Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.1

[Brad]

Welcome to the beginning of the 2021 edition of Moderately Acclaimed Albums!

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 = March 9th at 10am EST.

Here's a link to the bracket for the entire tournament:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=474290

Also, there's still a limited amount of time to enter a Predict-It! bracket via the link above... just for fun!

Match-ups:
1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea vs. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
2. Pulp - We Love Life vs. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan vs. Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool
4. American Football - American Football (1999) vs. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

Phase one in which Doris gets her oats!

[Listyguy]

1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea vs. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
2. Pulp - We Love Life vs. Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle
3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan vs. Shannon Wright - Dyed In The Wool
4. American Football - American Football vs. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

[Schüttelbirne]

I thought I'd write something about each album, but I didn't want to spend to much time on it, so there may be mistakes in spelling, grammar, holes in the argumentation etc., so sorry in advance for anyone who dares to read this .

The Waterboys | This Is the Sea (1985)

The songs here are filled with opulent instrumentation and majestic arrangements with violins and saxophones and brass etc., but they don‘t work in all cases. When they do work, the songs rise to a cathartic climax that actually does what cathartic climaxes are supposed to do – get at the listener‘s emotion and move him. But there are quite a few songs here where it doesn‘t work or only partly. I‘ll take the penultimate song, „Trumpets“ as an example: First of all, having a song called „Trumpets“ and then not featuring a single trumpet on it, isn‘t a problem, but having this song contain a line like „Your love feels like trumpets sound“ and then immediately after that line a saxophone starts playing as if it pretends to be a trumpet, just seems bizarre to me. Is it an ironic reversal of the actual lyrics? Does the love actually not feel like anything at all or does it feel like a trumpet when actually a saxophone is playing? Or was it too difficult to get Roddy Lorimer who played trumpet on „Don‘t Bang the Drum“ to come in and play these lines? Is it a critique of the contemporary music audience that can‘t hear the difference between saxophone and trumpet (the difference is actually pretty major because a saxophone is a woodwind instrument and the trumpet is a brass instrument)? Am I overthinking this?
Anyways, this isn‘t a major problem, it just irritated me. The actual problem I have is Mike Scott‘s hammering on the piano that seems to lack any feeling (in a love song!) and the weird use of the celeste near the chorus that doesn‘t fit in there at all. The saxophone playing throughout the album is actually pretty good (courtesy of Anthony Thistlethwaite), but here it sounds pretty corny. And that is the biggest issue I have with some of the tracks here: They sound corny (or what I perceive to be corny, I hope I‘m using the right word here). The tracks are all dancing on the edge between actual emotional majesty and blatant, inauthentic cheesiness. Some of them fall on the one side, some on the other.
But the ambition and passion put into this project is palpable, and I can accept this as a solid effort, that may actually grow on me with further listening.
Highlights: „The Pan Within“, „This Is the Sea“


Roy Orbison | Mystery Girl (1989)

The album cover is bad. Who thought having the O of Roy and the beginning of Orbison connect would be a good idea? It looks ridiculous, specifically with the added reflection beneath it. And then there‘s a out-of-focus photography of Orbison (I guess?), once on the left side and once on the right side, but turnt upside-down with the album title also upside down. The designer and art directors should really have done a better job because this looks incredibly cheap.
Enough with the complaining about superficial elements of the album. What matters is what it sounds like, right? Unfortunately, my verdict there isn‘t much more positive. The melodies are incredibly simple and the lyrics are generic romance stuff. This wouldn‘t be a big problem, if there was any interesting element to redeem that and normally that would be the vocal work. But what Orbison does here is not impressive to me at all, at points it is – to be completely honest – rather embarassing. When „Windsurfer“ started and he started wailing „Wiiiiiindsurfer“ I got a serious case of second-hand embarassment. Or take the way he pauses right before the title of the song comes up in the lyrics, just to make sure everybody understands how the song is called: „If not for my… Careless Heart“.
The instrumentation does nothing to salvage that. There‘s quite a lot of guitars, horns and strings (even though the strings are uncredited, but they are very pronounced), but nobody is doing anything with them. The songs just sound like a loop with the same points made over and over again („The Only One“ is especialy guilty of that).
Overall it just sounds like the type of schmaltzy, bland music I don‘t particularly care for. I wasn‘t really surprised to see Diane Warren co-wrote a song here; her music and me are not on the same wave. The best tracks here are probably „You Got It“ which is excessively radio-friendly and „A Love So Beautiful“ which sounds like it borrows heavily from West Side Story‘s „Somewhere“.
Highlights: none


