Regardless of your taste in music, the Grammy Awards continue to be a national event, whether it’s in our living rooms, in the Twittersphere, or the history books. But like all good music critics, we here at the Emerald have our own opinions of what we’d like to see. Whether or not the bigwigs of the music industry get it right, it’s sure to be a momentous occasion to celebrate the greats of the music world thus far. Here’s what to watch out for:
Record of the Year
“Get Lucky” – Daft Punk
“Radioactive” – Imagine Dragons
“Royals” – Lorde
“Locked Out of Heaven” – Bruno Mars
“Blurred Lines” – Robin Thicke
Who will win: ”Royals.” The Grammys like smart, slightly edgy singles — and unlike Daft Punk, Lorde isn’t up for Album of the Year.
Who should win: “Get Lucky.” Though “Royals” is arguably a better song, Daft Punk’s gloriously cheesy hit is as much a celebration of music’s long and ridiculous history as the Grammys themselves.
Album of the Year
“The Blessed Unrest” – Sara Bareilles
“Random Access Memories” – Daft Punk
“Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City” – Kendrick Lamar
“The Heist” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
“Red” – Taylor Swift
Who will win: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis or Taylor Swift. The first thing you should know about the 2014 Grammys are that they sweat Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis — they’re nominated for seven. Taylor Swift has racked up seven Grammys in four years, and her last album “Fearless” won Album of the Year in 2010. She even has a Wikipedia page dedicated solely to her awards.
Who should win: Daft Punk – “Random Access Memories,” the first electronic album ever to be nominated for Album of the Year. It’s kick ass and more diverse than any of the other nominees and a win for this album could give electronic music some serious acknowledgement.
Best New Artist
James Blake
Kendrick Lamar
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Kacey Musgraves
Ed Sheeran
Who will win: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Despite the fact that Macklemore hit the scene in 2005 and his first hit “And We Danced” was released in 2011 — the same year I graduated high school — the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences still dubs him “new.” Macklemore has been nominated and/or won 39 awards in the past year — 46 if you include the 2014 Grammys. Yet only two of these awards acknowledged his newness: a Teen Choice Award nomination and a European MTV Awards win. He has yet to have been officially initiated by the Grammy powerhouse.
Who should win: Lorde. She’s a 17-year-old whose first album dropped late September, and it only took her four months to get on the cover of Rolling Stone. Since she’s not nominated, I’ll root for Kendrick or James Blake.
Song of the Year
“Just Give Me A Reason” (Pink) – Jeff Bhasker, Pink & Nate Ruess
“Locked Out of Heaven” (Bruno Mars) – Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine & Bruno Mars
“Roar” (Katy Perry) – Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry & Henry Walter
“Royals” (Lorde) – Joel Little & Ella Yelich O’Connor
“Same Love” (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) – Ben Haggerty, Mary Lambert & Ryan Lewis
Who will win: “Same Love” was both a hit and a social justice anthem, though its chances are reduced by the likelihood that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis will win Best New Artist, I would place my bets on this one. Pink may cause an upset, though it would mean Nate Ruess’s second win in the Song of the Year category in a row following Fun.’s “We Are Young.”
Who should win: “Royals.” A strange yet catchy and ubiquitous pop hit, “Royals” was one of the pillars of this year’s pop renaissance.
Dance/Electronica Album Of The Year
“Random Access Memories” – Daft Punk
“Settle” – Disclosure
“18 Months” – Calvin Harris
“Atmosphere” – Kaskade
“A Color Map of the Sun” – Pretty Lights
Who will win: “Random Access Memories“ and “18 Months“ with roughly equal probability. While “Random Access Memories” was the bigger event by far, Calvin Harris will very likely upset due to his high stature in the pop industry—though he’s a solo star, he’s just as well known for producing Rihanna’s “We Found Love.”
Who should win: “Settle,” the album that almost single-handedly reintroduced the EDM community to its old-school house roots.
Best Rock Album
“13″ – Black Sabbath
“The Next Day” – David Bowie
“Mechanical Bull” – Kings of Leon
“Celebration Day” – Led Zeppelin
“Like Clockwork” – Queens of The Stone Age
“Psychedelic Pill” – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Who will win: Probably “Psychedelic Pill” – people love Neil Young and with good reason. Any album that starts with a 27 minute song is most likely a good one in my book. Not to mention Young also received an achievement award from the Recording Academy this week.
Who should win: “Like Clockwork.” While the rest of the list — with the exception of Kings of Leon — are some of rock’s greatest legends, the Queens of The Stone Age have only been rocking since the mid-90s — the same time Black Sabbath’s last album “13“ was released. The album is hauntingly beautiful, addictive and features guest artists from Alex Turner to Elton John.
Best Alternative Music Album
“The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight…” – Neko Case
“Trouble Will Find Me” – The National
“Hesitation Marks” – Nine Inch Nails
“Lonerism” – Tame Impala
“Modern Vampires of the City” – Vampire Weekend
Who will win: “Modern Vampires.” It’s the most visibly acclaimed album of 2013 and Vampire Weekend’s recent inclusion in Rolling Stone’s Greatest Albums Of All Time list (as well as their top albums list for 2013) suggests they’re now officially part of the rock Illuminati.
Who should win: “Lonerism.” Though it technically came out in 2012, it was one of the best albums of that year and one of the best major psych-rock albums since The Flaming Lips’ “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.”
Best Rap Album
“Nothing Was the Same” – Drake
“Magna Carta…Holy Grail” – Jay Z
“Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” – Kendrick Lamar
“The Heist” – Macklemore
“Yeezus” – Kanye West
Who will win: “Nothing Was the Same“ or “Magna Carta…Holy Grail.” I can’t imagine a more perfect real-life example for “Started from the Bottom.”
Who should win: “Yeezus.” Kanye’s album is ballsy, which may be why he got snubbed on a lot of other awards — his only other being for “New Slaves” for ”Best Rap Song.”