From The Blinds Presents – “Three Blind Men: The Blind Bracket Challenge”

The premise is simple: a bracket of some of the greatest Rock albums of all-time. The inspiration is also pretty simple- it all started at the end of this year’s March Madness; the epic three-week clash between the best in NCAA basketball. March Madness engenders a certain amount of grandiose ambition in the simple folks like me who are drawn to the idea of a single-matchup where the picks are difficult, the results often unexpected, and the competition as fierce as can be had.  You may have seen brackets for things other than sports either on social media or maybe from a friend with a proclivity for taking things to a peculiar level of intensity. Well, I confess to falling into some category of peculiar intensity.

To elaborate, I have always been interested in how others interpret music as well as the act of ranking the consensus best albums of all time. I have always liked music lists not because they make definitive statements regarding music, but because it’s a way many manage to decipher and distill the history of a genre of music and to mark the milestones of music’s timeline. Lists and brackets and rankings are never definitive, never a question of fact or fiction, but rather an organized way of making interpretations on art, which is as subjective an aspect of life as can be found.

So in using a bracket I wanted insight into my friends’ perspective on the Rock n’ Roll music that has eclipsed a handful of decades and I wanted the challenge of cultivating a comprehensive and feasible bracket. Most importantly, however, I wanted to play the game of trying to guess the picks of people I have known for a very long time, and see if I know their musical tendencies as well as I’d like to think I do.

What transpired over the course of 3 weeks is what we call a “blind bracket”. This is the best kind of bracket in my opinion, in which I gathered 64 of the best albums of all time (per the critics consensus, pundits’ lists, other blog lists, chart position, and album sales) from disparate times in the last 50 years of Rock n’ Roll, then used that very same general consensus as well as my own personal opinion to rank/seed the albums and create the matchups. The creation of the bracket is the complicated part, the simple part of the process is sending the matchups via email.  What I sent were emails with the matchups, without the seeds of the albums involved, and then the picks were sent back to me. Some discussion and argument was had in the email chain, some friendly banter, some spirit of a general forum, however, the picks were sent to me, and me only. Hence all the “pickers” were “blind” to both my rankings and the choices of their fellow participants.  No one CC’d, (however, a certain person who will remain unnamed had some trouble not hitting ‘Reply All’) and all participants had different approaches to making the picks. The end result was many installments of epic email chains spanning roughly 3 weeks – a similar time frame as March Madness.

Though it may be simple for me to send out the matchups and enter the results after making the bracket, the onus was on those filling out the brackets blindly to make difficult decisions while also concluding within themselves whether they would make picks objectively or based on absolute preference. It takes diligence on all fronts, from all parties involved, to make the picks in a timely and decisive manner as well as endure the gauntlet that is choosing between two great albums over 60 times. And with that, I will reveal the results round by round, with a bit of color commentary for good measure.

The Participants (“Pickers”): 

John William Wolf (friend for over 10 years) – “The Dreamer” 

Kevin Edward Bestor (brother, let’s call it 29 years) – “The Rebel” 

Maxie Cole Henkle (friend for over 10 years) – “The Crusader”  

Round 1 – South Region

Exile on Main Street (Rolling Stones) was the only unanimous pick to advance in this region. Kevin picked top seeds in this region while John and Cole both went with the more current artists which led to some stunning upsets. This Is Happening (LCD Soundsystem) soundly beat 4 seed Born in the U.S.A. and The Battle of Los Angeles (Rage Against the Machine) had a big underdog win over second seeded The Ramones. I had to overrule the pick of Somethin’ Else by The Kinks over Boston, as I wasn’t entirely sure that any of the participants had even listened to that particular Kinks album. I was convinced it was the band over the other, however, Boston’s self-titled debut had to advance as the 3 seed (and would tellingly continue to advance in future rounds). Bon Iver vs. TV on the Radio was a difficult first round match, and I was pretty surprised Wilco didn’t get the upset as well.

