We now interrupt your previously scheduled METAL for some mindless bullshit! Please bear with us.
It’s pretty hard to describe the amount of fucked up that goes into the process of picking a Grammy nominee, let alone a winner, but it’s clear that the group of people involved in those decisions are never all that concerned with which artists have put out the best releases. Normally I wouldn’t pay attention to things like this, but this year I was actually invested in quite a few “mainstream” releases; judge me all you want, but I love me some Lady Gaga and Kanye West.
With that said I can’t help but feel that the Grammys have missed the mark once again with their announced 2012 nominees. Maybe it shouldn’t matter to me, but it just feels wrong to leave an album like Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy out of the Best Album nomination slot. It was easily one of the most eclectic and widely acclaimed hip-hop albums of last year, and having him on the list just seems like it would pull the publicity and attention that these sort of Entertainment Galas thrive on. Now I get that Kanye has caused problems in the past, but depriving one of the few eligible and truly talented men (despite what you think of his personality and presence, he is definitely talented) out of an honor like this just seems to cheapen the award ceremony even more than it has been known for in the past.
I know Mr. West isn’t the only great artist from the mainstream that was left off of this list; bands like Bon Iver, The Antlers, and Florence and the Machine were also left off the list in place of truly mediocre and terrible acts like Bruno Mars, Adele, and Rihanna — a woman with a great voice but some truly awful music to accompany it. Sigh. My only hope is that Foo Fighters or Lady Gaga get the prize for Best Album, but I won’t be holding my breath.
Anyways, here’s the full list of 2012 Grammy nominees. Feel free to peruse the list and grimace at the choices. A few good Metal bands have been nominated for best Hard Rock/Metal act. So I guess you can get excited about that. /End Rant
