GRAMMY 2005

[Dore Adler]

Hi!

This is my first post. I'm a little surprised I'm chiming in on such a contentious subject when I came here for the TJB chat. But here goes...

I think everyone should think of the Grammy's the same way you think about a compilation album. There's going to be some good, some bad, and some things you didn't know about that caught your ear. If this show did that then it was a success.

I thought Los Lonely Boys were terrific and I intend to get their album. That alone should tell you a little about my taste. I loved Green Day and U2. I rejoiced when Loretta Lynn accepted her award. I yawned during the J-Lo snoozefest (was that why there was a bed on the set?) although Marc Anthony has a voice to kill for.

I love Ray Charles like no other artist I can think of, but the duets album is only a so-so affair, IMHO. The awards it garnered were definitely because of the cumulative high marks of his incredible career, not the album itself.

I swore like a longshoreman when Brian Wilson lost Best Pop Album for SMiLE. That was truly the best album of 2004, or any other year for that matter. SMiLE also should have won best-engineered album.

I thought Kanye West's acceptance speech was the most sanctimonious thing I've witnessed in a long time. Just awful.

So there you have it--a decent show all in all, with some highs and some deep lows. That's all you should expect, I'd say.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I agree with you on Marc Anthony, Dore. Jennifer Lopez has absolutely no business singing with someone with the chops of Marc Anthony. It's like Ashlee Simpson singing with Karen Carpenter. She was utterly outclassed.

 

[walterphil]

Hi!

This is my first post. I'm a little surprised I'm chiming in on such a contentious subject when I came here for the TJB chat. But here goes...

what a breath of fresh air you are dore.....

 

[jimac51]

Dore may be right as to what to expect from the Grammy's and that is why,if anything,"Law & Order:Criminal Intent" would have been my only choice had I been channel surfing that night. In reading some post-Grammy writings on the web-as dreadful as the ratings were,record sales should be healthy this week-a surprise to many record execs who thought that it would be tough to replicate the 2004 Grammy's earlier telecast a week before Valentine's Day and the success of Norah Jones' sophomore album that week. Ray Charles is expected to sell 230,000 copies this week-it is already triple platinum(Ray's biggest seller, ever) and Concord expects six million when the excitement dies down(this will sell pretty well throughout 2005). I also found out that Philadelphian and great record guy Gene Rumsey is GM over at Concord-he did a great job for years at EMI. It looks like Green Day may even surpass the Genius in sales with almost 250,000 expected through the register. Mac

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Sorry I'm late on this one but I just had to speak. I found Kanye West's speech to be the funniest thing I've heard in quite some time. Is he cocky? Yeah. Is he utterly full of it? Yeah. Does absolutely everything he touches turn to gold - thus justifying his confidence? Yeah.

Ed

 

[DAN BOLTON]

As far as Ray Charles' album GENIUS LOVES COMPANY goes, I bought it just after Christmas, and played it almost nonstop until the reissues came in the mail. I could have done without Michael MacDonald and Willie Nelson, but the rest of the album is pretty darn good...



Dan

 

[DAN BOLTON]

And another thing...if Jamie Foxx doesn't get an Oscar for his portrayal of Ray in the movie...there ain't no justice...




Dan

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Does absolutely everything he touches turn to gold - thus justifying his confidence?

This year, yeah. In a couple of years, he will have been replaced several times over by the next big (rap) thing. No rapper will ever have a long career the likes of some of the best rock stars have had.

 

[Bruno]

Yesterday the two CDs arrived by mail.

I listened to SONGS ABOUT JANE yesterday evening. I have to listen to it several times to do it justice. From the first listening, I feel, that the songs are very similar.

THIS LOVE appears as a mix, that seems to be different from the one I hear on German radio so often.

SHE WILL BE LOVED was written by the Maroon boys! I have to correct my stating in the first post, that this is a cover. I somehow thought, that U2 had a hit with it originally. Strange.....

What impresses me about this group is ofcourse the voice of the lead singer. It reminds me of this other group, Jamiroqai (or is it a solo artist? You know, they sang COSMIC GIRL some years ago).

The other thing that impresses me are the lyrics. Much more sophisticated than other "boy groups"!


