Acclaimed Music Forums

Welcome to the round 2.1 of Moderately Acclaimed Albums 2018... we've finally made it through the full list of 128 albums.
Time to listen to half of them again!

Vote for your favorite album in each match-up.
Remember, anyone can vote as long as the voter has heard both albums.

Good-spirited comments are encouraged, but not absolutely necessary.
Deadline = July 17th at 10am EST.

Here's a link to the bracket for the entire tournament:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?t ... 9%20(2018)

Match-ups:
1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things vs. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man
2. Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt vs. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
3. Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat to Earth vs. Nina Simone - In Concert 1964
4. M. Ward - Hold Time vs. Pescado Rabioso - Artaud

We also have a TIE from the last round!
Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy vs. Meade ‘Lux’ Lewis - Cat House Piano ***Tie! 6-6 Next vote from someone who has not already voted in this match-up wins!***

You should be dancing!

Playlist for Round 2:



Playlist for this week:



2 | John Coltrane | My Favorite Things
1 | Johnny Cash | American III: Solitary Man

3 | Townes Van Zandt | The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
6 | Belle and Sebastian | The Life Pursuit

7 | Weyes Blood | Front Row Seat to Earth
4 | Nina Simone | In Concert 1964

8 | M. Ward | Hold Time
5 | Pescado Rabioso | Artaud

3. Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy vs. Meade ‘Lux’ Lewis - Cat House Piano

Thank you PlasticRam!
Mead "Lux" Lewis takes it 7-6 in OT!

My Favorite Things 87 - American III: Solitary Man 83
The Late Great Townes Van Zandt (#151 AT) - The Life Pursuit (#307 AT)
Front Row Seat To Earth 88 - In Concert 1964 83
Artaud 76 - Hold Time 72

1. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man
2. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
3. Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat to Earth
4. M. Ward - Hold Time

2. Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt vs. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
3. Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat to Earth vs. Nina Simone - In Concert 1964

1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things (7/10) vs. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man (9/10)
2. Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt (5/10) vs. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit (8/10)

American III
The Life Pursuit
Front Row Seat to Earth
Hold Time

As I did on the last three editions I'm going to include some (minor) stats about the nominated albums:

a) RYM Rating:
Again we have our moderately acclaimed albums mostly with a RYM rating between 3,00 and 3,99 (with 96,87% of the albums included there, and 68,75% between 3,51 a 4,00). This year we had a slight drop on the overall quality of the albums selected (if the RYM is an indication of quality) with a mean of 3,623515625, the lower of the last four years (it was 3,6553125 in 2017, 3,65265625 in 2016 and 3,65503937 in 2015). The graphic:



This year we had 4 albums outside the limits (less than 3.00 and higher than 4.00) while last year we had 8. 3 albums have a ranking higher than 4 and 1 album lower than 3. Anyone want to have a guess? Some clues:
a) Two albums with high ratings are not filed under Rock style.
b) Last year we had another highly ranked album from the same artist.
c) The lower ranked and one the highest ranked albums belong to the same subgenre of Rock music.
Any takers?

b) Year of release:
This year we had a significantly "newer" selection of albums, with a mean value of 1995 (the last three editions were 1991, 1992 and 1992), with the 2000s as the decade most represented.



c) Nationality:

This year we had albums from 20 different nationalities, showcasing again the open-minded attitude of the forum participants. Again we had USA and UK as the most represented nations. On the following graphic you will find the countries with more than one album on the game. The countries with an only album included Argentina, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Guinea, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, Norway, Russia and Sweden.





And now my votes for this week:



1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things (1961) vs. 2. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man (2000)
6. Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt (1972) vs. 8. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit (2006)
7. Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat to Earth (2016) vs. 4. Nina Simone - Nina Simone in Concert (1964)
3. M. Ward - Hold Time (2009) vs. 5. Pescado Rabioso - Artaud (1973)

Excellent first week of Round 2 (only masterpieces here). With 3 of my nominations, two of them facing each other.

By the way, my nominations on the first round performed quite well, with 6 of the 9 albums passing to the second round. The albums eliminated were "Tindersticks," "The Good Son" and "Tomorrow the Green Grass."

