TSF PICKS THE 2008 GRAMMY WINNERS
Last night was the Grammy nomination show in Los Angeles to announce all of the nominated artists for the 51st annual Grammy Awards. The nominations feature albums released between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008.
Now that the nominees have been chosen, we here at TSF have decided to reveal who we would chose as the winners in each category. For the sake of not boring you, we have chosen the 5 most compelling categories.
With each category, we have listened to each song or album and determined a winner.
Not that this isn’t who we think will win, it’s who we would choose to win of the nominated artists.
- winner noted by blue font -
RECORD OF THE YEAR
(given to the artist/engineer/producer as opposed to song of the year, which is awarded primarily to the songwriter)
- Chasing Pavements
Adele - Viva La Vida
Coldplay - Bleeding Love
Leona Lewis - Paper Planes
M.I.A - Please Read The Letter
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
All of these songs are likable and 3 of them are great songs (”Chasing Pavements”, “Bleeding Love”, and “Paper Planes”). Let it be noted that “Paper Planes” was listed on TSF’s Top 5 Songs of 2007-2008 That You Haven’t Heard list, which was posted way back in June, before the song hit the mainstream. TSF also loves Adele as noted by our Adele - The 20-Year-Old Singer/Songwriter Phenom post from September.
“Chasing Pavements” isn’t even the best song on her record and “Bleeding Love” is a great pop song, but I’d almost have to say that “Paper Planes” is the best song of 2008. The Plant/Krauss collaboration is a little overrated, if you ask me.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
- Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Coldplay
- Tha Carter III
Lil Wayne
- Year Of The Gentleman
Ne-Yo
- Raising Sand
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
- In Rainbows
Radiohead
Not the greatest selections ever. None of these albums are great by any means. Ne-Yo and Lil Wayne are beyond obnoxious. I think Lil Wayne has like 3 or 4 good songs, which isn’t saying much because he releases an EP like every other week and has like a million songs. If terrorist were to capture me, no form of torture would be worse than Ne-Yo’s Year Of The Gentleman on repeat for days on end.
Coldplay is annoying by default and as noted, the Plant/Krauss experiment is quite marginal. Then to top it all off, I’m not a huge fan of anything Radiohead has done outside of The Bends and OK Computer, but if pressed, In Rainbows is the best album of this list. But that isn’t saying much, I wouldn’t put any of these albums anywhere near a top 5 albums of 2008 list.
BEST NEW ARTIST
- Adele
- Duffy
- Jonas Brothers
- Lady Antebellum
- Jazmine Sullivan
First of all, Adele and Duffy are without a doubt from the same British R&B/Soul/Jazz mold, and Adele is much much better.
The thought of the Jonas Brothers winning best new artist makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Lady Antebellum is a barely marginal country act with no special qualities.
Jazmine Sullivan seems to be the dark horse of the list. I follow music very closely and had never even heard of her until the nomination. I sat down and listened to her debut album, Fearless, and nothing about it really stood out to me. She’s evidently the protege of Missy Elliot, and it’s very obvious. I must compare her and Duffy to Adele, since they fall into the same overall genre - and Adele is much better than her competitors.
BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE
(BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS)
- Rock N Roll Train
AC/DC - Violet Hill
Coldplay - Long Road Out Of Eden
Eagles - Sex On Fire
Kings Of Leon - House Of Cards
Radiohead
AC/DC’s latest single, “Rock N Roll Train”, doesn’t disappoint but is no match for The Eagles’ “Long Road Out Of Eden”. Given the fact that Kings of Leon are terrible and Radiohead is overrated, The Eagles barely edge out AC/DC in this category. It’s a song with a “Hotel California” vibe and an old school Eagles sound that we haven’t heard in a long-time from one of the greatest country/rock bands of all-time.
BEST ROCK ALBUM
- Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Coldplay - Rock N Roll Jesus
Kid Rock - Only By The Night
Kings Of Leon - Death Magnetic
Metallica - Consolers Of The Lonely
The Raconteurs
Kid Rock has fallen off since the late 90s and Metallica’s Death Magnetic was recorded practically inaudibly by a bunch of deaf infants - plus, you know our opinion on the other bands.
The Raconteurs rush-released one of the best rock albums of the 2000s in 2008, Consolers Of The Lonely. That album absolutely fucking rocks. It’s arguably Jack White’s best effort of his impressive career and each track is outstanding. It’s safe to say that Nashville’s The Raconteurs should run away with this award. I recommend the songs “You Don’t Understand Me”, “Attention,” “Many Shades of Black”, and “Salute Your Solution”.
“MANY SHADES OF BLACK” ACOUSTIC:
1 Comment so far
Leave a reply
Although he recognizes that this list is an outcome TSF would like to see, Peder Mercedes bets 30 to 1 that Plant/Krauss will take every category it is nominated, and 4 to 1 in categories in which it is not nominated.