The finale post is among us. It has been an excellent competition even though the majority of match-ups have favored the favorite. But I was expecting this to go chalk like last year. I guess it means I picked pretty good albums as the top seeds!
Before we go into the Finals (where we had a bit of a shocker) let me set the stage for the rest of the week. If you haven’t noticed by the lack of posting, I have been busy lately with work-related travel, holidays, and other things. This week should slide by swimmingly with some obscure classic rock and other normal posting. After I reveal the winner of the March Madness competition on April 16, though, things are going to get very new for the end of April. Last summer I introduced a week-long new band posting splurge. Well, I have a lot of new bands I want to profile, so expect an expanded version of that. Also, I will be going to three shows before April ends (Guster, Colin Hay, and the Left Banke), so you expect reviews of each. It should be a great rest of April. Now, on to the finals.
#1 Seed: Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys vs. #3 Seed: Revolver by The Beatles
In 1966, The Beach Boys and the Beatles could have easily taken the shared title of “Best Band of the Time.” So, in that sense, it is certainly understandable that they are facing each other in the finals for best album. The shock here is Revolver, which was losing to Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde for nearly the entire week, but a late run of Beatles-favored voters put it into the finals by ONE vote. The Beatles won in last year’s March Madness poll with Sgt. Peppers. They are the UCLA of this poll. The Beach Boys, despite having serious difficulties shaking off Simon and Garfunkel in the Elite Eight, easily defeated Freak Out in the final four. Now these two perennial superpowers meet.
Since this is inspired by March Madness I am going to compare these two albums in basketball terms. The Beatles and Beach Boys both introduced a brand new offensive scheme in 1966. It featured a lot of mind manipulation (very strategic and skillful) and fast-paced play followed by moments of a slowed-down attack. Now they face each other. Two very similar schemes – one perhaps more developed than the other (Pet Sounds over Revolver in this case). Who will win? Well, that’s up to you all. Happy voting.
The Music Court 
I guess I am too Matthew … I listen through my computer … I have a choice of sound cards … Emu 1212m … and a Creative 5.1 usb job which I use most of the time … I listen with Foobar … in Flac … I also use a manual Behringer mixer and Wharfedale Pro Active speakers … For mixing my own music … I also have an Onkyo receiver and 5.1 plus base for movies etc, etc … So I guess we are level pegging for sound!
My choice is still Revolver … Brilliant piece of production!
Reblogged this on Is It Possible To See It All and commented:
The Final Poll
Beach Boys, baby!!!
It’s going to be tough to beat Pet Sounds!
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