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March 20, 2007
Album Insanity Sweet 16 Eric B. matchup 1
1. Nirvana – Nevermind
Overall Ranking: 2
[PF 6
Key songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium
Year: 1991
Defeated 16. Quasi – Field Studies 4-0
Defeated 8. Le Tigre – S/T 32-5
Comments
I know I know. It's almost cliche to pick Nevermind at this point. But when a modest little band is transformed into a Collosus by an album it's because said album has caused a turning point in history. Note all the top 40 copycats working today. Every riff, of every song is genius here. Even when I was sick of hearing it, I knew that.
Le Tigre was over-ranked as an 8 seed. No chance here.
VS
4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Overall Ranking: 15
[PF 85]
Key songs: Blue Lines, Unfinished Symphony
Year: 1991
Defeated 13. The Breeders - Pod 3-1
Defeated 5. Nas – Illmatic 20-17
Comments
Almost a nostalgia vote, Massive Attack was the background music for many get togethers in the 90's. But this is a close one. Nas' album was a turning point both for him and East Coast Hip-Hop. But judging from sound and impact, Nas has to take this one.
Coin flip.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at March 20, 2007 12:31 PM
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Comments
Before every vote, I listen to a few tracks from each album and then make my final decision. About :02 into "Smells Like Teen Spirit", my head exploded. Good night, Massive Attack.
Posted by: Randall Monty at March 20, 2007 02:47 PM
Yeah, it's such a known quantity that its easy to underestimate Nevermind until you actually listen to it again. There are a few albums still in contention that could beat it for me, but Blue Lines isn't one of them.
Posted by: Jeff K at March 20, 2007 02:53 PM
As soon as Nevermind won the jump ball at the beginning of the game, the crowd started chanting "It is now my duty to completely drain you!" Nirvana went on a 27-0 run and never looked back.
Posted by: Vinnie the Fink at March 20, 2007 07:03 PM
No way this is a contest. As much as I like Massive Attack, each album has a porous defense. We all love talking about how there are only a few albums we know that we can listen to front to back, (it holds even more weight today, of course, thanks to mp3s); this was the first album to win that claim. NA/NM.
Posted by: Keith at March 22, 2007 11:31 AM
We all returned to the rock with Nirvana leading the way in the early '90s. Lest I mention the pop royalty they dethroned upon Nevermind's exploding towards the top of the charts.
Remember the kids with the long hair, flannels,...the grunge/punk/hippie dirtbags blossoming all around? We all learned of this band called the Pixies from Kurt's constant name dropping them.
Nevermind wins in a forfeit. Massive Attack didn't bother to show up
Posted by: Sebastian at March 22, 2007 04:20 PM
I still pull out Massive Attack every now and then, and haven't owned a copy of Nevermind since I got rid of my tapedeck and all my tapes.
But Nevermind was seminal: it made rock music cool again. It's meteoric rise to preeminence was one of those rare cultural moments where you can sense its importance while you're actually living it.
Posted by: knidsrOK at March 22, 2007 06:09 PM
Isn't it at least a little hyperbolic to say that Nirvana "made rock music cool again" or to make some similar Messianic claim?
And let's not confuse Pixies with Daniel Johnston here.
Posted by: Randall Monty at March 23, 2007 08:50 AM
