As 1999 drew to a close, the membership of MCMAS cast ballots to determine the Album of Forever. This was an open vote, meaning that members could vote for any album they wanted. In the end, they chose Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles as the finest album released with a "19" at the beginning of the year.
The first round of voting ended in a 7-way tie, forcing a run-off election. In a tight race, decided in the final hours, the Beatles nosed Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road to win the title.
Finalists
| Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers |
| Meat Loaf - Bat out of Hell |
| Counting Crows - August And Everything After |
| The Beatles - Abbey Road |
| Grateful Dead - American Beauty |
Honorable Mention
| The B-52's - Cosmic Thing |
| The Beatles - "White Album" |
| Elvis Costello - My Aim is True |
| Eagles - Hotel California |
| Fleetwood Mac - Rumours |
| Green Day - Dookie |
| Billy Joel - The Stranger |
| Paul Simon - Graceland |
| Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run |
Here is the breakdown of the most popular artists taken from the polling in the first round of the balloting. Runoffs votes were not counted here. (Note: This one wasn't even close. The Beatles won by a 3 to 1 margin over the nearest competitor.)
Favorite Artists
| The Beatles |
| The Rolling Stones |
| Counting Crows |
| The Grateful Dead |
| Elton John |
| Meat Loaf |
| The B-52's |
| Elvis Costello |
| Billy Joel |
| Bob Dylan |
| Bruce Springsteen |
| The Eagles |
| Fleetwood Mac |
| Green Day |
| Paul Simon |
| John "Cougar" Mellencamp |
| The Cure |
| Genesis |
| Pink Floyd |