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."