Grammy Albums of the Year: A Revisionist History
Every year the Grammy for Album of the Year Award sparks debate, whether it’s about the winner or about the nominees before the ceremony even begins. Even as this year’s show gets closer, there has already been debate on whether artists like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande were snubbed, or conversely, whether artists like Brandi Carlile or H.E.R. deserve to be nominated in the first place.
There have been odd winners for Album of the Year this decade, such as Beck in 2015, which has resulted in heated debates over the winner, like Taylor Swift vs. Kendrick Lamar in 2016. Nearly every year, I leave the awards with some qualm over the voters’ picks for the winners; thus, at the cusp of the end of the decade, and on the eve of the 61st Grammys, it’s time to look over the last nine years of the Grammy Awards, and revise the nominees and winners of the most prestigious award.
The list that I created starts with the 2011 ceremony, which is the 2010 eligibility year (albums released from October of the prior year through September of the current year are included as a part of the eligibility year), and includes five nominees for each year, including this year, despite the award expanding its number to eight nominees for the first time. More importantly, there are three major criteria I will use for what makes an album deserving of a nomination for the best album:
1. Popularity: The album has to have been generally well liked by the general music audience and have created buzz in the music world during the year in which it was released. This criterion is understandably vague, so album charts and sales will be a major factor here.
2. Critical acclaim: While music critics can occasionally be overly critical of certain popular artists, it’s important for every nominee to be defined as a great album by the media members with the most refined music tastes. Inclusions on year-end “best of” lists will be an important aspect of critical acclaim.
3. Personal taste: This is a subjective exercise. Some of the albums on this list are here because of inherent bias I bring to the table, but I tried my best to lean on the first two criteria.
Not every deserving album can make the short list of five nominees each year, so a handful of honorable mentions that didn’t quite receive the amount of praise or weren’t popular enough are also included. Starting with the 2010 eligibility year, here are the revised nominees for Best Album, with my revised (or occasionally unrevised) winner listed in bold. Asterisks denote albums that were actually nominated for the Grammy that year, and the double asterisk indicates a nominee that actually won. Our dictatorial Editor wanted his say, too, so he has chimed in with his picks for each year as well.
2010
Brothers, The Black Keys
The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga*
Recovery, Eminem*
The Suburbs, Arcade Fire**
Thank Me Later, Drake
The most deserving album actually winning the award was a rare occurrence over the last nine years, but the Grammys started the decade off well by honoring Arcade Fire for what is widely considered the best rock record of the 2010s, The Suburbs. While indie rock hadn’t quite caught on in mainstream music circles, Arcade Fire was popular enough to be nominated – The Suburbs was eventually certified gold by the RIAA in October 2011. Often times, the best album of the year from a critical standpoint is overshadowed by an album that was far more popular, but in this instance, there just wasn’t any record in 2010 to compete with The Suburbs.
Arcade Fire debuted with Funeral in 2004, and while that record is considered to be superior by most music critics, The Suburbs seemed to achieve greater heights with the sound of instrumental variety that is unique for a rock band. Arcade Fire had some arena rock hits already, but the release of this more expansive album proved that they could fill the bigger venues that most indie rock bands cannot.
Eminem had the biggest record of the year in Recovery, but he didn’t reach the same level of greatness as the prime of his career in the early 2000s. Still this album is packed with hits, such as “Not Afraid” and “Love the Way You Lie” (featuring Rihanna), both of which made Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 list. Recovery marked the end of an era for Eminem; this record didn’t have the same level of poetry as an earlier masterpiece such as The Marshall Mathers LP, but he achieved a more mainstream pop sound that he hadn’t before in his career.
Three of the albums on the revised nominee list actually won for their respective genres: Eminem for Best Rap Album, Lady Gaga for Best Pop Vocal Album, and The Black Keys for Best Alternative Music Album. The Black Keys were the last great mainstream rock band; they seemed to smooth the rough edges of the garage rock sound to create some of the biggest rock hits of the decade, such as “Tighten Up” and “Howlin’ for You” from Brothers.