Pulp | We Love Life (2001)

I feel like I can‘t appropriately judge this based on just the one listen I gave to it because while I listened to it, it revealed more and more substance. I haven‘t listened to a lot of Pulp (or Britpop in general) and I think I‘ve spent some time with Different Class a few years ago, though I‘m not sure.
Anyways, much the like the album by The Waterboys above this album features extensive amounts of strings and a flute and a background choir and actual birdsong, so it all sounds very pretty. And at first glance (better: at the first „blind“ listen, insofar as listening can be blind, since it‘s not visual, but you hopefully get what I mean) it really seems like that‘s what the album tries to be, and „just pretty“ is not something I really like. Then „Wickerman“ came up and changed my perception of the album.
You see, there‘s two versions of the cover. There‘s the one you find on Spotify with the band‘s name depicted as flowers and others plants, tinted in bright green. The other one is the one you find on Wikipedia or RYM which has brown-ish colors. I noticed this difference only after I had listened to the album and tried to think up what I was going to write and it struck me as something worth noting because it resembles my feeling towards the album quite well.
At first I thought the epicness and majesty of the instrumentation was genuine, which is certainly not bad, but needs really great songwriting to click with me. Instead the vocals are working against the instrumentals and turn them upside down. You have what sounds like a beautiful lovesong with strings and a flute and it‘s called „The Birds in Your Garden“ and it features actual birds singing and the first thought is a line I stole from „I Love Life“: „Corny I know, but you had better believe it“. And then, paying attention to the lyrics it‘s not a love song at all, it‘s basically the opposite of a love song.
Nature isn‘t green anymore like on the first album, it‘s withered and dry and it really isn‘t the happy place it seemed like at first. It‘s something that‘s reflected throughout the album; looking at the lyrics for „Weeds II“ retroactively I realize how they use the lyrics to act as a counterpoint to the prettiness of the music, which is interesting and exciting, but not something I could process fully after the first listen. Even the title track sounds more like resignation than actual love of life. I will have to listen to this again at some point.
Highlights: „The Trees“, „Wickerman“, „I Love Life“, „Sunrise“


Laura Marling | Once I Was an Eagle (2013)

Before I listened to this I was only familiar with two of Marling‘s albums: Semper Femina and last year‘s Song for Our Daughter. Both of them had a lot of solid material, but I found them lacking of a certain element, and I never knew what it really was. Her material is generally good and I can‘t say anything against her songwriting or her abilities as a performer. But, for me at least, singer-songwriters need a certain something that elevates them from the rest and Marling only occassionally displays that something. I never know what this „something“ is and that makes me like one artist and just respect a different artist (and respect is certainly something Marling is worthy of). I thought about it some more and my thesis now is that diction plays an important role. Her voice is great, but her line readings often seem detached from the substance of the song. It‘s never really like she‘s telling a story and taking the listener with her through this story, but rather that the story and the telling of the story are two distinct things that are only loosely connected. The best singer-songwriters (we will have one later in the tournament) elevate their performance by living through the emotions of the song, while Marling often seems to be a supporting character telling the story. I hope it‘s clear now what I mean.
Occasionally she actually achieves this fusion of storytelling and emotive performance, probably best on the closer „Saved These Words“. When she sings „Thank you, naivety, for failing me again“ you (or better: I) can feel exactly what‘s emoting. Generally, she often comes very close to being great on this album, certainly closer than on the other two albums I‘ve heard from her.
The instrumentation here helps tremendously with that. I‘m not talking about her guitar, because that one is always present, but rather about the cello and the occasional organ that come in to give the songs a calm and pleasant tone, and later - on the second half of the album – an almost euphoric tone. Only on „Devil‘s Resting Place“ do they seem a bit out of place, but that is partly why it is one of my favorites of the album.
Certainly a good album and one that made me appreciate Laura Marling more.
Highlights: „I Was an Eagle“, „Devil‘s Resting Place“, „Pray for Me“, „Saved These Words“


