Hear Me Out: Who Wants A Grammy Anyway?

Once regarded as the most prestigious achievement a musician could ever hope for, the Grammys have increasingly become far less coveted, just as the ceremony has become less noble in its intention. While occasionally some trophies get handed out in recognition of a job well done, traditionally it's been far less about artistic merit and much more about perceived popularity (especially in recent years). How else can you explain a world where The Black Eyed Peas have six Grammys and Wu-Tang Clan have none?

Look, I'm not just hating on the Grammys here; I used to hate them with a passion, admittedly, but now I just kind of sneer at them from afar with mild disdain. It's a shallow ceremony designed to drive sales, an industry celebrating everything about itself while patting its highest grossing earners on the back and attempting to project the vocation of "musician" as the glitzy, highbrow profession it pretty much universally is not. I know it's not for me, but the fact that it pretends to be the be all and end all of the best of music is irksome and problematic.

After so many years of snubs, shocks and outright head scratchers (honestly, Black Eyed Peas have six Grammys, and one of them is for My Humps), one has to wonder just what it is about a Grammy that convinces so many of an artist's worth? Why is Kanye so upset that Beck beat Beyoncé (and the sixteen other people who produced her record) for Album of the Year? At the end of the day, Beck gets to sell a few more copies of Morning Phase and Beyoncé gets to keep being Beyoncé: win win. It's not like Beck just got some kind of overdue credibility as an artist that was sorely missing from his career while he was making records way better than Morning Phase (Is anyone really, truly going to dismiss Odelay in comparison?). In the grand scheme of things, a Grammy doesn't really do anything for an artist aside from a small bump in album sales, and even that's only really for the big winners. Do you really think sales of the Dio tribute album are going to surge because they gave Best Metal to Tenacious D's cover of The Last In Line (more like the latest in a long line of Metal Grammy misfires amirite)?

Don't worry, Kanye; Beyoncé and the twenty Grammys she's won to date are going to be just fine. Just ask Led Zeppelin, who conquered the world without winning a single Grammy until 2013. Or Madonna; although a seven time winner in smaller categories, she's 0 for 3 on Record/Album/Song of the Year nominations and 0 for 4 in the prestigious Pop Female Vocal category. Or The Rolling Stones, whose storied and illustrious discography has netted them a grand total of two Grammys (both in 1994, no less). Hell, consider this: if you combine all the Grammys ever earned by The Who, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Ramones, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Queen, Guns N' Roses, Jimi Hendrix and KISS, the total is still two less than those earned by The Black Eyed Peas. Let that sink in. Yes, as a matter of fact seven of the ten artists I just mentioned have never won a Grammy. Ever. Yes, My Humps has earned more Grammys than The Who, Ramones, Queen, The Doors, Guns N' Roses, Jimi Hendrix and KISS combined.

No one would accuse these Hall of Fame acts of having shitty careers, but if they're so good why didn't they win Grammys? What do you have to say about it, U2? Oh, I don't think they could hear me with their 22 Grammys plugging their ears. By the way, if the Grammys are the pinnacle of musical achievement, then 2004's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb is U2's best album in a landslide, winning them eight of those shiny little bastards.

Look, again, I get it: taste is subjective, you can't please everyone all the time, it's just business, etc. etc. I'm just suggesting that maybe we can learn something from the crazy figures I just laid out. Maybe we shouldn't put so much stock in the importance of these little trophies; there are plenty of mind-blowing musical experiences out there that weren't deemed award-worthy for one reason or another, but are no less capable of shaking you to your core. By all means, check out the new Beck record; I didn't like it much, but maybe it's exactly the record you need right now. When you're finished with it, check out a few more. Explore beyond the reach of those little golden trinkets and find something to give the most important award to: your seal of approval.

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Sam Roberts Band

SAM ROBERTS BAND I Feel You From: Collider Released: May 10 Having already endured the breakout success ( Brother Down was Canada's it rock song of 2002), the tentative dabbling in the U.S. market, as is the rite of passage for all moderately successful Canuck artists (2003's debut We Were Born in a Flame was the best time to try; one of the best albums of the year, it made a small dent in the American mindset upon its release there a year later), the difficult, druggy third album (the aptly named 2005 disc Chemical City ), and the subdued creative step backward (2008's Love at the End of the World , aside from hit single Them Kids , was really kinda bland), it seems according to script that Sam Roberts would start settling in on his fourth album (and first with the band credited as equal contributors), Collider (you know, I think it was a bad idea to give me brackets). Well, as far as settling in goes, Roberts does and doesn't on Collider . W...

IN REVIEW: Rancid - "Trouble Maker"

As far as punk rock goes, it's hard to name a hotter hot streak than the trio of records Rancid cranked out between 1995 and 2000; the star making ...And Out Come the Wolves , the far-reaching Life Won't Wait and their balls-to-the-wall second self-titled album solidly positioned Rancid as leaders of the second generation of punk. It also preceded a period of slow progression, as Rancid would take eleven years to release their next three records. By the time ...Honor Is All We Know came in 2014, many fans (myself included) had to wonder whether or not this was the end of the road. Such concerns are handily dealt with on the closing track of the standard edition of their ninth record, the positively punishing This Is Not the End . Well, okay then, that's sorted. Now, what of this new record? What do we make of the use of their original logo on the cover, a logo that hasn't graced a Rancid record in 25 years? Is this a throwback to the band's heyday, a new begin...

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