Hey folks!

Today’s Best Album of 2001 match is:

#26 Jimmy Eat World, BLEED AMERICAN

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vs.

#39 Guided By Voices, ISOLATION DRILLS

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To vote, follow this link to the Google Form. You will need a Google login to vote. If you can’t or won’t have one, let me know ASAP (either through this newsletter, my email [[email protected]] or on the Best Album Brackets Bluesky account) and I’ll see what I can do.

We have a quartet of Designated Cheerleaders today, two for each album! First up, for BLEED AMERICAN, it’s @andyswaff.bsky.social. Take it away, Andy!

Bleed American didn’t turn the world upside-down the way Nevermind did a decade before, but it did likewise help pave the way—perhaps unwittingly—for a wave of bands that would follow over the next decade, and it has a compelling story of triumph that makes it an easy choice to champion.

For those of us who got music mostly from the radio—as one did in the 20th century—the subgenre known as emo didn’t really exist until then. (Weezer may have provided the blueprint, as far as artists that got radio play, but they weren’t yet saddled with the label.) Discovering artists like Sunny Day Real Estate and the Get Up Kids required an internet connection or word-of-mouth, and it was in this circle that Jimmy Eat World cut their teeth. But after two albums failed to break through to the mainstream, Capitol Records dropped them (although the band were dissatisfied with the label anyway).

At a crossroads and determined to fend for themselves, they worked odd jobs to finance a self-produced album. Interestingly, it was the internet and word-of-mouth that got the music industry interested in the demos from those sessions that would result in a bidding war. In the summer of 2001, the title track from Bleed American was released as a single, followed by the album proper, but the song stalled just inside the top 20 on the Modern Rock chart. In the wake of September 11th, the album and title track were both victims of (understandable) name changes, which might have been another setback, but their second single, “The Middle”, finally broke through, beginning its climb that fall and topping the chart the following spring.

“Bleed American” (I’m told it was briefly renamed “Salt Sweat Sugar”, as I mentioned, but the CD I own still has the original title for this song, although the album is styled self-titled) is a furious, stomping slice of alt rock. If you’re a fan of their previous two albums, this introduction to the album tells you you’ll feel right at home. “A Praise Chorus” ended up being the fourth single off the album, and it hints at the growth they will demonstrate on this album, but also references (praises, even) several songs whose choruses you might recognize. “The Middle” might be their best and most famous song, and deservedly so. It’s a turn-of-the-century gem, combining an uplifting message and a singalong-ready chorus with perfectly-formulated alternative dynamics and a memorable guitar solo. It remains their lone hit to cross over to the Top 40, but a better representative of their work to the mainstream you could not find.

“Sweetness” was the follow-up single to “The Middle”, though it was actually written shortly after their previous album Clarity was released, and it’s almost as strong, built around a non-lexical repeated refrain that, again, you can’t help singing along to; it’s a masterful example of using the voice as a melodic engine in a genre typically defined by guitar-based melodies. “Hear You Me” is a power ballad dedicated to a couple of Weezer superfans who died in a car accident (and also remembered with a song from Weezer themselves). It was a candidate to be released as the last single, the band’s manager later admitting that choosing “A Praise Chorus” instead was a mistake, and even though it was not released as a single, it’s become one of their more popular songs. And, lest you think they were done lauding their heroes, they included a song about another song (“The Authority Song”), which feels wholly appropriate, and it’s not just a tribute to the act of listening; it’s a showcase of the band’s ability to lock into a groove that feels as timeless as the records they’re praising.

If you like independent/DIY artists, you can root for this album because the band financed it all by themselves, though you’d never know it from the high quality of the production (in an era where rock radio was becoming increasingly muddy and formulaic, Bleed American arrived with a crisp, mechanical precision that allowed every layer to breathe) and because they obviously respect artists like Fugazi and Guided by Voices. If you prefer classic rock titans, you can take solace in the influence of stalwarts like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty (and, to a lesser extent, the guitar heroes of hair metal). By focusing on lean, muscular songwriting rather than the melodrama of the time, the album serves as the perfect antidote to the corporate rock that plagued the airwaves (e.g., Staind and Nickelback). Bleed American hits the sweet spot where all of us can appreciate one of the finest albums of the year.

