Hey folks!

The twenty-third week of the Best Album of 2001 is over! But before we get into that, a final repeat of the special message from the last two weeks:

We have another session of Best Album Virtual Karaoke coming up, this time for the inaugural year of 1995! But when should we do it? That’s what we’re asking in this quick little Google survey right here, that’s right, just click here. It’s all of two questions! And if you haven’t participated in the Best Album Virtual Karaoke, know you’re missing out. You don’t have to sing if you don’t want to!* (*unless you’re the Best Albums editor, then they make you.)

And now onto the weekly wrap-up!

ANOTHER UPSET! #19 FEVER defeated #14 THE BLUEPRINT by a whopping 48 votes. Admittedly, for a number of us, this one wasn’t surprising — THE BLUEPRINT was looking a little soft in its previous matches — but the scale of the defeat was surprising. By my estimation, THE BLUEPRINT should’ve lost by ~25 votes, and this was nearly double that. There’s some interesting activity in the Prediction Bracket Top 20 below, and I suspect this result is the primary reason.

Otherwise, everything else came out pretty much as expected — all the higher seeds one, and the one match that should’ve been close (#8 TIME (THE REVELATOR) vs. #9 GIRLS CAN TELL) was close, or at least, with a difference of 22 votes, was in that “close but not really close” category.

THE BEST ALBUM OF 2001 PREDICTION BRACKET TOP 20

Here’s Week #10 of the Prediction Bracket Top 20!

Once again, ALL RESEARCH AND SUCCESSFUL DRUG POLICY SHOWS THAT TREATMENT SHOULD BE INCREASED AND LAW ENFORCEMENT DECREASED WHILE ABOLISHING MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES holds on to the #1 spot, and has now been there for six weeks. Wow! The other big news is perennial #2 bracket Party Hard has fallen down to #5. A momentary lapse? We shall see. Rounding out the top 5, we have Alpha Delta Kilo at #2 and Dead Leaves and a Dirty Bracket at #3, both inching up one spot, and Whiskey Tango Hotel November? climbing up three to #4. Big changes afoot? We shall see.

The big mover this week is Take Off Your Pants and Bracket, which has been ping-ponging up and down this chart for the last ten weeks. This week, it moves up a big 12 notches to #7. Can it match or beat it’s high position of #3? We shall see. The biggest drop is from Drink Milk, which falls from #10 to #19. Can it stick around another week? We shall see.

We have five debuts this week, with three of them being re-debuts. At #20, last seen in Week #2, is The Got 'Em Wrong Project. Coming in at #18 is a new bracket, Janky Rotel Hotpot. Welcome! Bravo Romeo Alfa Charlie Kilo Echo Tango re-debuts at #17 after falling off the chart all the way back in Week #2. At #16 is MeanwhileShinersTheEggWasReallyTheBestAlbum, last seen in Week #5. But our big debut is People, people, this is a poll, a brand new bracket to the chart, which drops in all the way at #9. Welcome!

Five in, five out. We say goodbye, for now(?), to I know I'm going to regret doing this (last week #13), How to Disappear Completely from the Bracket top 10 (lw #14), Clarence Carter's Strokin' (lw #15), Life Was Full Of Possibilities (lw #17), and Who's Josh? (lw #19). Will we see them again? We shall find out.

Lastly, I would like to take a moment and give the “Hang In There Baby” award to Take it or leave it; it's hard to explain, which has been at #11 for five non-consecutive weeks, without ever hitting the top ten. You can do it! We believe in you!

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

On Monday, #19 Kylie Minogue, FEVER defeated #14 Jay-Z, THE BLUEPRINT, 145-97-3. (245 total votes, +48)

On Tuesday, #6 Radiohead, AMNESIAC defeated #27 Cannibal Ox, THE COLD VEIN, 131-90-2. (223 total votes, +41)

On Wednesday, #11 Missy Elliott, MISS E... SO ADDICTIVE defeated #22 System of a Down, TOXICITY, 135-78-2. (215 total votes, +57)

On Thursday, #1 Wilco, YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT defeated #16 Low, THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE, 179-140. (319 votes, +39)

On Friday, #8 Gillian Welch, TIME (THE REVELATOR) defeated #9 Spoon, GIRLS CAN TELL, 138-116-2. (256 votes, +22)

NEXT WEEK’S MATCHES

Monday, August 31st: #4 Daft Punk, DISCOVERY vs. #13 Rilo Kiley, TAKE OFFS AND LANDINGS.

Tuesday, September 1st: #5 Björk, VESPERTINE vs. #12 Fugazi, THE ARGUMENT.

Wednesday, September 2nd: #2 The Strokes, IS THIS IT vs. #15 Aaliyah, AALIYAH.

Thursday, September 3rd: #7 Gorillaz, GORILLAZ vs. #23 Drive-By Truckers, SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA.

Friday, September 4th: #3 The White Stripes, WHITE BLOOD CELLS vs. #19 Kylie Minogue, FEVER.

We currently have a Designated Cheerleaders for VESPERTINE, THE ARGUMENT, IS THIS IT, GORILLAZ, SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA, WHITE BLOOD CELLS, FEVER and that’s it. (Is that it? That’s more than half of them! Great job everyone.) If you’d like to write one for one of the other albums, which are DISCOVERY, TAKE OFFS AND LANDINGS, AALIYAH (or even another for one of those other seven), send it to [email protected]. Thanks!

Best,

Kent