Jonathan Richman | I, Jonathan (1992)

Richman very earnestly states at the start of the song what he‘s doing: „I‘m from the 60‘s […] and I know we can‘t have those times back again, but we can have parties like there were then“.“
And on he goes to basically show over the ten tracks of the album that the ‚60s aren‘t dead. It‘s actually quite endearing how he pays homage to his own idols (specifically of course in „Velvet Underground“, featuring a surprisingly good quote of „Sister Ray“).
Still his music never sounds like an exact copy, it has enough character to stand on its own. For most of the tracks he turns slice-of-life stories into catchy tunes, actually selling lines like „I was dancing in the lesbian bar in the industrial zone“. The second and the eighth track belong to largely instrumental homages to surf rock, which are quite solid in context, but wouldn‘t really work on its own.
I‘m mostly familiar with Richman through The Modern Lovers, an album which I absolutely adore, and the movie There‘s Something About Mary, which is one of those comedies that work because the writers just throw everything on the wall and see what sticks. This album lacks the variety and inventiveness of the former, but I doubt he even wants to be inventive here; I think he‘s quite content with being nostalgic for a while. When it‘s done as well as here, I can‘t fault him for that.
Highlights: „You Can‘t Talk to the Dude“, „Velvet Underground“, „I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar“


Shannon Wright | Dyed in the Wool (2001)

I try to go into these albums with an open mind, meaning I don‘t read about the albums I don‘t know beforehand, so I don‘t really know what to expect. But there‘s certainly expectations (as there always are); I thought I would be dealing with a singer-songwriter (that much is true), but the album cover totally misled me into thinking this would be a bright, summery affair. Instead it‘s pretty dark and not summery at all. (Talk about mismarketing)
Wright is not only the songwriter and vocalist, but also plays multiple instruments on the album, but the two most significant ones are guitar and piano (though I don‘t want to downplay the incredibly important role the different strings play for the feeling of the album). I think one could make a case of dividing the songs here into piano-led and guitar-led songs, with the eerie „Colossal Hours“ being clearly dominated by the piano and „The Hem Around Us“ by guitar picking. These two styles still have something in common: The somber mood that feels gloomy, but not sad. Instead it can get rather aggressive with Wright letting her voice off the reigns.
The lyrics also ascribe to the general dark tone, but there‘s not a lot of lyrical material which is not that usual for singer-songwriters whose songs are often stuffed to the brim with verses. Wright goes a totally different route here: Her songs just have a few verses that are repeated again and again, burning their way into the listener‘s brain. After you finish the five minutes of „Dyed in the Wool“ you can‘t get „Come with me you dirty rat“ out of your head (though Google tells me it‘s wretch not rat, but I‘m staying with what I heard to make a point).
The songs are rather short with more than half of them under the three-minute-mark. They all have a distinct sound to them which is connected to the point I made above about piano- and guitar-driven songs. All of them feel like separate entities that do not flow into one, but still seem like part of a larger whole, which is a very good thing for an album. Some of the shorter songs feel more like outlines that could stand more sketching out, but that‘s just nitpicking.
Highlights: „Hinterland“, „Dyed in the Wool“, „Method of Sleeping“, „The Sable“


American Football | American Football (1999)

