The Grammy's are completely irrelevant
I've been saying this for years, but let us consider tonight's evidence (per Wikipedia as I didn't actually watch the show myself). The following are the Best Albums of the Year since 2000:
2008 - River: The Joni Letters performed by Herbie Hancock
2007 - Taking the Long Way performed by Dixie Chicks
2006 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb performed by U2
2005 - Genius Loves Company performed by Ray Charles
2004 - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below performed by OutKast
2003 - Come Away with Me performed by Norah Jones
2002 - O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack performed by Various Artists
2001 - Two Against Nature performed by Steely Dan
2000 - Supernatural performed by Santana
Who in their right mind could look at that list and say that these "Best Albums of the Year" were actually the best albums produced in their given year? Thats not to say that these albums are not good, but THE BEST? Ridiculous. Of this list I'd place only the OutKast record as having been within the top 10 of that year's output. Other than OutKast and Nora Jones, none of these records have been made by recording artists at the top of their game. And that really is the key point.
How about the 90's?
1999 - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill performed by Lauryn Hill
1998 - Time out of Mind performed by Bob Dylan
1997 - Falling into You performed by Celine Dion
1996 - Jagged Little Pill performed by Alanis Morissette
1995 - MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett performed by Tony Bennett
1994 - The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album performed by Whitney Houston
1993 - Unplugged performed by Eric Clapton
1992 - Unforgettable... with Love performed by Natalie Cole
1991 - Back on the Block performed by Quincy Jones
1990 - Nick of Time performed by Bonnie Raitt
Clearly there are more relevant albums in the 1990's winning the award with the Lauryn Hill, Celine Dion (I'm not saying everyone loved it, but you know that record was huge), Alanis Morisette and even the Bonnie Raitt albums being huge hits and leaving an actual impression on people. Natalie Cole's Unforgettable has of course turned out to be basically that...but at least it introduced us to creepy videos of people singing with their dead parents.
Now before the rise of super corporate record labels in the late 80's early 90s, we had a substantial number of "Best Albums" that were actually extremely relevant:
1989 - Faith performed by George Michael
1988 - The Joshua Tree performed by U2
1987 - Graceland performed by Paul Simon
1986 - No Jacket Required performed by Phil Collins
1985 - Can't Slow Down performed by Lionel Richie
1984 - Thriller performed by Michael Jackson
1983 - Toto IV performed by Toto
1982 - Double Fantasy performed by John Lennon & Yoko Ono
1981 - Christopher Cross performed by Christopher Cross
1980 - 52nd Street performed by Billy Joel
Yeh, you read those right. George Michael, U2, Paul Simon, Phil Collins Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, John Lennon and Billy Joel all won for best album of the year in the 80's. The only album that is completely forgotten today is the Christopher Cross album. Even that Toto album produced 3 hits (of which "Africa" is a freaking great song to do at karaoke, btw). Was this a fluke? I won't list them out, but the 70's had best albums from The BeeGees, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder (Songs in the Key of Life!!!!), Paul Simon, George Harrison, Carole King and Simon and Garfunkel. And EVERY single one of these musicians were at the height of their creative output and popularity at the time.
So, maybe what happened was the Grammy voters decided to downplay popular music, but I suspect what actually has happened is that the average Grammy voter has gotten older. The same old men have been nominating people for these awards for way too long and they end up doing things like giving awards to Herbie Hancock and Santana 'cause they were really cool back in the 60's when these old men were young. Ray Charles won an award a few years ago. He was an amazing performer and recording musician. Did he deserve that award when he won it? No. He got it because he died and and had never won Best Album of the Year before. Simple as that. And who didn't win best album of the year because of that? Alicia Keys, Green Day, Kanye West and Usher. You know...relevant musicians. But don't worry too bad about them, I'm sure if they last 30 years in the business they'll get a pity Grammy. Alica Keys will no doubt release "If I Aint Got You" as a duet with the love chid of Hannah Montana and Zac Efron in 2030 and she'll finally get her Best Album of the Year. And of course the latest laser rock/quad hop star of 2030 that gets denied because of Alica will take solace in knowing that The Grammys have been completely irrelevant longer than anyone can remember.
