Nominations were announced today for the 46th annual Grammy Awards. My only interest in this is two categories – Best Rock Gospel Album and Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.
First, let’s look at the nominations for Best Rock Gospel Album.
- Worldwide
Audio Adrenaline
I have not heard this entire album, but have heard enough to know that although it is not Audio A’s best album, it is solid. - Red Letterz
Fresh I.E.
Admittedly I have never even heard of this album. That is quite unusual for me as I keep close tabs on Christian music. - Jekyll & Hyde
Petra
Petra’s best album in recent memory, I would have been surprised if this had not shown up on the nomination list. They have won Grammys for worse albums than this. - Unclassified
Robert Randolph & The Family Band
I have not heard this album, but from what I hear it is a good and fun album. To call it rock seems a bit of a stretch, but I guess it did not fit any other category. - Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right…But Three Do
Relient K
This is an album I had to learn to enjoy. When I first listened to it I was quite disappointed but it grew on me.
My pick in this group is Petra. That will not come as a great surprise to people who know me, I’m sure. Still, Jekyll & Hyde is a fantastic album, and as I said, they have been rewarded for albums not nearly as good as this one. Relient K’s album is my second pick but has a lot of songs that are merely average.
Albums that could or should have been nominated are: Everyday Sunday (one of my favorites from last year) and Switchfoot’s The Beautiful Letdown which deserves the nomination and award!
Now let’s look at the nominations for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album:
- Furthermore – From The Studio: From The Stage
Jars Of Clay
Jars of Clay gets their annual Grammy nomination. This album does not deserve to win. - Adoration: The Worship Album
Newsboys
A fairly good album but contained a lot of songs from previous albums that were recorded live but were not significantly changed. - Stacie Orrico
Stacie Orrico
Ugh. I sincerely hope this teen/latin pop does not win. - Worship Again
Michael W. Smith
Smitty gets his annual nomination. Worship Again was an average album but definitely not Grammy-worthy. Could he get a Grammy for singing mostly other people’s songs? - Offerings II
Third Day
Third Day seems to be perrenial losers at the awards show. If they did not win for their first worship album I don’t see how they can win for their second which was inferior to the first.
I am going to guess that Jars of Clay will win this. They seem to have the attention of the Grammy voters who are by and large completely ignorant when it comes to Christian music.
Missing from this list is the best album of the year, