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Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I'm a little disappointed by the turnout the first week with only nine votes. I thought the people who hadn't heard a lot of albums would at least try to vote in one or two of the groupings, but it was mostly the people with massive music collections who voted. Hopefully when the draw gets smaller and people have heard a higher percentage of the albums still in, participation will creep back up to where it was back at the beginning of qualifying when we were getting about 26 votes per week..

Without further adieu, the results:

16 Bridgitte Fontaine - Comme a La Radio 5 def
1 The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour 4

Votes for Beatles:
John
VanillaFire1000
Harold Wexler
Henrik: MMT is just a little bit better. Oh, I wish I could have voted for Brigitte.

Votes for Bridgitte Fontaine:
Sonofsamiam
Greg
BillAdama
Netjade
Michel

*jawdrop* Upset of the tournament in the first week?

8 The Cure - Faith 6 def
9 Electric Light Orchestra - New World Record 3

Votes for The Cure:
Sonofsamiam
Greg
VanillaFire1000
BillAdama
Henrik: Two old favorites of mine, of which "Faith" has aged the best.
Michel

Votes for Electric Light Orchestra:
John
Harold Wexler
Netjade

12 Ry Cooder - Paris, Texas 4 def
5 Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend 3

Votes for Matthew Sweet:
John
Greg
Harold Wexler

Votes for Ry Cooder:
BillAdama: This didn't arrive in the mail til Monday. Just in time for me to vote. The atmospheric beauty of the Western tinged guitar is a pretty stark contrast to the clumsier Girlfriend.
Henrik: I haven't seen "Paris, Texas" yet (silly me) but I have my own version of it in my head, based on the wonderful album by Ry.
Netjade
Michel

4 Pavement - Wowee Zowee 5 def
13 Tom Petty - Wildflowers 2

Votes for Pavement:
Sonofsamiam
VanillaFire1000
Harold Wexler
Netjade
Michel

Votes for Tom Petty:
John
Greg

Here are the matchups for next week:

1997-1999
3 Beck - Mutations vs
14 System Of A Down - System Of A Down

1999-2002
6 Spoon - Kill The Moonlight vs
11 The Shins - Oh, Inverted World

2003-2005
7 TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes vs
10 Interpol - Antics

2005-2007
2 The Decemberists - The Crane Wife vs
15 The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday

Voting will last one week, end at Tuesday midnight board time. I already have votes from John, Sonofsamiam, Greg, VanillaFire1000, Harold Wexler, Herik and Netjade.

If anyone who wanted to vote but couldn't has ideas about how I could help them better participate, I'd like to hear them.

I have two ideas. The first would be, instead of doing the earlier ones one week, the later ones next week, etc, do half and half. This is based on the assumption people are more likely to have heard the more recent ones.

The second is to announce the matchups a week in advance so people have more time to get around to hearing a few of them.

Week after next, the matchups are:

1959-1971:
8 The Monks - Black Monk Time vs
9 The Byrds - Turn, Turn, Turn

1983-1992:
4 Depeche Mode - Violater vs
13 XTC - Oranges and Lemons

1997-1999:
6 Super Furry Animals - Radiator vs
11 The Smashing Pumpkins - Adore

2003-2005:
2 Joanna Newsom - The Milk Eyed Mender vs
15 The Killers - Hot Fuss

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I'm sorry, I simply forgot sending my votes in. I have listened to nearly all records. That's a shame. I'll do better next week, I promise.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I was home for a family funeral for a few days and then things just caught up on me, sorry.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

My votes wouldn't have made any differences. I hadn't made up my mind about Ry Cooder vs Matthew Sweet, though.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Rune
I'm sorry, I simply forgot sending my votes in. I have listened to nearly all records. That's a shame. I'll do better next week, I promise.


S'okay. I just want people to know I'm willing to make adjustments if it will make the difference between them being able to participate and them not being able to.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Another week of voting finished. We had three blowouts and one tie this week.

I was originally going to try to get my music loving friends to break ties, but then it occurred to me I know them well enough that picking the friend would be picking the winner, so that's out. Instead the vote will just be left open for another week for any tied albums, and if it's still a tie after a week, my vote will be canceled. If I didn't vote, I'll try to hear both the albums and break the tie.

So, the results:

3 Beck - Mutations 11 def
14 System Of A Down - System Of A Down 2

Votes for Beck:
John
Sonofsamiam
Greg
VanillaFire1000
Harold Wexler
BillAdama: I think SoaD is underrated and fun to hear once in a while, but it doesn’t compare to Beck’s run of five classics in a row.
Henrik: My second Beck album (behind Sea Change). Mellow platinum. System of a Down is not bad though, if you're in the mood.
Netjade
Jonah
Rune: My vote is for Beck. System of a Down is just too annoying, and while this isn't Beck's most memorable work, it's decent enough.
Michel

Votes for System Of A Down:
Nassim
Pop Elton: Mutations is a good album but I want to see heavy in next round. Although the word nu-metal come in mind SOAD is defintely from a different planet than Limp Bizkit and stuff. Anyway not as good as Faith No More.

6 Spoon - Kill The Moonlight 6 tied with
11 The Shins - Oh, Inverted World 6

Votes for Spoon:
Sonofsamiam
Greg
Harold Wexler
BillAdama: Kill The Moonlight has a shot at my top ten of the ‘00’s. Oh, Inverted World is one of those ‘Before they were famous’ albums indie fans love to love, but I’m not into it.
Henrik: Interesting match between two of the most successful indie bands of the 00s, but I believe that the wonderful "Kill the Moonlight" is the best that any of these bands has ever done.
Netjade

Votes for The Shins:
John
VanillaFire
Nassim
Jonah
Rune: 1 point for The Shins. I prefer Chutes Too Narrow, but this one is almost just as good.
Michel

7 TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes 9 def
10 Interpol - Antics 4

Votes for TV On The Radio:
John
Sonofsamiam
Harold Wexler
BillAdama: DY,BB is an album I didn’t like at first, but then when I came back to it after hearing Cookie Mountain and Dear Science I ‘got’ it. Interpol is a band I enjoy but don’t think they live up to hype.
Henrik: One band on the way to become very overrated and one band copying their mega-selling debut. Well, with TVOTR you can at least separate the songs from each other.
Netjade
Nassim
Pop Elton: Points to TV on the Radio.
Ouch, probably the touchest battle in the first round. Both are top albums of 2004. It's almost like Oasis vs. Blur of New York.
Interpol released again their debut abum with better songs. TV on the Radio have tried almost everything and are very far from the early post punk.
When I got Antics I listened to it a week in a row. I voted it for the best album of the year in every poll (I heard Funeral in early 2005 and In the Kingdom of Shadows was Finnish album).
Nevertheless it seems that Interpol won't ever release anything interesting again. Our Love to Admire was Interpol's Be Here Now and if you look what Oasis have done after that – well you know.
I also liked a lot TV's debut (or is it their second album). Cookie Mountains and Dear Science are even better but I still listen to Desperate Youth occasionally.
So Antics is maybe more important album to me (and higher in my year list) but however I vote for TV on the Radio because it's the album I more likely listen to in ten years. By the way I will finally see them (TV) live next weekend . National and Fucked Up are supporting acts.
Michel

Votes for Interpol:
Greg
VanillaFire
Jonah
Rune: Amazingly enough, I own both albums in this group. But the TV on the Radio album was bought on recommendations, and they really didn't push the right buttons with me. My vote is for the Interpol album, which is really cool, and the best of all the 8 albums I've heard in this game this week.

2 The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 8 def
15 The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday 4

Votes for The Decemberists:
John
VanillaFire1000
BillAdama: Crane Wife is probably in my top thirty or so of the decade now, whereas with Hold Steady although I enjoy their energy I find their obsession with partying and the occasional mean-spiritedness of their lyrics alienating.
Henrik: The Decemberists are really nice but pub rock, no thanks.
Nassim
Jonah
Pop Elton: Points to Decemberists.
Michel

Votes for The Hold Steady:
Greg
Harold Wexler
Netjade
Rune: The Decemberists is one of those bands that sounds like everybody else. It's just not exciting anymore. The Hold Steady gets my vote, even though the album is so and so.

A lot of people have mentioned they would like more time to hear stuff they haven't heard. I'd like to be able to give more time, but the game's already measured out to 33 weeks, and if it gets extended any longer it'll go over a year. So instead I posted the whole first round schedule so people can at least do any listening they want to do in the weeks they have time.

This week's votes:

Tiebreaker for 6 Spoon - Kill The Moonlight vs 11 The Shins - Oh, Inverted World

8 The Byrds - Turn, Turn, Turn vs
9 The Monks - Black Monk Time

4 Depeche Mode - Violator vs
13 XTC - Oranges and Lemons

6 Super Furry Animals - Radiator vs
11 The Smashing Pumpkins - Adore

2 Joanna Newsom - The Milk Eyed Mender vs
15 The Killers - Hot Fuss

As always, vote will be open for a week until next Tuesday, midnight board time. Mail votes to AMModeratePoll@gmail.com, comments welcome.

I'm probably going to steal Matt Schroeder's idea and keep track of who voted for the most, and least winners, but I'll wait til the first round is all done to report.

Week after next's matchups are:
5 Pink Floyd - Animals vs 12 Betty Davis - They Say I'm Different
3 U2 - Zooropa vs 14 The Divine Comedy - Casanova
7 Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica vs 10 Beth Gibbons - Out Of Season
1 The Knife - Silent Shout vs 16 Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Lots of stuff this week that I've barely heard. Better get listening.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I almost forgot about this one, so here's a bump for the thread in case anyone else did the same.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Yeah, the poll ends tomorrow at midnight board time.

A lot of really close votes as of right now. Two ties, one separated by two votes, and one blowout. Plus, nobody who didn't already vote before has voted in the tiebreaker. If nobody votes, my vote gets canceled and the Shins win.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Just voted.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

A lot of unbelievably close matchups this week!

11 The Shins - Oh, Inverted World 7 def
6 Spoon - Kill The Moonlight 6

New votes for Spoon:
None

New votes for The Shins:
Beans

9 The Monks - Black Monk Time 5 def
8 The Byrds - Turn, Turn, Turn 4

Votes for The Byrds:
Greg
VanillaFire
Michel
John

Votes for The Monks:
Netjade
Harold Wexler: This one is tough. TURN! TURN! TURN! is a severely underrated album with some of my favorite Byrds songs (and, in the case of "The World Turns All Around Her," one of my favorite songs, period). But BLACK MONK TIME is like no other record out there (and man, is it out there). It comes down to the old "which one would I rather listen to right now?" test, and it's the Monks, no contest.
Sonofsamiam: Still one of the most maniacally great albums I've ever heard.
Henrik
Beans

4 Depeche Mode - Violator 6 tied with
13 XTC - Oranges and Lemons 6

Votes for Depeche Mode:
Sonofsamiam: I'm a big XTC fan, but DM's most consistent album trumps the uneven Oranges and Lemons.
Michel
Pop Elton
Henrik
John
Beans

Votes for XTC:
Netjade
Greg
Harold Wexler
BillAdama: This got me going back to Skylarking. It also virtually guaranteed I will own English Settlement by the end of the year.
VanillaFire
Rune: This was one where I was pretty sure I'd vote for Depeche Mode, but that was only until I heard that XTC album. What lovely songs. My vote is for them.

XTC surged out to a 5-0 lead, then Depeche Mode came back to tie it up. Since my vote was for XTC, if there are no new votes over the next week Depeche Mode will win.

6 Super Furry Animals - Radiator 6 def
11 Smashing Pumpkins - Adore 5

Votes for Super Furry Animals:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam: One of the 5 best albums of the '90s, I kid you not.
Michel
Pop Elton
Rune: - I'm certainly more familiar with Adore, but it all sounds a bit like my late teens. I wasn't really into Smashing Pumpkins then, and not now. I like the psychedelic fuzzinezz of Radiator. I think I'll have to learn more about that album (what a great game this is), so my curiosity gives it one point.
Beans

Votes for The Smashing Pumpkins:
Greg
Harold Wexler: SFA are one of the bands I'm sure I'll love once I find the time to give all their albums another listen - in fact, I plan to do that soon. But not soon enough for this vote.
BillAdama: This vote surprises me. I vaguely remember owning Adore back when it came out and dismissing it. Radiator I just heard for the first time, and it rocks, but I heard Adore on Lala for the first time in years and it’s really good. It’s just lacking of standout singles. I should search my parents’ attic and see if I still have it somewhere or if I sold it off.
VanillaFire
Henrik

2 Joanna Newsom - The Milk Eyed Mender 8 def
15 The Killers - Hot Fuss 1

Votes for Joanna Newsom:
Netjade
Greg
Harold Wexler
BillAdama: I liked Hot Fuss more than I expected. When I got to track four it was like “Could it be I unfairly dismissed this because it was mainstream?” …Then the album continued, and the rest was just filler and stuff derivative of the Cure. But I at least did gain a lot of respect for the Killers.
Pop Elton
Sonofsamiam: Newsom can be grating at times, but she is indeed a unique talent. The Killers, well, are not.
Rune: - This is such an easy match, it's almost unfair. So long, Killers. Joanna Newsom harks up the best album of the week (with XTC as a close number two)
Henrik

Votes for The Killers:
VanillaFire

They can't all be close.

This week's matchups:

Tiebreaker: 4 Depeche Mode - Violator vs
13 XTC - Oranges and Lemons

I must have been a little unclear last week. This is simply leaving the old vote open for another week, it's not a total re-vote. If you voted in this matchup last week, there's no need to vote again.

5 Pink Floyd - Animals vs
12 Betty Davis - They Say I'm Different

3 U2 - Zooropa vs
14 The Divine Comedy - Casanova

7 Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica vs
10 Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man - Out of Season

1 The Knife - Silent Shout vs
16 Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene

Next week's matchups will be:

5 Nico - Chelsea Girl vs
12 Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat

3 The Replacements - Tim vs
14 The Cranberries - Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?

7 Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape vs
10 PJ Harvey - Is This Desire?

1 The Go Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike vs
16 The Decemberists - Her Majesty

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Hmmm, I guess that means that you didn't get my votes, Bill? Oh well.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Where'd you send them? I don't have anything from you under AMModeratePoll@gmail.com. What email address did you send from?

If you sent them on time and they didn't get delivered I can still add them.

From now on when I bump this thread a day before the deadline I'll list all the votes that are already counted.

Edit: Damn it. Your vote somehow wound up in my spam filter. Ok. One sec.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Ok, adjusted results for Gmail's crappy spam filtering.

Violator wins, and here are the tiebreakers:

8 The Byrds - Turn, Turn, Turn vs
9 The Monks - Black Monk Time

6 Super Furry Animals - Radiator vs
11 Smashing Pumpkins - Adore

I did not vote in the former, so I'll try to pick a favorite this week in case nobody else votes. I voted for Adore, so if nobody else votes, Radiator wins.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I could have gone either way on Byrds vs. Monks. Both are good but not great albums. I might change my vote to break the tie. There were a lot of albums I hadn't heard this week and Adore is one of them. I ran out of time to listen to stuff but I don't like Radiator that much so I'll listen to Adore this week and place a vote.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I didn't listen to The Monks, so I'll try to find some way to do it.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Here are six of the eight songs on Betty Davis' "They Say I'm Different":

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Bump for one day left to vote.

I have votes from:
Netjade
Greg
Henrik
VanillaFire1000
John
Jonah

Not a lot of close votes at the moment, but last week XTC was leading 5-0 and lost, so three out of four of them could still easily be swung.

At the moment both tiebreakers yield a clear winner.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

And what looked like a blowout week turned into another incredibly close week for the most part.

Pink Floyd - Animals 5 def
Betty Davis - They Say I'm Different 3

Votes for Pink Floyd:
Greg
Henrik
John: Close call, Animals drags on way too often but it has bigger moments than They Say I'm Different. Both are solid albums.
BillAdama: I was sure I would vote Betty Davis. I only listened to Animals to earn the right to vote. …There is officially a second Pink Floyd album I like. Though it’s really uneven.
Jonah

Votes for Betty Davis:
Netjade
VanillaFire1000
sonofsamiam

U2 - Zooropa 4 tied with
The Divine Comedy - Casanova 4

Votes for U2:
Greg
Henrik
John: U2 bugs me but Zooropa isn't a bad album. Cassanova is ok but it gets boring.
Jonah

Votes for The Divine Comedy:
Netjade
Rune
Sonofsamiam
Pop Elton: I'm not a big U2 fan at all (and never have been). Still I must say that I preferred Zooropa to Achtung, Baby when I was child . On the other hand the first The Divine Comedy album for me was Regeneration and I liked it a LOT (I think I even voted it the best album (or at least it was in top 3) of 01 in Rumba's reader poll.) However I've never really loved their earlier stuff. After this nonsense I vote for Mr. Neil Hannon.

Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica 5 tied with
Beth Gibbons - Out Of Season 5

Votes for Modest Mouse:
Greg
VanillaFire1000
John: Moon and Antartica wins by default here even though it only has a few great tracks. I'd never heard Out of Season before today and it wasn't something I was really interested in.
BillAdama: Easily the closest vote of the bracket so far for me. In the computer program I have: The Moon And Antarctica 46.96, Out Of Season 40.83. Modest Mouse barely edges out my vote by virtue of having the couple strongest songs between the two.
Jonah

Votes for Beth Gibbons:
Netjade
Henrik
Rune
Sonofsamiam
Pop Elton: Better than either 90's Portishead albums (or live album). I have listened to Out of Season every year (many times) since it was released. It still sounds so fresh and is definetely not out of season.

The Knife - Silent Shout 11 def
Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene 0

Votes for The Knife:
Netjade
Greg
Henrik
VanillaFire1000
John: Two albums that I never got the hype, but Silent Shout wasn't bad.
BillAdama: I liked BSS more than I expected, but it’s up against my #23 of all time and #1 in the draw, so…
Jonah
Rune
Sonofsamiam
Nassim: Obvious choice for me, I regard the Knife as one of my top 20 albums of all-time. Dark but incredibly danceable, very deep, perfect production, great singalongs... While I don't like BSS much.
Pop Elton: Penetrating electro. There are maybe better songs in 'The Knife' or in 'Deep Cuts' but there's no question what is the best album of The Knife... Silent Shout is pure horror.

The first shutout of the draw.

Tiebreakers:
The Monks - Black Monk Time 7
The Byrds - Turn, Turn Turn 4

New votes:
John (Change): I should have given this my vote the first time, I was going by memory on Turn, Turn, Turn and my memory was wrong.
Jonah

The Smashing Pumpkins - Adore 8 def
Super Furry Animals - Radiator 6

New votes:
John: Adore is way too bland but it's better than Radiator.
Jonah

Votes this week:

Tiebreakers:
7 Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica vs
10 Beth Gibbons - Out Of Season

I voted for Modest Mouse so no votes means Beth Gibbons wins.

3 U2 - Zooropa vs
14 The Divine Comedy - Casanova

I didn't vote in this one because I couldn't find a free way to hear Casanova and am not confident enough in it's quality to pay money for it. If nobody votes I guess I'll have to find it somehow so I can vote.

New votes:

5 Nico - Chelsea Girl vs
12 Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat

3 The Replacements - Tim vs
14 The Cranberries - Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?

7 Foo Fighters - The Colour And The Shape vs
10 PJ Harvey - Is This Desire?

1 The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike vs
16 The Decemberists - Her Majesty

Next week's votes will be:

4 Pink Floyd - Meddle vs
13 Warren Zevon - Exciteable Boy

6 Pavement - Brighten the Corners vs
11 No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom

2 Daft Punk - Discovery vs
15 The Delgados - The Great Eastern

8 The Decemberists - Picaresque vs
9 The National - Boxer

Vote is open one week, mail votes to AMModeratePoll@gmail.com.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Oh, dammit. I got so caught up with the movie list last week that I forgot to vote on this. It's my fault there are two ties. I'll vote on the tiebreakers with this week's vote, but just for the record, my vote for Betty Davis wouldn't have made a difference and the Knife still would have won by shutout.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I didn't vote in this one because I couldn't find a free way to hear Casanova and am not confident enough in it's quality to pay money for it. If nobody votes I guess I'll have to find it somehow so I can vote.

Casanova is great! (And far better than Zooropa.)

I am really really really sad that the awful Adore beat the fantastic Radiator.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

28 more hours to vote for this round. I have currently received votes from:

Netjade, Greg, Michel, sonofsamiam, Harold Wexler, Jonah, Henrik, VanillaFire, Honorio

Right now there's three very lopsided votes, and the one album I was sure would make it through this week is down by one vote. At least one or two of the lopsided votes are still within reach.

As of right now, both of the ties from last round have been broken.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Another week that started out looking like blowouts and tightened up near the end. I'm happy to see participation steadily increasing as the competition goes on. Hopefully when we get to the later rounds some of the people who voted in the qualifiers but haven't heard a lot of the qualified albums will rejoin us.