Man what a long rant this was :)
2008 - River: The Joni Letters performed by Herbie Hancock
2007 - Taking the Long Way performed by Dixie Chicks
2006 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb performed by U2
2005 - Genius Loves Company performed by Ray Charles
2004 - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below performed by OutKast
2003 - Come Away with Me performed by Norah Jones
2002 - O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack performed by Various Artists
2001 - Two Against Nature performed by Steely Dan
2000 - Supernatural performed by Santana
Who in their right mind could look at that list and say that these "Best Albums of the Year" were actually the best albums produced in their given year? Thats not to say that these albums are not good, but THE BEST? Ridiculous. Of this list I'd place only the OutKast record as having been within the top 10 of that year's output. Other than OutKast and Nora Jones, none of these records have been made by recording artists at the top of their game. And that really is the key point.
How about the 90's?
1999 - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill performed by Lauryn Hill
1998 - Time out of Mind performed by Bob Dylan
1997 - Falling into You performed by Celine Dion
1996 - Jagged Little Pill performed by Alanis Morissette
1995 - MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett performed by Tony Bennett
1994 - The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album performed by Whitney Houston
1993 - Unplugged performed by Eric Clapton
1992 - Unforgettable... with Love performed by Natalie Cole
1991 - Back on the Block performed by Quincy Jones
1990 - Nick of Time performed by Bonnie Raitt
Clearly there are more relevant albums in the 1990's winning the award with the Lauryn Hill, Celine Dion (I'm not saying everyone loved it, but you know that record was huge), Alanis Morisette and even the Bonnie Raitt albums being huge hits and leaving an actual impression on people. Natalie Cole's Unforgettable has of course turned out to be basically that...but at least it introduced us to creepy videos of people singing with their dead parents.
Now before the rise of super corporate record labels in the late 80's early 90s, we had a substantial number of "Best Albums" that were actually extremely relevant:
1989 - Faith performed by George Michael
1988 - The Joshua Tree performed by U2
1987 - Graceland performed by Paul Simon
1986 - No Jacket Required performed by Phil Collins
1985 - Can't Slow Down performed by Lionel Richie
1984 - Thriller performed by Michael Jackson
1983 - Toto IV performed by Toto
1982 - Double Fantasy performed by John Lennon & Yoko Ono
1981 - Christopher Cross performed by Christopher Cross
1980 - 52nd Street performed by Billy Joel
Yeh, you read those right. George Michael, U2, Paul Simon, Phil Collins Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, John Lennon and Billy Joel all won for best album of the year in the 80's. The only album that is completely forgotten today is the Christopher Cross album. Even that Toto album produced 3 hits (of which "Africa" is a freaking great song to do at karaoke, btw). Was this a fluke? I won't list them out, but the 70's had best albums from The BeeGees, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder (Songs in the Key of Life!!!!), Paul Simon, George Harrison, Carole King and Simon and Garfunkel. And EVERY single one of these musicians were at the height of their creative output and popularity at the time.
So, maybe what happened was the Grammy voters decided to downplay popular music, but I suspect what actually has happened is that the average Grammy voter has gotten older. The same old men have been nominating people for these awards for way too long and they end up doing things like giving awards to Herbie Hancock and Santana 'cause they were really cool back in the 60's when these old men were young. Ray Charles won an award a few years ago. He was an amazing performer and recording musician. Did he deserve that award when he won it? No. He got it because he died and and had never won Best Album of the Year before. Simple as that. And who didn't win best album of the year because of that? Alicia Keys, Green Day, Kanye West and Usher. You know...relevant musicians. But don't worry too bad about them, I'm sure if they last 30 years in the business they'll get a pity Grammy. Alica Keys will no doubt release "If I Aint Got You" as a duet with the love chid of Hannah Montana and Zac Efron in 2030 and she'll finally get her Best Album of the Year. And of course the latest laser rock/quad hop star of 2030 that gets denied because of Alica will take solace in knowing that The Grammys have been completely irrelevant longer than anyone can remember.
Man what a long rant this was :)