Drake was nominated for Best Rap Album and began his four-album run (from Thank Me Later to If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late) that would cement him as one of the best musicians of the decade, before he overreached with some of his bloated later records.
Overall, the 2011 ceremony got quite a few winners and nominees right, especially with Arcade Fire, which is one of the only times the actual winner wins my revised Best Album award this decade.
Honorable Mentions: Sigh No More, Mumford & Sons; Contra, Vampire Weekend; xx, The xx; The Guitar Song, Jamey Johnson; Lungs, Florence + The Machine; High Violet, The National; This Is Happening, LCD Soundsystem
[Editor’s Picks
Brothers, The Black Keys
The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga*
Need You Now, Lady Antebellum*
Recovery, Eminem*
The Suburbs, Arcade Fire**
I’m a big believer in having good genre representation in the Album of the Year race, so this year, we’ve got Lady Antebellum representing Country, Eminem for Rap, and Lady Gaga bearing the mainstream Pop flag. I had no problem with indie-rockers Arcade Fire winning the award, but The Black Keys brought a Rock renaissance in the mid-2000s/2010s, and no album of theirs was as impressive musically and lyrically as Brothers, epitomized by breakout single “Tighten Up.”]
2011
21, Adele**
Bon Iver, Bon Iver, Bon Iver
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West
Speak Now, Taylor Swift
Watch The Throne, Jay-Z & Kanye West
Kanye West cemented his legacy as debatably the greatest rapper of all time with a historic performance in the 2011 eligibility year. Although he wasn’t nominated for Best Album, he won Best Rap Album for MBDTF, and his collaboration project with Jay-Z, Watch The Throne, was also nominated. No other artist this decade has had a year even close to the one the rapper had; Kanye’s performance harkens back to the late 1960s when the Beatles put out The White Album and Abbey Road within 11 months of each other.
Both records Kanye released showcased his production prowess, specifically in songs like “All Of The Lights” which had a much grander sound than most hip-hop songs had up until that point. Watch The Throne was released to huge fanfare since it paired two of the greats together on one album, and it mostly followed through on the hype with songs like “Otis” which won Kanye and Jay-Z Best Rap Performance.
Adele actually won Best Album for 2011, undoubtedly because she put out the biggest record of the year. While 21 is a great album, it didn’t quite reach the level of critical acclaim that Kanye West did to win the revised edition. However, Adele is the only artist to have a Diamond certified album this decade; both 21 and 25 reached $10M in sales. Adele could be heard everywhere in 2011, both literally and figuratively; she showcased her powerful voice (strongest female vocals since Whitney Houston) on singles like “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You”.
Bon Iver makes the nominee list over close honorable mentions Lady Gaga and Beyonce because, while they weren’t as popular that year, their record was far superior in critical acclaim. Justin Vernon and company got some love in other categories that year, as well. Bon Iver won Best Alternative Music Album and Best New Artist, and they were nominated for both Record and Song of the Year for “Holocene”. Bon Iver broke through with their unique folk sound with Vernon’s rangy lead vocal that their debut record For Emma, Forever Ago, didn’t quite achieve.
The Grammys only got one nominee right this year, although Adele’s fellow nominees Lady Gaga and Foo Fighters made the honorable mentions list. Kanye West’s absence in the Grammys’ most prestigious award nominee list hasn’t aged well at all, though.
Honorable Mentions: Born This Way, Lady Gaga; Pink Friday, Nicki Minaj; Wasting Light, Foo Fighters; 4, Beyonce; Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, Kid Cudi; Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes
[Editor’s Picks
21, Adele**
Barton Hollow, The Civil Wars
Bon Iver, Bon Iver, Bon Iver
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West
Watch the Throne, Jay-Z & Kanye West
This year had a couple great indie offerings, thanks to the aforementioned sophomore album from indie darling Bon Iver, and the solid debut from Country-Folk duo Civil Wars. But in reality, this year would have totally been about the faceoff between Adele and Kanye. 21 absolutely destroyed all commercial competitors in 2011, with “Rolling In The Deep,” “Someone Like You,” “Set Fire To The Rain,” and “Rumor Has It” everywhere in the airwaves. It was a profound return to the Traditional Pop of years past. But there’s just no matching MBDTF in quality; Kanye’s body of work has to be the best mainstream Rap album of the decade, and was recognized by fans and critics alike as such.]