American Football create an introspective soundscape with guitars, bass and drums, all the normal elements of a rock band, but it all sounds far softer than a normal rock band would, but not as corny as a Soft Rock band does. The softness here is not even trying to veil the fundamental sadness permeating the album, based mostly on break-up (which is not terribly original, but one of the major themes of songwriting). They are actually able to find a perspective that doesn‘t feel too cliché-laden, with the denial that there ever was any love present in the first place and if there was no love, the singer can‘t be hurt because he didn‘t lose anything of value („Never Meant“ is exactly about that). It certainly doesn‘t sound like an incredibly healthy way of living, but I also think he‘s aware of that; he sounds rather anxious about society at large („Stay Home“ in its before-2020 interpretation) and can‘t seem to express himself in a manner that would be appropriate for a discussion of the proceedings: „We‘re just two human beings, individually / with inherent interests in each other and how we relate“. That may be a technically accurate form of describing a relationship but it‘s too technical in its approach to these matters.
This isn‘t meant to criticize the songwriters, but rather to commend them for capturing the spirit of a lot of people who feel rather unsure about their surroundings (to put it this way). There‘s a reason American Football has gained cult status and means a lot to many people: They can relate to the lyrics and to the feelings expressed by the music. I‘m not sure if I would count myself among them, because I relate far more to their third album, American Football, which seems less specific and a bit more matured in its theme, which makes sense since the people were twenty years older when they made it.
I‘ve talked a lot about the lyrics, but I don‘t want to forget the lyrics which are the primary pull factor for me here: The guitar work is wonderfully subdued and has a very unique feeling to it. They are able to weave their instruments together in a way that just sounds incredibly beautiful. I want to highlight the trumpet, played by Steve Lamos, which is only featured in three tracks, but gives them a rather comforting quality. That‘s actually another point related to the paragraph above: This album never seems like it wants to stay in its own sadness, wallow in it and never come out again; rather it seems like a way to overcome it through expression to the outside.
Highlights: „Honestly?“, „For Sure“, „But the Regrets Are Killing Me“, „Stay Home“, „The One with the Wurlitzer“


Jenny Wilson | EXORCISM (2018)

To approach this album, I would like to compare it to another artist of recent years who is very similar in some regards but completely different in others: Lingua Ignota. The reason I‘m doing this is because I‘ve had a hard time coming up with words to describe this album which is at the same time dark, but also hopeful in a certain way and features music that is at the same time shocking but also kind of catchy. With these texts I‘ve tried to come to a deeper understanding of why I like an album or why I don‘t and I feel like this comparison makes sense here.
The experiences both of these women are drawing from are not the same and I wouldn‘t call them similar but they‘re both horrific on their own, but the way they choose to share their experiences with the world seems incredibly brave to me. Hayter describes her music as survivor anthems, but also as a sort of revenge against her abuser, while Wilson does a very similar thing with her album, specifically on the title track.
There‘s also an interesting connection between the two that was the foundation for me making this comparison: Exorcism is the practice of driving out the devil and that‘s what Wilson is trying to do, expell the devils from her life (at least partly). Hayter on the other hand does the opposite on „DO YOU DOUBT ME TRAITOR“ where she sings: „Satan get beside me / Satan, Satan / Satan, fortify me“. I doubt this is a confession of satanism (I think I‘ve heard somewhere that satanists do not actually believe in Satan, but there‘s probably multiple strains of that ideology, but I can‘t talk about things I don‘t know anything about). It rather sees her gather up everything she can against him in her fury.
The music itself is very different of course: Lingua Ignota creates a very intriguing mix of classical music and industrial/metal styles while Wilson does Electropop.
Electropop is not my genre at all and I frequently dislike it because it often seems to lack passion or inventiveness but that is not the case here. Her use of synthesizers is very determined and her every element of the songs seems to have a purpose. It‘s an incredible achievement and a really wonderful album.
Highlights: „LO‘ HI‘“, „DISRESPECT IS UNIVERSAL“, „IT HURTS“, „FOREVER IS A LONG TIME“


7 | The Waterboys | This Is the Sea vs. 8 | Roy Orbison | Mystery Girl
4 | Pulp | We Love Life vs. 5 | Laura Marling | Once I Was an Eagle
6 | Jonathan Richman | I, Jonathan vs. 3 | Shannon Wright | Dyed in the Wool
2 | American Football | American Football vs. 1 | Jenny Wilson | EXORCISM

Favorite song of the week: Jenny Wilson | „FOREVER IS A LONG TIME“

[Brad]

My picks:
1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea vs. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
2. Pulp - We Love Life vs. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
This could have gone either way.
3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan vs. Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool
"That Summer Feeling" is one of my top 15 songs all-time. Incidentally, the first time I saw Jonathan live was just before this release - I was not prepared for the excellence.
4. American Football - American Football vs. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

Thanks!

