2005 Grammy Nominations Announced

The 2005 Grammy Award nominations were announced today. The biggest surprise of the bunch was Keane's nomination in the best new artist category. I LOVE Keane and this is a monumental achievement for them, considering how little exposure they've gotten in the US. Also surprising to me was that Kelly Clarkson didn't get a Record of the Year nomination for "Since U Been Gone." To me, no other single says 2005 like that song (except for maybe "We Belong Together." Mariah Carey really shined, and she should be pleased, as she's obviously worked hard to recover from her 2001 disaster and once again dominate the popular music world. My Grammy predictions for the top categories (Record and Album of the Year) were pretty close: 4 out of 5 right for each.

By award, here are the nominees for the general categories and my initial thoughts:

Record of the Year
We Belong Together - Mariah Carey
Feel Good Inc - Gorillaz
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani
Gold Digger - Kanye West Featuring Jamie Foxx

I thought sure that Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" would be nominated here, and am still shocked that it was not. Instead we have Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc," which is a great song, and looking back I'm surprised I didn't put it in my "maybe" list. I think this award will come down to Mariah Carey and Green Day. This is Carey's third nomination after "Vision of Love" in 1990 and "One Sweet Day" in 1995, and Green Day's second after "American Idiot" last year. It's the first for everyone else.

Album of the Year
The Emancipation of Mimi - Mariah Carey
Chaos & Creation in the Backyard - Paul McCartney
Love. Angel. Music. Baby - Gwen Stefani
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - U2
Late Registration - Kanye West

After 10 years, Mariah Carey has once again been nominated in the album category, following 1995's Daydream and 1990's Mariah Carey. Mimi was heralded as a comeback for her, so it's no surprise it was nominated. But in some ways, it is surprising. Thinking back to when this album was released, it didn't really bowl over critics, and it probably isn't as good as Mariah was in her early to mid '90s heyday. In my opinion, her debut remains her strongest album (followed closely by Daydream and 1993's Music Box). Still, it's probably the favorite here. Gwen Stefani's album was well-liked, but there's no story there like there is for Mariah. U2's album was embraced by critics (some called it their best since The Joshua Tree), but failed to score any major hits, so it's unlikely to win. Kanye West didn't win last year, even though he was a favorite for The College Dropout. Look for Kanye and Mariah to duke it out (and show up next year with a rap/sung collaboration that has major #1 hit written all over it). Unlike in the first category, I'm not surprised that Kelly Clarkson wasn't nominated, as Breakway lacks the edge that Grammy likes in pop Albums to be nominated here. I am surprised to see Paul McCartney, which feels like one of those Grammy throwback nominations. I was hoping for Coldplay. Maybe next time boys. This is Carey's third nomination, West's second, and Gwen Stefani's first, and U2's fourth. McCartney was last nominated in 1997 (for Flaming Pie), but before that I couldn't tell you how many times he's been nominated.

Song of the Year
Bless the Broken Road (Rascal Flatts) - Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna & Marcus Hummon
Devils & Dust (Bruce Springsteen) - Bruce Springsteen
Ordinary People (John Legend) - W. Adams & J. Stephens
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own (U2) - U2
We Belong Together (Mariah Carey) - J. Austin, M. Carey, J. Dupri & M. Seal

It used to be that this category pretty much mimicked Record of the Year; this year only one song, "We Belong Together," was nominated in both. The difference being that Record honors the performer while Song honors the songwriters. Something tells me that if a really great song was performed terribly that it probably wouldn't be nominated, but no matter. I'm not sure who has the advantage right now, as I'm only familiar with two of the songs.

New Artist
Ciara
Fall Out Boy
Keane
John Legend
Sugarland

I'm so excited to see Keane here--what a pleasant surprise. Of course, they have no chance of winning. My money's on John Legend beating Fall Out Boy.