2012
Babel, Mumford & Sons**
Blunderbuss, Jack White*
channel ORANGE, Frank Ocean*
El Camino, The Black Keys*
Take Care, Drake
While 2012 was the best year for the Grammys in terms of deserving nominees, my revised winner didn’t get much love. However, Drake did win Best Rap Album for Take Care, which is arguably the peak of his career from an album perspective. Drake exemplified the best of his Pop Rap style on this album, even though his biggest hits were yet to come. His career arc has resulted in him being one of the most overrated musicians today, but Drake’s run early in the decade (especially with Take Care and Nothing Was the Same) is rivaled only by Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar. Drake’s versatility, bouncing back and forth from rap and R&B on songs like “Headlines” and “Marvin’s Room”, sets him apart from the other best recent hip-hop artists.
The actual winner, Mumford & Sons, released a massively popular record that didn’t have the critical support to keep their spot at the top of my list. They also strangely lost their genre award (Best Americana Album) to Bonnie Raitt. However, Babel was the most popular album of the year of my finalists for nomination and deserved to be nominated. Mumford & Sons re-popularized folk music with their twangy guitar sound and vocal harmonies; they’re the most unique artist on my revised list of nominees for any year this decade.
Perhaps the defining characteristic is the lack of a major pop album; while 2011 had too many deserving records for the five spots, 2012 managed to fit three rock/folk albums on the list. Alabama Shakes was the closest artist to knocking out Jack White, but Blunderbuss had enough critical acclaim to keep its spot as a nominee. Both White and The Black Keys released great garage rock records in 2012, and while El Camino had a more polished sound, White cemented himself as one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time, especially on tracks like “Love is Blindness”.
Frank Ocean’s record received the most praise from critics, but channel ORANGE wasn’t popular enough to win, even with some of the best recent R&B tracks like “Pyramids”. However, just the fact that he was a nominee was a big step up from last year when the most acclaimed album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, didn’t receive a nomination at all. Overall, it was a solid year for the Grammys since most of the best albums were recognized, despite the omission of Drake.
Honorable Mentions: Boys & Girls, Alabama Shakes; Ceremonials, Florence + The Machine; An Awesome Wave, Alt-J; Born to Die, Lana Del Rey
[Editor’s Picks
The Carpenter, The Avett Brothers
channel ORANGE, Frank Ocean*
El Camino, The Black Keys*
Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay
Some Nights, fun.*
I’m still a bit bitter that the Grammys recognized the wrong Americana album; rather than recognize the British knockoff version, they should have gone right to the original, with The Avett Brothers. I’m also still bitter that Coldplay’s Viva La Vida was robbed of this award in 2009, so I would have liked to see their 2nd most entertaining album recognized. Otherwise, I’m okay with the nominees; fun. had the most unique Pop album of the year, and El Camino was a blast from start to finish. But channel ORANGE was a groundbreaking force from one of the best musical artists in today’s landscape, and one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the last 10 years.]
2013
good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar*
Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend
Nothing Was the Same, Drake
Random Access Memories, Daft Punk**
Yeezus, Kanye West
Kendrick Lamar broke onto the scene in 2012 with the release of good kid, m.A.A.d city to begin his dominant run through the rest of the decade. Somehow, he, Kanye West, and Drake all lost Best Rap Album to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, but 2013 was a great year for rap, no matter how much the Grammys tried to ruin it. With good kid, Kendrick essentially takes the rap throne from Kanye West, even though Yeezus was also a great album. “Swimming Pools (Drank)” and “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” are two of the best rap songs over the last ten years, and both are emblems of the time in a sense since they could be heard everywhere.
