/There is no aspect of the Disc Course that I have struggled with more in this regard than the setup of the Tier 1 Spin-Off bracket. This initial pairing of albums has a fundamental influence on the results throughout the year. In the early stages of the Disc Course, I paired up albums by general impressions, but soon found that in doing this, my subjective opinions influenced the pairings before the showdown would even take place. I found myself purposefully pairing strong albums against weak ones or avoiding particularly difficult pairings in a way that would often prejudge the outcome. That did not feel satisfying.
For several years after that, I kept an album log and used the number of playings as the raw data to generate pairings with the intention of loosely ranking albums by virtue of my interest and investment. While this had the benefit of creating empirical data and allowing unexpected genre clashes, I came to see that the data itself was flawed: multiple playings of the same album may or may not have represented my actual interest. Very often, it represented a struggle to resonate with something particularly difficult, or a lack of appropriate places to listen to an album that I personally really enjoyed.
More recently, I removed my judgement from the structure entirely, using ratings from RateYourMusic.com as a starting point. Using externally derived raw data felt very satisfying, but ended up creating some inappropriate genre clashes. Admittedly, I enjoy the mental challenge of navigating the quality of stylistically disparate music. Sometimes, however, the essential character of the albums in question can be diametrically opposed, causing subtle strengths to be obscured. For example, the overall force of extreme metal will often obscure the soothing peacefulness of ambient styles, which can result in a preponderance of heavier music in the final results.
Towards the end of last year, I continued to consider methods by which I can easily generate some kind of raw data that would remove or at least challenge my perceptions, but that would also group albums with a similar emotional range across obvious genre boundaries.
Enter the Geneva Emotional Music Scale - the GEMS.
At the end of last year I discovered this taxonomy and proposed to adopt it as a language for the unique emotional capacities of music through the dimensions of Wonder, Transcendence, Nostalgia, Tenderness, Peacefulness, Joy, Power, Tension, and Sadness. Initially this was intended to provide a way to talk about the character of music while minimizing the mercurial boundaries of style and genre and the intellectual exclusivity of music theory. By and large, this has been effective through a rating system through which I could easily record the presence and intensity of these emotional dimensions. This resulted in the creation of a GEMS profile for each album in last year’s Viewer’s Choice top 10 - and subsequently every album in Tier 1.
As we discovered in our discussion on the albums through the lens of the GEMS, emotional dimensions are in no way absolute or separate from each other. They are permeable, and interact with each other in fluid ways throughout the listening experience. Raw GEMS data did not seem to capture this interaction in a way that felt satisfying. I wanted to represent the complexity of these interactions and generate Spin-Offs that would reach across stylistic boundaries, but that could still match albums with a similar character.
Enter, now - the Emotional Leagues.
Each Emotional League is defined by six GEMS within a given profile: two primary (which are weighted), two secondary, and one negating. The albums were then organized in one of five Leagues based on their highest scores, and matched within that league based on their supporting score profile.
The leagues are as follows:
Drift
Primary: Tenderness + Transcendence
Secondary: Wonder + Nostalgia
Excluded: Power + Tension
Drift albums tend to prioritize atmosphere over urgency. They aren’t trying to impress in short bursts or deliver obvious climaxes. The impact comes from duration, texture, and gradual emotional shift—music that you realize has changed you only after you’ve been inside it for a while.
Communion
Primary: Joy + Nostalgia
Secondary: Peacefulness + Transcendence
Excluded: Tension + Power
Communion albums feel immediately shareable. They operate in emotional spaces that feel familiar, welcoming, and grounded, often drawing strength from warmth, memory, or emotional openness. These are records that seem to extend an invitation rather than issue a challenge.
That doesn’t mean they’re shallow or simple. Communion albums can be thoughtful and nuanced, but they prioritize connection over confrontation. They often feel best when imagined in the presence of others, or when they tap into experiences that feel collectively understood rather than privately isolated.
Spark
Primary: Joy + Power
Secondary: Wonder + Power
Excluded: Peacefulness + Sadness
Spark albums are defined by motion. They move forward, activate the listener, and create a sense of propulsion that feels immediate and physical. These records don’t ask you to sit with them—they ask you to go somewhere with them.
Surprise plays an important role here, but not ambiguity. Spark albums tend to feel decisive, energized, and alive in the moment. Even when they’re playful or unexpected, they maintain momentum, making them some of the most instantly engaging listens in the ecosystem.
Confrontation
Primary: Power + Tension
Secondary: Wonder + Transcendence
Excluded: Joy + Peacefulness
The Confrontation league is reserved for albums that apply pressure. These records aren’t designed to comfort or reassure; they challenge the listener through intensity, scale, or sustained tension. The experience can feel demanding, uncomfortable, or even overwhelming—but intentionally so.
Confrontation albums often reward respect as much as enjoyment. They lean into force and friction, sometimes resisting easy resolution. The value here isn’t in relaxation or uplift, but in engagement—music that insists on being reckoned with rather than absorbed casually.
Interior
Primary: Sadness + Nostalgia
Secondary: Wonder + Peacefulness
Excluded: Power + Joy
Interior albums turn inward. They focus on emotional nuance, personal reflection, and subtle shifts rather than outward expression or spectacle. These records often feel quiet, intimate, and close—less concerned with performance and more concerned with examination.
The power of the Interior league lies in restraint. These albums tend to unfold through small details, lingering moods, and emotional honesty. They don’t overwhelm the listener; instead, they create space for introspection, rewarding attentiveness and emotional patience.
Threshold
Primary: Wonder + Tension
Secondary: Transcendence + Sadness
Excluded: Joy + Peacefulness
Threshold albums live in between states. They resist clear emotional resolution and often feel suspended—hovering between familiarity and strangeness, clarity and uncertainty. These records thrive on ambiguity, leaving emotional questions open rather than answered.
Listening to a Threshold album can feel destabilizing in a productive way. You may not always know how you’re supposed to feel, but that uncertainty is the point. These albums often blur boundaries, inviting curiosity and interpretation rather than offering emotional closure.
This organizational structure has produced some very interesting results, not all of which were expected. I certainly think that by and large, it grouped albums together in an impressionistic and compelling way. There were also some unexpected results. For example, the distribution of album showdowns is uneven, but I think that is justifiable given my musical preferences. For example, I clearly tend towards Spark League music, with 11 Spin-Offs falling into this category. My second most well-represented league is the Drift League, with 5 Spin-Offs. I also have three Threshold Spin-Offs, three in the Confrontation league, one Interior and one Communal.
Although I have made a few alterations within a given League for genre considerations, an album’s inclusion within a given League was non-negotiable. There are a few cases where paths will lead to inter-League showdowns in tier 3, and I have made these lanes adjacent through common secondary League scores.
These sometimes unexpected results could point to flaws in the system. Conversely, they also might indicate that I have been successful in loosening my subjective grip on these albums in the act of collapsing, reordering, and reconstituting data. In either case, I am very interested to see how it will play out throughout the year. Hope you are along for the ride!
