Elite Eight Bands

We're getting down to some serious match-ups now. Feel free to vote also on Radiohead versus Arcade Fire, which is what really should be going on in the bottom left bracket.

Sweet Sixteen Bands

Deadline for sweet sixteen voting: Tuesday at midnight.

Jason Ellis is Making a Difference

I thought I would share with you all about my good friend, Jason Ellis. Actually, I'm not going to tell you too much about him, but just that he is a group leader for our church high school department. He is spending his spare time helping his high school guys learn about Jesus, and mature as men. In fact, here are a few of them doing what men do best...beating on each other. Jason should be proud. (No one was seriously hurt during the filming)



Note to Taylor: This is what should have happened with Kyle.

Second Round Bracket

There were a lot of hard-fought battles and a few upsets. The biggest wins were by Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones each with 12-0 victories. Sadly, Madonna did not make it to the second round. The biggest upsets were Michael Jackson over Pearl Jam and Elton John over U2. I think deep down we're all glad that U2 is out of it, despite the fact that we're now stuck with Elton John.

Vote in the second round in the comments. Anyone is welcome to vote, even if you didn't vote in the first round.

Best. Band. Ever.

The bracket is now available. Vote in the comments. Leslie asked me whether she was supposed to vote according to which bands she knows are really good or which bands she is actually listening to the most right now. A good example is the Beatles (1) versus Band of Horses (16). Every individual needs to balance their own definitions, but the goal of this bracket is to determine which band/artist is the best ever.

As an example of voting styles: Ethan thinks that classic rock, while important, just doesn't hold up to newer music that has, in essence, stood on the shoulders of the Beatles and others to make even better music. Brian on the other hand would argue that the music of classic rock bands innovated and created so greatly that most bands since have merely been imitating but never equalling their influences. That being said, everyone should feel free to lobby others as to which bands' music has stood the test of time and also to speculate as to what new music will remain relevant for decades to come.

Once everyone votes on the first round, I'll update the spreadsheet and re-post it for the second round. The seeding system is inherently inaccurate so any complaints as to the over-rating or under-rating of a band/artist should be remedied through voting. So if Madonna gets the votes, Madonna will win.

Notice: Bands/Artists Not Seeded

The following bands/artists are currently not included in the bracket. I'm trying to make as many people happy as possible but it's hard when Brian only gives 50s, 60s, and 70s bands and Ethan gives mostly 90s bands. I'm essentially just using what I know about their music tastes to fill in the rest. If you feel that any of the following are potentially the best band/artist ever, this is your chance to say so. Once the bracket comes out there will only be voting. Here is the non-exhaustive list of bands NOT making the tournament:

Dave Matthews Band
Madonna
No Doubt
POTUSA
BLink-182
Cake
The Cars
Billy Joel
Prince
Genesis
Dire Straits
Jethro Tull
The Kinks
Lynryd Skynrd
Steely Dan
The Supremes
The Monkees
Bon Jovi
The Sex Pistols
Pavement
Ray Charles
Al Green
Rascals
Four Seasons
Allman Brothers
The Eagles
R.E.M.
Soundgarden
Every artist mentioned by Adri.

And if anyone at all would like to vote to put Belle and Sebastian in the bracket I would love them forever.

Pitiful participation

Pitiful participation . . .

I'm looking at you, Adri. And what? No Celine Dion, the greatest performer of our generation?

Also neither of you, Brian and Ethan, actually paid attention to the brackets, which are divided by decades for seeding purposes. I have the top eight in each bracket down pretty easily. It's mostly a question of which bands get to be the underdogs.

Everybody should at least give me five underdogs worthy of consideration in each of the brackets 50s/60s, 70s/80s, 90s, and 00s. So far there are only four people who will get to vote on who advances through a given round. Anyone that posts their top bands/artists will get a vote.