Grammys grab attention with variety of talent
The 45th annual Grammy awards will air at 7 p.m. on Feb. 23. The awards allow performers from all sectors of the music world to be recognized for outstanding achievements in their respective area.
Categories such as Best Album of the Year place rap albums, country albums and rock albums in competition. The Grammys represent a wide audience and their varying musical tastes. This is one of the reasons that the Grammys are so respected and widely viewed.
In a world of one hundred awards shows, the Grammys demand the respect in the music industry that the Oscar’s do in the film industry.
Best Male Rock Vocal Performance
Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
Best Hard Rock Performance
Best Alternative Music Album
Best Compilation Soundtrack
Best Album
Best Male Rock Vocal Performance
The 45th Grammys are here, and in the category of Best Male Rock Vocal Performance it seems some of the musicians may have been nominated at the first Grammy Awards.
Grammy winner Robert Plant has led himself back to the dark tones of Led Zeppelin’s greatest work in his Dreamland album. He is nominated for his song “Darkness, Darkness.” Plant may also have plans for a song to come out next year, “Whiteness, Whiteness.”
Grammy winner David Bowie has been nominated for his performance of “Slow Burn” on his Heathen album. Bowie toured from June to October of last year promoting this album. It just so happens that 2003 is the 30th anniversary of his Ziggy Stardust album.
Grammy winner Peter Gabriel has been nominated for a song that takes a satirical look at the insanity of the media- “The Barry Williams Show.” If he wins for the track from his Up album it will be five Grammys.
Seven-time Grammy winner Bruce Springsteen is one of many who penned his tribute song about the tragedies of September 11th. He’s been nominated for his sentimental dedication, the title track from the album The Rising.
Elvis Costello, another former Grammy winner, has decided to revisit his past as an “Angry Young Man” with the wishful “45.” It’s the lead mad track from the album When I was Cruel. All in all, the male rock vocal performance category shall prove the dazzling highlight of the evening. Perhaps we shall even receive a visit from the Ghost of Rock Past at the stroke of midnight.
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Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
The nominees for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance have a large amount of combined Grammy experience.
Nine-time Grammy winner Bonnie Raitt is nominated for the craftily delivered “Gnawin’ On It,” a track from her Silver Lining album.
Sheryl Crow, already a winner eight times over, is nominated for a track from her album C’mon C’mon titled “Steve McQueen” – an appropriate honor to the “King of Cool.”
With two prior Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammys, Melissa Etheridge is no stranger to the awards show. She’s up for another this year with her single “The Weakness In Me.”
She may not have one yet, but Avril Lavigne is nominated for five Grammys this year including one in this category for the upbeat “Sk8er Boi” featured on her Let Go album.
Last, but certainly not least, Susan Tedeschi’s passionate track “Alone” from her blues-rock album Wait For Me also has a shot at taking home a statue.
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For those who like to feel their eardrums pound, the Grammys presents its Best Hard Rock Performance category.
The Foo Fighters’ “All My Life” marks a harder sound for the Fighters, the most established group on the roster. With its slightly syncopated and periodically changing rhythms, the song and album, One by One, reveal a maturing band with modified sound but the same core essence.
“I Stand Alone,” Godsmack’s successful vaunt on The Scorpion King soundtrack, is a testosterone-brimming throbber of a song. It displays what Godsmack does best. With its booming guitar riffs and monomaniacal subject matter, the song seems tailor-made for use in military commercials, especially the army’s “Army of One” campaign.
The anemic anthem “Youth of a Nation,” a song that depresses despite the band’s good intentions, is the last remnant of the angst-driven whine-rock of the last few years. It seems the Grammys, in a post-9/11 world, are as tired of listening as we are.
Queens of the Stone Age’s “No One Knows” is by far the freshest song on the list and a testament to the Grammys commitment to the struggle for vitality in the face of an audience that increasingly regards them as unhip. Rather than resorting to excess noise, the Queens achieve “hardness” through the density of its sound and the vivacity of its rhythm.
The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl earns his second nomination in the category for his drumming on the song, and its obvious that both sides benefited greatly (perhaps his work with the Queens inspired Grohl’s newfound style).
Last is System of a Down’s “Aerials,” a creepy, balladic sonic storm that had everyone from the hardest headbanger to TRL teen-queens in its sway. Establishing System in the vanguard of the nu-metal sound, smart money (though Queens of the Stone Age should win) goes on them to win.
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Best Alternative Music Album
Hello Europe, goodbye stateside.
Nominees for Best Alternative Music Album celebrate the European invasion music experienced in 2002.
Great Britain’s melancholy chart-toppers Coldplay are nominated for A Rush of Blood to the Head, as are fellow Brits Clinic and Elvis Costello & the Imposters for Walking with Thee and When I Was Cruel, respectively.
The Swedish band The Soundtrack Of Our Lives also garnered a nod for its third album, Behind the Music, setting the band up as the underdogs (although a critical favorite) for the award.
As the only American in the running, Beck could ride the patriotic wave to a win for his critically acclaimed Sea Change album, but more than likely Brit-rock darlings Coldplay will take home the trophy.
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Best Compilation Soundtrack
There’s a little-known universal law regarding the songs of the Beatles. They always sound better as covers (the exception being Bette Midler’s rendition of “In My Life”).
The hands-down winner in this category is the soundtrack to the Sean Penn film I Am Sam which blends the fabled tunes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney with an impressive line-up of modern artists such as Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper and Aimee Man. But it’s tracks like Ben Folds’ “Golden Slumbers” and the Stereophonics’ “Don’t Let Me Down” that will make this album a winner.
Other nominees: the soundtracks for Dogtown and Z-Boys, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Y Tu Mama Tambien and Six Feet Under.
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The category of Best Album should be an interesting one because almost every genre of music is covered by this award.
The nominees are: Dixie Chicks for Home, Nelly for Nellyville, Norah Jones for Come Away With Me, Eminem for The Eminem Show and Bruce Springstein for The Rising.
Bruce Springsteen’s album is inspired by the events surrounding Sept 11th. This might be the Boss’ chance for a Grammy. He’s also nominated for Song of the Year with the album’s title track.
The artist formerly known as Marshall Mathers, Eminem, is up for a number of awards including Record of the Year, “Without Me.” Whether or not Eminem’s right to freedom of speech will win him a Grammy is up for debate.
The multi-nominated Nelly will be performing his hit with Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child, “Dilemma.” The duo is also nominated for Record of the Year.
The Dixie Chicks returned to their bluegrass roots for their most recent album Home. The comeback might win them a couple of Grammys. “Lil Jack Slide,” is nominated for Best Country Musical Performance and “Long Time Gone” is up for Best Country Song.
MTV reports that all eyes will be on Dallas native, Norah Jones. The newcomer is nominated for Best New Artist, Song of the Year and Record of the Year for “Don’t Know Why.” Jones will also be performing at the show. She should reign supreme with her eight nominations.
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