Tiebreakers:

14 The Divine Comedy - Casanova 7 def
3 U2 - Zooropa 6

New U2 votes:
Michel: I love The Divine Comedy (Liberation and Promenade were really great) but Casanova is very bad, the worst thing Neil Hannon ever did...
BillAdama: Not U2’s best album, but easily their most interesting. And it sure beats that sugary overbaked piece of Pulp plagiarism.

New Divine Comedy votes:
Harold Wexler
Honorio
Penguin: Casanova is amazing - I love U2 more than most people on the forum, but Zooropa is one of their weaker efforts.

10 Beth Gibbons - Out Of Season 6 def
7 Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica 5.5

Because it was still a tie after another week, my vote for Modest Mouse gets canceled, hence the .5.

New votes for Modest Mouse:
Harold Wexler

New votes for Beth Gibbons:
Honorio

5 Nico - Chelsea Girl 8 def
12 Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat 5

Nico:
Netjade
Greg
Michel
Sonofsamiam
Harold Wexler
BillAdama: I enjoyed Cat Stevens more than I expected. He's a talented
songwriter. Nico's charismatically antisocial weirdness just wins out
though.
Honorio: The placid ambiance of the Cat Stevens album is remarkable, but the baroque + avant-garde approach of Nico is outstanding. Cold beauty.
Pop elton

Cat Stevens:
Henrik
VanillaFire1000
Rune
Penguin: Both are excellent - Cat Stevens by a hair.
John: After the two great songs on Chelsea Girl the album is kind of annoying.

3 The Replacements - Tim 7 def
14 The Cranberries - Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We 6

With only a few hours left the Cranberries were ahead 6-4. I would have been more shocked than I was with Bridgette Fontaine.

The Replacements:
Netjade
Greg
Sonofsamiam
Harold Wexler: Quite possibly the easiest vote in the brief history of this game, at least for me.
Rune: The Replacements win, even though I didn't like any of the albums. I choose The Replacement, because that's the album I want to like the most, and for now it may be a tad better. The Cranberries sounds outdated.
Penguin: Love Tim, I think it's their best work (yes, better than Let It Be)
John: Tim is one of the greatest albums of the 80's. Cranberries is ok though

The Cranberries:
Michel
BillAdama: I know Tim is going to win. I find it lackluster, whereas I really
like the way the Cranberries harmonize, even though the album has way
too much filler.
Henrik
VanillaFire1000: I'm a big fan of all their work.
Honorio: I don’t like that much the O’Riordan vocal pyrotechnics and the too polite production of Stephen Street but (I’m sorry) I don’t find The Replacements so special. And probably I got the correct age to appreciate them. But probably not the correct nationality.
Pop elton

10 PJ Harvey - Is This Desire 11 def
7 Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape 3


Foo Fighters:
VanillaFire
Nassim
Penguin

PJ Harvey:
Netjade
Greg
Michel
Sonofsamiam
Harold Wexler: "Everlong" and "Monkey Wrench" are two of my favorite songs of the 1990s, but even though the rest of COLOUR is more enjoyable than I was expecting it's still an album very much dominated by its radio hits. IS THIS DESIRE? isn't one of Harvey's very best, but it still creates and sustains a mood uniquely its own as all of her albums do. Besides, nobody beats PJ.
BillAdama: Monkey Wrench is a great song. Foo Fighters may be the best late 90's
post-grunge band. But PJ Harvey is PJ Harvey. I love her emotional
intensity even in her more abrasive songs.
Henrik
Honorio: Although this PJ album supposes a step back from her sublime previous album and although the Foo Fighters album is consistent enough, she’s PJ Harvey, you know what I mean…
Rune
Pop Elton: (The Colour And the Shape is one of the best rock albums of the 90's and even potential all time top 100 album (or at least top 200) but Is This Desire? is my favourite Polly Jean album so that's not even a hard choice to vote Is This Despair? ... sorry Is This Desire?
John: I don't think I've ever listened to the full Foo Fighters album but I've heard enough to know that Is This Desire is better

1 The Go Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike 9 def
16 The Decemberists - Her Majesty 5

To answer questions about how The Go Team got a #1 seed, they benefited from the way divisions were cut up. They were the 18th overall seed, and in any other division would have been seeded between 2 and 4.

The Go Team:
Netjade
Greg
Michel
Sonofsamiam
Harold Wexler: I've only listened to HER MAJESTY once, so maybe if I knew it better I'd prefer it, since I'm a fan. But T,L,S is just so much damn fun that I doubt it.
BillAdama: For me, this is the most surprising #1 seed. I don't think it's going
to win this division. But, it's always a fun listen and I can't get
into Her Majesty at all, so I vote for it.
Jonah
Penguin: Not sure how this got to be a number one seed in this poll, but it's better than the Decemberists' album.
John: Very tough call... both are very good albums but Her Majesty isn't the Decemberists best and Thunder Lightning Strike is such a unique album.

The Decemberists:
Henrik: Comment: Thunder, Lightning, Strike has the worst production I have ever heard, so this was easy.
VanillaFire: I know this will be a blowout, but I want to make my case for this, because it is a shame that The Crane Wife will go to the 2nd round but two better albums by The Decemberists aren't gonna make it.
Honorio: Listening to The Decemberists I use to think: “Mmm, I prefer Belle and Sebastian”. Anyway it’s always preferable to the messy sound of The Go! Team.
Nassim: The Go! Team is one of my biggest deception ever, I really thought I would like it but found it is full of fillers and missed attempts to make something new and fun... While The Decemberists have made there a good album.
Rune

This week's votes:

Division 2:
4 Pink Floyd - Meddle vs
13 Warren Zevon - Exciteable Boy

Division 4:
6 Pavement - Brighten the Corners vs
11 No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom

Division 6:
2 Daft Punk - Discovery vs
15 The Delgados - The Great Eastern

Division 8:
8 The Decemberists - Picaresque vs
9 The National - Boxer

Next week's matchups:

Division 1:
4 Simon and Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence vs
13 Bill Evans - Conversations With Myself

Division 3:
6 Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever vs
11 They Might Be Giants - Flood

Division 5:
2 Elliot Smith - XO vs
15 The Dandy Warhols - Come Down

Division 7:
8 Annie - Anniemal vs
9 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell

Send votes to AMModeratePoll@gmail.com. Votes will be open one week and will close Tuesday at midnight board time.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

That 5th division sucks! Two of my favorite bands going up against each other but at least neither are their best album IMO. It will be an easy vote but it stinks that I have to vote against the other in the 1st round!

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I'm slightly confused; what constitutes a highly acclaimed album? Top 100? Top 200? Top 500?

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Well it's a matter of vocabulary but here we have considered that the highly acclaimed album are the top 500 and below, it was only a moderate acclaim !

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

it's really nitpicking for the sake of having another poll

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

So Summerteeth is highly acclaimed but Pretty Hate Machine is moderately acclaimed? I guess you need a cut off point somewhere.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

There are three reasons I picked 500 as the cutoff.

1) It's a big round number.
2) Most of the albums considered 'legendary' fall in the top 500.
3) 500 is about the spot the depth in my own collection drops off.

The main purpose of this poll was to call attention to the underrated gems farther down on the list that never show up in board polls because they get drowned out by the Bob Dylans and Radioheads of the world.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I agree that 500 is a good number. That's also the max number you generally see on an all time list.

I always sort of considered the 3rd page on the all time list (400-600) a gradual descent from highly acclaimed universal classics to more moderate acclaim. So Red Headed Stranger starts to mark the end of Universal acclaim, with The Idiot marking the beginning of moderate acclaim, and Summerteeth being the half way mark between the two.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Just over a day left to vote, and it's a very close week.

Two votes are lead by only one vote. Two seed underdogs are ahead by two and three votes respectively. All four votes are still up for grabs.

I have votes from:
Harold Wexler, Jonah, Greg, Netjade, Pop Elton, VanillaFire1000.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

This week's results were pretty unsurprising.

Division 1:
4 Pink Floyd - Meddle 8 def
13 Warren Zevon - Exciteable Boy 4

Pink Floyd:
Jonah
VanillaFire1000
Michel
Honorio: In my opinion it’s the best Floyd album pre-DSOTM. Yes, including “Piper” (sacrilege!).
Henrik
Penguin
John
Sonofsamiam: My favorite Pink Floyd album, where they perfected their brand of space-rock and actually infused some humor, while at the same time avoiding some of the bloat and pompousness that would infect their more famous efforts.


Warren Zevon:
Netjade
Harold Wexler: Considering that I've gone on record in the forum as stating that EB is half a great album at best, this probably seems a little odd. But that half is extraordinary, and the album wins my all-important "which one would I rather listen to right now" test. Probably because it's shorter.
Greg
BillAdama: EB is a pretty decent album, way better than another of Pink Floyd’s boring overwrought attempts at concept.

Division 4:
6 Pavement - Brighten the Corners 10 def
11 No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom 4

Pavement:
Harold Wexler: OK, correction from last week (re: TIM) -- THIS is the easiest vote in history.
Jonah
Greg
BillAdama: Oh how I wanted to throw No Doubt a vote, heretically putting fun before cool. I think No Doubt’s early work is unfairly maligned by our crowd on account of being too successful. But later, Return of Saturn, my favorite of their albums, was a commercial failure, prompting No Doubt and Stefani to become another faceless dance pop outfit full of thirty five year olds pretending to be twenty one.
Michel
Henrik
Penguin
John
Rune
Sonofsamiam: An OK Pavement album beats the rather ordinary No Doubt.

No Doubt:
Netjade
Pop Elton
VanillaFire1000
Honorio: I don’t like No Doubt. But I dislike Pavement. What? Don’t like and dislike is almost the same? OK then. I can’t stand Pavement. Better?

Division 6:
2 Daft Punk - Discovery 8 def
15 The Delgados - The Great Eastern 6

Daft Punk:
Jonah
BillAdama: Reading what some people said about the Delgados made me excited about it. The album has its moments but it comes off as generic lo-fi to me. Discovery has it’s flaws but just has more highs.
Greg
VanillaFire1000
Michel
Honorio: Although I love that Fridmann-produced album by The Delgados I must vote for Daft Punk for their struggle to make hip the most unhip sounds. And, you all know, for their success on it.
Henrik
Sonofsamiam: This was the toughest choice for me so far, as The Great Eastern and Discovery are both in my Top 30 of the decade. I finally give the nod to Daft Punk for their visionary dance music over the excellent orchestral indie pop of the Delgados. But it still hurts.

