Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler GRAMMYS

i am surprised no one else has even bothered to create a grammy thread.. after all, we are music lovers, right?

any big surprises for anyone? any disappointments? any performances that really stood out to you?

i saw where the nielson rating for the show was down like almost 30%. i think they said 'desperate housewives' won the most viewers for the time slot? is this a real 'sign of the times', with how the public has become so blassy with the music industry? i know i am sick of it. they keep pumping millions of dollars into images, and keep cramming these no talent ass clowns down my throat. ashlee simpson, toby keith, sean john, kenny chesney, jo-jo, etc, etc.. i know the list could go on and on, but i just dont want it to.

maybe they need to promise next year that someone boobs will "pop" out, i bet then the viewers will go up!!

on a side note, my home-town band, 'The Los Lonely Boys', got a grammy for best performance from a duo or group, for their song 'Heaven'. not too many even expected them to win, so it was a great surprise for our town to have them win some hardware.

any other general thoughts or impressions about the grammys, or the state of music in general?

bigjohn

I didn't watch the grammy's this time around either. In fact, I think I have missed the last three. For what it's worth, I missed the super bowl as well. Don't know if it's because I am getting older, tired of watching self promoting bafoons, tired of listening to @ss kissing announcers or a combination of all three. Seems now I'd rather pop in a good movie or just listen to good music rather than get caught up in someone elses image.

Glad to have been one of the 30%.

bigjohn,

Good idea. I got home in time to watch an hour or so of the show, and it certainly looked spectacular in HD. I'd never heard John Mayer before--only seen posters of him in my local Towers store. While a bit on the bland side of the ledger, he is an excellent guitar player and singer.

And while I applaud the tribute to the late, great Ray Charles, it's a shame that only a couple of cuts on that Genius Loves Company album are really good, mainly the duet with the great Bonnie Rait.

Regards,

my personal opinion, BigJohn, is that the Grammy's have become so "out of touch" and "unhip" that most hardcore music fans that would be interested, tune out.

For myself personally, I've always been dissapointed by the lack of hardware for actual rock bands. Elvis Costello nominated for best rock album - come on! And Nickleback for best hard rock?!?

It would be interesting to see awards for best alternative album also - something that would encompass bands like the Flaming Lips, Sigur Ros, Libertines, etc. Give awards for being creative and talented, not for selling albums.

While it's quite obvious I didn't watch the awards, I have to say that I was dissapointed that Ray Charles beat out Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash for best collaboration (though I can't says as I'm surprised).

For the first time in my life I watched the Grammies. Thought I sould see what all the fuss is about--if I'm missing something by ignoring almost all popular music of the last couple of decades. There was almost nothing I wouldn't pay not to hear or see again.

The whole thing seems to me an execise in self promotion by an industry run on hype that can't stand on its own musical merits. I won't be watching again, once was more than enough.

I think there's not a lot of chat because the Grammy's seem to be less about loving music, and more about producers rewarding themselves for the work they've done. I read Ray Charles won 7 Grammy's? Absolutely no disrespect to him, but this reeks of pity awards. If he were alive, he'd have won 0, or maybe 1 for an obscure one.

I Think the Simpson's bit on the Grammy's summed it up best:
Homer, having no money for a tip, tips the bellhop with his Grammy.
Bellhop: Wow! An awards statuette..." then disappointedly "Oh, it's a Grammy" and he tosses it off the balcony
Voice from the ground below: "Hey! Don't throw your garbage down here!" as Grammy comes flying back up and hits Homer in the head.

Well, I'll be the lone voice of non-dissention.

I generally do watch the Grammy's each year and think that this was, by a country mile, the best one in quite a few years.

I don't really follow many of the top-40, hip-hop or R&B artists much anymore, but there were still more live performances, and a much, much wider variety of them then usual. As someone who has a tiny bit of experience with video and audio production, I'm amazed that the entire show went off without a hitch, as there were some very complex multi-performer sequences. The high-def imagery was very good; the 5.1 sound was excellent considering the complexity of all those performances.

While it was kinda "Ray Heavy", that was virtually unavoidable with an album released, a top movie on his life released, and, coincidentally, his death this year.

I think the Grammys have had a hard time up against more hip awards shows such as the MTV music awards, and I think some of that has been evident in past years. This year, I think they pulled out all the stops and pulled it off.

I'll still take the Grammys over the MTV awards with it's emphasis on Bling and posses' and posturing.

In reply to:

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they keep pumping millions of dollars into images, and keep cramming these no talent ass clowns down my throat. ashlee simpson, toby keith, sean john, kenny chesney, jo-jo, etc, etc.. i know the list could go on and on, but i just dont want it to.

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I couldn't agree more. This canned crap is promoted as art while the real talent remains in the shadows and the only way to learn about them is buried in the back of a few obscure audio publications. It's like living in the damn audio version of the Matrix. The Grammys used to be about the best talent, now it's only about commercially promoting what the big record companies want to push. What a sad thing the Grammys have become.

I see Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company" won best surround album.
I have the regular 'stereo' cd has anyone heard the sacd?
BTW: I sure am glad they added this cat. to the grammys, maybe there is hope for sacd/dvda afterall.

B.J.,

I am a music lover,...............that's why I don't watch those type of music award shows.

LT