Even though Nothing Was the Same wasn’t as strong of an album as Take Care, it did have two of Drake’s biggest hits, “Started from the Bottom” and “Hold On, We’re Going Home”. Kanye West’s follow-up solo record to MBDTF couldn’t quite live up to the precedent he set, and Yeezus is definitely not the first Kanye album that comes to mind, but it’s a deep album despite only having two songs released as singles.
Vampire Weekend released arguably their best album to date, Modern Vampires of the City, which won Best Alternative Album. With Modern Vampires, Vampire Weekend exemplifies their more sophisticated pop rock sound and cements their legacy as one of the best indie rock bands of the decade, perhaps only behind Arcade Fire. Indie rock artists don’t get radio play like many of the musicians they’re competing for these spots, but “Diane Young” was as close to a “hit” as any indie band could have.
Daft Punk won the actual Album of the Year award, and while they’re a deserving nominee for Random Access Memories, their record didn’t reach the cultural heights than Kendrick’s album did this year. However, they did have the song of the summer in 2013 with “Get Lucky” featuring Pharrell Williams, their only song to reach the top ten in Billboard’s Hot 100 (peaked at 2) in their career. Daft Punk is arguably the greatest electronic music artist of all time, but their crossover to the pop world is what took their career to new heights.
This year might be the strongest year on this list since all five nominees have an argument for why they should’ve won. Ultimately, Kendrick Lamar earns the crown and begins his run as the best musician of the era.
Honorable Mentions: Red, Taylor Swift; Pure Heroine, Lorde; The 20/20 Experience, Justin Timberlake; Trilogy, The Weeknd; AM, Arctic Monkeys; Paramore, Paramore; Long.Live.ASAP, ASAP Rocky; Trouble Will Find Me, The National; Kaleidoscope Dream, Miguel; Lonerism, Tame Impala
[Editor’s Picks
The 20/20 Experience: Part 1, Justin Timberlake
good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar*
Modern Vampires Of The City, Vampire Weekend
Pure Heroine, Lorde
Random Access Memories, Daft Punk**
This year was absolutely loaded, not that the actual nominee field showed it. There were about 10 albums from this eligibility year that could have expected to have a shot at the top award. Justin Timberlake’s first release of the year was a Pop renaissance, Lorde’s debut a brand new style of Pop altogether, Kendrick Lamar’s full-length debut established himself as the greatest rapper of our generation, and Vampire Weekend released one of the most impressive indie albums in recent years. But, personal bias aside, I do in retrospect think the Grammys got this one right. Daft Punk had already spent a decade-plus as electro-dance pioneers and yet, Random Access Memories was their best release to date, enthralling from the very first chord.]
2014
Beyoncé, Beyonce*
In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith*
Morning Phase, Beck**
Oxymoron, Schoolboy Q
Reflektor, Arcade Fire
Welcome to the weakest music year of the decade. Beck won Best Album over Beyoncé which, regardless of what Kanye West thinks, was the biggest snub of her career. Overall, 2014 was fairly top heavy, with Beyonce being the obvious winner. On her eponymously titled album, Beyonce had the biggest hit of her career with “Drunk in Love” featuring her husband, Jay-Z, and established herself as one of the all-time great pop singers. Many artists that have won my revised Best Album on this list are those that had very good careers that elevated to great with one album; Beyoncé is that album for Beyoncé.
It was a light year for rap, as only Schoolboy Q and YG had released great albums that were popular enough to qualify for consideration. Oxymoron makes the cut with tracks like “Collard Greens” and “Man of the Year” which brought a unique style to the rap genre. Artists like TDE collaborators Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q balanced out the pop/R&B sound that emphasized production of Kanye West and Drake in hip-hop with more raw, lyrical rap records like good kid and Oxymoron.