Round 1 – West Region

I was surprised by John’s pick of Band on the Run over Room on Fire and stunned by Kevin’s rebellious pick of Document by R.E.M. over The Bends as well as his uncharacteristic take of Sea Change over Imagine, but once again John and Cole typically overruled his picks. Taking Document over The Bends (one of my favorite albums) told me Kevin isn’t subscribing to Radiohead’s brand of cerebral Rock. Both A Night at the Opera and The White Album were unanimous picks. I didn’t expect The Byrds or The Smiths to advance from this group and they didn’t. A bit unexpected to see Sublime not getting the upset win, but alas John made the tie-break pick for Talking Heads.

Round 1 – East Region

This region had the most unanimous picks to advance. Loaded, Californication, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Axis: Bold as Love were picked by all 3, and for good reason. I was surprised by another one of John’s picks, expecting him to take Kings of Leon over Bob Dylan for the upset. I was equally stunned Kevin took Kings of Leon over Bob Dylan! Kevin “The Rebel” picked Matchbox Twenty over Pink Floyd as well. I expected this region to be difficult for Cole with the Creedence vs. Queens matchup as well as the Soundgarden vs. Jane’s Addiction matchup. Overall, I liked how this Region turned out.

Round 1 – Midwest Region

Not surprised that these guys were not in the mood to give Joy Division or Patti Smith a nod. Both of those matchups led to unanimous victories.  Led Zeppelin also had unanimous picks, which was not the least bit surprising. Eat A Peach was another unanimous pick to advance. I expected the Supergrass upset over Simon & Garfunkel, as well as the MC5 pick. The Smashing Pumpkins vs. Alice in Chains was a really difficult 8 vs. 9 matchup. I was sad to see Smashing Pumpkins lose – the double albums did not fare well in this bracket.

Round 2 – South Region 

Exile on Main Street continued to cruise and This Is Happening continued to slay as the underdog. As Kevin put it “Boston is like driving with the windows down on a summer evening eating Dairy Queen Blizzards. Bon Iver is like tracing raindrops on your bedroom window…no thank you.” Sounds like both Kevin and Cole were done with the sensitive Rock and were pretty consistent picking the harder rocking material. Check Your Head was an interesting winner, as it’s one of those albums from the Beastie Boys, much like Ill Communication, that blur the line between Rap and Rock. I expected Rage Against the Machine (who should’ve probably been a bit higher of a seed) to win the upset, alas it did not.

Round 2 – West Region

The 1, 2, and 3 seeds all survived the second round in the West Region. The 4 seed, A Night at the Opera, faced a difficult matchup against Room on Fire, which I knew is a fan favorite with the participants. It pained me to see A Night at the Opera bow out here, as it’s a fantastic album that is underrated, yet I had to abide by The Strokes pick. Besides that matchup, I found this West Round 2 to be fairly simple to advance.

Round 2 – East Region

I knew I didn’t have the biggest of Pink Floyd fans as participants. They are in some ways the biggest cult band in the world, and if you don’t subscribe to their cult influence then you aren’t gonna give them the nod. I felt Cole had a tough one in this round, the Cosmo’s Factory vs. Californication matchup must have been difficult…. knowing him. With Cosmo’s Factory winning out, many of the 90’s stalwarts were eliminated. I was disappointed to see Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, RHCP, and Alice in Chains all being knocked out. Loaded, one of my personal favorites, advanced with a sigh of relief from me. Even though I’m a big fan of Kings of Leon, I was happy to not see that upset. Maybe if it was the Kings of Leon debut album I might have thought differently – that was still a tough matchup in my opinion.

 

Round 2 – Midwest Region

Led Zeppelin IV and Eat A Peach both earned unanimous victories. I was certain the only Billy Joel pick would come from Kevin, and was correct. I also expected a tough matchup between Supergrass and the Pixies, and saw that one through. The Pixies barely squeak by in an otherwise cut and dry Midwest Region Round 2.