The Delgados:
Netjade
Pop Elton: In the beginning of the decade I listened to a lot music like this. The Great Eastern was maybe the best album of it's genre (I liked it more than Deserters Songs or Soft Bulletin then).
Harold Wexler: I don't think I've listened to either one more than once, but the Delgados album was highly intriguing. Not that DP isn't always a blast, but when push comes to shove I'll choose songcraft (and production craft - Dave Fridmann strikes again!) over beatcraft.
Penguin
John
Rune

Division 8:
9 The National - Boxer 8 def
8 The Decemberists - Picaresque 5

The Decemberists:
Greg
VanillaFire1000: Another album that sadly I think will be swept.
Henrik
John
Rune

The National:
Netjade
Pop Elton
Harold Wexler: A tough vote. I'm violating my own rule somewhat here because I'd probably tend to grab PICARESQUE first as a listening choice, but I think BOXER is ultimately the richer and more rewarding experience.
Jonah
BillAdama: Nothing against the Decemberists, but Boxer is one of the top ten in the decade to me.
Michel
Honorio: I’m not the biggest fan of The National within this forum but I can’t deny their greatness.
Penguin: This is (in my opinion) the best album of the decade. No weak songs and a slew of strong ones. I love the vocals and the drums (especially the combination of the two). This is an album that made 2007 one of my favorite years in music.

This week's matchups are...

Division 1:
4 Simon and Gafunkel - Sounds of Silence vs
13 Bill Evans - Conversations With Myself

Division 3:
6 Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever vs
11 They Might Be Giants - Flood

Division 5:
2 Elliot Smith - XO vs
15 The Dandy Warhols - Come Down

Division 7:
8 Annie - Anniemal vs
9 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell

Send votes to AMModeratePoll@gmail.com, vote will be open for a week closing Tuesday at midnight board time.

Next group of matchups after that are:

Division 2:
3 Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue vs
14 Leonard Cohen - New Skin For The Old Ceremony

Division 4:
7 Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk vs
10 Fountains Of Wayne - Fountains Of Wayne

Division 6:
1 Beck - Sea Change vs
16 Low - Things We Lost In The Fire

Division 8:
5 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga vs
12 !!! - Myth Takes

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

One more day to vote.

I already have votes from:
Netjade, Greg, Harold Wexler, SR, Jonah, Rune

Right now there are two blowouts, one close matchup, and one strong but easily reversible lead.

One comment I'd like to add. People here have such varying tastes I think it's fair to say everybody has a couple early round matchups they're annoyed about. My favorite two albums in the draw (Silent Shout and Boxer) go against each other in the second round. This aspect of the game was inevitable.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Results may be a little late this week.

Because for some reason Gmail isn't loading for me.

Also, there were two people who accidentally voted for next week's matchups, and one of them hasn't sent this week's votes yet. If any of the votes are within one vote when the vote closes, I'll give that person a little extra time to vote.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Gmail has been down for an hour or so for me too.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Results:

Sonofsamiam, if any of the matchups were decided by less than one vote I'd give you extra time to vote, but since none of them are it doesn't matter.

Division 1:
4 Simon and Garfunkel - Sounds Of Silence 7 def
13 Bill Evans - Conversations With Myself 4

Simon and Garfunkel:
Greg
Harold Wexler
SR
Jonah
Rune: Weird week for me, as there's only two albums not owned by my girlfriend, my mother or myself. This Simon & Garfunkel album is in my mother's possession. I've heard it quite a few times, and it's a very good album. Bill Evans is nice restaurant music, but he loses with several miles here.
Michel
John

Bill Evans:
Netjade
BillAdama: For me this is one of those tough “Better singles vs more consistent” matchups. So tiebreaker goes to the more unique.
Henrik
VanillaFire1000: One of the best jazz albums ever.

Division 3:
11 They Might Be Giants - Flood 6 def
6 Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever 4

They Might Be Giants:
Netjade
SR
Jonah
Rune: They Might Be Giants beat Tom Petty. That Tom Petty album was pretty awesome, but there's no competition for They Might Be Giants here. While Flood isn't their greatest album, it still is one of my favorite albums ever made. Of course, I own it. The Tom Petty album is owned by my mother.
Michel
VanillaFire1000

Division 5:
2 Elliot Smith - XO 11 def
15 The Dandy Warhols - Come Down 2

Elliot Smith:
Greg
Harold Wexler
SR
Jonah
Rune: I own that Elliott Smith album, while The Dandy Warhols isn't owned by anyone in my family, as far as I know. I like Either/Or a lot more, but XO is also good. The Dandy Warhols album is so and so. Worth a listen, but I'll never buy it.
BillAdama: I’m not as into Elliot Smith as some people, but I like him a lot, and Come Down I find mediocre.
Nassim: Let me think : my favourite artist with a wonderful album including my favourite song ever versus an average band which main interest is appearing awfully pretentious in Dig! and giving praise to Kim Deal. It will be tough to choose !
Henrik
Pop Elton
VanillaFire1000
John

The Dandy Warhols:
Netjade
Michel

Division 7:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell 8 def
Annie - Anniemal 4

Annie:
Greg
Nassim: Tough choice in this very pitchforky duel, Annie has the best single while YYY have the strongest couple of songs. However Fever To Tell has too many fillers and really came to me as a disappointment while Anniemal was a totally unexpected good surprise. So I'll go with Moonbeam's choice.
VanillaFire1000
John

Yeah Yeah Yeahs:
Netjade
Harold Wexler
SR: Maps > Heartbeat, and FtT is much more consistent and powerful listen as a whole.
Jonah
Rune: Yeah Yeah Yeahs beat Annie. My girlfriend owns both these albums. She did listen a lot to Yeah Yeah Yeahs when it came out, and I must say I do like that record a bit as well. Annie has never been my thing. I don't like the flavour of that chewing gum. And a curiousity about Annie: Apparently she dated Varg Vikernes aka Count Grishnackh aka Burzum back before his imprisonment. They're making a movie about him now.
BillAdama: I’m getting into Anniemal, but Fever To Tell has more staying power.
Henrik
Pop Elton

These are the albums being voted on this week: (I already have ballots from Netjade, SR, Greg, and Sonofsamiam)

Division 2:
3 Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue vs
14 Leonard Cohen - New Skin For The Old Ceremony

Division 4:
7 Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk vs
10 Fountains of Wayne - Fountains of Wayne

Division 6:
1 Beck - Sea Change vs
16 Low - Things We Lost In The Fire

Division 8:
5 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga vs
12 !!! - Myth Takes

These are the matchups for next week, which will be voted on from 9/8 to 9/15:

Division 1:
3 The Beatles - Let It Be vs
14 The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile

Division 3:
7 REM - Fables of the Reconstruction vs
10 Madonna - Madonna

Division 5:
1 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea vs
16 The Boredoms - Super AE

Division 7:
5 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga vs
12 !!! - Myth Takes

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

BillAdama

Division 5:
1 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea vs
16 The Boredoms - Super AE


Seeing this in typing is almost too ridiculous. I didn't know Aeroplane was in this. Nice competition. While I've never heard of The Boredoms, and will give them a fair listen, I'm pretty sure this will be the easiest decission in history.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Yep, Moderately Acclaimed was from 501-3000, so Aeroplane got in easily in the 501-600 round.

Aeroplane's the obvious favorite, but to be fair I think there's a handful of albums that could realistically upset it. Particularly the Elliot Smith albums and a couple other of the #1 seeds. At the very least, if it wins it's last four matchups will be awfully close.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

The Elliot Smith albums, The Knife, and Sea Change are all excellent, however I don't think any of them really stand a shot against In the Aeroplane. Aeroplane would probably take on any album in the 300 or 400 range, except maybe The Zombies.

It's a shame because otherwise the winner would be anyones guess.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Bill,

According to your list, we'll be voting for Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga vs !!! - Myth Takes two weeks in a row...?

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

SR


It's a shame because otherwise the winner would be anyones guess.


I guess number 2 then will be the real winner!

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

BillAdama
Aeroplane's the obvious favorite, but to be fair I think there's a handful of albums that could realistically upset it. Particularly the Elliot Smith albums and a couple other of the #1 seeds. At the very least, if it wins it's last four matchups will be awfully close.


This is just another way of saying something I've expressed numerous times in the forum, but: Hopefully, the next site update will reveal that IN THE AEROPLANE wouldn't be eligible for this game anymore if it wasn't already in progress...

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Henrik
Bill,

According to your list, we'll be voting for Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga vs !!! - Myth Takes two weeks in a row...?


Oops. Heh. This week is Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga vs !!! - Myth Takes.

Next week is:
5 Spoon - Gimme Fiction vs 12 The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives.

I think if we did a straight vote where people gave points to their top X albums, Neutral Milk Hotel would win easily. But, I think in a head to head vote, depending on who happens to vote in the given match, Aeroplane is vulnerable in the later rounds.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

SR
BillAdama

Division 5:
1 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea vs
16 The Boredoms - Super AE


Seeing this in typing is almost too ridiculous. I didn't know Aeroplane was in this. Nice competition. While I've never heard of The Boredoms, and will give them a fair listen, I'm pretty sure this will be the easiest decission in history.


Give Super AE a shot -- it's an incredible album, one of my Top 30 or so ever. I like it FAR more than NMH.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Sonofsamiam, if any of the matchups were decided by less than one vote I'd give you extra time to vote, but since none of them are it doesn't matter.

D'OH! I was in way too much of a hurry when I e-mailed. Not that it matters, but for posterity my votes would've gone to:

Bill Evans (lovely underrated album)
They Might Be Giants
Elliott Smith
Annie

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Sorry, BillAdama, I missed the deadline but I did the listening. The deadline is on Mondays, isn’t it? Anyway this time my votes would have gone to the majority (except for Annie) so it would’ve made any difference.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Honorio
Sorry, BillAdama, I missed the deadline but I did the listening. The deadline is on Mondays, isn’t it? Anyway this time my votes would have gone to the majority (except for Annie) so it would’ve made any difference.


Tuesdays.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

sonofsamiam
Give Super AE a shot -- it's an incredible album, one of my Top 30 or so ever. I like it FAR more than NMH


forget it, SOS, it's bizarro-corporate-land..

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

One more day to vote.

Of the four contests, one is tied, one has a 3-vote margin, and two are blowouts.

