The Grammy Awards are making some changes to this year’s contest.
There will be eight– yes, eight– nominees in the categories of Best Album, Record, Single and Best New Artist.
This is a little weird. It’s been hard enough to find five candidates in each category in recent years.
Quick, who won Best Album this year? Yes, I, too, cannot remember. Oh yes, Bruno Mars, not Kendrick Lamar. The latter got a Pulitzer Prize instead.
So which albums would comprise the Big 8 this year? I guess the top contenders would be Kanye’s “Ye,” Jay Z and Beyonce’s “The Carters,” are the likely candidates. If the Grammys really looked at “the best” and not “best selling” we’d also have David Byrne’s “American Utopia” and the Sting/Shaggy collection “44/876.”
Paul McCartney’s coming “Egypt Station” is going to be a big deal.
Left over from last year, Taylor Swift’s “Reputation.” You know it will be in the mix. Who wouldn’t want a Kanye vs. Taylor redux?
Some names who released excellent albums this year? I’d like to see in the mix: Keith Urban, Janelle Monae, Leon Bridges, James Bay, Charlie Puth, Sugarland. How about Judith Owen’s album of covers? What about Ry Cooder’s knockout, “Prodigal Son”?
But 8 Albums of the Year? Hmmmm….