[Jirin]

Wait, which American Football? 1999, 2016 or 2019?

[Madzong]

2. The Waterboys | This Is the Sea
1. Pulp | We Love Life
4. Jonathan Richman | I, Jonathan
5. American Football | American Football

[Brad]

Wait, which American Football? 1999, 2016 or 2019?

1999
also called "Soccer"
that's a joke

[Jirin]

Thanks. It was ambiguous cause all their albums are self titled.

This Is The Sea 74 - Mystery Girl 72
Once I Was An Eagle 93 - We Love Life 83
Dyed In The Wool 74 - I, Jonathan 46
American Football 87 - EXORCISM 82

[Bang Jan]

4 | The Waterboys | This Is The Sea
6 | Roy Orbison | Mystery Girl

1 | Pulp | We Love Life
3 | Laura Marling | Once I Was an Eagle

5 | Jonathan Richman | I, Jonathan
7 | Shannon Wright | Dyed in the Wool

8 | American Football | American Football
2 | Jenny Wilson | EXORCISM

Favourite song of the week: Pulp | Sunrise

[DaveC]

1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea vs. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl

2. Pulp - We Love Life vs. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
Now my favourite album by Laura Marling, but still a close call.

3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan vs. Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool

4. American Football - American Football vs. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM
Another close call. "Forever is a long time" is my favourite song this week.

[acroamor]

1. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
2. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
4. American Football - American Football (1999)

[Holden]

Just finished the Marling album, and it’s definitely at least a 9/10 album. But I almost feel like the first four songs would’ve made a better EP than album tracks. They are much better than the rest of the album and sort of feel separate. Great recommendation, wouldn’t have gotten to this one for a long time if not for this game!

[spiritualized]

1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea (7/10) vs. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl (6/10)
2. Pulp - We Love Life (7/10) vs. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle (8/10)
3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan (9/10) vs. Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool (8/10)
4. American Football - American Football (1999)(7/10) vs. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM (8/10)

Pretty straight forward match-ups here.
The only album I hadn't already listened to was Mystery Girl, but apart from the first song, it's rather average, although I'm not a huge fan of This is the Sea either.
Jonathan Richman's is a stormer, although he had stiff competition with Shannon Wright.
I had to re-listen to American Football and Jenny Wilson as I both graded them as "good" before. Jenny comes out on top though with her dark electro-pop, very catchy. American Football is slightly disappointing after a second listen, although it does bring back memories of the alt-rock bands of the beginning of the nineties.

[mileswide]

Laura Marling always seems to face a strong contender in these competitions, so I rarely end up voting for her Unlike with most tournaments and polls on here, I've given only 1 play each to the albums I wasn't already familiar with due to time constraints:

5. The Waterboys - This Is the Sea v. 8. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
1. Pulp - We Love Life v. 2. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
6. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan v. 4. Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool
7. American Football - American Football [1999] v. 3. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

Standouts: The Whole of the Moon | The Comedians | The Night That Minnie Timperley Died* | Devil's Resting Place | Rooming House on Venice Beach | The Sable | You Know I Should Be Leaving Soon | EXORCISM

*WLL is one of those albums where my favourite changes all the time but it's Minnie Timperley now...I think.

