What a stupid fucking move that was.
Anyway, so my distaste for the Grammys has been pretty crystal clear from day one of this blog. They have absolutely no idea what to do with heavy music. Most of the time, if there is a readily identifiable band in the category, that's who wins (Metallica has won seven times). Sometimes, they make decent decisions, such as last year when Gojira won for the song played at the Olympics. I understood that one. Other times, they seemingly throw a dart and go with what comes up (Deftones, Tenacious D, Rage Against the Machine). That's what happened this year. First of all, I don't even understand how they came up with these nominees. For Best Metal Performance, you would think at least a couple of the nominees would be metal songs. Not this year. I suppose I will give my thoughts.
1. Turnstile: "Birds". This was the winner this year and I am not sure I am listening to the same song. Turnstile came up through the hardcore and punk scene and then became this weird mix of those genres with alternative rock. Note, I did not once mention metal. This is a little bit more of a straight-up hardcore song. It's fine, but it is not a metal track.
2. Spiritbox: "Soft Spine". This band has been jammed down the throats of listeners to Liquid Metal on Sirius XM for years. I occasionally listen to that in the car and I think I hear a song by them at least once when I do. This song is fine, I guess. But again, Spiritbox is not really a metal band, more of an alternative/electronic/industrial rock band. Heavy, but the metal influences are minimal. I would say they have more in common with nu-metal.
3. Sleep Token: "Emergence". I discussed this band on my Bands I Hate post awhile back. I listened to this song, and what the fuck? I know they have rather disparate influences slapped together like an amateur chef trying to be experimental, but this is one of the least metal songs I have ever heard from this band. There's occasionally some power chords. That's it. Otherwise it's a mix of soft rock and R&B and some electronica thrown in. And then there's a saxophone solo. What the hell were the people that put together the nominees thinking here? They're not the most metal of bands most of the time, but this is seriously the farthest away I have ever heard this band.
4. Ghost: "Lachryma". I thought this was going to win honestly. Ghost has won in the past and that is a sure sign of winning again. Even though they are not really a metal band anymore. This song comes at least close at times. This is not a bad song, but again, it's not really metal. Much more of a straightforward hard rock track.
5. Dream Theater: "Night Terror". Here is the only metal track in the category. I haven't really cared about anything Dream Theater has done since their album Awake back in the mid 1990's. This is a decent song, but it's almost ten minutes long, which is way too long to expect the people that vote on these things to actually pay attention. It's not a great song, but at least it's a metal song, something I would think would be the primary qualification for nomination. I guess Dream Theater has won this before as well. Still, I didn't think this had a chance at winning.
I don't think any of these should have won. Time to listen to something to cleanse the palate. I am going to put on some Satan's Hallow.
No comments:
Post a Comment