Beck was a strange winner, but Morning Phase was a decently popular album, certified gold by the RIAA (perhaps due to a post-Grammys push). Nonetheless, in a year lacking in major record releases, Beck’s album was well-received by critics and deserving of a nomination. Morning Phase is a departure from the post-grunge albums that made Beck famous like Odelay, but its stripped-down and chill tone made it unique and fueled Beck’s return to major recognition.
Arcade Fire barely edges out Lana Del Rey with Reflektor, which wasn’t certified by the RIAA, but reached the top spot on the Billboard 200. While it was their least acclaimed album, this was a weak year, and they’re one of the best artists of the decade. This might be a case where my personal bias plays a part, but Win Butler and company extend their run to four great albums in a row with Reflektor.
The Grammys made some major snubs this year, and not just on just Album of the Year. Pharrell Williams beat Beyoncé for Best Urban Contemporary Album as well. However, they still recognized three deserving artists for very good to great albums, even in a down year for popular music.
Honorable Mentions: The Outsiders, Eric Church; Platinum, Miranda Lambert; My Krazy Life, YG; Ultraviolence, Lana Del Rey; This Is All Yours, Alt-J; Lost in the Dream, The War on Drugs
[Editor’s Picks
Beyoncé, Beyoncé*
In The Lonely Hour, Sam Smith*
Lazaretto, Jack White
Morning Phase, Beck**
St. Vincent, St. Vincent
I agree with my associate, that this year was both weak in contenders, and wildly top-heavy. It was a very good year for Rock, as familiar faces Jack White and The Black Keys, as well as ‘new kid on the block’ St. Vincent all had terrific releases. Morning Phase, the eventual winner, was a very pleasant listen, and Sam Smith released a very serviceable Pop album. But give me a break, this year SCREAMED Beyoncé; the Queen’s self-titled, surprise-release album was a commercial phenomenon, and was one of the best-reviewed of the year. More than that, it launched Beyoncé from pop star to cultural icon. Considering the album’s quality, and the relative quality of all nominees, this was the snub to end all snubs.]
2015
1989, Taylor Swift**
Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd*
Currents, Tame Impala
If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Drake
To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar*
While Taylor Swift won the actual Grammy for 2015, her win sparked a lot of debate, especially since Kendrick Lamar’s record received the most critical praise. The argument for 1989 is the same logic as Drake over Frank Ocean back in 2012: while To Pimp a Butterfly was the most acclaimed record, Taylor Swift’s album was also well received and much more popular.
Swift’s 1989 denotes her transition from country to pop; while her previous three albums were nominated for Best Country Album, 1989 won both Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year. It was her most popular album since Fearless, and it was the first time in her career she received universal critical acknowledgement and acclaim. Her full-blown shift to pop, especially on tracks such as “Blank Space” and “Shake It Off” put her in a rare class of pop stars this decade.
While it didn’t have hits of the same magnitude as Kendrick’s previous album, To Pimp a Butterfly had a unique jazz influence that set it apart from most of the other rap records this decade. Kendrick’s lyrics made every song seem important which helped make it a critical darling. None of the singles on this record had the same popularity as the best tracks on good kid, m.A.A.d city, but Kendrick showed a new level of versatility, especially on the record’s most popular single, “These Walls”.
Tame Impala followed up Lonerism by releasing one of the best indie rock albums of the decade in Currents. While they ultimately lost Best Alternative Album to Alabama Shakes, their spacey, psychedelic style put them in a special class of rock bands over the last ten years or so. Currents, particularly with songs like “The Less I Know the Better” and “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” represents the band’s best work.
The album that had the biggest hits, though, was The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness, which had three tracks in the top 12 of Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 list. The Weeknd proves that he’s the top challenger to Frank Ocean for title of best R&B artist of the decade; the album’s most popular single, “The Hills”, rivals any of Ocean’s top tracks.
This might have been the Grammys’ best year for recognizing the most deserving artists; I agree with their winner and three nominees. Many of the top artists of the era cemented their legacies in 2015, but Taylor Swift was the nominee that took the biggest step forward.
