The Cure- Seventeen Seconds
2. Prince- Parade
3. The Doors- Strange Days
4. Janet Jackson- Control
5. Can- Ege Bamyasi
6. George Michael- Faith
7. Franz Ferdinand- You Could Have It So Much Better
8. OutKast- Aquemini
9. Can- Future Days
10. The Smiths- Meat Is Murder

Scoring system #1 is my pref.

1. Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love
2. The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
3. Morrissey - Vauxhall and I
4. Johnny Cash - At San Quentin
5. Suede - Dog Man Star
6. Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R
7. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
8. Pulp - This is Hardcore
9. Cheap Trick - At Budokan
10. Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, a True Star

otisredding's scoring system

Johnny Cash - At San Quentin
The Libertines - The Libertines
Pulp - This is Hardcore
Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
Manu Chao - Clandestino
Rolling Stones - Out of Our Heads
Cat Power - The Greatest
The Smiths - Meat Is Murder
Metallica - Kill Em All
Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica

Either voting system is ok, I just want to vote.

1) Elliott Smith - XO
2) Queens of the Stone Age - R
3) Hot Chip - The Warning
4) The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
5) The Beatles - Help!
6) Battles - Mirrored
7) Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica
8 )…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
9) Metallica - Kill 'Em All
10) Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Linx

I prefer the good ol' scoring system !

I like giving lots of points to my absolute favorites, so the original plan for me.

1. Simon and Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
2. The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
3. Cocteau Twins - Treasure
4. MC5 - Back in the USA
5. Beck - Sea Change
6. Travis - The Man Who
7. Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar of...
8. Sonic Youth - Dirty
9. Manu Chao - Clandestino
10. The Doors - Strange Days

I vote for the oiginal scoring system, as a highly skewed scale usually gives slightly more interesting results when the ballots are combined.

1. Beck - Sea Change
2. The Bealtes - Let It Be
3. Paul Simon -Paul Simon
4. Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle
5. Cat Power - The Greatest
6. The Beatles - Help!
7. Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Safe, Rosemary & Thyme
8. Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of...
9. Pearl Jam - Vs
10. Outkast - Aquemini

1 : Cure - Seventeen Seconds
2 : Elliott Smith - XO
3 : Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle be Unbroken
4 : Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love
5 : Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign
6 : Pulp - This is Hardcore
7 : Al Green - Let's Stay Together
8 : John Hiatt - Bring the Family
9 : Beck - Sea Change
10 : Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, the Innocent & the E-Street Shuffle

And I prefer the first scoring method

I'd say I prefer Otisredding's recommendation for scoring. And not just because my beloved I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One would have made it through. We're each picking 10 albums and leaving out 90. An album that you rate in the top 10% of the group should get more of a bump than just 1 point.

I like the options this time out even better than last week's:

1. XO - Elliot Smith
2. Dirty - Sonic Youth
3. Sea Change - Beck
4. Help! - The Beatles
5. Emperor Tomato Ketchup - Stereolab
6. Midnite Vultures - Beck
7. 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of... - Arrested Development
8. Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme - Simon & Garfunkel
9. Aquemini - OutKast
10. The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle - Bruce Springsteen

Two geniuses that probably would have broken into this top-10 if I had heard these particular albums: Monk's "Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2" and Charles' "The Genius of Ray Charles"

I'd prefer the 2nd scoring method for the same reason OtisRedding suggests: 1 point doesn't seem like enough points for something you like/love.

1. The Beatles HELP!
2. Johnny Cash AT SAN QUENTIN
3. Ray Charles GENIUS OF RAY CHARLES
4. The Beatles LET IT BE
5. Janet Jackson CONTROL
6. K.D. Lang INGENUE
7. Paul Simon PAUL SIMON
8. George Michael FAITH
9. ABBA ARRIVAL
10. Beck MIDNITE VULTURES

Narrowly missing

Bright Eyes I'M WIDE AWAKE, IT'S MORNING
Bon Jovi SLIPPERY WHEN WET
Rolling Stones OUT OF OUR HEADS
U2 ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND
Simon and Garfunkel PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY AND THYME

1) U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
2) Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel Of Love
3) Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline
4) Simon And Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
5) The Velvet Underground - 1969: The Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed
6) Johnny Cash - At San Quentin
7) Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle
8) Paul Simon - Paul Simon
9) The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow
10) Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

