Hey folks!

That’s right, you heard me. If you follow this link, you will be able to upload your nominations for the upcoming Best Album of 1988 tournament. It’s here! It’s finally happening!

The full instructions are posted below and on the Google form, but here are the highlights for those who live life on the go:

• Put down every album that you want to nominate that you believe to be from 1988. If it turns out to be from a different year, or should probably be disqualified for being a greatest hits or whatever, I’ll make that determination after. Don’t self-censor!

• Nominations are open from 10/21/26 to 11/11/26.

• You will be able to go back and edit your ballot during that time, so keep listening and adding to it.

• Please hit “return” when entering your list so your list is nice and vertical. See the example below.

Here are the full instructions that are on the Google form, reposted here because you can’t repeat information too much:

Hello! This is the nomination form for the Best Album of 1988 Tournament, as run by @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social on Bluesky (personal account: @kentmbeeson.bsky.social). If you could list every 1988 album you'd like to see in the tournament in the form below, that would be swell. The number of nominations an album receives will determine if it makes it into the tournament, so be sure to list everything you love! You may list as many albums as you like. The only rule: be sure you only list an album once!

You will be required to sign into Google and you only get one form. However, if you realize later you forgot some albums and wish to enter them, a) I've activated the switch that allows you to alter your ballot, and if that doesn't work b) either contact me at @kentmbeeson.bsky.social on Bluesky or email me at kent dot m dot beeson at gee mail dot com with your additions and I'll do what I can to update your ballot. If you refuse to deal with Google, and hey, who hasn’t felt like that at one point or another, you can send a ballot straight to the email listed above. If you go that route, please be sure put something like “1988 Nominations” in the header. 

Please list every album that's important to you, regardless of whether you think it qualifies or not. While some albums are generally excluded (greatest hits, live), please list every album that's important to you -- I'll make the exclusions later. If you’re unsure if the album was released in 1988 — perhaps some sources say 1987 or 1989 — list it anyway. I’ll figure that out later as well. Finally, PLEASE HIT RETURN after each album to make a nice neat vertical list, so that your entry looks something like:

Boye, DOSTA! DOSTA! DOSTA!
Cocteau Twins, BLUE BELL KNOLL
Danzig, DANZIG
Danielle Dax, DARK ADAPTED EYE
Jan Garbarek, LEGEND OF THE SEVEN DREAMS
etc.

The nomination period will run from Wednesday October 21 2026 to Wednesday November 11 2026. To stay apprised of Best Album of 1988 developments, subscribe to the newsletter (https://buttondown.com/kentmbeeson) and/or follow me on Bluesky (@bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social). Thank you for participating!

If there are any questions or problems, hit me up at @bestalbumbrackets or @kentmbeeson on Bluesky or shoot me an email at [email protected].

Let’s get down to it, boppers!

Kent