Honorable Mentions: DS2, Future; Traveller, Chris Stapleton; At.Long.Last.ASAP, ASAP Rocky; Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes; Hozier, Hozier; Dark Sky Paradise, Big Sean; SremmLife, Rae Sremmurd; How Big How Blue How Beautiful, Florence + the Machine; Coming Home, Leon Bridges
[Editor’s Picks
1989, Taylor Swift**
Carrie And Lowell, Sufjan Stevens
How Big How Blue How Beautiful, Florence + The Machine
To Pimp A Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar*
Traveller, Chris Stapleton
2014 was sandwiched between two of the best years in music, because this was another positively loaded Grammy season. I’m no Taylor Swift fan, but even I have to admit the singles from 1989 absolutely ruled 2015, and some of them were even good enough to actually make give it a listen (“Wildest Dreams,” if you’re keeping score at home). Elsewhere, indie-folk spiritual guru Sufjan Stevens’ heartbreaking Carrie And Lowell garnered the 2nd-best reviews of the year, Chris Stapleton’s Traveller the best reviews of any Country album in years, and Kendrick’s To Pimp the best reviews of any album in the 21st Century. So competitive was the field this year that I had to eliminate one of my favorites to make the required 5 spots. In the end, as much as I loved Alabama Shakes’ Sound & Colour, Florence + The Machine’s 3rd album was just too brilliant to not include. But, when all is said and done, only one of these albums was admitted to the freaking Library of Congress for its ingenuity, and I maintain to this day that Kendrick Lamar not winning this award is a crime.]
2016
25, Adele*
Blonde, Frank Ocean
Lemonade, Beyonce*
The Life of Pablo, Kanye West
A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead
Another year where my revised winner actually won because of the popularity vs. critical acclaim argument is 2016. Beyonce’s Lemonade was the most well-received album, but Adele got enough praise where her immense popularity put her over the top. Adele shows her versatility as a pop singer on 25, arguably her best record as a whole. This was one of the toughest years to choose a winner for since Lemonade was a deserving potential winner as well, but Adele’s album became only the second Diamond certified album of the decade. That’s enough for me to keep her as the winner for this year.
There was a lot of anticipation surrounding The Life of Pablo, Kanye West’s first album in three years, and it mostly followed through upon its release. It might be remembered for Kanye’s updates to the album and how he described it as an ongoing project, but it had memorable tracks such as “Fade” that are among the best of Kanye’s more recent songs.
Radiohead hadn’t released a great record since In Rainbows in 2007, so A Moon Shaped Pool easily exceeded expectations. Thom Yorke and company would definitely have an album on my revised Grammy Best Album list in the last three decades, which is a testament to their incredible longevity. Radiohead added to their superb discography with an album that opens with “Burn the Witch”, which is a song that demonstrates how they’ve changed as a band over time.
The nominee list only contains five albums, but 2016 was a deep year in music. Chance the Rapper would definitely be on the list if Coloring Book was more popular and Rihanna just missed with the best album of her career. As much as I didn’t want to include him, I had to put Justin Bieber’s Purpose amongst this year’s honorable mentions as it was another career best. Even still, Adele and Beyonce were the faces of a banner year for pop music.