1. R - Queens of the Stone Age
2. Dirty - Sonic Youth
3. Repeater - Fugazi
4. Midnight Vultures - Beck
5. EVOL - Sonic Youth
6. Wild Gift - X
7. Bossanova - Pixies
8. Badmotorfinger - Soundgarden
9. The Libertines
10. Vs - Pearl Jam

1. X, Wild Gift
2. Bruce Springsteen, The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle
3. Madness, One Step Beyond
4. Bruce Springsteen, Tunnel of Love
5. Sonic Youth, Dirty
6. Billie Holiday, Lady in Satin
7. The Velvet Underground, 1969
8. Pearl Jam, Vs
9. Garbage, Garbage
10. Queens of the Stone Age, R

HON. MENTION: The Smiths, Hatful of Hollow; Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music Vol. 2; Pixies, Bossanova; LL Cool J, Radio; Pulp, This Is Hardcore; k.d. lang, Ingenue; Johnny Cash, At San Quentin; The Beatles, Help!; U2, All That You Can’t Leave Behind.

1. Pearl Jam - Vs: The true gem of their catalog, Vs. is where PJ really came into their own; they found their calling-card with unformulaic, socially and politically charged songs like "Dissident", "Animal" and "Rats" and it showed that they were a band with something important to say (and still are). It's their most visceral album; quite angry at times ("Leash", "W.M.A."), but also beautifully bleak ("Indifference"). I hope this one makes the cut, but I doubt it will.
2. The Beatles - Help!
3. The Beatles - Let It Be
4. Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder: The title track is one of the greatest of the early '60s Blue Note period.
5. Travis - The Man Who:
6. Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else
7. Beck - Midnite Vultures
8. Fehlfarben - Monarchie und Alltag
9. Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
10. Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Linx: Wu-Tang Financial... "You need to diversify yo' bonds, nigga!"

Oh, mark me down for the original plan.

I was hoping there'd be a clear favorite already so I could go ahead and start adding up scores, but it's 8-8. (Well, really 8-9 because Otis hasn't voted yet, but still too close to call).

1. Beatles- Help!
2. Elliott Smith- XO
3. Pixies- Bossanova
4. Modest Mouse- Moon and Antartica
5. Beck- Midnite Vultures
6. Beatles- Let It Be
7. Battles- Mirrored
8. Beck- Sea Change
9. Al Green- Let's Stay Together
10. Cat Stevens- Tea For the Tillerman

1. Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece, 1974 (696)
2. The Beatles: Let It Be, 1970 (623)
3. Yes: Close to the Edge, 1972 (615)
4. Paul Simon: Paul Simon, 1972 (664)
5. Prince and The Revolution: Parade, 1986 (678)
6. Simon and Garfunkel: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme, 1966 (630)
7. The Beatles: Help!, 1965 (675)
8. Van Morrison: Saint Dominic's Preview, 1972 (321)
9. Free: Fire and Water, 1970 (655)
10. Cat Power: The Greatest, 2006 (636)

otis' scoring system

1)Fugazi - Repeater
2)Beck - Sea Change
3)Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
4)Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
4)Sonic Youth - EVOL
5)Can - Ege Bamyasi
6)Cocteau Twins - Treasure
7)Al Green - Let's Stay Together
8)Battles - Mirrored
9)Metallica - Kill 'Em All
10)And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes

BillAdama, to keep it difficult for you to decide: I prefer the original scoring system (same reasoning as Henrik; a bit more skewedness is good).

1 - The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow
2 - John Hiatt - Bring The Family
3 - Marianne Faithfull - Broken English
4 - The Smiths - Meat I´s Murder
5 - Cocteau Twins - Treasure
6 - Elliott Smith - XO
7 - Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
8 - Madness - One Step Beyond
9 - Travis - The Man Who
10 - The Cure - Seventeen Seconds

Sorry I missed 501-600...

01. Steve Reich | Music for 18 Musicians
02. OutKast | Aquemini
03. Suede | Dog Man Star
04. Prince and The Revolution | Parade
05. The Boo Radleys | Giant Steps
06. Can | Future Days
07. Thelonious Monk | Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2
08. Cocteau Twins | Treasure
09. Stereolab | Emperor Tomato Ketchup
10. Billie Holiday | Lady in Satin

Apologies to...

