Grammy...granny??

I dunno, they sounded the same. I thought it would be appropriate. Kind of like exhibit sounds like ribbit.

Anyways, on with the show. I've been thrilled with the unusually high volume of really good rock albums to come out this year. By high volume, I mean, 4 that I can think of. At least 4 that I've been exposed to in recent history. So, I was hoping for some actual talented artists to be recognized this year at the Grammys. I don't normally follow much of the hoopla surrounding award shows like that, but I've been pulling for these 4 albums to do well. The four are:

Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand (by chance does anyone know the historcial relevance of the name Franz Ferdinand?? The history geek in me is thrilled to rattle off who Franz Ferdinand originally was. Let me know if you'd like to know)

Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse

Hot Fuss by The Killers

American Idiot by Green Day.

I got a chance to listen to all four of these while on the way to Colorado, if not many times before, due to my boyfriend's exceptionally good taste in music. The Franz Ferdinand album is definately my favorite followed closely by American Idiot. Franz Ferdinand is giving me what I've been looking for for a long time. Music that is DIFFERENT!!! and still good. Their most recognizable song "Take Me Out" is good, but not my favorite. Marvin and I probably both agree that "The Dark of the Matinee" is the best song on the album. Alexander Kapranos, the lead singer, has a dark, mysterious voice that makes Franz's music seem rather undergroundish.

American Idiot restored my faith in Green Day. I loved Dookie, but after that, it was kind of hard for me to stomach anything else Green Day put out. Especially after "Good Riddance" was played over and over and over and over again at every graduation ceremony I can remember. American Idiot is kind of a concept album, that I've heard compared to the Tommy Rock Opera by the Who. It includes something that people rarely see outside of classical music; songs with movements! The music geek in me loves that. Not to mention the music itself is mature, dark, and definately intelligent. I recommend the song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

Good News For People Who Love Bad News, while not as great as the first two, is still a really great album in my eyes. I realize that Modest Mouse has been around for a while, but I've only recently been exposed to them. "Float On" and "Ocean Breathes Salty" are the two singles currently out from that album, but again, not my favorites. I must say I did love the video for "Ocean Breathes Salty." The kid in that video was just so cute! I think "Black Cadillacs" is probably the best song from this album. Marvin just bought an older Modest Mouse album, so we'll have to see how that one fares.

I chose to list Hot Fuss by the Killers last, because although I really dug "Somebody Told Me" and "Mr Brightside," the rest of the album didn't really do a ton for me. Maybe I'll have to listen to it some more and warm up to it, but to be honest, I can't even think of any other song on the album. These guys are from Las Vegas, but definately sound more like European underground sorts. Lots of electronica sounds on this album, and the lead singer's voice has kind of a weird androidish sound to it.

Anyways, while all four of these artists are nominated at least somewhere for their work, I was really REALLY hoping that they would be a little more prominently represented. For example, the song "The Reason" by Hoobastank was nominated at least twice. Once for Song of the Year. Have the Grammy people actually listened to that song??? It's awful!! It's repetitive and whiny and completely unoriginal. American Idiot is pretty well represented, but how about throwing Hoobastank completely off the list of nominees and replacing every one of their nominations with a Franz Ferdinand nomination. And what about the nomination of Maroon 5?? Their music is poppy and enjoyable on a very basic level, but they sound exactly like Train, who sounds exactly like some other terrible pop band. They're really not that great!

Another thing that kind of irks me is the complete loyalty of the Grammy people to older artists regardless of the quality of their music. For example, U2's Vertigo. The chorus was kind of catchy (Hola!!), but Bono kind of half sings, half talks the verses, and really, they kind of suck. Really not very impressive for a band, who in their heyday released such spine tingling songs as "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (my first U2 exposure, and still my favorite U2 song). They also nominated the Vertigo video for best video. That video was really kind of mediocre. U2 was standing in the middle of a beige and white Target sign playing their song, when all of the sudden the Target sign began to gyrate, etc. It made me wonder if Target was sponsoring their next tour or something. I know there are many (or at least one, Hi Becky) die hard U2 fans out there who would dispute my criticism, but I'll stick to my guns on this one.

In other Grammy comments, I was happy to see older, sometimes less recognized artists gracing the lesser known nomination lists. Tom Waits, brilliant as always, was nominated for Best Solo Rock Performance. Al Green and Van Morrison, two of my all time favorites also appeared here and there.

Two more comments before I stop rambling and boring all of you who've made it this far to tears. One: That song be Gretchen Wilson, Redneck Woman, should NOT be nominated anywhere. Maybe I just have a beef against it because my roommate loves it, but really, who wants to be called a redneck?? Last I remember, redneck implied uneducated, racist, smelly, and hick. Never in a million years, no matter how country I was, would I declare myself to be a redneck. Two: For the Best Producer of the Year award, John Shanks was nominated. Now, John Shanks apparently has produced for such *high end* stars as Ashlee Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Sheryl Crow, Hillary Duff, Alanis Morrisette, and Robbie Robertson (who??). Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morrisette, I used to like. But "First Cut is the Deepest" by Sheryl Crow made me want to puncture my ear drums and anything after "Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis just seems to be kind of schlock. As for the other four artists mention, ugh..ugh UGH. Granted I can't say much about Robbie Robertson, because I don't know him. But Ashlee Simpson can't sing worth a damn, which has been proven on national television a couple of times. Hillary Duff just bothers the crap out of me. She pretends to be so squeeky clean, but still somehow manages to come off appearing...dirty. As for Kelly Clarkson, if you have to go on a game show (yes I consider American Idol a game show. A long, drawn out, painful game show) in order to make it in the music industry, I'm not sure if you really count as an artist.

Anyways, enough of my ramblings. I saw a listing of the Grammy nominees and that set me off, but really, I shouldn't be expecting big things from the Grammy people. They pretty much suck. If you're interested in the list of nominees, take a look: http://www.grammy.com/awards/grammy/47noms.aspx#04

Otherwise, if you haven't, definately take a listen to the four albums I listed earlier on. Hope your eyes haven't fallen out by now.