Oh, the Grammys, the most pathetic awards show of them all. Particularly in the past few years. It’s not even a celebration of the best in multiple music genres anymore. In fact, you can’t really call them Grammys. It should be renamed The Pop & Rap Awards with a little Country. The last few years they haven’t even shown Best Rock Album in the broadcast. Something that’s been a staple for the program for decades.
The Grammys are determined by one societal element: Popularity. And whatever’s hot is what gets promoted and celebrated. Look at heavy metal at it’s peak of popularity. They added and aired Best Metal Album in the late 80’s. And they aired that segment for many years. It’s what was popular at the time. But then the record companies figured out they could make and save more money if they promoted manufactured acts such as N’Sync and Britney Spears. Same goes for all the horrible rap that started popping up at the time with acts like Nelly and L’il Jon. Some rock survived but it was mostly pop punk and softer alternative forms of the genre. Hard rock really started a downturn in promotions and pop radio play. Now many acts that have sold millions of records and sold out multiple arenas at one point are now playing clubs. And young, hard rock talent has taken a back seat. Hard rock is still picking up the pieces.
Now the bias is more evident than ever. Not airing Best Rock Album anymore?!?!? Ok, I get that if heavy metal has waned a touch in popularity and they don’t air Best Metal Album anymore. But Best Rock Album?! That is absolutely asinine! What the hell is going on? It’s not like the Grammys ever really ‘got it’ in the first place. That was obvious when they awarded Jethro Tull the first Best Metal Album Grammy. And as long as the clueless, elitist board that determines who gets in and who doesn’t, what gets aired and what doesn’t, there’s simply not going to be any positive changes for the rock and metal community regarding the Grammys. It’s all the same people who run The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all that. There’s even jokes in pop culture staples that call out the Grammys. Like The Simpsons episode where Homer wins a Grammy with his barbershop quartet. He throws the Grammy over his balcony because he misses his family and life. Then someone below screams, ‘Hey, don’t throw your trash down here!!’ That says it all right there.