Grammy Losers and Winners: An Album a Day

Featuring Beck, Mariah Carey, Billy Joel, and others

My friend Ken and I decided to listen to an album every day this year. Each week is themed. At the end of each week, we rank what we listened to. To be clear, we aren’t ranking every album that fits the theme. We are only ranking what we chose to listen to during the last seven days.

This week’s theme is “Grammy Losers and Winners,” meaning we pick a year, listen to whatever won Grammy for Album of the Year in that year, and then listen to one of the albums that album beat (i.e., Grammy loser). Rather than ranking from least to most liked, we are ranking by quality disparity this week, meaning the how much better the loser was than the winner. As an added bonus, we listed our favorite albums from each year, whether they were nominated for a Grammy or not.

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#7 2014: Random Access Memories by Daft Punk (Winner) and good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar (Loser)

2014 is the notorious year where The Heist by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won the Grammy for Best Rap Album over Magna Carta... Holy Grail by Jay-Z, Nothing Was the Same by Drake, Yeezus by Kanye West, and good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar. good kid, m.A.A.d city suffered a similar fate that night when nominated for Album of the Year, the biggest award of the night.

While I would have preferred good kid, m.A.A.d city take the trophy over Random Access Memories, its loss is not as egregious as its loss to the appropriately name The Heist. I don’t think Random Access Memories is Daft Punk at the height of their powers, but it is a great dance record, summarizing the history of the genre with features from Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder, among others.

good kid, m.A.A.d city is just filled with such rich storytelling. I’d go so far as to say that nearly half the track list is made up of hip-hop classics: “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe,” “Backseat Freestyle,” “Money Trees,” “Poetic Justice,” “m.A.A.d city,” and “Swimming Pools (Drank).”

Who were all the nominees? Random Access Memories by Daft Punk, The Blessed Unrest by Sara Bareilles, good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar, The Heist by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Red by Taylor Swift

Did the Grammys get it right? Random Access Memories is not an egregious pick, but I would much rather have seen Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city or Taylor Swift’s Red take home the gramophone trophy.

Chris & Ken’s other favorites from this year: Same Trailer Different Park by Kacey Musgraves, Acid Rap by Chance the Rapper, Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend, Yeezus by Kanye West, AM by Arctic Monkeys, Wise Up Ghost by Elvis Costello and The Roots, Pure Heroine by Lorde, Victim of Love by Charles Bradley, Negativity by Deer Tick

#6 1980: 52nd Street by Billy Joel (Winner) and Breakfast in America by Supertramp (Loser)

Is 52nd Street my favorite Billy Joel album? No. I’d put Turnstiles, The Stranger, and Glass Houses above it on most days. (If we’re counting live records, then Songs In the Attic would also be ushered in front of it.) But is 52nd Street still a great record? Yes. And Billy Joel is a great songwriter. In fact, beyond his occasional cheesiness (e.g., “Pressure”), intermittent bad sound effects (e.g., “You May Be Right”), and periodic condescension toward his songwriting subjects (e.g., “James”), we accept no Billy Joel hate in this newsletter.

52nd Street is packed with strong writing across a range of styles. “Honesty” is Billy Joel at the peak of his balladeering power. “Big Shot” brings more edge than almost any other song in the Billy Joel catalog. “Zanzibar” sees the Piano Man pair up with Freddie Hubbard for a jazz-infused jam.

Despite all of that, Supertramp mostly matches Joel and his band on Breakfast in America. The album combines great playing with (e.g., “Child Of Vision”) and tight vocal harmonies (e.g., “Breakfast in America”) with pop instincts (e.g., “Goodbye Stranger”).

Who were all the nominees? 52nd Street by Billy Joel, Minute by Minute by The Doobie Brothers, The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, Bad Girls by Donna Summer, Breakfast in America by Supertramp

Did the Grammys get it right? 52nd Street is a quality selection, but I think I would have given the nod to Bad Girls by Donna Summer, arguably the finest album of the disco era.

Chris & Ken’s other favorites from this year: Cool for Cats by Squeeze, Look Sharp by Joe Jackson, Highway to Hell by AC/DC, Off the Wall by Michael Jackson, Prince by Prince, Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Live Rust by Neil Young & Crazy Horse, The Wall by Pink Floyd, London Calling by The Clash

#5 1989: Faith by George Michael (Winner) and Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman (Loser)

“Faith” by George Michael is a generational track, the Bo Diddley beat for the electronic age. But some of the rest of the album it shares a name with drags, even on the hits. “I Want Your Sex” runs for 9 minutes. “One More Try” feels like it goes on just as long.

The heights of Tracy Chapman’s self-titled record (e.g., “Fast Car,” “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution”) are just as high as George Michael’s. While nothing drags as much on Tracy Chapman as on Faith, certain tracks feel a bit redundant at the end (e.g., “For You”).

Who were all the nominees? Faith by George Michael, Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman, Simple Pleasures by Bobby McFerrin, ...Nothing Like the Sun by Sting, Roll with It by Steve Winwood

Did the Grammys get it right? I’m fine with the selection of Faith. I also wouldn’t have been mad if Tracy Chapman won. The best songs on those records are better than entire albums.

Chris & Ken’s other favorites from this year: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy, Surfer Rosa by Pixies, 3 by Violent Femmes

#4 1964: The Barbra Streisand Album by Barbra Streisand (Winner) and Honey in the Horn by Al Hirt (Loser)

The Grammys love Barbra Streisand. Chris and Ken do not. Don’t get us wrong. Streisand can sing circles around nearly anybody else (e.g., “Cry Me a River”). But her voice is something I appreciate rather than enjoy. Like I could have died having lived a completely fulfilled life having never heard Streisand snap her way through “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”

I don’t think I could say something about Al Hirt’s Honey in the Horn. While it’s not groundbreaking, it is an easy, enjoyable listen, Hirt fully living up to his nickname “The Round Mound of Sound.” I mean if you don’t smile listening to “Java,” you have never felt joy.

