By Jared Murray
This year’s Album of the Year category is looking to be a battle between pop stars and alternative rockers, with the soulful Adele, bombastic Lady Gaga, synth-pop queen Rihanna, veteran rockers the Foo Fighters and the effortlessly cool Bruno Mars all battling for the coveted golden gramophone.
Adele’s nomination for her album 21 is a no brainer due to its unprecedented popularity. While popularity alone is enough to win a nomination sometimes, the sheer power and emotiveness of her voice helped to cement her nomination for this prestigious award. The album itself is a sometimes dark and brooding lament towards past love. Powerful ballads, thunderous break-up tunes and soulful vocals and arrangements make the album a refreshing a much needed break from the pop fodder found on the radio right now. Along with being the biggest selling album word-wide this past year, the album has received mostly positive reviews further strengthening Adele’s grip on pop music and chances of winning the award this year.
Chart-topper Bruno Mars’ album Doo-Wops & Hooligans also finds itself nominated for Album of the Year at this year’s ceremonies. The album has produced three top 10 singles including “Grenade,” “Just The Way You Are” and “The Lazy Song.” The album has received mixed reviews, but that has not stopped teenage girls from buying the singles by the truckload. The album mainly consists of bouncy and sometimes goofy pop songs with reggae and soul influences.
Although not the most acclaimed album of the year, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way certainly got people talking. The 14-track album can be an exhausting listen; Gaga manages to showcase almost every style of dance music imaginable all in the first half of the album, with all the songs being bombastic in their own right. It is when Gaga slows it down and allows both her and the listener time to breath that the album truly shines and allows her to prove she does have the substance to back up her style. The album was positively received by most critics.
The Foo Fighters have had a successful Grammy season, having garnered six Grammy award nominations this year for the album Wasting Light. The album was recorded without the use of a modern recording studio, but rather in frontman Dave Grohl’s garage. Many critics cited this as a daring but positive choice in the recording of the album. Sonically the album finds the band exploring a more raw and heavy sound found in their earlier work, along with more personal lyrics. 3 singles have been released from the album, with the lead single “Rope” one of two songs to debut at the top of the Rock Charts.
Another pop star receiving a best album nomination is Rihanna for her sixth studio album Loud. The album was better received by most critics than most of her earlier work, and spawned three number one singles, “Only Girl In The World,” “What’s My Name?” and “S&M.” The album is standard Rihanna; well-produced synthpop coupled with raunchy lyrics give most the album its substance with the occasional ballad to remind people that she can indeed sing.
Who Will Win: Adele
Who Should Win: Adele
Dark Horse: Foo Fighters