Thank you, Andy!

Next up, also for BLEED AMERICAN, it’s @chaosgoblinlc.bsky.social. Take it away, Johnny!

When you think about the greatest runs and legacies of bands from the 90s that are still active, there’s two remarkable bits that I can’t ignore: Deftones have arguably taken over Radiohead as the most influential band in that cadre, and that Jimmy Eat World is in the running for the top 5 at all.

Typing that out feels hyperbolic; it’s hard coming at Bleed American from a vantage point that isn’t clouded by nostalgia. It came out right before my 14th birthday, and once I burned my sister's copy that summer as soon as I could, it became a mainstay in my CD wallet up until high school when all my nerdy friends and I started getting into more serious and pretentious indie rock. But even after all those Pitchfork-approved bands came and went, I would still come back to Bleed American for more base reasons: it kicks so much ass, is sequenced near perfectly, and was crafted by music nerds who you could tell had a genuine love for the craft, for what loud, anthemic guitar music can do to you (fwiw, this record pays homage to bands as varied as Motley Crue and Jesus & Mary Chain).

More importantly, as the DC for this record, I want to come in and say that this record is so much more than The Middle (for me, it doesn’t even crack the top 5 on this album!). The title track, A Praise Chorus, Sweetness, If You Don’t, Don’t are all exemplary bangers. Hear You Me and My Sundown are great comedowns from their respective halves, and Cautioners is a more refined version of their softer experimentations on Clarity landing in the same territory as American Football without the jazz studies.

Admittedly, their follow-up Futures holds a closer place in my heart for its darker, often angry reflections on addiction, toxic relationships, and the uncertainty that comes with having your whole life ahead of you, but at the end of the day it's a comparably autumnal template for a formula that was refined on this record: sunny, straightforward hooks for days, a sentimental air without being too cloying, bombastically vulnerable without feeling autobiographical. This is what levels up and separates them from other contemporaries like Taking Back Sunday or Say Anything, and why I feel like this holds up remarkably well a quarter century later. This record deserves a strong run, call-and-response whoa-ohs and all.

Thank you, Johnny!

Now, two for ISOLATION DRILLS! First up, it’s @thehollar.bsky.social. Take it away, The Hollar!

What do you do when looking at an artist who is hopelessly prolific? Where to begin? Why not take a lesson from the hopelessly prolific, or possibly nike: don’t think that much, just do it. Which album is at hand? Why not try that one. Unless it is Vampire on Titus. Don’t start there.

Let’s start over. What you have here in your probably digital hands is fifteen tracks of the highest quality rock and roll. And also Frostman. Also congrats on having digital hands. You are the future unless we stop you. This album was the moment where the dream of becoming the world’s biggest rock band died forever for Guided by Voices, while also being the point where they were possibly the most capable of being the world’s biggest rock and roll band in their career. Clean recording, hooks for days. And also Frostman. Yes, I am a middle-aged white guy. Why do you ask?

You’ve made it to the third paragraph of whatever this thing is shaping up to be, so I feel I can now level with you, reader: This is probably not one of my ten favorite Guided by Voices albums, though I will acknowledge that I am a fanatic and that list is liable to change quicker than one of Pollard’s prog-oriented compositions. Do not get me started on extolling the virtues of his side projects. I do not get invited to parties. But do not take this as a knock on this album. Rather, this is a great album from one of the best bands of all time. I celebrate their whole catalog. And this one more than almost any other is a celebration of hooks. Also there is Frostman.

Not to throw shade like I’m about to, but what justice is there in a world where we got the Oprah’s Book Club of the Month platitudes of The Middle thrown at us from every available CVS speaker when Glad Girls is right there? Chasing Heather Crazy astounds within 15 seconds, and then it keeps on going. The Brides Have Hit Glass is the best country song ever written that has absolutely nothing to do with the country music genre, and no, I will not be taking questions on this subject.

