Grammy Album of the Year

The Grammy Awards are tomorrow night, so like many observers, I'm thinking about who might win, as well as who should.

Album of the Year seems pretty sewn up this year, but I'd love to see a spoiler here. Three of the nominees are pretty easy to dismiss. Katy Perry's Teenage Dream didn't deserve the nomination in the first place, and I think a lot of Grammy voters would agree it is not deserving. Lady Antebellum's Need You Now isn't really my style, but from what I've read, it's not even the frontrunner for Best Country Album, let alone Album of the Year. And Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, despite being the best album here, isn't popular enough to generate widespread support.

That leaves Eminem and Lady Gaga duking it out for the win. Although relative newcomer Taylor Swift won the award last year, most recent honorees have been veterans, and believe it or not, Enimem is the most veteran act nominated this year. He was twice nominated before in 2000 for The Marshall Mathers LP and in 2002 for The Eminem Show, leading some voters to possibly view it as his "turn" to win. Recovery was also viewed as a comeback for him, giving him his biggest hit in years. It was also the best-selling album of last year, a factor that may have also worked in Taylor Swift's favor last year, as the music industry continues to struggle with album sales in the post-CD world. These factors will likely lead Recovery to victory tomorrow night, and it won't be Eminem's only statue either.

Yet, wouldn't it be grand to see an upset here? Yes, Eminem generated a lot of sales, but 12 years into the limelight now, he's just not that interesting. The figure who has most arguably reinvigorated pop music the most in the last 2 years is Lady Gaga, who just this week unleashed her latest sugary pop confection. Fame Monster was a lean and mean set of great pop songs. That it's considered an EP is probably a strike against it, as is her still "newcomer" status, but still, it's a much better album than most of the nominees.

Will win: Eminem
Should win: Lady Gaga (or Arcade Fire)

What I Said...

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (4.5). "The Suburbs is infused with that special type of youthful angst that the suburbs are adept at producing: an unholy blend of rage and boredom. Although the concept gets a bit heavy handed, particularly on closing duo 'Sprawl,' it serves to provide an interesting thematic thread through these songs, which deliver as much musical variety as we’ve heard from the band."



Eminem - Recovery (3). "Recovery has a lot of pop appeal, although it's an interesting twist of how hip-hop can appropriate pop into something dark and sinister. The kind of wicked goofiness that he showed on his earlier work, such as "Without Me" or "The Real Slim Shady" is missing here. Instead, the album is dominated by plodding, dark, guitar-driven songs that hybridize rap and pop, often with a great sample."



Lady Antebellum - Need You Now (3.5). "I'm not a big country listener, but I don't need a broad grounding in the genre to know this sounds very commercial. It's clearly meant to generate hits, which is a double-edged sword. Sure, it sounds slick, and there are some winners here, but there's also nothing really different or interesting that hasn't been done before."



Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster (4). "As much as anything, The Fame Monster advances Lady GaGa's apparent bid to become the new Madonna, taking several pages from the singer's '80s and early '90s playbooks. With Madonna moving on to do who-knows-what with the Live Earth people, its a role I'm happy to see someone take on."




Katy Perry - Teenage Dream (2.5). "With Teenage Dream, Katy Perry establishes herself as the poster child for prolonged adolescence, taking us through a carefree romp of drinking, flirting, and partying with hardly an adult consequence in sight. After [a] strong opening, the album goes downhill pretty fast, from a few more songs of mild interest, to quite a few that are just...well, dull."

Album Review: Eminem - Recovery (3/5)

Eventually, I knew I had to get around to reviewing this. I've had the album for months, but Eminem is a tough listen for me. I really didn't like his last album, Relapse, which I found to be unncessarily violent and misogynistic without much pop appeal. Thankfully, Recovery has a lot of pop appeal, although it's an interesting twist of how hip-hop can appropriate pop into something dark and sinister. Sure Recovery features Pink and Rihanna and draws samples from some highly recognizable sources, but nothing about Eminem is ever light or breezy. The kind of wicked goofiness that he showed on his earlier work, such as "Without Me" or "The Real Slim Shady" is missing here.

Instead, the album is dominated by plodding, dark, guitar-driven songs that hybridize rap and pop, often with a great sample. He skirts the dance pop stylings of Rihanna in favor of her darker side on "Love the Way You Lie," the domestic abuse drama that became one of the year's biggest hits. Intriguing "Space Bound" interpolates R.E.M.'s dark burner, "Drive," and "25 to Life," which features vocalist Liz Rodrigues, has a welcome laid back feel touched with a bit of sadness. He even manages to turn a dance pop sample--Haddaway's "What Is Love"--into something sinister on "No Love," with Lil Wayne in tow for some extra cred. It's a more clever sampling than using Black Sabath's "Changes" on "Going Through Changes," which doesn't take much creativity.

"Not Afraid" shoots for an epic sound and scores, another album highlight. P!nk, shows up on "Won't Back Down," a soulful, upbeat jam--one of the few here. Prominent electric guitar lends a rock air to "Talkin' 2 Myself."

I listen to this album, and some of the songs are good, but it just doesn't grab me. I know it will probably win the Album of the Year Grammy Award, which it probably deserves, but I'm just not a big fan of his. I'm grateful that this album doesn't display the kind of violent misogyny I found so repellent on his last album, Relapse, but I wish he would lighten up a little more.

Best: Love the Way You Lie, Not Afraid, No Love, Space Bound, Won't Back Down

Eminem & Rihanna - Love the Way You Lie Video

Finally, this is out. What a beautifully shot, yet hard to watch video. Nice to see Lost alum Dominic Monaghan (and Paul, who wasn't yet heard this song, this is for you).