Votes received from:
Netjade, Greg, SR, Sonofsamiam, Harold Wexler, VanillaFire1000, Honorio, Nassim.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Divison 2:

3 Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue 7 def
14 Leonard Cohen - New Skin For The Old Ceremony 3

Dennis Wilson:
Netjade
Greg
SR: Comments: One of the most underrated albums of all time, Pacific Ocean Blue may be the best solo album by any Beach Boy.
Sonofsamiam
Harold Wexler
Honorio: It’s quite painful having to choose between these two wonderful albums. Which song touches me more deeply, “Thoughts of You” or “Chelsea Hotel #2”? I think I go with Dennis because of his fragile but soulful delivery instead the self-confident Leonard. But it’s a tough decision.
John: I'm not of the opinion that Pacific Ocean Blue is a lost classic, but it's still pretty good.

Leonard Cohen:
VanillaFire1000
Rune: I really wanted to like the Dennis Wilson album best, because it is THAT album, while the Leonard Cohen album is just another Leonard Cohen album. And while they're both pretty good, Cohen gets the nod.
Henrik

Division 4
7 Belle and Sebastain - Tigermlik 7 def
10 Fountains of Wayne - Fountains of Wayne 5

This is the one that was tied a day ago. Seeds aside, if FoW had pulled off the upset I would have been surprised.

Belle and Sebastian:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam
BillAdama
Harold Wexler
Rune: Belle and Sebastian had a fantastic streak of albums back in the days. I don't think this is their best, but it is good. I'm not really a Fountains of Wayne fan, so this was pretty easy.
Henrik
Pop Elton: Maybe I comment this in next round. Anyway in all time top 10.

Fountains Of Wayne:
Greg
SR
VanillaFire1000
Honorio: Two debut albums. Two 1996 albums. Two indie-pop bands. On the long run I would choose Belle & Sebastian with my eyes closed. But thinking only about their debut albums I’m going for FOW’s one because of its immediacy and catchiness.
John: Tigermilk is a little overrated IMO, I love the 3-4 albums that followed but other than The State I'm In there isn't much on it. Fountains of Wayne doesn't have a whole lot either but the hits are power pop gold.

Division 6:
1 Beck - Sea Change 10 def
16 Low - Things We Lost In The Fire 2

Beck:
Greg
SR: Phenomenal album, maybe the favorite to win the tournament. Either this, or Silent Shout, and if it comes to that then Sea Change will have my vote.
Sonofsamiam
BillAdama
Harold Wexler
VanillaFire1000
Honorio: Beck made a brilliant move going from post-modern to post-classic.
John: I'd love to give this to the local product especially since it's their best album but it's hard to beat a Beck album even when it isn't close to his best.
Jonah
Henrik: This might be the two most depressing albums of the whole game and it's also one of the best matchups. TWLITF is fantastic, but, at least compared to Sea Change, routinely made (no one thought that Beck could be THAT mellow). Hence, I'm sad to vote against Low, but, well, this is probably one of the blowouts anyway.

Low:
Netjade
Pop Elton: Again I vote against Beck and I thought I was a big Beck fan. Two sad albums vis-à-vis. Things We Lost in Fire has some so sad but in a way very powerful and beautiful songs that points go to Low.

Division 8:
5 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 8 def
12 !!! - Myth Takes 6

This week we are voting on:
Spoon:
Netjade
Greg
SR
Sonofsamiam
BillAdama
Harold Wexler
Jonah
Rune: Easy. I don't like !!!. I'm no big Spoon fan either, but I can live with them.

!!!:
VanillaFire1000
Honorio: I used to prefer pop to dance bands and “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” is a good pop album but my vote goes to !!! because of their talent in incorporating dance-punk sounds more brilliantly that most of their peers.
Nassim
John: I hadn't heard Myth Takes before but after listening to it briefly, I know it's better than another bland Spoon album.
Henrik
Pop Elton

This week turned into a week of no upsets, but a couple of matches I expected to be easy wound up close.

New vote:

Division 1:
3 The Beatles - Let It Be vs
14 The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile

Division 3:
7 REM - Reconstruction Of The Fables vs
10 Madonna - Madonna

Division 5:
1 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea vs
16 The Boredoms - Super AE

Division 7:
5 Spoon - Gimme Fiction vs
12 The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives

The matchups week after next will be:

Divison 2:
6 Neil Young - Zuma vs
11 Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America Today

Division 4:
2 REM - New Adventures In Hifi vs
15 St Etienne - So Tough

Division 6:
8 Bright Eyes - Lifted vs
9 Aimee Mann - Bachelor #2

Division 8:
4 The White Stripes - Icky Thump vs
13 Queens Of The Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze

Here's a quick re-link to the overall draw:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=329857&tclass=

Send votes to AMModeratePoll@gmail.com, votes as always open a week.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Just see the bracketmaker: "Paris-Texas" vs. "Violator"?? Can I opt for suicide?

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

One day left to vote.

Right now the margins are 1, 3, 5, and 6. (And not necessarily the ones you may expect).

I have votes from:
Netjade, Sonofsamiam, Honorio, Greg, Harold Wexler, Henrik, Nassim.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Division 1:
14 The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile 7 def
3 The Beatles - Let It Be 6

The Beatles:
Honorio: Two historically typical “disappointing” albums, “Let It Be” was the first (and last) Beatles project initially shelved by its own creators and “Smiley Smile” was the diminished version of the unissued “Smile”. Anyway even minor albums from such major bands can’t be bad. Maybe “Smiley Smile” got more charms, but “Let It Be” got better songs.
Honorio: Not top-tier work for either band, but LET IT BE gets the edge for the title track and those great Apple rooftop performances. And Wilson did most of the best stuff on SMILEY SMILE better on SMiLE.
Jonah
John
Michel
VanillaFire1000

The Beach Boys:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam
Greg
Henrik: Smiley Smile is uneven in a much more lovable way.
BillAdama: I didn't know all the best stuff from Smile was on this. Not only
that, versions recorded while they were still young and could sing
a little less heavy-handedly than Wilson does on Smile. Easy vote in the battle of famous letdowns. Although the pacing is iffy and it sounds like if the experimental album the fans wanted came out, it would have been a mess.
Rune
Pop Elton

Pop Elton casts the deciding vote with half an hour to spare.

The Beatles, though seeded 1, 2, 3 in Division 1, are 0 for 2. Help! is now their only hope to get to the second round.

Division 3:
10 Madonna - Madonna 7 def
7 REM - Reconstruction of the Fables 5

REM:
Harold Wexler: I always thought it was FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION. In any case, not my favorite R.E.M. album but I like it a lot more than Madge's debut.
Jonah
Rune
Michel
VanillaFire1000

Madonna:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam
Honorio: I didn’t vote for these two albums in the 80s poll (so they are not really favourites of mine). But, while the Madonna debut sounded fresh and new, the third R.E.M. sounded as if they wanted to change but they were not really sure where to go. We all know they were going to find their way in posterior albums.
Greg
Henrik: There are better records but Madonna always brings a little smile to my lips, while this REM record doesn't give me any feelings at all.
BillAdama: Both are a little lackluster, but Reconstruction has one memorable
single and Madonna's s/t has more than one, so vote goes to Madonna.
John

Division 5:
1 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea 8 def
16 The Boredoms - Super AE 5

Neutral Milk Hotel:
Honorio: I’ll copy my comment for The National: I’m not the biggest fan of Neutral Milk Hotel on this forum but I can’t deny their greatness.
Harold Wexler: It's kind of unfair to the Boredoms to have to compete with an album that should be in the top 500 and hence ineligible for this competition. It would be unfair to any album, really.
Henrik: So I gave Boredoms a try and, uhhh...not my thing. Some typical Japanese music at a sushi restaurant would have had a better chance.
Nassim
Jonah: This one was actually really hard... two underground classics, but Aeroplane is the classic ALBUM of underground indie types, while Boredoms are the classic band. In a parallel universe, this music would be as common on everybody's ears as the Beatles.
John
Rune
VanillaFire1000

The Boredoms:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam: This won’t win, but it’s truly one of the most amazing records of the last 20 years – mind-blowing
BillAdama: Super AE has some issues (You should not mix ‘noisy’ with ‘droning’). But there’s something about Neutral Milk Hotel I don’t like that I just can’t put my finger on. Something about the vocals being mixed so loud just accentuates the weak instrumentals and undermines the catchiness.
Michel
Pop Elton

You knew NMH was going to win this one, but I'm glad the Boredoms at least managed to make a strong showing. Super AE was almost a trap matchup for NMH, because it's a love-or-hate album that people who disliked NMH were more likely to love.

Division 7:
5 Spoon - Gimme Fiction 9 def
12 The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives 3

Spoon:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam
Honorio: Last week I said that I used to prefer pop to dance bands when I didn’t vote for Spoon, this time I’m going to do the opposite, I’m going to vote for Spoon for their more imaginative approach. And, you know, I use to prefer pop to rock bands.
Greg
Harold Wexler: I like the Hives, but I like Spoon more. Although if this had been VENI VEDI VICIOUS there'd be more of a race.
Henrik: These albums have their moments, but this is essentially two bands behind their top form. Spoon wins as The Hives were already on the Ga Ga level.
BillAdama: The weakest out of the three Spoon albums I've heard, but all
Tyrannosaurus Hives has to offer is some good riffs.
John
Rune

The Hives:
Nassim: Tyrannosaurus Hives : desperate attempt to stop Spoon from eliminating all my favourite albums. TH is the Hives best album, with the best singles including fast and furious tracks like Abra Cadaver and Love in Plaster (which is a very tense song in Hives scale). An awesome album with killer riffs, too many fun not to be taken seriously and not a single second of rest.
Rune
VanillaFire1000

Spoon go 2-1 in the first round, only losing Kill The Moonlight in a very close vote.