Who were all the nominees? The Barbra Streisand Album by Barbra Streisand, Bach’s Greatest Hits by Ward Swingle & The Swingle Singers, Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests by Andy Williams, Honey in the Horn by Al Hirt, The Singing Nun by Soeur Sourire

Did the Grammys get it right? I’d give the nod to Al Hirt, despite the fact that none of my favorites from this year were nominated. To be fair, Album of the Year was much less focused on albums popular with young people when the awards first kicked off in 1958.

Chris & Ken’s other favorites from this year: Please Please Me by The Beatles, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan, Live at the Apollo by James Brown, Heat Wave by Martha and the Vandellas, A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector by Phil Spector, In Dreams by Roy Orbison

#3 1969: By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Glen Campbell (Winner) and Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel (Loser)

Glen Campbell’s By the Time I Get to Phoenix is a serviceable orchestral country record, the title track a prime example of songwriter Jimmy Webb’s ability to pull at your heartstrings with the smallest details. But even Jimmy Webb and the other songwriters on this album could not equal Paul Simon at the height of his powers.

Bookends is a strange record. Side A begins and ends with two instrumentals, the journey from childhood to old age chronicled in between. These compositions are some of Paul Simon’s strongest (e.g., “America”). Garfunkel is no slouch, though. Not only are his harmonies divine, but his sound collage “Voices of Old People” ties the entire concept together.

That concept does not continue on Side B. Side B is mostly songs from the previous few years that didn’t make the duo’s other releases. “Punky’s Dilemma” aside, they’re quite good, though (e.g., “Mrs. Robinson”).

Who were all the nominees? By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Glen Campbell, Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel, Feliciano! by José Feliciano, Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles, A Tramp Shining by Richard Harris

Did the Grammys get it right? The two best nominees are The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour and Simon & Garfunkel’s Bookends. Those albums are oddly similar in that their Side A’s are built around a theme and Side B’s are assorted singles. As a Beatles freak, I’d still give the nod to Simon & Garfunkel.

Chris & Ken’s other favorites from this year: Lady Soul by Aretha Franklin, At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash, Music from Big Pink by The Band, Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Beatles by The Beatles, Elvis by Elvis Presley, Astral Weeks by Van Morrison, Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones, Nancy & Lee by Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood, God Bless Tiny Tim by Tiny Tim, Randy Newman by Randy Newman, The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding

#2 2006: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2 (Winner) and The Emancipation of Mimi by Mariah Carey (Loser)

From Bono shouting “Uno, Dos, Tres, Catorce” on the opening track of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, I knew we were in for a disaster. This is rock music that was meant to played on one iTunes commercial and then never heard again, overdone musical platitudes aiming for the grandeur of The Joshua Tree and falling flat.

The opening of The Emancipation of Mimi could not be more different. The album kicks off with an off-kilter beat from Jermaine Dupri and Manuel Seal that sucks you in from the first clap. That opener is followed by the one-two punch of “We Belong Together” and “Shake It Off,” Carey running circles around every other R&B singer of the 2000s.

Unlike Daydream, the other Mariah Carey we listened to this year, The Emancipation of Mimi is much more indebted to hip-hop. Part of that is heard in the features (e.g., Snoop Dogg, Twista). Part of that is heard in the beats. The Emancipation of Mimi is also less bogged down by melodramatic ballads than many of Carey’s efforts from the previous decade.

Who were all the nominees? How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard by Paul McCartney, The Emancipation of Mimi by Mariah Carey, Late Registration by Kanye West, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. by Gwen Stefani

Did the Grammys get it right? You could make the case that the Grammys never got it more wrong this year, especially when Kanye West, at the peak of his powers, was nominated for Late Registration.

Chris & Ken’s other favorites from this year: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning by Bright Eyes, Demon Days by Gorillaz

#1 1997: Falling Into You by Céline Dion (Winner) and Odelay by Beck (Loser)

If you made a Venn diagram of people who had listened to Céline Dion’s Falling Into You and Beck’s Odelay, I would guess that the intersection contains vanishingly few people outside of me and Ken. Frankly, I can’t even imagine people listening to both of these albums the year they came out.

Falling Into You is an hour of the biggest, most melodramatic ballads you’ve ever heard. Odelay is a mishmash of 1990s signifiers: the alternative White rocker half-talking, half-rapping over unexpected samples and weird guitars.

Between Barbra Streisand and Mariah Carey, we listened to lots of big vocalists this week. But even they would have trouble matching the power of Céline Dion’s voice. Yet outside of the Jim Steinman-composed “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” that voice does very little for me.

Part of that isn’t Dion’s fault. The plastic-y production makes most of these songs feel dead inside. Compare her rendition of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” to the original by Aretha Franklin for an example.

Odelay feels like it was made to stand in contrast to Céline Dion and the entire industry set up around her. It’s strange and inventive and bizarre. It’s what you put on in your bedroom to drown out your mother blasting Céline Dion’s “All By Myself.”

Who were all the nominees? Falling Into You by Céline Dion, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins, Odelay by Beck, The Score by The Fugees, Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album by Various Artists

Did the Grammys get it right? If you give the trophy to The Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, or The Fugees, I wouldn’t complain. Frankly, Céline Dion’s win is hard to comprehend.

Chris & Ken’s other favorites from this year: Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z, Yourself or Someone Like You by Matchbox 20, On Avery Island by Neutral Milk Hotel, Pinkerton by Weezer, Sheryl Crow by Sheryl Crow, ATLiens by Outkast, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory by Makaveli, All Eyez On Me by 2Pac

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