June New Album Releases

It's a real dance pop month in June, as we see the release of the third album from the Scissor Sisters, which I'm most excited about, plus Christina Aguilera's fourth album and Robyn's fifth. Here's a rundown of the biggest new releases.

Scissor Sisters - Night Work (June 28). It's been four long years since Scissor Sisters released their second album, Ta-Dah. Since then they've kept a pretty low profile, with the most notable thing happening to them being the change of their drummer, as Paddy Boom left the band to be replaced by Randy "Real" Schrager. First single "Fire with Fire" is already starting to get airplay. The album is produced by Stuart Price, the famous British dance music producer who helmed Madonna's Confessions on a Dancefloor and the recent Killers album, Day and Age.

Christina Aguilera - Bionic (June 7/8). Pop megastar Christina Aguilera likes long spans between her albums. Her last major release, a 2008 greatest hits album, produced a minor hit, "Keeps Gettin' Better," but she hasn't put out an album in 4 years. Bionic is the follow-up to her 2006 double-disc concept album that saw Aguilera mine classic soul and '40s pop. For Bionic, she turns to the modern, teaming up with Polow da Don and Tricky Stewart, in addition to longtime collaborator Linda Perry. First single "Not Myself Tonight" has a flashy GaGa-esque video, but is already show signs of cooling on the chart, which is a bit premature.

Robyn - Bodytalk Pt. 1 (June 14/15). Having dramatically revived her international pop career with Robyn, an album promoted and released in different countries over the course of 2005 through 2008, the Swedish dance pop singer follows that up with Bodytalk Pt. 1, a collection of just nine tracks, that Robyn has said is the first of three such sets due to be released over the course of the year. First single is "Dancing on My Own." Robyn scored big internationally in 1997/98 with hits like "Do You Know (What It Takes)" and "Show Me Love," but had few hits outside of Scandinavia after that until "With Every Heartbeat" hit #1 in Britain late in the summer of 2007.

Oasis - Time Flies...1994 - 2009 (June 14/15). Oasis, who called it quits last year, is set to release a 2-disc comprehensive greatest hits collection spanning the band's career from its first single, "Supersonic," to its last, "Falling Down." From what I've seen it has everything, including their eight UK #1s, "Whatever," their first top 5 hit that has been unavailable from a digital store, and, on the US version, "Champagne Supernova," which despite being their second-biggest American hit, was not released as a single in Britain.

Glee Cast - Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals (June 8). This will mark the third month in a row with a Glee release. This is the EP that accompanies the first season finale, including a new version of "Don't Stop Believin," "To Sir, With Love" and "Over the Rainbow." Glee's been picked up for two more seasons. So expect lots of releases to continue coming next fall.



Eminem - Recovery (June 22). American Rapper Eminem had promised to follow-up Relapse with a sequel, but instead takes a new direction with Recovery, featuring recent #1 hit "Not Afraid."

Miley Cyrus - Can't Be Tamed (June 22). The Disney pop star returns with her third studio album, preceded by its title-track single.

3Oh!3 - Streets of Gold (June 29). Third album from the American pop/rock band features single "My First Kiss" with Ke$ha.

The Chemical Brothers - Further (June 7). The British electronic duo releases its seventh album.

Sia - We Are Born (June 7). Sia's fouth album follows her 2008 breakthrough, Some People Have Real Problems.

Drake - Thank Me Later (June 15). Canadian rapper releases his full-length debut album featuring hit singles "Over" and "Find Your Love."

Album review: Eminem - Relapse (1/5)

I know Eminem is an important musical force, and the critics seem to be praising Relapse as a return to form, following his drug- and depression-fueled 5-year "break." But I'm not just not buying it, for how many times do I have to listen to lines like "I'll pee on Rihanna" (from "Medicine Ball") for me to believe it's cleverly funny rather than inane? And that's one of the tamest lines from this work, which intentionally pushes every button imaginable, exploring truly depraved subjects.

No matter how well crafted the beats and lyrical turns, the content is truly disturbing whether exploring the hatred for a mentally abusive mother ("My Mom"), sexually abusive stepfather ("Insane"), or other celebrities ("Same Song and Dance"), all of which also reveals a kind of self hatred, as Eminem admits he's turned into his mother, and of course, he can't escape criticism of celebrity, being one himself. "Same Song and Dance" is particular twisted, where Eminem fancies himself as a stalker-killer going after a young actress.

There's also a deep misogyny at work here, and that's a real turn off. Rap frequently objectifies women, but on Relapse Eminem's turned the effort into an exercise in sheer degradation, violently dispatching women (often by name) like a bad Friday the 13th. One positive thing I can say about this is that there are few references to his daughter Hailie, which is a good thing, considering how loaded this album is with references to drug abuse, murder and sexual degradation (she shows up on "Deja Vu," but that was about it I think).

With all the smut and anger on display here, there's little, if anything that's joyous. Em's always tried to get a rise out of us, but he also served up some good times like "The Real Slim Shady" and "Without Me." "We Made You" comes closest, since, while trashing a parade of famous women from Jessica Simpson to Kim Kardashian to Sarah Palin, is at least not about murdering them. Ne-Yo's Year of the Gentleman this is not.

Much of Relapse serves to reinforce how insular Eminem's world is, but at least he's still aware of what he's doing. Eminem's skit "Paul," where an acquaintance calls Eminem up and tells him that this album is too offensive to get behind shows at least that he's aware that this album's mockery of Christopher Reeve and endless references to rape are offensive. So what's the point then? Isn't it easy to be offensive? Isn't it harder to be original and revealing? If Eminem does have something to say here, its too buried by horror-porn to be evident.