The first BNR Metal Pages tournament took place in 2010.
I modelled this after the NCAA basketball tournaments, thus there
were 64 albums placed into 4 (completely arbitrary) "regions", and
within each region, I seeded the albums from 1 to 16 and set up the
pairings so that the #1 seed would face off against #16, #2 versus #15,
and so forth.
I did this privately (i.e. I did not display the seeds during the voting),
as I didn't want the seeds to influence how people voted.
Choosing the 64 albums was challenging and fun.
Initially I thought I'd only allow one album per band, but I eventually
relaxed that rule for a few heavy hitters, as it made sense to allow
two albums by a band if they were somehow different from each other
(a good example -- both an Ozzy-era and a Dio-era Sabbath album made
the cut).
I looked at previous Top Ten lists to help decide what to include.
With a few notable exceptions in the first round
(Dio vs. Rush, Testament vs. Manowar)
I did fairly well with predicting how the voting would turn out.
As for the final result, I believed all along that
<b>Master Of Puppets</b>
would take the title, and it looked like that would happen up to the
last day even, but a late push by <b>Rust In Peace</b> put it over the top.
Final Round
Megadeth Rust In Peace (1) def. Metallica Master Of Puppets (1),
52% to 48%
Semifinal Round
Metallica Master Of Puppets (1) def. Iron Maiden Number Of The Beast (1),
53% to 47%
Megadeth Rust In Peace (1) def. Slayer Reign In Blood (1),
53% to 47%
Quarterfinal Round
Iron Maiden Number Of The Beast (1) def. Judas Priest Stained Class (2),
79% to 21%
Metallica Master Of Puppets (1) def. Metallica Kill 'Em All (2),
70% to 30%
Slayer Reign In Blood (1) def. Black Sabbath Paranoid (3),
55% to 45%
Megadeth Rust In Peace (1) def. Motorhead Ace Of Spades (2),
67% to 33%
Third Round
Iron Maiden Number Of The Beast (1) def. Dio Holy Diver (12),
79% to 21%
Judas Priest Stained Class (2) def. Pantera Vulgar Display Of Power (3),
51% to 49%
Metallica Master Of Puppets (1) def. Anthrax Among The Living (4),
82% to 18%
Metallica Kill 'Em All (2) def. Iron Maiden Killers (3),
62% to 38%
Slayer Reign In Blood (1) def. Sepultura Arise (4),
75% to 25%
Black Sabbath Paranoid (3) def. Slayer Seasons In The Abyss (2),
57% to 43%
Megadeth Rust In Peace (1) def. Black Sabbath Heaven And Hell (5),
61% to 39%
Motorhead Ace Of Spades (2) def. Accept Restless And Wild (3),
66% to 34%
Second Round
Iron Maiden Number Of The Beast (1) def. Judas Priest Screaming For Vengeance (8),
74% to 26%
Dio Holy Diver (12) def. Testament The Gathering (13),
65% to 35%
Pantera Vulgar Display Of Power (3) def. Celtic Frost To Mega Therion (6),
60% to 40%
Judas Priest Stained Class (2) def. Helloween Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I (7),
54% to 46%
Metallica Master Of Puppets (1) def. Candlemass Nightfall (8),
84% to 16%
Anthrax Among The Living (4) def. AC/DC Back In Black (5),
52% to 48%
Iron Maiden Killers (3) def. Fates Warning Awaken The Guardian (6),
83% to 17%
Metallica Kill 'Em All (2) def. Death Individual Thought Patterns (10),
66% to 34%
Slayer Reign In Blood (1) def. Kreator Pleasure To Kill (9),
82% to 18%
Sepultura Arise (4) def. Ozzy Osbourne Diary Of A Madman (5),
51% to 49%
Black Sabbath Paranoid (3) def. Dream Theater Images And Words (11),
77% to 23%
Slayer Seasons In The Abyss (2) def. Scorpions Blackout (7),
73% to 27%
Megadeth Rust In Peace (1) def. Mercyful Fate Don't Break The Oath (9),
68% to 32%
Black Sabbath Heaven And Hell (5) def. Exodus Bonded By Blood (4),
57% to 43%
Accept Restless And Wild (3) def. Sepultura Roots (11),
59% to 41%
Motorhead Ace Of Spades (2) def. Annihilator Alice In Hell (7),
61% to 39%
First Round
Iron Maiden Number Of The Beast (1) def. Blind Guardian Imaginations From The Other Side (16),
76% to 24%
Judas Priest Screaming For Vengeance (8) def. Queensryche Operation: Mindcrime (9),
59% to 41%
Dio Holy Diver (12) def. Rush 2112 (5),
67% to 33%
Testament The Gathering (13) def. Manowar Sign Of The Hammer (4),
63% to 37%
Celtic Frost To Mega Therion (6) def. Carcass Heartwork (11),
65% to 35%
Pantera Vulgar Display Of Power (3) def. Diamond Head Lightning To The Nations (14),
71% to 29%
Helloween Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I (7) def. Opeth Blackwater Park (10),
57% to 43%
Judas Priest Stained Class (2) def. Dimmu Borgir Death Cult Armageddon (15),
80% to 20%
Metallica Master Of Puppets (1) def. Dark Tranquillity Damage Done (16),
89% to 11%
Candlemass Nightfall (8) def. Nevermore Dreaming Neon Black (9),
63% to 37%
AC/DC Back In Black (5) def. Fear Factory Demanufacture (12),
75% to 25%
Anthrax Among The Living (4) def. Dissection Storm Of The Light's Bane (13),
76% to 24%
Fates Warning Awaken The Guardian (6) def. Machine Head Burn My Eyes (11),
55% to 45%
Iron Maiden Killers (3) def. Nightwish Oceanborn (14),
88% to 12%
Death Individual Thought Patterns (10) def. Immortal Sons Of Northern Darkness (7),
78% to 22%
Metallica Kill 'Em All (2) def. Deep Purple Machine Head (15),
73% to 27%
Slayer Reign In Blood (1) def. Iced Earth Something Wicked This Way Comes (16),
82% to 18%
Kreator Pleasure To Kill (9) def. Metal Church Metal Church (8),
53% to 47%
Ozzy Osbourne Diary Of A Madman (5) def. Mastodon Blood Mountain (12),
78% to 22%
Sepultura Arise (4) def. Led Zeppelin 4 (13),
51% to 49%
Dream Theater Images And Words (11) def. Voivod Nothingface (6),
52% to 48%
Black Sabbath Paranoid (3) def. In Flames The Jester Race (14),
81% to 19%
Scorpions Blackout (7) def. Bruce Dickinson Accident Of Birth (10),
63% to 37%
Slayer Seasons In The Abyss (2) def. Van Halen Van Halen (15),
72% to 28%
Megadeth Rust In Peace (1) def. Amon Amarth With Oden On Our Side (16),
84% to 16%
Mercyful Fate Don't Break The Oath (9) def. Cynic Focus (8),
72% to 28%
Black Sabbath Heaven And Hell (5) def. Venom Welcome To Hell (12),
70% to 30%
Exodus Bonded By Blood (4) def. Emperor Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk (13),
72% to 28%
Sepultura Roots (11) def. Riot V Fire Down Under (6),
59% to 41%
Accept Restless And Wild (3) def. System Of A Down Toxicity (14),
68% to 32%
Annihilator Alice In Hell (7) def. Guns'n'Roses Appetite For Destruction (10),
56% to 44%
Motorhead Ace Of Spades (2) def. Morbid Angel Covenant 15) (15),
73% to 27%