Run-D.M.C. | Run-D.M.C.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | Tender Prey
Lee Morgan | The Sidewinder
Raekwon | Only Built for Cuban Linx
Can | Ege Bamyasi
The Slits | Cut
Johnny Cash | At San Quentin
Queens of the Stone Age | R
Sonic Youth | EVOL
ABBA | Arrival

Having thought about it a bit, I vote for otisredding's version (if we were doing the top 500 albums, I might prefer the other one).

2 - Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin
3 - The Boo Radleys - Giant Steps
4 - Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup
5 - Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
6 - Pulp - This Is Hardcore
7 - Cocteau Twins - Treasure
8 - Orbital - Orbital ("The Brown Album")
9 - Fugazi - Repeater
10 - The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen

Sorry. Complete:

1 - Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of...
2 - Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin
3 - The Boo Radleys - Giant Steps
4 - Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup
5 - Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
6 - Pulp - This Is Hardcore
7 - Cocteau Twins - Treasure
8 - Orbital - Orbital ("The Brown Album")
9 - Fugazi - Repeater
10 - The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen

1. Beck, SEA CHANGE
2. Prince and the Revolution, PARADE
3. Graham Parker and the Rumour, SQUEEZING OUT SPARKS
4. X, WILD GIFT
5. Elliott Smith, XO
6. Bruce Springsteen, THE WILD, THE INNOCENT, AND THE E STREET SHUFFLE
7. Young Marble Giants, COLOSSAL YOUTH
8. The Afghan Whigs, GENTLEMEN
9. 1969: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND LIVE WITH LOU REED
10. Cheap Trick, AT BUDOKAN

Oh, and I vote for the second scoring system, although either one is fine with me.

Ok, now that's a 12-9 lead for Otis. Keep voting, but I think his is going to win, so I'll start counting up votes using his.

lists everyone. amazing what slick boulevards these "moderately acclaimed albums" spheres deliver to stroll on.. basically me hometown, snippetysnap

..and only in AMorica: a 31 year-old biochemist from Albuquerque with Monarchie & Alltag on his list. großartig..

01 | Pixies | Bossanova | 1990
02 | Queens of the Stone Age | R | 2000
03 | Simon and Garfunkel | Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme | 1966
04 | Yes | Close to the Edge | 1972
05 | The Doors | Strange Days | 1967
06 | The Beatles | Let It Be | 1970
07 | Modest Mouse | The Moon & Antarctica | 2000
08 | Garbage | Garbage | 1995
09 | John Cale | Music for a New Society | 1982
10 | Cocteau Twins | Treasure | 1984

2nd menu.

I don't know why I said menu, but someone else did and it made me smile.

1. The Beatles - Help!
2. Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle
3. The Rolling Stones - Out of Our Heads
4. Pixies - Bossanova
5. OutKast - Aquemini
6. The Beatles - Let it Be
7. Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline
8. Beck - Sea of Change
9. Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have it So Much Better
10. Beck - Midnite Vultures

I am slacking on checking this forum and missed last week. Oh well:

1. Beck - Sea Change
2. Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better (Sad to see this one get so much less acclaim than s/t)
3. Pulp - This is Hardcore
4. Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love
5. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It in People
6. Pearl Jam - Vs.
7. Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians
8. Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
9. The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
10. Pixies - Bossonova

Sorry to these underrated gems:

11. Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline
12. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Source Tags and Codes
13. Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup
14. Beck - Midnight Vultures
15. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
16. Bon Jovi - Slippery when Wet

I'm now caught up on the voting, so votes should close on schedule at Tuesday midnight board time.

I won't give away the leaders as to not affect future votes, but just for fun I'll point the leaders' point totals.

144
122
120
102
85
78
77
76
75
75
70
70

So basically there are four albums pretty much locked in, but then eight within a single vote of the fifth spot.

hey I really should play that game..