[LunarPiper]

1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea
2. Pulp - We Love Life
3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan
4. American Football - American Football

[Honorio]

Big music. Maybe I'm alone in this, but IMHO if there is an album where grandiosity is justified, "This Is the Sea" is the one. Sophistication meets here with sheer passion. Heartland art rock. Other highlights in a particularly strong first week are the brilliant fourth album by Laura Marling (especially the initial four-songs run) and the duel between the intricate and delicate web of guitars of American Football and the confessional synths of Jenny Wilson. But every album on this week is excellent. Big music.

1. The Waterboys - This Is the Sea (1985) vs. 5. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl (1989)
7. Pulp - We Love Life (2001) vs. 2. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle (2013)
6. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan (1992) vs. 8. Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool (2002)
3. American Football - American Football (1999) vs. 4. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM (2018)

Favourite song from every album:
The Whole of the Moon | You Got It | The Trees | I Was an Eagle | I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar | Vessel for a Minor Malady | Never Meant | Forever Is a Long Time

By the way, dear English-speaking friends, which is the correct way to use on the previous sentence? Is it "favourite song from every album" or "favourite song off every album"?

[Brad]

By the way, dear English-speaking friends, which is the correct way to use on the previous sentence? Is it "favourite song from every album" or "favourite song off every album"?

Either works! (but of course we Americans spell it "favorite" lol!)

[Honorio]

Thank you, Brad!

[Rdwdbob]

The Waterboys - This Is The Sea
Pulp - We Love Life
Jonathon Richman - I, Jonathon
Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

[Holden]

4. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea vs. 3. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
6. Pulp - We Love Life vs. 1. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
5. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan vs. 8. Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool
2. American Football - American Football (1999) vs. 7. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

[Madzong]

Thank you, Brad!

And the Commonwealth countries spell it ‘favourite’

[Safetycat]

1. This Is The Sea > 5. Mystery Girl
Some commenters seem to dislike what I enjoy about The Waterboys' album - the huge sense of drama and how overwrought it all is. It's all very extra and beautiful.
I enjoyed a lot of Mystery Girl, and I'm a fan of You Got It, but it's just not the same as his old stuff. The best late-period Orbison is still Wilburys.

6. We Love Life < 3. Once I Was An Eagle
The Pulp album didn't do it for me so much but it is interesting and stands out.
Laura Marling is one of many repeat forum game "participants", and one I never mind showing up again. This is probably my favourite thing of hers I've listened to so far. Nice to hear Master Hunter again after the overlooked poll.

8. I, Jonathan < 4. Dyed In The Wool
Both different from what I expected, but I was far less into Richman's style than Wright's.

7. American Football < 2. EXORCISM
Didn't get much out of AF but I thought it was decent. EXORCISM made me very emotional and is very good even if it's not something I'd listen to often.

[rumpdoll]

1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea vs. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
2. Pulp - We Love Life vs. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan vs. Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool
4. American Football - American Football (1999) vs. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

[Brad]

24 hours left to vote!

[bonnielaurel]

Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool
Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

[jamieW]

The Waterboys - This Is The Sea
Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan
Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

Favorite album I didn't vote for: Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool

[Nassim]

1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea
2. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
4. American Football - American Football (1999)

[Rob]

And so it begins. This will certainly end in tragedy, I can tell.
Traditionally, the first week is one of the best with only big hitters. Not the case this time, but its still strong overall, with a mighty top 4.

Since Schüttelbirne seems to have already run away of my yearly schtick of doing longe-ish reviews of all albums in the first round and we don't need two of those I decided to change things up by writing short reviews of 5 lines long (on Word, that is). It sure is a challenge as I suddenly can't afford to be specific anymore. Perhaps I'll make an exception for albums I have nominated myself. We'll see.

8. Pulp – We Love Life
Not really sure what to make of this one. It has some good melodies, but it also never becomes all that interesting. It becomes slightly weird, yes, with an eight minute spoken word Wicker Man story, several songs dedicated to plants and something called The Origin of Species on which Cocker sings like a dirty old man waiting on a restraining order (something I got from every track I heard of last year’s Beyond the Pale). Instead of being appealingly eccentric I just couldn’t connect to it at all.