Honorable Mentions: Anti, Rihanna; Views, Drake; Blackstar, David Bowie; I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, The 1975; Blank Face LP, Schoolboy Q; Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper; Dangerous Woman, Ariana Grande; This Is Acting, Sia; Purpose, Justin Bieber
[Editor’s Picks
25, Adele**
Coloring Book, Chance The Rapper
Lemonade, Beyoncé*
A Sailor’s Guide To Earth, Sturgill Simpson*
A Seat At The Table, Solange
Sturgill Simpson was one of the most notable shock nominees for this award, but the gruff Country artist was wholly deserving for his very grand, and wildly creative album. Chance, meanwhile, was not actually nominated for this award but still had a good night at those awards, taking home Best Rap Album and Best New Artist. Frank Ocean’s Blonde was, I think, one of the most airtight records of the year, but given that he intentionally did not submit it for Grammy consideration, I’ll stay consistent and not consider it a nominee here either. Though it would have been fun to see the younger Knowles sister in contention for this award, too, for her terrific release A Seat At The Table, this year was always about the heavyweight showdown between two women at the absolute top of their games: Adele and Beyoncé, the former of which of course actually won, and famously dedicated her award, amidst tears, to Beyoncé instead. I really do love Adele and think she made two terrific albums, which is why it hurts to snub her once more. There’s just no avoiding it, though: Lemonade is night-and-day from all other comers. It’s equal parts R&B introspection on love and betrayal, and anthemic hip-hop takedowns of oppressors of black women. There really hasn’t been anything like it, and the fact that it was borne of one of the biggest stars of our generation only lends to the award power it should have had.]
2017
4:44, Jay-Z*
Ctrl, SZA
Culture, Migos
DAMN., Kendrick Lamar*
Melodrama, Lorde*
The first year of the decade where I couldn’t squeeze a rock album onto this list was inevitable, and we’re finally to that point. Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. not winning the actual best album was almost a Beyonce-level snub, but Bruno Mars did have his best record of his career with 24K Magic. Kendrick already released two of the best albums of the last ten years during this decade, but he put himself on a tier of his own with his second win for my revised Best Album award. He’s the only artist to do so, and deservedly so with his biggest album to date. Even though “HUMBLE.” was the most popular song on the record (and of Kendrick’s career), the best song is “DNA.”, one of Kendrick’s best pure rapping performances.
Migos’ Culture marked the peak of today’s Atlanta hip-hop scene, with massive hits like “Bad and Boujee”. The trio already had a handful of radio hits, but on Culture, they put it all together for one of the best rap records over the last couple years. They’ve become the foremost artist to capture the trap rap sound that’s become a major trend.
While Lorde was overshadowed by a great year in rap in 2013, she followed up Pure Heroine with an even better (although not as popular) album in Melodrama. It was inevitable that Lorde was going to have difficulty following up the commercial success of “Royals”, but “Green Light” is arguably the best pop song this year.
Honestly, I haven’t heard the entirety of 4:44, because I refuse to subscribe to Tidal. However, I couldn’t make a better case for any of the honorable mentions; Jay-Z’s record was well-received, and he sold a lot of it.
It’s another year where three of my revised nominees were actually nominated for the real thing. While the Grammys is a frivolous event that often gets the best music (at least, by my definition) incorrect, it would be unfair to say it’s always wrong. Kendrick Lamar and Lorde had the two best albums of the year, and here they stand amongst the Grammys’ five nominees.
Honorable Mentions: 24K Magic, Bruno Mars; American Teen, Khalid; The Weight of These Wings, Miranda Lambert; Joanne, Lady Gaga; Flower Boy, Tyler the Creator; American Dream, LCD Soundsystem; A Deeper Understanding, The War on Drugs; We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, A Tribe Called Quest
[Editor’s Picks
24K Magic, Bruno Mars**
4:44, Jay-Z*
DAMN., Kendrick Lamar*
Melodrama, Lorde*
Sleep Well Beast, The National
Last year’s awards were, I think, the best nominating work the Academy has done in my lifetime. I had zero complaints with the five finalists for Album of the Year; the only change I would have made would be to take out Childish Gambino (who, to be clear, I love), and add one indie nominee to diversify the genres a little bit. In 2017, the best candidate for that spot would have been Best Alternative Album winners The National, whose lead single “The System Only Sleeps In Total Darkness” might have been the strongest song they’ve ever written. The winners of the awards is where I had a problem last year. Bruno Mars, for as consistently catchy and fun as his album was, is nowhere near the songwriter any of these other candidates are. Poor Lorde has released two absolutely smashing albums at her young age, but both were released in such high-quality years for music…her time will come. As it is, last year was all about Jay and K-Dot for me, and though I personally think DAMN. was the best album of the year, the gap between that and 4:44 is small enough that I’m happy to award Jay-Z, an honor that would have been a long time coming for the Rap great. Plus, the image of Beyoncé happily handing off the Album of the Year crown to her husband makes me smile.]
