User blog:Timebomb192potato/The Worcester Beacon: The Most Mind-Boggling Album of the Year Grammy Wins


 * The Most Mind-Boggling Album of the Year Grammy Wins
 * - Report by Jon D. Arevalos
 * March 14, 2021


 * 1990: Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time
 * Why it won: Despite the Grammys (and the music industry as a whole) forgetting she existed for many, many years, the cult blues rock icon became an unlikely MTV star and then won Best Album with Nick of Time.
 * What should have won: While Nick of Time is still a great album - look at what was snubbed in favor of it: Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever, the Traveling Wilburys' Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, and the Fine Young Cannibals' The Raw & the Cooked. In addition, Roxette's excellent Look Sharp! didn't even get a nomination.


 * 1992: Natalie Cole, Unforgettable... with Love
 * Why it won: Grammy voters tend to be two decades behind, so they turned their attention to a past Best New Artist covering her more famous dad's songs just as grunge (and other forms of alt rock that major labels thought were heavy-sounding or cynical enough to market to rebellious teens) was beginning to enter the mainstream. At least it actually topped the Billboard 200 and harbored a (minor) top 40 hit.
 * What should have won: R.E.M's Out of Time, but only because of the iconic "Losing My Religion". Grammy voters also thought Metallica's Black Album was too heavy for the Album of the Year category at all.


 * 1998: Bob Dylan, Time Out of Mind
 * Why it won: Bob Dylan had never won Album of the Year before (his appearance on The Concert for Bangladesh, which won in 1973, does not count), and the Grammys had to make it up for him by giving the award to one of his albums that is seen as okay but not as good as his 60s work. Coupling this with Shawn Colvin winning Song and Record of the Year, thus began one of the most boring Grammy eras, in which they kept giving out awards to adult-alternative sensations like John Mayer and Norah Jones and consolation awards to legendary artists for their lesser work as a way of avoiding acknowledgement of advancements in popular music.
 * What should have won: Radiohead's OK Computer all the way.


 * 2002: Various Artists, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
 * Why it won: Five months after 9/11, it seemed that nominating the bluegrass soundtrack to a slapstick comedy-crime film that provided escapism for America was a good choice.
 * What should have won: OutKast's Stankonia, which still holds up today and signaled the arrival of the 2000s obsession with southern hip-hop.


 * 2003: Norah Jones, Come Away with Me
 * Why it won: Evidently, NARAS members, along with pretty much the entire record industry at the time, believed Norah Jones would stand the test of time. The young jazz-pop sensation had five wins in all the major categories. The lead single was a sleeper hit, and Come Away with Me was an enormously successful and acclaimed album, selling 27 million copies worldwide and becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time, and helped to launch the "Starbucks pop" trend, plus it didn't make parents nervous the way Britney Spears, Ashanti or Avril Lavigne did.
 * What should have won: With all respect to Jones, you should take your pick from the other nominees: Eminem's The Eminem Show (too violent for Grammy voters), the (Dixie) Chicks' Home (too feminist for Grammy voters), Nelly's Nellyville (too raunchy for Grammy voters) and Bruce Springsteen's The Rising (too-reminding-of-the-awful-thing-that-happened-a-year-ago for Grammy voters). Also, Avril Lavigne's Let Go, an album that should have also been nominated, was stuck with a Best Pop Album nom.


 * 2015: Beck, Morning Phase
 * Why it won: See: Steely Dan and Robert Plant explanations. The Grammys snubbed Beck two times, so they made it up to him by giving the award to one of his more recent efforts.
 * What should have won: Beyoncé's self-titled album, which saw her experimenting with alternative R&B and led to indie rock fans deciding to give her a chance.