The Grammy nominations are in (and yes I’m late getting to this, but I’m a busy man!) and man, another disappointing year! The list of nominees in the big categories is just as lame and boring as ever. Here’s the one’s we’ll see on TV.
Record Of The Year: Irreplaceable (Beyoncé), The Pretender (Foo Fighters), Umbrella (Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z), What Goes Around…Comes Around (Justin Timberlake), Rehab (Amy Winehouse)
Album Of The Year: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (Foo Fighters), These Days (Vince Gill), River: The Joni Letters (Herbie Hancock), Graduation (Kanye West), Back To Black (Amy Winehouse)
Song Of The Year: Before He Cheats (Carrie Underwood), Hey There Delilah (Plain White T’s), Like A Star (Corinne Bailey Rae), Rehab (Amy Winehouse), Umbrella (Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z)
Best New Artist: Feist, Ledisi, Paramore, Taylor Swift, Amy Winehouse
Mostly crap! To be fair, it is really hard to come up with the list of nominees. The list of recordings members have to wade through is huge! In the first round, where we pick who we want to nominate, there is sometimes over 600 albums to go through in rock alone! How the Hell do you whittle that huge list down to only 5? I tried to listen to everyone on the Best Rock Performance Duo or Group list but got through 50 bands before they all melted into one big band. So, I honestly think that most people don’t vote until the final round, and those who do vote early vote for 1) themselves, 2) their friends and 3) whatever is popular on the radio at the time. This year I didn’t vote in any category. But if I did, I tell you I wouldn’t have voted for Beyoncé, Foo Fighters and Rihanna.
I don’t hate all of them. Far from it. Amy Winehouse released an excellent album, thanks to producer Mark Ronson. Paramore was pretty cool pop-punk, Corinne Baily Rae isn’t my thing, but she writes some good songs and Carrie Underwood can sing her ass off. My vote goes to Winehouse for both Record and Album of the Year, Corinne Bailey Rae for Song of the Year and Paramore for Best New Artist. I’ve already commented on what junk Kanye West produced, my comments on the others and why they are crap, are for another time. Let’s look at the good, stuff: the rock categories!
Rock this year, dispite Daughtry and Nickelback being on the list, and the Beatles covers, things are looking interesting. It’s a big mix of the old and the new, where it’s usually a big mix of the old and what’s on the radio. And the nominees in rock are…
Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance: Timebomb (Beck), Only Mama Knows (Paul McCartney), Our Country (John Mellencamp), Radio Nowhere (Bruce Springsteen), Come On (Lucinda Williams)
Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals: It’s Not Over (Daughtry) Working Class Hero (Green Day), If Everyone Cared (Nickelback), Instant Karma (U2), Icky Thump (The White Stripes)
Best Hard Rock Performance: Sweet Sacrifice (Evanescence), The Pretender (Foo Fighters), I Don’t Wanna Stop (Ozzy Osbourne), Sick, Sick, Sick (Queens Of The Stone Age), The Pot (Tool)
Best Metal Performance: Nothing Left (As I Lay Dying), Never Ending Hill (King Diamond), Aesthetics Of Hate (Machine Head), Redemption (Shadows Fall), Final Six (Slayer)
Best Rock Song: Come On (Lucinda Williams), Icky Thump (The White Stripes), It’s Not Over (Daughtry), The Pretender (Foo Fighters), Radio Nowhere (Bruce Springsteen)
Best Rock Album: Daughtry (Daughtry), Revival (John Fogerty), Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (Foo Fighters), Magic (Bruce Springsteen), Sky Blue Sky (Wilco)
Best Alternative Music Album: Alright, Still… (Lily Allen), Neon Bible (Arcade Fire), Volta (Bjork), Wincing The Night Away (The Shins), Icky Thump (The White Stripes)
I can’t really make a call in many of these categories because I honestly don’t care about buying the McCartney, Springsteen, Daughtry, Nickelback, Queens of the Stone Age, Evanescence, Ozzy, White Stripes and Beck albums. I was never a fan of McCartney and Springsteen, and Daughtry, Nickelback, QotSA and Evanescence all had terribly lame and boring releases. The White Stripes… if you read me regularly, you know how I feel about those assholes. Still, even though I don’t like all these, you have to admit, overall things are real interesting, and maybe looking up for rock.
My absolute favorite on this list this year, hands down, has to be Lilly Allen. Alright, Still… is my favorite album of the year, and in my opinion has the best songwriting, with some absolutely clever lyrics.