2018
ASTROWORLD, Travis Scott
Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves*
Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B*
Reputation, Taylor Swift
Sweetener, Ariana Grande
This is the first year where the nominees are predominantly female, and, put simply, it’s because there just weren’t as many quality albums released by male artists. Travis Scott is the lone dude on this list; with the exception of Invasion of Privacy, ASTROWORLD is the best Rap album of the last year, which includes the best Rap song, “Sicko Mode” with from Drake, Big Hawk, and Swae Lee.
Cardi B has been the face of popular music ever since her release of “Bodak Yellow” and she followed through with Invasion of Privacy, an easy pick for Album of the Year. There are several great songs that have gained immense popularity on this record; “I Like It” has been nominated for Record of the Year as well. Cardi B seems to be the musician of the moment; she is the most prevalent and visible artist of the last year.
Ariana Grande has been in the headlines often this year for non-music reasons, but Sweetener is the best pop album this year. This record wasn’t quite as popular as Swift’s Reputation, but it was one of the best reviewed albums of 2018. As the decade closes out, pop artists like Ariana Grande and Lorde are making a push to join the ranks of pop stars like Beyonce, Adele, Taylor Swift, and Lady Gaga. After following up Dangerous Woman with Sweetener, Grande makes a strong case to join that class.
There are no rock records on this year’s nominee list again, but Kacey Musgraves makes the cut with our first Country album since pre-1989 Taylor Swift. Golden Hour hasn’t reached the same level of popularity as the other nominees on my revised list, but she’s received the most critical acclaim besides Cardi B. The soft rock tone of this album raises her above the typical corny pop country music that’s popular in that genre, proving that Musgraves is arguably the best current Country musician.
Revisiting albums that were released in the last year is a tough exercise because there hasn’t been enough time to separate oneself from the immediate cultural context and determine whether the record holds up on its own. Five years from now, this list of nominees might look different, but today, Cardi B is the most deserving possible winner on this list. I personally hope she takes home the Grammy tomorrow night.
Honorable Mentions: Scorpion, Drake; Camila, Camila Cabello; The Thrill of It All, Sam Smith; Daytona, Pusha T; Swimming, Mac Miller; Kids See Ghosts, Kanye West & Kid Cudi; Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, Arctic Monkeys
[Editor’s Picks
ASTROWORLD, Travis Scott
Dirty Computer, Janelle Monáe*
Everything Is Love, The Carters
Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves*
Sweetener, Ariana Grande
I’m not necessarily averse to the idea of the Grammys expanding their Album of the Year field to up to 8 nominees, but I do think they picked a bad year to do it. 2018 was a year that, in my opinion, would have rendered a pretty easy 5 nominees. That Travis Scott’s psychedelic Rap epic ASTROWORLD did not make the final cut on a list of 8 is a snub not of Beyoncé 2014 proportions, but pretty darn bad. And speaking of Beyoncé, the first joint work from the diva and her husband saw stunningly few nominations; Everything Is Love may not have matched the critical peak of either of the two’s most recent individual albums, but was a sleek, well-produced, well-written album from start to finish. Continuing on the theme of snubs, 2018 was the year of Ariana Grande, both on the radio and in the headlines, and even those with Ariana fatigue have to admit Sweetener is a really solid Pop album. The good news is, the two best albums of the year were nominated, and have a very real chance at winning. Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer is the singer/actress’ most marvelous work of an already impressive career, and Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour is the rare Country listen that doesn’t require one to be a Country fan; just a fan of good music. I personally am a little more partial to the latter, but would be ecstatic for either of those two women to win their first Album of the Year tomorrow.]