Round 1 Recap...

Thanks to everyone who voted! There were a number of very close contests, including a few upsets. Below you will find a recap of each region.

Here is a copy of the bracket [PDF].

Region 1

Joshua Tree cruised to a quick lead over Houses of the Holy, while Abbey Road dismantled Johnny Cash's American III: Solitary Man. Time Out beat Warren Zevon's Excitable Boy in a classic 12-5 upset. Not many people were familiar with the reggae artists represented, as Built to Spill's 1999 classic Keep it Like a Secret handily handled Culture's harmonic Two Seven's Clash.

No contest between Wish You Were Here and Young Criminal Starvations League, though we want to remind participants that the competition is for “best album” not “best song.” Led Zeppelin rounded out the region by cruising to victory over the Abyssinians, though one participant noted, “...I love that Abyssinians album, but IV was really influential to my life. Damn you for making me pick!”

Region 2

Two overtime battles were the highlight of Region 2. The first close match-up between Modest Mouse and Dr. Dre was hotly debated throughout the region. At the end of regulation the two albums were tied 27 a piece, with a Mario Kart race determining the winner (Lonesome Crowded West over The Chronic on Bowser Castle [N64] in a no-holds-barred winner takes all Waren Zevon death match).

More shockingly, Thelonious Monk came from left field with his Underground album to tie The Score at 26 votes. Mario beat Yoshi on Grumble Mountain to secure the 15-2 upset over the 6x Platinum Fugee's masterpiece! The committee believes that skits might have had something to do with the result....Damn skits!

Region 3

On the Beach Boys – Blue Scholars 8-9 match-up one participant effusively pointed out, “This match up does not get me excited...I think I'd rather watch Princeton vs. Harvard in women's golf.” It should be noted that it is the stated policy of Sun Cleaners that women's golf is awesome. “Jr Gong” relied heavily on nepotism by pulling off a last-second victory over Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Jamaica continued to represent in Region 3 as the “Cool Ruler” squeaked out a 3 point victory over Screaming Trees, the neo-psychedelic grunge standouts.

Another incredibly close match-up was the L.A. Challenge: 40 oz to Freedom vs. All Eyez on Me. Many of the younger respondents had a rough time with this match-up; though many participants were avidly derisive of Sublime, “Sublime sucks ass (x3).” Paul Simon closed out the bracket with an easy victory over Elvis Costello, but we would be remiss not to note that a number of respondents felt very loyal to Declan.

Region 4

Getting tired here...36 Chambers escaped an upset by 16-seed Soundgarden, while Nirvana cruised to victory over Dark Side of the Moon. Consensus seems to be that people like Dark Side t-shirts, but not the album... GZA didn't get much love in a tough first round match-up against Arcade Fire. It looked like a blowout early, as Marvin Gaye cruised to an early 11-0 lead. We thought of putting Don Henley et al out of their misery before they made it closer than the score looked.

Punk over trip-hop in an 11-6 upset of Ramones over Portishead (Dummy). The Jamaica challenge wasn't much of a challenge as the most famous non-compilation reggae album of all-time destroyed the dub classic despite frequent reverb, delay, and melodica solos on King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown. Pearl Jam's Ten cruised to victory over Band of Horses with surprising ease, while the jazz classic Kind of Blue didn't give YLT much of a shot. One particularly astute respondent noted, “We get it. You guys like miles Davis.”