For the Ray Charles album GENIUS LOVES COMPANY:
I was never fond of Ray Charles, because I don't like his voice. But the duet partners on this album are impressive. Ofcourse it is sappy sometimes, but being a Carpenters and Manilow fan, this doesn't bother me at all.
The duet with Diana Krall is great, because she has a great voice, much better voice than Norah Jones, in my opinion. Guess, I have to buy a Krall album at last.


Bruno

 

[Dore Adler]

Sorry I'm late on this one but I just had to speak. I found Kanye West's speech to be the funniest thing I've heard in quite some time. Is he cocky? Yeah. Is he utterly full of it? Yeah. Does absolutely everything he touches turn to gold - thus justifying his confidence? Yeah.

Ed

Confidence is one thing. Sanctimoniousness is a whole other kettle of fish, as they say!

Remember, this guy has cried foul every time he didn't win an award. He has claimed it was fixed, etc. Rubbish! No one with an ounce of class would do that! People call Bono an ego-tripper and yet he acknowledged the quality of the artists they were nominated against and seemed very humble.

Also, I disliked the way Kanye kept referring to his "accident." He was in a gang-fight. That kind of code-talk leaves me cold. The whole Crips vs Bloods thing is pathetic.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Kanye was in a car accident that practically killed him. He's said that numerous times. He was never in a "gang fight".

Ed

 

[jfiedler17]

I swore like a longshoreman when Brian Wilson lost Best Pop Album for SMiLE. That was truly the best album of 2004, or any other year for that matter. SMiLE also should have won best-engineered album.

I thought Kanye West's acceptance speech was the most sanctimonious thing I've witnessed in a long time. Just awful.

I agree with you about Kanye West's speech; I was pretty repulsed by it myself.
And, as I've heard one music journalist comment already, how ironic is it that Brian Wilson, who's done more for vocal arrangements than most anyone else in the biz, finally picks up his first Grammy, and it's for Best Rock Instrumental???
I was mixed about Brian Wilson losing Best Pop Album. I really would've loved to have seen him win, if only because A) he's Brian Wilson, and the man really ought to have a whole closet full of Grammies by now, and B) the album only took thirty-five years to see daylight! How much more work does a guy need to put in to get a Grammy???
But at the same time, as wildly entertaining and fascinating as Smile is, I have to admit that it's just not that commercial an album - had the Beach Boys released it back then, I can't imagine it would have fared very well on the charts; even Pet Sounds was considered a sales disappointment at the time, and that was a more accessible effort than Smile is - and my usual measure for judging how great an album isn't how artistic it is, but simply how many songs on it sound like they could be singles or at least have hooks or melodies that stick in my head for days on end (and will thus keep me coming back to the album over and over again), so I'm not quite as ga-ga over Smile as all the music critics are.
Still, though, I would've loved to have seen him win. Like I said, he's Brian Wilson, and he's long overdue for one, and this album was already legendary before it was even released, and how many other albums can you say that about?

In a couple of years, he will have been replaced several times over by the next big (rap) thing. No rapper will ever have a long career the likes of some of the best rock stars have had.

LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys are both surprisingly still going strong, but I agree that no rapper will ever have a career span as long as, say, the Stones or McCartney or Elton, etc. have had. Why? Because, for all the "Steel Wheelchairs"-type jokes you hear about a rock group like the Stones still going at it at their age, imagine a rapper trying to not look downright ridiculous at that age. A rapper, I think, can only do their act up to a certain age before they lose all credibility whatsoever; imagine a 60-year-old still walking back and forth across a stage, holding on to their crotch and rapping, "****, it feels good to be a gangsta ..."

Jeff F.

SHE WILL BE LOVED was written by the Maroon boys! I have to correct my stating in the first post, that this is a cover. I somehow thought, that U2 had a hit with it originally. Strange.....

What impresses me about this group is ofcourse the voice of the lead singer. It reminds me of this other group, Jamiroqai (or is it a solo artist? You know, they sang COSMIC GIRL some years ago).

Yeah, "She Will Be Loved" is a Maroon 5 original, but it does almost sound like a U2 song; the chorus kinda reminds me a little of "With or Without You."
And Jamiroquai is indeed a group. (Great band, too. I own Travelling Without Moving ; "Alright" is one seeeriously funky song.)

Jeff F.

 

[Dore Adler]

Kanye was in a car accident that practically killed him. He's said that numerous times. He was never in a "gang fight".

Ed

Thanks for the info!!