 

Sweet 16 & Elite 8 – South and West Regions

The Sweet 16 was the “Kingslayer” round. This Is Happening trounced Exile on Main Street. I expected the upset pick from John, but did not expect Cole to take LCD Soundsystem here. Shocker! Room on Fire also stunned with the upset over The White Album – a controversial upset where only Kevin seemed to honor the nearly universal consensus that it is one of the Top 5 greatest albums of all time. Yet I knew my audience, and both John and Cole are Strokes fans through and through. Boston made it through with little fanfare (after a rough start nearly being knocked out in the first round…curious), however, I made my second official overrule on the Imagine vs. The Bends matchup. Not only do I believe The Bends is simply one of the best albums ever made, I also wasn’t convinced all participants had done the side-by-side listen on that one (or had listened from beginning to end the Imagine album). Besides, the pickers of Imagine had at some point in the earlier rounds already picked against it, so I had to remain cynical.

In the Elite 8 I stopped pushing The Bends and accepted Cole and Kevin’s insistence on it’s elimination. After eliminating a 4, 5, and 1 seed, LCD Soundsystem – the darling of the show – continued to fight Goliaths and win. Cole and John continue to see This Is Happening advance.  

Sweet 16 & Elite 8 – East and Midwest Regions

 

The last 1 Seed fell in the Midwest Round. Led Zeppelin IV was taken down by the modern album Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective. John and Cole once again teamed up to beat Kevin, who was becoming less rebellious at this point and more of a voice of reason. All kidding aside, the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 showed a more pronounced approach to making picks by all 3 participants. John become more subjective and picked with his gut (“The Dreamer” holding convictions), Kevin made picks for the favorites and more historically lauded albums, and Cole stayed a consistent “Crusader”, taking underdogs with just a dash of the consensus high-seed picks. I was sad to see Loaded and Doolittle go out in the Sweet 16 – they both were sleepers in my book but could not triumph. Seeing Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere take out Axis: Bold As Love was a tad stunning, yet not enough to warrant consternation.

 

Final Four and Championship Match

 

If I could distill the bracket down to a simple statement, I would say that the albums that came out of the South and West were those types akin to the Cinderella Stories of March Madness, and the winners of the East and Midwest were very workmanlike and unassuming albums that sneaked into the later rounds. Room on Fire and This Is Happening are both beloved modern albums, especially by the participants. However, I think they might be regarded quite differently when a few more decades pass us by. This Is Happening will most likely climb into the historical pantheon of classic albums, whereas Room on Fire might always be the underdog, the Jan to Is This It?‘s Marsha Brady. The Strokes’ sophomore album, which was certainly received with mixed reviews at first, might never get out from under the shadow of The Strokes’ debut. I do agree it is underrated and probably just as good as their debut, but I will be in the minority on that one. Eat a Peach was expected to do well, and I expected Cole to carry this one to the Final Four alone, with maybe just a bit of support from the others here and there. As a 3 seed it made sense to advance, especially in what might have been the weakest Region. Then there’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere by Neil Young. It was the quiet and unassuming album in the middle of the pack that somehow continued to advance without a whole lot of controversy. Although I think it’s a fantastic album, I don’t think it’s even Neil Young’s best (After the Gold Rush, Tonight’s the Night, heck even his self-titled debut might be better), so part of me is skeptical and thinks it was the name over particular album.

There you have it. As John creatively interjected in one of the email chains, the championship game came together with two albums that when mashed up, make an interesting album title in itself: Everybody Knows This Is Happening Nowhere. Serendipitous? Possibly. Was the end result satisfying? Relatively so. I think it’s LCD Soundsystem’s best album, and will always be. It’s an ambitious and comprehensively strong album that starts (“Dance Yrself Clean”) and ends (underrated “Home”) with fantastic tracks, and has a certain well-rounded aspect I appreciate. Some long form gems mixed in with hits; the album has good length, strong balance of ambition while still appeasing the base. I noticed a gap between the 60’s and 70’s Rock classics and the modern albums that I wish had been represented more (90’s and 00’s albums like Californication or The Bends), yet in the end I was very pleased with this Blind Bracket Challenge. It was a smashing success I will no doubt try to reignite later in the year. Perhaps a Rap Bracket? Some other category? I’m always ready for suggestions!