diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 445e6cf61..5fd26b08e 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@
   is forthcoming as well.
 * Fixed bug that completely broke non-autotagged imports ("import -A").
 * Fixed bug that logged the wrong paths when using "import -l".
+* Fixed autotagging for the creatively-named band !!!.
+* Efficiency tweak should reduce the number of MusicBrainz queries per
+  autotagged album.
 * A new "-v" command line switch enables debugging output.
 
 1.0b4
diff --git a/beets/autotag/__init__.py b/beets/autotag/__init__.py
index 6705ee9b4..6b1c20994 100644
--- a/beets/autotag/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/autotag/__init__.py
@@ -448,8 +448,9 @@ def tag_album(items, search_artist=None, search_album=None):
     # Get candidate metadata from search.
     if not search_artist or not search_album:
         raise InsufficientMetadataError()
-    candidates = mb.match_album(search_artist, search_album, len(items))
-    candidates = list(candidates)[:MAX_CANDIDATES]
+    candidates = mb.match_album(search_artist, search_album,
+                                len(items), MAX_CANDIDATES)
+    candidates = list(candidates)
 
     # Get candidates from plugins.
     candidates.extend(plugins.candidates(items))
diff --git a/beets/autotag/mb.py b/beets/autotag/mb.py
index c8fd61992..8f055099e 100644
--- a/beets/autotag/mb.py
+++ b/beets/autotag/mb.py
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ SEARCH_LIMIT = 10
 
 class ServerBusyError(Exception): pass
 
+# We hard-code IDs for artists that can't easily be searched for.
+SPECIAL_CASE_ARTISTS = {
+    '!!!': 'f26c72d3-e52c-467b-b651-679c73d8e1a7',
+}
+
 # MusicBrainz requires that a client does not query the server more
 # than once a second. This function enforces that limit using a
 # module-global variable to keep track of the last time a query was
@@ -72,9 +77,18 @@ def get_releases(**params):
     """Given a list of parameters to ReleaseFilter, executes the
     query and yields release dicts (complete with tracks).
     """
+    # Replace special cases.
+    if 'artistName' in params:
+        artist = params['artistName']
+        if artist in SPECIAL_CASE_ARTISTS:
+            del params['artistName']
+            params['artistId'] = SPECIAL_CASE_ARTISTS[artist]
+    
+    # Issue query.
     filt = mbws.ReleaseFilter(**params)
     results = _query_wrap(mbws.Query().getReleases, filter=filt)
 
+    # Construct results.
     for result in results:
         release = result.release
         tracks, _ = release_info(release.id)
@@ -109,6 +123,13 @@ def find_releases(criteria, limit=SEARCH_LIMIT):
     is detailed here:
         http://wiki.musicbrainz.org/Text_Search_Syntax
     """
+    # Replace special cases.
+    if 'artist' in criteria:
+        artist = criteria['artist']
+        if artist in SPECIAL_CASE_ARTISTS:
+            del criteria['artist']
+            criteria['arid'] = SPECIAL_CASE_ARTISTS[artist]
+    
     # Build Lucene query (the MusicBrainz 'query' filter).
     query_parts = []
     for name, value in criteria.items():
@@ -162,7 +183,7 @@ def release_dict(release, tracks=None):
 
     return out
 
-def match_album(artist, album, tracks=None):
+def match_album(artist, album, tracks=None, limit=SEARCH_LIMIT):
     """Searches for a single album ("release" in MusicBrainz parlance)
     and returns an iterator over dictionaries of information (as
     returned by `release_dict`).
diff --git a/beetsplug/lastid.py b/beetsplug/lastid.py
index 40fe45544..f77340953 100644
--- a/beetsplug/lastid.py
+++ b/beetsplug/lastid.py
@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ class LastIdPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
             criteria['artistName'] = last_artist
 
         # Perform the search.
-        cands = mb.get_releases(**criteria)
-        cands = list(cands)[:autotag.MAX_CANDIDATES]
+        criteria['limit'] = autotag.MAX_CANDIDATES
+        cands = list(mb.get_releases(**criteria))
 
         log.debug('Matched last candidates: %s' %
                   ', '.join([cand['album'] for cand in cands]))
diff --git a/test/test_mb.py b/test/test_mb.py
index abec39b01..79744d868 100644
--- a/test/test_mb.py
+++ b/test/test_mb.py
@@ -148,6 +148,25 @@ class ByIDTest(unittest.TestCase):
         a = mb.album_for_id('bogus-id')
         self.assertEqual(a, None)
 
+class SpecialCaseTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_chkchkchk_by_query(self):
+        a = iter(mb.find_releases({
+            'artist': '!!!',
+            'album': '!!!',
+            'tracks': '7',
+        })).next()
+        self.assertEqual(a['artist'], '!!!')
+        self.assertEqual(a['album'], '!!!')
+    
+    def test_chkchkchk_by_keys(self):
+        a = iter(mb.get_releases(
+            artistName='!!!',
+            title='!!!',
+            trackCount=7,
+        )).next()
+        self.assertEqual(a['artist'], '!!!')
+        self.assertEqual(a['album'], '!!!')
+
 def suite():
     return unittest.TestLoader().loadTestsFromName(__name__)