7. Shannon Wright – Dyed in the Wool
A welcome combination of scruffy indie rock with singer-songwriter tendencies. Shannon Wright has a rather aggressive vocal approach that frequently makes it sound like she is gasping for air. It gives the songs a some grit, which is furthermore helped by the rather short length of many of them. I liked it, but it missed something to really hit me.

6. Roy Orbison – Mystery Girl
It seems that not many hear are really impressed with this album and I don’t think that’s quite fair. Sure, Orbison doesn’t seem to have learned many new tricks since his glory days, but he is in great form here, adding his unique sense of drama to mostly strong tracks, helped along by many star musicians. It’s also a little miracle that at 52 his voice was still this great. A few songs, especially She’s a Mystery to Me and The Comedians, can stand proud among his early sixties classics.

5. Jenny Wilson – EXORCISM
On this album Wilson directly confronts the fact that she has been raped and puts it to words and music. With this in mind an album like this feels wrong in a poll; comparing it seems besides the point and voting against it seems almost evil. Still, I do vote against it. I think the songs are mostly very good and I admire the courage behind it. Nonetheless, this type of club music with thin synths keeps me at bay. I do not mind the choice for dance on itself, but I feel a dark sound would have helped.

4. The Waterboys – This Is the Sea
Before personal favorite Fisherman’s Blues The Waterboys made this album, a culmination of their “Big Music”, where a maximalist sound represents a spiritual power. Usually I prefer my spirituality more subtle, but this is certainly an exception. Where a lot of bands can come across as hammy when going for this kind of big, bombastic passion, Scott and his band always seem earnest. It helps that there are great lyrics too. The Whole of the Moon has been a long-time staple of my top 100.

3. Jonathan Richman – I, Jonathan
For Jonathan Richman at the age of 41 doing an album in the style of 50’s/ early 60’s rock ‘n roll and adding a tribute to the Velvet Underground is no sign of a midlife crisis, but actually business as usual. The music sounds very old-timey, but never stale or overtly faithful. In fact, with his humorous modern subjects he breathes new life into them. I was feeling grumpy when starting this album earlier this week, but that didn’t last long. Sheer fun!

2. Laura Marling – Once I Was an Eagle
To many the peak of Laura Marling’s career so far, probably thanks to its ambition, scale and proficiency. Het guitar work was never better or prettier and vocally she gives a masterclass in phrasing and variety. For me, this still doesn’t quite weigh up to the poetic visions and emotional depth of I Speak Because I Can, but this is certainly her second best album. The way her guitar and vocals work in tandem in the opening 4-part suite is a career highlight.

1. American Football – American Football
Wasn’t this album in the 2015 edition of Moderately Acclaimed? Why do I recall not liking it? Why did I think it sounded like raw noise music? Whatever, this is something else than I expected or falsely remembered. In fact, this album is gorgeous. For an album with a reputation of being hopelessly sad I find it surprisingly inviting. Just let me drown in those warm guitar tones, with the occasional trumpet or Wurlitzer and I will be forever happy. Stay Home is a particular gem.

A simple overview of my votes:

1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea vs. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
2. Pulp - We Love Life vs. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan vs. Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool
4. American Football - American Football (1999) vs. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

[Kingoftonga]

Winners in red:

1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea vs. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
2. Pulp - We Love Life vs. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan vs. Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool
4. American Football - American Football (1999) vs. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

[Brad]

Very encouraging turn-out this week, with 21 total voters!:
acroamor
Bang Jan
bonnielaurel
Brad
DaveC
Holden
Honorio
jaimeW
Jirin
Kingoftonga
Listyguy
LunarPiper
Madzong
mileswide
Nassim
Rdwdbob
Rob
rumpdoll
Safetycat
Schüttelbirne
spiritualized

Winners:
1. The Waterboys - This Is The Sea over Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl 17-4
2. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle over Pulp - We Love Life 13-8
3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan over Shannon Wright - Dyed in the Wool 12-7
4. American Football - American Football (1999) vs. Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM 12-9

Next up - Round 1.2!