So as to not get this out of hand, let's say this is limited to original albums (not compilations, live sets with old material, or singles), but it's still going to be a long list. Some soundtracks could be left out too, maybe. I'm tentativly thinking of this kind of an outline, with chronologically adjacent albums duking it out first (and then the winners of each pair of contenders take on one another):
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PINK YEARS BLOCK
Alpha Centauri vs. Zeit
Atem vs. Green Desert
(I think it's safe to omit EM, tho it could be a 3rd option on the last poll)
VIRGIN YEARS BLOCK (parts 1-2)
Phaedra vs. Rubycon
Stratosfear vs. Sorcerer
Ricochet vs. Encore
Cyclone vs. Force Majeure
SCHMOELLING YEARS BLOCK (parts 1-2)
Quichotte vs. Tangram
Thief vs. Exit
White Eagle vs. Hyperborea
Logos vs. Poland
BLUE YEARS BLOCK
Le Parc vs. Tyger
Underwater Sunlight vs. Livemiles
(As in the previous ranks, I think these pairings make more sense than going strictly chronological)
MELROSE YEARS BLOCK
Optical Race vs. Miracle Mile
Lily on the Beach vs. Melrose
90s BLOCK (parts 1-2)
Rockoon vs. Turn of the Tides
Quinoa vs. 220 Volt (not sure about if this is the right place for Quinoa…)
Tyranny of Beauty vs. Goblins Club
Mars Polaris vs. Great Wall of China
(Ambient Monkeys etc. don't have a snowball's chance in hell here, but What a Blast could use a spot?)
DANTE BLOCK
7 Letters from Tibet vs. Inferno
Purgatorio vs. Paradiso
(7 Letters didn't really fit anywhere else)
EASTGATE MAIN BLOCK
Jeanne d'Arc vs. Chandra
Madcap's Flaming Duty vs. Views from a Red Train
CUPDISCS BLOCK (parts 1-2)
One Times One vs. Flame
Purple Diluvial vs. Metaphor
Bells of Accra vs. Das Romantische Opfer
Fallen Angels vs. A Cage in Search of a Bird
(Choice/Zeitgeist excluded for being mostly remix/cover)
ATOMIC SEASONS BLOCK
Springtime in Nagasaki vs. Summer in Nagasaki
Autumn in Hiroshima vs. Winter in Hiroshima
(see before, if Endless Season comes out before the polls get there)
SOUNDTRACKS BLOCK (parts 1-…)
Flashpoint vs. Firestarter
Heartbreakers vs. Legend
Canyon Dreams vs. Oasis
Transsiberia vs. Mota Atma
(this could be extended quite a bit really)
DREAM MIXES BLOCK
DM1 vs. DM2
DM3 vs. DM4
(DM5 could again be a 3rd final option)
VAULTS BLOCK
Soundmill Navigator vs. Sohoman
The Bootleg Box 1 vs. The Bootleg Box 2
Antique Dreams vs. The Anthology Decades
Kyoto vs. Blue Dawn
(East etc. have too little original content to be good choices for inclusion here, and going into individual Bootmoon volumes but leaving Tangerine Trees otherwise out seems too arbitrary…)
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This also yields some natural super-blocks:
FRANKE ERA
Pink Years vs. Virgin Years
Schmoelling Years vs. Blue Years
POST-FRANKE ERA
Melrose Years vs. 90s
Eastgate Main vs. Cupdiscs
PROJECTS
Vaults vs. Dream Mixes
Dante vs. Atomic Seasons
Having gotten here I'm actually not sure if these need to be taken to a finale… but if so, Soundtracks could be used as a 4th "era". Or the components here could be just mixed up for some more interesting polls… staging era against era is less a question of individual opinion and more of fan demographics, but pitting Pink vs. 90s, or Cupdiscs vs. Blue might be more interesting.
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So, how stupid does this while thing sound? At least it should incite discussion
response, well, here goes…