Honorio wrote:-
This year we had 4 albums outside the limits (less than 3.00 and higher than 4.00) while last year we had 8. 3 albums have a ranking higher than 4 and 1 album lower than 3. Anyone want to have a guess? Some clues:
a) Two albums with high ratings are not filed under Rock style.
b) Last year we had another highly ranked album from the same artist.
c) The lower ranked and one the highest ranked albums belong to the same subgenre of Rock music.
Any takers?

Above 4:
Deep Purple - Made In Japan (I'm pretty sure about this one, less so about the others)
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
Ennio Morricone - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

If you hadn't given the genre hint I would have actually guessed the albums by Camel and Swans along with Deep Purple as I know they rank quite high at RYM.

Under 3:
The Darkness - Permission to Land

I really don't know, but if the album has to be in the same subgenre as Deep Purple - hard rock/ heavy metal (this without checking) I go with this one. RYM takes metal absurdly serious and lighter more poppy takes on the genre usually score badly, so The Darkness might not have done too well.

Honorio wrote: This year we had 4 albums outside the limits (less than 3.00 and higher than 4.00) while last year we had 8. 3 albums have a ranking higher than 4 and 1 album lower than 3. Anyone want to have a guess? Some clues:
a) Two albums with high ratings are not filed under Rock style.
b) Last year we had another highly ranked album from the same artist.
c) The lower ranked and one the highest ranked albums belong to the same subgenre of Rock music.
Any takers?

Well I went straight to RYM to check my nomination for worst album in the game, and "Ballbreaker" currently has a RYM rating of 2.99. So if this is the one you identified Honorio, then the highest ranked album is hard rock too.

Just saw your post Rob. Checked with RYM and "Permission to Land" is 3.24. I haven't checked the others but your top 3 look spot on to me.

Honorio wrote: This year we had a significantly "newer" selection of albums, with a mean value of 1995 (the last three editions were 1991, 1992 and 1992), with the 2000s as the decade most represented.

Lots of great info, Honorio! This piece particularly intrigued me; I imagine that the 00's poll boosted their presence in this poll.

Exactly, Rob and DaveC! Coltrane, Morricone and Deep Purple's albums were the ones above 4 and the AC/DC album the one below 3.

1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
2. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
3. Nina Simone - In Concert 1964
4. M. Ward - Hold Time

1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things vs. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man

1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things vs. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man
2. Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt vs. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
3. Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat to Earth vs. Nina Simone - In Concert 1964
4. M. Ward - Hold Time vs. Pescado Rabioso - Artaud

1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
2. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
3. Nina Simone - In Concert 1964
4. M. Ward - Hold Time

If I get time I may vote in the other matches, but for now:

1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things vs. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man
2. Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt vs. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit

All four are great albums!

My picks:
1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things vs. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man
2. Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt vs. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
3. Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat to Earth vs. Nina Simone - In Concert 1964
4. M. Ward - Hold Time vs. Pescado Rabioso - Artaud

Thanks!

John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
Nina Simone - In Concert 1964
Pescado Rabioso - Artaud

Second week an immediately a quality jump. I wouldn't agree that all albums here are masterpieces, but the first three match-ups are as good as they get, and the fourth one is still okay.

3. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things vs. 5. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man
6. Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt vs.2. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
4. Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat to Earth vs. 1. Nina Simone - In Concert 1964
7. M. Ward - Hold Time vs. 8. Pescado Rabioso - Artaud

14 hours left to vote!

1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things vs. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man
2. Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt vs. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
3. Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat to Earth vs. Nina Simone - In Concert 1964
4. M. Ward - Hold Time vs. Pescado Rabioso - Artaud

1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things vs. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man
2. Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt vs. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
3. Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat to Earth vs. Nina Simone - In Concert 1964
4. M. Ward - Hold Time vs. Pescado Rabioso - Artaud

17 voters this week:
Bang Jan
Brad
DaveC
FrankLotion
Gillingham
hectorthebat
Honorio
jamieW
Jirin
KingofTonga
Listyguy
PlasticRam
Rob
Romain
spiritualized
StevieFan13
Sweepstakes Ron

Winners:
1. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things over Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man 10-6
2. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit over Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt 10-6
3. Nina Simone - In Concert 1964 over Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat to Earth 8-6
4. M. Ward - Hold Time over Pescado Rabioso - Artaud 10-3

Round 2.2 up soon!