Yeah it doesn't fit the criteria (that I've based on literally three matches lol) and I think UK/European bands are more likely to be underseeded yes

This may be where my blind Stereolab fandom has led me wrong- it felt UNDERseeded to me so I didn’t even imagine a first-round upset.

My other 1st-round pick I’m second-guessing hardest is Super Furry Animals over REM.

Stereolab maybe but Four Tet should be safe, seeding is normally accurate within a genre

I've got no time for late era Dylan. Give it a rest already Bob! This is nowhere near the best Wu Tang record, but it's at least vaguely relevant in 2001 and it kicks BD's wrinkly ass imo 😁 I voted Iron Flag

#MusicSky #HipHop #WuTangClan

The Mighty Quinn YouTube video by The Brothers & Sisters - Topic

Always a good time to post the best version of that song
youtu.be/KJpeaw6mP1c?...

I don't have much to say about these; just thought it was a fun match up of artists revered in their genres & I'm not *too* surprised it's close. Voted Bob in accordance with my affection for jump blues & the other proto rock styles his ace band is playing with

Everyone's like: "Well, this awesome, high-adrenaline, propulsive, gloriously produced Wu-Tang Clan album, with an ideal runtime – it's okay I suppose..."

I've never made the time, but it has foundational status in American studies/African-American/popular music studies, and I understand that Lott's prose goes down pretty smooth for the scholarly set

20th anniversary edition LOVE & THEFT BLACKFACE MINSTRELSY & THE AMERICAN WORKING CLASS With a Foreword by GREIL MARCUS Eric Lott

Don't be bamboozled: the title Love & Theft is knowingly borrowed from Eric Lott's 1993 book of the same name, the definitive account of the origin and enduring power of minstrelsy in American culture.

The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971) - Wikipedia

I never got the beef with Dylan & The Dead. It's a bit of a snooze, sure. But it doesn't steal my lunch money like listening to him cover Big Yellow Taxi when all this was sitting in the vault does.

People say L&T is a top-five Dylan album, and, like the man said, 'I don't believe you!'*

Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61, that run from 1963-1965, Blood on the Tracks, Desire--I don't think L&T is better than any of those, and that's like 8 albums.

*Figure of speech, of course I believe you.

This is an exemplary Dylan album and a so-so album by the Wu. Really the Wu’s group albums, outside first two, lack the energy and inventiveness of their best solo entries.

bob!!

Sweep The Leg Johnny - Going Down Swingin' (2002) [Math Rock, Post-Rock] YouTube video by Daria Plantagenet

literally listening to 2002 albums right now to the specific end of making it more unpredictable. excited to make you all listen to this sometime in 2029 (?) www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfqf...

Fantastic. Vintage Bob. I’m not likely to listen to it all the time—I’m not sure what it is that gets me in the mood for stuff like this, but it doesn’t happen too often—but it’s really good.

Rocky III/ The Champ YouTube video by Mike Page

Fan video:

I came to Dylan just a few years ago myself. It's impossible to be unfamiliar with songs of his; they're part of the fabric of a 20th / 21st centure life. But I didn't really "get" Dylan, or maybe didn't pay enough attention

But then it all started to click

Last year he was my N° 1 Spotify artist

Not a fan of either but “Love and Theft” at least has the most Bob Dylan title of any of his albums, so sure. Like Kiss making an album called “Horny Uncles”

She says, "You can't repeat the past.”
I say, "You can't? What do you mean, you can't? Of course you can.”

This was a good one; I’d never heard either of these before. Bob’s voice may be showing his age but his songwriting chops are still fantastic. Wu-Tang seems good but it’s not really for me. Voted Bob.

Love Wu-Tang obviously but the best Dylan album this century gets my vote.

Just Like A Woman (Live at the Royal Albert Hall) YouTube video by Cat Power - Topic

*Joan Baez, The Band, Cat Power...

I believe neither of the 90s cover ones made their respective years.

God is '88 Down in the Groove? May well be the only Dylan album to ever miss out its year unless one of the 90s cover ones didn't make it...nobody likes this album

#bestalbum2001 Match 23

Bob Dylan: Absolute classic! Dylan roars through the American music tradition and reinvents himself in the process.

Wu-Tang Clan: It's not quite up to the level of 36 Chambers but would have won many of last week's matches. Not this one, though.

✅ Dylan

Closing Night: Alicia Keys: Girl From Hell's Kitchen | 2026 Tribeca Festival | Tribeca Multi Grammy Award winner and New York City native Alicia Keys reflects on her childhood growing up in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen and the journey that led her from the gritty streets of 90s New York t...

This match is actually a lot closer than I would've guessed.

I actually predicted Air because they have indie cred and they're up against a comedy album but who knows. New Order/Alicia Keys, I just predicted the higher seed. I just learned there's a new doc on Keys tho?

Bob Dylan - Mississippi (Outtake from 'Time Out Of Mind' sessions - Official Audio) YouTube video by BobDylanVEVO

Crow's version predates the L&T version by a good three years, so that totally makes sense. Here's an earlier version from the TIME OUT OF MIND sessions:

youtu.be/GZFB6ZhtGOg?...

When I Paint My Masterpiece YouTube video by Charlie Robison - Topic

This is maybe my all-time favorite Dylan, but I do dig Charlie Robison's version:

youtu.be/qWFOBHE8xag?...

<elana "unsolicited byrds facts" levin shuffling their feet>

I do enjoy Dylan's voice on the early albums! There's something to it! I just enjoy Byrds' covers more and thats a high bar. But just compare the FBB or Manfred If You Got to Go, Go Now to the Dylan one, man...