This week's new matchups are:

Division 2:
6 Neil Young - Zuma vs
11 Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America Today

Division 4:
2 REM - New Adventures In Hifi vs
15 St Etienne - So Tough

Division 6:
8 Bright Eyes - Lifted vs
9 Aimee Mann - Bachelor #2

Division 8:
4 The White Stripes - Icky Thump vs
13 Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze

Week after next's matchups will be:

Division 1:
6 Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry Is On Top vs
11 Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In The West

Division 3:
2 Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues vs
15 They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants

Division 5:
8 Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen vs
9 Pavement - Terror Twighlight

Division 7:
4 Gorrilaz - Demon Days vs
13 Drive By Truckers - Decoration Day

Votes are open a week as always, send votes to AMModeratePoll@gmail.com.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

BillAdama

Division 5:
1 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea 8 def
16 The Boredoms - Super AE 5

Neutral Milk Hotel:
Honorio: I’ll copy my comment for The National: I’m not the biggest fan of Neutral Milk Hotel on this forum but I can’t deny their greatness.
Harold Wexler: It's kind of unfair to the Boredoms to have to compete with an album that should be in the top 500 and hence ineligible for this competition. It would be unfair to any album, really.
Henrik: So I gave Boredoms a try and, uhhh...not my thing. Some typical Japanese music at a sushi restaurant would have had a better chance.
Nassim
Jonah: This one was actually really hard... two underground classics, but Aeroplane is the classic ALBUM of underground indie types, while Boredoms are the classic band. In a parallel universe, this music would be as common on everybody's ears as the Beatles.
John
Rune
VanillaFire1000

The Boredoms:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam: This won’t win, but it’s truly one of the most amazing records of the last 20 years – mind-blowing
BillAdama: Super AE has some issues (You should not mix ‘noisy’ with ‘droning’). But there’s something about Neutral Milk Hotel I don’t like that I just can’t put my finger on. Something about the vocals being mixed so loud just accentuates the weak instrumentals and undermines the catchiness.
Michel
Pop Elton



side question: WHAT exactly is so great about NMH's ITAOTS? bcz i don't get it... i remember Built To Spill doing a much better job one year before that one... no taste trollin, though, i'm just curious.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

netjade

side question: WHAT exactly is so great about NMH's ITAOTS? bcz i don't get it... i remember Built To Spill doing a much better job one year before that one... no taste trollin, though, i'm just curious.


Well for me the question would be more "why isn't Perfect from now on not even qualified for that poll ?", since I agree it is better than ITAOTS (which is great too, but should not win this poll for me).

Anyway, I had bet on Let it Be to win the poll... so the lead I had taken on the scoreboard might not last long ^^

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

It seems I voted for both Spoon and The Hives in the last match. That's wrong, I voted for Spoon alone.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Rune
It seems I voted for both Spoon and The Hives in the last match. That's wrong, I voted for Spoon alone.


The second Hives vote is supposed to be Michel.

Perfect From Now On only got 4 votes (Out of 27) in the qualifying round. (I'm more mad about Os Mutantes not making it in from that group.)

I think the reason NMH has an appeal to some people that isn't apparent to some is that it's got such a vocal focus. Some people are more attracted to vocals and some to instrumentals, and while the vocals are excellent the instrumentals are weak.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

BillAdama
I think the reason NMH has an appeal to some people that isn't apparent to some is that it's got such a vocal focus. Some people are more attracted to vocals and some to instrumentals, and while the vocals are excellent the instrumentals are weak.


Well, Jeff Mangum's voice is an acquired taste. Speaking for myself, it's the EMOTIONAL aspect of the songs on ITAOTS that I respond to the most; I find the trumpet-driven dirge "The Fool" indescribably stirring and moving even though that song doesn't have any vocals or lyrics at all (it wasn't written by Mangum, either), and the rest of the album hits me where I live even more so.

Mangum's lyrics are deeply personal and impressionistic, but certain themes crop up repeatedly: the death of someone close to him (I believe his brother committed suicide), the fate of Anne Frank, an idiosyncratic faith that incorporates a deep-seated belief in reincarnation. Combined with Mangum's impassioned vocal delivery, the overall effect - particularly on the epic "Oh Comely" and the two solo-vocal-and-guitar parts of "Two-Headed Boy" - is overwhelming, exhausting, and exhilarating.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Side note: There are two sets of comments on LET IT BE ascribed to Honorio in this week's results post. The second is mine. Just wanted to clear that up.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

One day left to vote.

I have votes from: Greg, Harold Wexler, Honorio, Netjade, Sonofsamiam.

All the votes are currently either 3-3 or 4-2, so any of them can still win.

And if anyone is wondering about the fact that 3 + 3 > 5, I didn't list myself.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Division 2:
6 Neil Young - Zuma 5 TIED WITH
11 Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America Today 5

Vote stays open for another week, you can only vote if you didn't vote already. If it stays tied, my vote gets canceled and Zuma wins.

Neil Young:
Greg
Harold Wexler
Honorio: The recovery album after the three-steps-down-to-hell album trilogy, it may have diminished its impact for coming after the superb “Tonight’s the Night” but anyway it’s a great album.
John
Rune

Curtis Mayfield:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam
BillAdama: I like it better than Curtis, not as much as Superfly. I don't know why it's so low AM rated. Maybe because one of the other two I mentioned is always the critics' token Mayfield inclusion instead of this.
Henrik
VanillaFire1000

Division 4:
15 Saint Etienne - So Tough 8 def
2 REM - New Adventures In Hifi 4

The second week in a row one of the dozen or so albums I thought had an outside shot at winning gets beat. In this case, not only beat, it got hammered.

REM:
Greg
Harold Wexler: R.E.M.'s most underrated album.
Jonah
VanillaFire1000

St Etienne:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam: one of the great pop albums of the ‘90s; too bad it has no chance against an R.E.M. album, even if it is a bloated R.E.M. album.
Honorio: Exquisite delicacies for pop gourmets.
BillAdama: I didn’t think I’d be casting this vote, but listening to them side by side I have to.
John
Henrik
Pop Elton
Rune

Division 6:
9 Aimee Mann - Bachelor #2 7 def
8 Bright Eyes - Lifted 4

Bright Eyes:
Netjade
Honorio: A flood of passion and talent inundates every corner of this wide album.
John
Rune: While the Aimee Mann album is very good too (actually the second best this week), this one is amazing. I played it to death some years ago, and it still sounds ace. I have to listen more to this.

Aimee Mann:
Greg
Harold Wexler: Aarrgghh!! Why did two of my favorite albums of the current decade have to be pitted against each other? And they couldn't be more diametrically opposed - Oberst's sprawling, unruly passion vs. Mann's coolly disciplined craftsmanship. Can't I vote for both? Oh, well. BACHELOR NO. 2 gets the nod, barely, because while I kind of need to be in the right mood for a long, draining album like LIFTED I can listen to Aimee at her best any time. And Conor's never written a line as succinctly brutal as "Just one question before I pack/When you fuck it up later do I get my money back?" It's the fact that it's "when" and not "if" that kills you.
Sonofsamiam
BillAdama: Bachelor #2 is a pretty limitedly above average album, but the moment
on Cassadaga I heard "Little soldier, little insect, you know war, it
has no heart", I lost all tolerance for Conor Oberst.
Henrik
Pop Elton
VanillaFire1000

Division 8:
4 White Stripes - Icky Thump 8 def
13 Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze 3

White Stripes:
Harold Wexler
Sonofsamiam
BillAdama: Never been into Queens of the Stone Age, so even the Stripes weakest
album to date beats it.
Honorio: Two excellent heavy albums, I chose Icky because of its rawness, spontaneity and apparently amateurish sound (although I know it’s fake, it’s their sixth album).
Jonah
John
Pop Elton
Rune: Not their best, of course, but still superior to Queens of the Stone Age in every way. I haven't listened to this very much, but I think I should do.

Queens Of The Stone Age:
Netjade
Greg
VanillaFire1000

Next week's vote:

Division 2 tiebreaker:
6 Neil Young - Zuma vs
11 Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America Today

Division 1:
6 Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry Is On Top vs
11 Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In The West

Division 3:
2 Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues vs
15 They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants

Division 5:
8 Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen vs
9 Pavement - Terror Twighlight

Division 7:
4 Gorrilaz - Demon Days
13 The Drive By Truckers - Decoration Day

Vote for week after next:

Division 2:
7 Lou Reed - The Blue Mask vs
10 Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick

Division 4:
1 Elliot Smith - Either/Or vs
16 Aimee Mann - Whatever

Division 6:
5 Beck - Midnite Vultures vs
12 Elliot Smith - Figure 8

Division 8:
3 Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit vs
14 Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

One more day to vote.

None of the votes are particularly close right now, in none of them does the album that is trailing have more than one vote. But, that hasn't stopped comebacks in the past. (Especially since there has been the trend that early voters favor the lower seed and late voters favor the higher seed).

The votes I have so far are: Harold Wexler, Greg, Netjade, Honorio, VanillaFire1000

All the votes cast for the tiebreaker so far are from people who already voted in that matchup last week, so that is still tied. If no new votes come in it means Zuma wins.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Vote totals are dwindling a bit, which I find a little disappointing. I'm still hoping people who opted out at the beginning because the amount of listening they'd have to do was too much will hop back in when we get to the next round.

Once the first round is done I'll post statistics of the sort Matt Schroeder does in Bracketology. I'm going to write a program to do the comparative work for me so I can list which voters are the most similar, least similar, who voted most and least with the higher AM ranking, higher seed, victor, etc.

The results...

Tiebreaker: All the votes that came in were from people who already voted last week, so the vote total remains 5-5, and my vote for Curtis Mayfield gets canceled out.

6 Neil Young - Zuma def
11 Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America Today

Division 2:
11 Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In The West 7 def
6 Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry Is On Top 1

Chuck Berrry:
Rune: a damn cool rock and roll album. The songs don't sound the same, even if I've claimed so before.

Ennio Morricone:
Harold Wexler
Greg
Netjade
Vanillafire1000
Honorio: I really really really would like to vote for Berry, his album is excellent, it works almost as a greatest hits compilation. But the Morricone album is absolutely gorgeous, playing with different textures coming from classical (strings, operatic voices), folk (banjos, harmonicas) and avant-garde (fuzz guitars, percussion effects), always subordinated to the exact atmosphere that better suits the images. Morricone. It’s hard to find a better composer for films.
Henrik: When "Is On Top" - quite surprisingly to me - came in the top 10 of the 1201-1300 poll, I wrote "Who will vote against such a milestone in the elimination rounds?" Well, now I'm doing it myself, because "Once Upon a Time in the West" is one of the best albums ever. Especially "As a Judgement" gives me chills every time.
John

Lower seeds are now 4-2 in division 1.

Division 3:

2 Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues 7 def
15 They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants 3

Talking Heads:
Greg
Netjade
BillAdama: TMBG are a little too heavy handed in their self-conscious weirdness. Weirdness in itself is a good thing, but not when you’re too obviously straining to achieve it.
VanillaFire1000
Honorio: TA LKI N GHE ADS “SP EAK IN GI N TO NGU ES” “Speaking in Tongues” but also “Speak in Gin Tongues”. Inferior to the four precedent albums by Talking Heads but still great.
Henrik
John

They Might Be Giants:
Harold Wexler: TMBG's debut is the funniest great album ever made. Besides, most of TONGUES's best songs are even better on STOP MAKING SENSE.
Nassim
Rune: A truly great geekpop album. I've played this one so many times I know it by heart.

Division 5:

8 Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen 6 def
9 Pavement - Terror Twighlight 3

Ben Folds Five:
Harold Wexler
Greg
Netjade
BillAdama
Honorio: I will vote always against Pavement but with pleasure this time, I love that piano…
Rune: I really liked this back in the 90s. It's not that good anymore, but I'll pretend it's 1998.

