A Fun Music Bracket You Should Check Out

Have some thoughts on the best record of 1989? You're in luck!

Kevin Alexander

Apr 18, 2025

A suburban dad with a few of his favorite things.

Good morning!

For our Friday, I thought I’d share something fun

Do you like music1? Do you miss March Madness or things like this?

Maybe you like making your case for specific records and/or years?

Then you’re in luck! Kent Beeson is running another bracket- this time for the best record of 1989. Nominations are open for a few more days, so get your picks in!

Some rules to avoid chaos:

To use the form, you’ll have to sign in to Google, like with the voting. If you won’t/can’t, let me know at kentmbeeson@hey.com and like the Beatles we’ll work it out.
Until the nomination period ends, you can go back and edit it at any time. So feel free to load up your faves now, listen to some new stuff (like what we got below) and then update it if you find something that really floats your boat.
Try to hit return after entering each album into the form — it makes for a nice clean list to export later. Thanks!
Are you concerned about what qualifies? Don’t be. Just nominate it. Nominate anything, I don’t care. Nominate Taylor Swift’s 1989 if you want. If it doesn’t end up making the cut on nomination votes, it didn’t matter anyway. It’ll all come out in the wash.
Nomination period is two weeks — April 7 2025 to April 21 2025.

Want to see what’s already in the mix? Click here to see all 744 submissions (as of this writing). On a side note, 1989 was a seminal year for me music-wise, and I will likely be writing about more of these in some form over the coming weeks/months.

Once you’re done nominating, check out Kent’s newsletter, and if you’re on Bluesky, give him a follow—this is also a great way to see what everyone is picking once the bracket opens up.

For what it’s worth, here are a few of my picks:

Top 5 (okay, 6) S-Tier type stuff.

If you’ve been here long, none of these will surprise you.

New Order-Technique
Wire-It’s Beginning to and Back Again
The Cure- Disintegration
Pere Ubu-Cloudland
The Replacements-Don’t Tell A Soul
Throwing Muses- Hunkpapa

Just a bit outside: Stuff that’s awesome, but the S-tier’s a small table.

Will I totally agonize over some of these after sending this your way? You better believe it.

Pixies- Doolittle
NIN-Pretty Hate Machine
Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique
B52s- Cosmic thing
Fugazi-13 Songs
Camper Van Beethoven- Key Lime Pie
Bad Religion-No Control
Einstürzende Neubauten- HAUS DER LÜGE
Goo Goo Dolls- Jed
De La Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising
Kate Bush- The Sensual World
Nirvana- Bleach
The Call-Let the Day Begin
The D.O.C.- No One Can Do It Better
The Jesus & Mary Chain- Automatic

Maybe not top-tier for me, but still deserve to make the cut:

Madonna- Like a Prayer
10,000 Maniacs- Blind Man’s Zoo
Beat Happening-Black Candy
Big Audio Dynamite- Megatop Phoenix
Bonnie Raitt- Nick of Time
Gorilla Biscuits- Start Today
EPMD- Unfinished Business
Faith No More-The Real Thing
Galaxie 500- On Fire
Janet Jackson- Rhythm Nation 1814
Jesus Jones-Liquidizer
Jonathan Richman- S/T
Maria McKee- S/T
Ministry- The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
Ofra Haza- Desert Wind
Queen Latifah- All Hail the Queen
Red Hot Chili Peppers- Mother’s Milk\
Tears for Fears- The Seeds of Love
The Stone Roses- S/T
Tom Petty-Full Moon Fever
Yo La Tengo-President Yo La Tengo

Records from the “It Takes All Kinds” department.

Dan Reed Network-Slam- This is an incredibly niche pick, and shoutout to the (I assume) PDX native who put it on the list.
Barbara Mandrell- Precious Memories
Dangerous Toys- S/T
Ozric Tentacles- Pungent Effulgent
Starship-Love Among the Cannibals
Debbie Gibson-Electric Youth
Michael Bolton-Soul Provider
Ace Frehley- Trouble Walkin’

If you have some strong thoughts on any of these (or any on the full list), please weigh in! Don’t forget to vote early and often for Technique!

Thanks for being here,

KA—