The album before this, Do The Collapse, was GbV’s attempt to grasp the brass ring of success. And they missed it completely, though that album sounds better with every passing year. This was the album where it fell apart. The dream of mainstream success died, Pollard’s marriage crumbled, and things just kept in motion. Not everything needs to be a globe-conquering behemoth to be successful, no matter what silicon valley and the stock market tells us. Sometimes you just need a recording studio or 4-track, and above all else you needmore songs.

So please, come join us in the cult of Robert Pollard. You probably will not need to shave your head, learn to chant and sign blank checks. Just bring an appreciation of guitars and a belief that the number of melodies possible to sing over said guitars is infinite. Vote for this album. Crack open a beverage of your choice, leave your things in the street and run wild. Also there is Frostman.

Thank you, The Hollar!

Then, last but not least, with a Very Special Designated Cheerleader for ISOLATION DRILLS, it’s @tdonohue.bsky.social. Take it away, Tim!

I’ve never written one of these before, but you may have heard of me. I'm "Tim", husband of @nanette.bsky.social and occasional character in her stories on the critically acclaimed "the best thing" blog (https://thebestthing.blog/). She doesn't know I'm writing this, but I wanted to share my personal perspective on Guided By Voices' ISOLATION DRILLS.

Is this the best album of 2001? No, I don't think so. Though, it is underrated and features a number of classic GBV songs.. Glad Girls, Skills Like This, and Chasing Heather Crazy, to name a few.

Is it Guided By Voices best album? No, again. As Nanette has said before (and I agree), GBV isn't really an album band. They seem to concentrate on writing catchy indie rock songs, without much consideration on piecing them together into a coherent, well crafted album. Still, ISOLATION DRILLS is easily in the top 5-10 GBV albums (and out of 44 that's pretty good).

So, why am I cheer-leading this very good but not necessarily great album? The reason is entirely sentimental. Nanette and I met during this album.

Now, I don't mean that we were there during the recording, or somehow had any influence on Bob Pollard et al during its inception in Dayton, Ohio. (There's a gratuitous Dayton mention for you, Nanette!) It's more simple than that.

ISOLATION DRILLS was released on April 11, 2001 (and eventually went on to become GBV's first album to make the Billboard). But, let's rewind exactly two months.

On February 11, 2001, GBV performed its first concert of that year at the Empty Bottle in Chicago. If you haven't been to the Empty Bottle, it's a bar with black walls, a small stage in the corner and standing room for around 400 people. There's no backstage, so the band has to walk through the crowd to get to the corner stage.

That day, at this tiny (but famous) venue, GBV introduced ISOLATION DRILLS to the world, fronted by an unknown band named The Strokes (similarly previewing songs from their upcoming, debut album "Is This It"). GBV started their set by playing the entirety of ISOLATION DRILLS, followed by a number of popular songs off other albums.

Somewhere near the end of the ISOLATION DRILLS portion of the set, Nanette and I met for the first time.

If you attended a GBV show in that era, you know they all gradually descended into a bit of a drunken mess. The band would have a cooler of beers on stage, and pull from them throughout the show. This meant that, as the show went on (and they often lasted more than two hours), the words were more slurred and the music more sloppy. See also "How's My Drinking?" from this album.

The crowd was no different. At a later point in the set, Nanette and I ended up standing near each other while a group drunk guys jostled into us and others nearby.

During a break between songs, I found the courage to lean over and introduce myself ("Sorry I keep bumping into you, but I thought I'd introduce myself", the first of many cheesy lines). We chatted, exchanged emails (cell phones weren't yet a thing) and started dating shortly thereafter.

25 years later, we're still together. ISOLATION DRILLS was a small (happenstance) part of our beginning.

So, if you don't have a favorite in this match, vote for the underdog. Vote for ISOLATION DRILLS and the random sentimentality of strangers. Help GBV pull off the upset and make it one more round!

Thank you, Tim!

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Yesterday, #7 Gorillaz, GORILLAZ defeated #58 Stereolab, SOUND-DUST, 130-108-1.

Thanks,

Kent