1 - Velvet Underground - Live 1969
2 - Graham Parker - Squeezing Out Sparks
3 - Rolling Stones - Out of Our Heads
4 - Beck - Midnite Vultures
5 - MC5 - Back in the USA
6 - Sonic Youth - Dirty
7 - Beatles - Help!
8 - Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have Had it So Much Better
9 - Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
10 - Van Morrison - St. Dominic's Preview

and it looks like i am the lone supporter of the MC5's Back in the USA and a nearly as lonely supporter of Squeezing out Sparks.

i support whatever voting mechanism that gives disproportionate weight to the high end of the list. i have a huge affection for the top 1-2 albums, both here and with 501-600. many of the others, if I didn't hear for a few years, I'd still live quite happily.

1. The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
2. Nashville Skyline
3. At San Quentin
4. Seventeen Seconds
5. Help!
6. Parade
7. The Genius of Ray Charles
8. Tunnel of Love
9. Aquemini
10.Clandestino

otisredding

1 Elliott Smith - XO
2 Suede - Dog Man Star
3 …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
4 Cocteau Twins - Treasure
5 Garbage - Garbage
6 Beck - Sea Change
7 Pulp - This Is Hardcore
8 Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica
9 Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
10 Can - Ege Bamyasi


Bad block (or maybe 501-600 was too good with 7-8 albums from my alltime top 100).
Either/or wasn't even in my top 10 and now XO is #1.
I have heard entirely only 20 albums so maybe it's just me not the block

I vote for Bill's method.

1)broken social scene - you forget it in people
2)beck - sea chnage
3)The beatles - let it be
4)John cash - At san quentin
5)Battles - mirrored
6)The beatles help
7)The velvet underground - 1969
8)pulp - this is hardcore
9)nick cave - tender prey
10) Bob Dylan - nashville skyline

"and it looks like i am the lone supporter of the MC5's Back in the USA and a nearly as lonely supporter of Squeezing out Sparks."

Heard 'em both. Liked a track or two on BACK IN THE U.S.A. but didn't think it was great. I do really like S.O.S. (it nearly made my list) but in the end I decided I still need to spend more time with it to make it a "best of the year". I've only known about that album for around 2-3 years.

I have MC5 at #4.

nicolas: In the future, can you list the artist/band name too? I don't necessarily know all the album titles.

Somebody else finally voted for Tender Prey. I was the only one until now.

Update on the scoring: There's now a 5th place tie, but only five other albums within a single vote of them.

BillAdama : sorry, that was pure laziness

It's past midnight board time, so I guess the tie stands. 30 votes cast total.

Position. Artist-Album: Points/Votes/1st place votes

1. Beck - Sea Change: 171/12/2
2. The Beatles - Help: 150/11/2
3. Elliot Smith - XO: 142/9/4
4. The Beatles - Let It Be: 117/9/0
5. The Cure - Seventeen Seconds: 98/7/2
5. Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, The E Street Shuffle: 98/8/1

If you're curious, Seventeen Seconds would have beaten Springsteen 80-72 by the original scoring method, and Let It Be would have still beaten them both with 86 points.

In the next voting thread there will be a tiebreak vote.

Runners up:
Cocteau Twins - Treasure: 89/9/0
Beck - Midnite Vultures: 88/8/1
Johnny Cash - At San Quentin: 88/6/1
Pulp - This Is Hardcore: 87/8/0

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that 32 people have voted: BillAdama, Jonah, netjade, Sean Pak, Penguin, Moonbeam, Greg, Rune, Nassim, Henrik, VanillaFire1000, marc, Schwah, Greg Rumpff, Stephan, Beef Supreme, schleuse, Liam, John, Miguel, Ned, Andre, sonofsamiam,Otisredding, Harold Wesler, Jo,Sr, Slush, Frank, Nicolas, Pop Elton, Kevin

Maybe I'm wrong, but ...

1 Beck - Sea Change 198
2 The Beatles - Help! 150
3 Elliot Smith - XO 149
4 The Beatles – Let It Be 117
5 Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle 106
6 Pulp - This Is Hardcore 102
7 Beck - Midnite Vultures 101
8 The Cure - Seventeen Seconds 98
9 Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica 94
10 Cocteau Twins - Treasure 90

Those two Beatles albums aren't even that good except for a few tracks.

BillAdama, I think Otisredding is right (I did not check all top 10, but both Beck albums, Springsteen and the Cure). So, with these 32 voters and scores, there would not be any tie-break...