Pavement:
VanillaFire1000
John

Division 7:

4 Gorillaz - Demon Days 6 def
13 Drive By Truckers - Decoration Day 3

Harold Wexler
Netjade
VanillaFire1000
Honorio: Damon Albarn proving with inventiveness that he can perfectly be relevant in two different decades.
Nassim
Rune: I don't like the concept of Gorillaz, and I really wanted to vote for Drive-By Truckers, but the latter album doesn't give me anything. I actually won that in a contest at a Norwegian web paper once, but I've never really gotten into it.

Drive By Truckers:
BillAdama: By far my favorite of this week’s albums but I have no expectation of it advancing. It’s just not the aesthetic that’s popular in this board.
John
Greg


This week's matchups are:

Division 2:
7 Lou Reed - The Blue Mask vs
10 Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick

Division 4:
1 Elliot Smith - Either/Or vs
16 Aimee Mann - Whatever

Division 6:
5 Beck - Midnite Vultures vs
12 Elliot Smith - Figure 8

Division 8:
3 Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit vs
14 Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy

Votes go to AMModeratePoll@gmail.com, vote stays open one week.

Matchups for week after next:

Division 1:
7 Jerry Lee Lewis - Live At The Star Club vs
10 The Millennium - Begin

Division 3:
1 REM - Life's Rich Pageant vs
16 Bruce Springsteen - Live 1975-1985

Division 5:
5 Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty vs
12 The Flaming Lips - Zareika

Divison 7:
3 The Postal Service - Give Up vs
14 Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Wow, didn't expect Pavement to lose to Ben Folds Five... and I really expected more love for Decoration Day, I thought there were a bunch of people here who loved that album. Guess they just weren't voting.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

It is too bad that more people aren't voting. This has been my favorite poll I've been a part of on this site. I'm looking forward to the rest and the song version.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

It's my favorite as well. And I'm shocked to see I'm the only one to vote for Chuck Berry. Who'd thought that a couple of years ago..?

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I'm thinking of, when we get to the third round, switching to two matchups per week so people really have a chance to participate without having to go out of their way to do a lot of listening.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

One more day to vote in this grouping.

All the usual early votes are in. None of the votes are very exciting so far. They're all either 5-1 or 6-0.

One thing to note about this week. Beck and Elliot Smith are both vying to be the first artist to put 3 albums into the second round.

The only other group that can still do that is Belle and Sebastian, but they've still got The Boy With The Arab Strap in a later vote.

Of other groups with three albums in the draw, Beatles have gone 0-2 so far, Spoon went 2-1, REM have gone 0-2, The Decemberists went 2-1, and Pavement went 2-1.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

And the week 12 results...

Division 2:

7 Lou Reed - The Blue Mask 5 TIED WITH
10 Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick 5

Lou Reed was up 5-1 yesterday, and Cheap Trick made a comeback. Since my vote was for Lou Reed, no further votes will mean Cheap Trick wins.

Lou Reed:
Netjade
Greg
BillAdama
Honorio: Using the same mask of “Transformer” again (but in blue) indicated that Reed was back on the right track. And it wasn’t only the album art…
Harold Wexler

Cheap Trick:
Henrik: Is it just me who thinks that the songwriting on "The Blue Mask" is quite embarrassing?
John
Nassim
Sonofsamiam
Rune

Division 4:
1 Elliot Smith - Either/Or 12 def
16 Aimee Mann - Whatever 1

Sonofsamiam broke up the shutout at the last minute.

Elliot Smith:
Netjade
Greg
BillAdama
Honorio: Fine fine song-writing, an absolute classic.
Harold Wexler: I love WHATEVER - it's nearly flawless, and "I Should've Known" is one of the all-time great opening tracks. It's too bad it has to be up against one of my favorite albums.
Henrik: Two lovable artists, one great album.
Jonah
John: Elliott Smith now has taken out two albums that are really good but not as good.
Nassim
Michel
Pop Elton
Rune

Aimee Mann:
Sonofsamiam

Division 6
5 Beck - Midnite Vultures 8 def
12 Elliot Smith - Figure 8 5

Beck becomes the first artist to put three albums through to the second round.

Beck:
Netjade
BillAdama
Honorio: It’s considered as a style exercise, but what an exercise!!
Harold Wexler
Henrik: Not a masterpiece, but MV is definitely an entertaining pop piece.
Jonah
Nassim: that could appear, coming from me, like a betrayal. But Figure 8 is my least liked Elliott Smith album (the only one not in my top 200 albums) while I enjoy Midnite Vultures quite a lot, more than any other Beck album.
Pop Elton

Elliot Smith:
Greg
John: Make that 3.
Michel
Sonofsamiam
Rune


Division 8:
3 Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit 10 def
14 Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy 3

Belle and Sebastian is 2-0 and still has The Boy With The Arab Strap.

Belle and Sebastian:
Greg
BillAdama: Two albums easily in my top 100 of the decade, slight edge goes to Belle & Sebastian.
Honorio: If only for the wonderful “Another Sunny Day”
Harold Wexler
Henrik: Once again, I don't have a favorite from division 8...and Okkervil River is very typical for the acclaimed music from the '00s that I can't enjoy at all. B&S is B&S, so they get my vote even if TLP is not a personal favorite of theirs.
Jonah
John
Michel
Sonofsamiam
Pop Elton

Okkervil River:
Netjade
Nassim
Rune

Matchups for this week:

Division 2 Tiebreaker:

7 Lou Reed - The Blue Mask vs
10 Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick

Remember, a tiebreaker is simply leaving the old vote open for one more week, it's not an entirely new vote. If you voted in the matchup already there's no need to vote again.

Division 1:
7 Jerry Lee Lewis - Live At The Star Club vs
10 The Millennium - Begin

Division 3:
1 REM - Life's Rich Pageant vs
16 Bruce Springsteen - Live 1975-1985

Division 5:
5 Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty vs
12 The Flaming Lips - Zareika

Division 7:
3 The Postal Service - Give Up vs
14 Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans

Matchups for week after next:

Division 2:
2 Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle vs
15 Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges - Clube da Esquina

Division 4:
8 Johnny Cash - Unchained vs
9 Sleater-Kinney - Call The Doctor

Division 6:
4 Sleater-Kinney - One Beat vs
13 O Brother Where Art Thou

Division 8:
6 The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America vs
11 Eels - Blinking Lights And Other Revelations

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

One more day to vote in this week.

It's much closer this week than the last two weeks. Three out of the four are within two votes or less.

The tie from last week has also been broken.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Week 13 results:

Division 2 tiebreaker:

10 Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick 6 def
7 Lou Reed - The Blue Mask 5

New Cheap Trick vote:
VanillaFire1000

Division 1:

10 The Millennium - Begin 5 def
7 Jerry Lee Lewis - Live At The Star Club 3

Higher seeds are now 2-5 in Division 1, the only seed favorites to win being Chelsea Girl and Sound of Silence.

Jerry Lee Lewis:
Greg
Harold Wexler
Henrik: I hate to vote against "Begin", which indeed is one of the great lost albums. And I'm not even a big fan of live albums, but on "Live at the Star Club" we get an extraordinary performance. Rock And Roll. Might be the best live album of all time.

The Millennium:
Netjade
VanillaFire1000
Honorio: An overlooked (at the time) masterpiece of my beloved sunshine pop that is now getting a deserved love for its sweet harmonies and sunny arrangements.
Sonofsamiam: THE ultimate sunshine pop album, and one of my favorite ‘60s albums regardless of genre. Just gorgeous.
John

Division 3:

1 REM - Life's Rich Pageant 8 def
16 Bruce Springsteen - Live 1975-1985 3

REM finally puts an album through to the second round, in their third and last opportunity.

REM:
Michel
Netjade
Harold Wexler
Honorio: It was the first R.E.M. album that I’ve bought (after listening “Superman” on the radio). Still one of my favourites of them, especially the superb “Fall on Me”.
Sonofsamiam
Jonah
John
Rune

Bruce Springsteen:
Greg
VanillaFire1000
Henrik: It seems like I am a live albums fan after all...

Division 6:

5 Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty 7 def
12 The Flaming Lips - Zareika 4

Beastie Boys:
Michel
VanillaFire1000
Sonofsamiam
Henrik: With Hello Nasty, BB gave us another album shockfull of great musical ideas. Zareeika is not bad, but more interesting as a concept than for its music IMO.
John
Nassim
Rune

Flaming Lips:
Netjade
Harold Wexler
Honorio: A crazy idea that unexpectedly gave notable results due to the twisted but genial mind of Wayne Coyne.
Jonah

Division 8:

14 Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans 8
3 Postal Service - Give Up 4

Another #3 seed goes down in the first round.

Postal Service:
Netjade
Honorio: One of the best 00s in my opinion, indie meets electronica with brilliant results.
Jonah
John


Sufjan Stevens:
Michel
Greg
Harold Wexler
VanillaFire1000
Sonofsamiam
Henrik: "Give Up" really sounds like an album for me, but it never gives me the kicks. On the other hand, it feels good to remain faithful to Sufjan.
BillAdama
Rune

Week 14 matchups:

Division 2:
2 Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle vs
15 Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges - Clube de Esquina

Division 4:
8 Johnny Cash - Unchained vs
9 Sleater-Kinney - Call The Doctor

Division 6:
4 Sleater-Kinney - One Beat vs
13 O Brother Where Art Thou

Division 8:
6 The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America vs
11 Eels - Blinking Lights And Other Revelations

Matchups for week after next:

Division 1:
2 The Beatles - Help vs
15 Vince Guaraldi - Charlie Brown Christmas

Division 3:
8 The Cars - Heartbeat City vs
9 The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me

Division 5:
4 Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap vs
13 Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

Division 7:
6 The Strokes - Room On Fire vs
11 Sufjan Stevens - Greetings From Michigan, The Great Lakes State

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Just under a day left to vote.

So far this round there's a vote tied 3-3, one 4-2, and two that are 5-1. Any album can still turn it around.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Week 14 results...

Division 2:

2 Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle 6 def
15 Milton Nascimento - Clube Da Esquina 4

Bruce Springsteen:
Greg
Harold Wexler
Michel
VanillaFire1000
John
Henrik: As much as I want to keep the non-English language albums in the game, I can't justify a vote against WI&ESS. I really like the early Bruce.

Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam: I know this has little chance against BROOOOCE, but Clube da Esquina has been called “the Sgt. Pepper of Brazilian albums”, though it’s actually quite a bit better than Sgt. Pepper.
BillAdama
Rune: This was a pleasant surprise. I'm listening to a lot of world music nowadays, and I'm dying to go to Oslo World Music Festival, but I can't. I like this, and Bruce isn't really my thing, though I like some of his stuff. I'll dig deeper into this later.

Division 4:

9 Sleater-Kinney - Call The Doctor 9 def
8 Johnny Cash - Unchained 1

Johnny Cash:
Greg

Sleater-Kinney:
Netajde
Sonofsamiam
Harold Wexler
BillAdama: Even Sleater-Kinney’s worst album is still awesome. Though I have to give Johnny Cash props. I didn’t know there was such a thing as an ‘Awesome country cover of Soundgarden’.
Michel
VanillaFire1000
John
Rune: I can hear why that Johnny Cash album is the least talked-about of the American Recordings. It's allright, but Call The Doctor is better.
Henrik

Division 6:

4 Sleater-Kinney - One Beat 6 def
13 O Brother Where Art Thou 3

Sleater-Kinney:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam
Harold Wexler
BillAdama: Most underrated band of the decade as far as I’m concerned.
Michel
John

O Brother Where Art Thou:
Greg
VanillaFire1000: The best soundtrack album of all time. I really hope this makes it through.
Rune: Probably the best movie soundtrack ever. One Beat is good, but this is a gem.


Division 8:

11 Eels - Blinking Lights And Other Revelations 6 def
6 The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America 4

The Hold Steady:
Greg
Harold Wexler
John
Rune: Music I don't care about. The Hold Steady could probably have played in my living room without me noticing. But I don't like the voice of that eel.

Eels:
Netjade
Sonofsamiam
BillAdama: This one’s a pretty close call for me. The Hold Steady’s obsession with drug parties and occasional obnoxious mean spiritedness kind of alienates me. Blinking Lights is overlong and uneven, but still gets the edge for its gems.
Michel
VanillaFire1000
Henrik

Week 15 matchups:

Division 1:
2 The Beatles - Help vs
15 Vince Guaraldi - Charlie Brown Christmas

Division 3:
8 The Cars - Heartbeat City vs
9 The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me

Division 5:
4 Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap vs
13 Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

Division 7:
6 The Strokes - Room On Fire vs
11 Sufjan Stevens - Greetings From Michigan The Great Lakes State

Belle and Sebastian look to go 3-0 in the first round, while the Beatles look to avoid going 0-3.

Week after next matchups:
Last week of round 1

Division 2:
1 Marvin Gaye - Here My Dear vs
16 Prince - Controversy

Division 4:
5 The Flaming Lips - Transmissions From The Satellite Heart vs
12 Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom

Division 6:
3 Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World vs
14 Kings of Convenience - Quiet Is The New Loud

Division 8
7 The National - Alligator vs
10 Animal Collective Strawberry Jam

Votes will be open for a week, send votes to AMModeratePoll@gmail.com

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Happy to see One Beat moving on. I didn't think it had a shot against Oh Brother Where Art Thou because I know that a lot of people here love that soundtrack... and it is good, but One Beat is one of the best of this decade. It was one of the first albums that took a stance on Bush era politics, and I don't think anybody ever topped them.... most artists sound whiny when singing about political themes, it's when you don't pull the punches that your message comes through and Sleater-Kinney sure didn't pull any punches. Of course, the entire album isn't about politics so don't make that a reason to shy away from it. It really is one of the best albums of the last 10 years.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

The only reason Fever to Tell gets more acclaim than One Beat is because of Maps. Sleater-Kinney is everything guitar-driven rock should be. And those drums. Just great.

Michigan vs Room on Fire will be an interesting match-up.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

A little under 18 hours to vote this week.

It's a pretty close week. One is tied, two have two vote margins and one has a three vote margin.

I got another vote in my spam filter. You guys are breaking the Markov chains!

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Week 15 results:

Division 1:
2 The Beatles - Help 6 def
15 Vince Guaraldi - Charlie Brown Christmas 4

Despite a lot of strong support for ol' Chuck, the Beatles finally put an album in the second round.

The Beatles:
Michel
Harold Wexler
Honorio: Just listened to the Guaraldi album on Spotify and found it delicious but, believe me, we NEED a Beatles album on the tournament.
Michael
Jonah
Henrik

Vince Guaraldi:
Netjade
Greg
VanillaFire1000
Sonofsamiam: The best Christmas album of them all, absolutely timeless.

Division 3:
8 The Cars - Heartbeat City 6 def
9 The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me 5

The Cars:
Netjade
Michel
Greg
Harold Wexler
VanillaFire1000
Jonah

The Cure:
BillAdama
Honorio: Surely it’s long and disperse, but some fragments are just like heaven.
Sonofsamiam
Rune
Henrik

Division 5:
4 Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap 8 def
13 Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile 4

Belle and Sebastian become the second group, along with Beck, to get three albums through to the second round.

Belle and Sebastian:
Michel
BillAdama: Great album against a good album
Honorio: A question of sensibility, B&S are much more Honorian than NIN. Or else I’m getting soft.
VanillaFire1000
Sonofsamiam: Not very good, but surely better than the turgid Fragile.
Rune
Pop Elton
Henrik

Nine Inch Nails:
Netjade
Greg
Harold Wexler
Jonah

Division 7

11 Sufjan Stevens - Greetings From Michigan, The Great Lakes State 9 def
6 The Strokes - Room On Fire 4

The Strokes:
Netjade
Honorio: Although it seems that the end of decade lists are going to dethrone The Strokes I still like them, even their second album.
Jonah
Rune

Sufjan Stevens:
Michel
Greg
Harold Wexler
BillAdama
Michael: this is a beautiful album, no way am i letting room on fire beat this!
VanillaFire1000: One of the toughest choices yet.
Sonofsamiam: Nearly as good as Illinois, and “Detroit” is still the best individual Sufjan track.
Pop Elton
Henrik

Week 16, final week of the first round:

Division 2:
1 Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear vs
16 Prince - Controversy

Division 4:
5 The Flaming Lips - Transmission From The Satellite Heart vs
12 Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom

Division 6:
3 Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World vs
14 Kings of Convenience - Quiet Is The New Loud

Division 8:
7 The National - Alligator vs
10 Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

I'm going to make a new thread for round 2 and post the schedule.

Voting lasts one week, ends Tuesday at midnight board time (7 pm Eastern). Send votes to AMModeratePoll@gmail.com

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

Sorry Bill, totally forgot to chime in this week. Won't happen again.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

21 more hours to vote. Right now there are two blowouts (One possible shutout), and two that are within two votes.

It might take me a week or so to get the statistics in for the first round. I just happen to have a big assignment due Friday.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

And the final results of the first round:

Division 2:
1 Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear 5 def
16 Prince - Controversy 3

Marvin Gaye:
Netjade
Greg
Honorio: “Controversy” is good but it’s a minor Prince album. “Here, My Dear” is by no means a minor album for Marvin Gaye.
Harold Wexler
Henrik

Prince:
Michel
John: I can't believe this is ranked so low, and I can't believe Here My Dear is ranked so high.
Rune

5 Flaming Lips - Transmissions From The Satellite Heart 5 def
12 Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom 4

Flaming Lips:
Greg
Honorio: Flaming indie Lips before the prog.
Harold Wexler
BillAdama: Ruby Vroom is an album I bought because of this poll and just didn’t like at all.
Jonah

Soul Coughing:
Netjade
Michel
Nassim
John

Division 6:
3 Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World 6 def
14 Kings Of Convenience - Quiet Is The New Loud 3

Super Furry Animals:
Netjade
Greg
Honorio: Why, oh, why must I choose between these two wonderful albums? I remember listening to the great Kings of Convenience album in Henrik’s car travelling through Sweden on a sunny August day and I had to vote for them!! But then I listened again “Justapozed With U”, “It’s Not the End of the World?”, “Presidential Suite” or “Rings Around the World” and I had to reconsider it. Maybe the wider palette, maybe the lack of prejudices, maybe…
Harold Wexler
BillAdama: An album I consider a dark horse for the title, mostly because of how well it did in the last album poll. I wouldn’t place it nearly as high as others, but definitely in the top ten of it’s year, whereas KoC I just think are above average.
Pop Elton


Kings of Convenience:
Henrik: My important vote of the week.
John: Erlend Oye is a guy who deserves a little more recognition.
Rune

Division 8:
10 Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam 7 def
7 The National - Alligator 5

The National:
Greg
Honorio: The decision is obvious, “Strawberry Jam” is one of the biggest bluffs of the last years.
Michel
BillAdama: Two precursors to career albums. Top ten of it’s year versus top twenty of it’s year. Alligator is just way more consistent.
Henrik

Animal Collective:
Netjade
Harold Wexler
Jonah
Nassim
Pop Elton
John
Rune

Next round coming in new thread! Statistics coming up also.

Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Albums: Result Thread!

I'll try to get correlational stats up later, but for now, here are some other stats:

Higher seeds went 40-24
Higher AM ranks went 38-26

(Note: Higher seeds were the same as higher AM rankings about 80-90% of the time.)

1 seeds went: 7-1
2 seeds went: 7-1
3 seeds went: 5-3
4 seeds went: 8-0
5 seeds went: 7-1
6 seeds went: 2-6
7 seeds went: 2-6
8 seeds went: 3-5

Some interesting results here. 1-5 seeds went 35-5, whereas 6-8 seeds went 7-17. That could either mean there was a problem with my seeding formula, or there's some kind of psychological underdog effect.

As for qualifying classes...
501-600: 5-0
601-700: 5-2 (Wild cards 1-1)
701-800: 5-0
801-900: 1-4
901-1000: 4-2 (Wild cards 1-0)
1001-1100: 4-1
1101-1200: 3-2
1201-1300: 2-3
1301-1400: 3-2
1401-1500: 3-2
1501-1600: 3-2
1601-1800: 5-5
1801-2000: 2-8
2001-2200: 7-3
2201-2400: 3-7
2401-2600: 5-5
2601-2800: 1-9
2801-3000: 3-7

The interesting thing here is, after you get to about 1100, the advantage for being a higher AM rank goes away. 501-1100 went 24-9. Take out the one or two matchups they had against each other, that means higher seeds were slightly under .500 when you go below 1100.

Highest ranked album eliminated:
#623 The Beatles - Let It Be
#653 Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica
#826 Interpol - Antics

Lowest ranked albums advancing:
#2923 They Might Be Giants - Flood
#2901 Bridgitte Fontaine - Comme A La Radio
#2890 Flaming Lips - Transmissions From The Satellite Heart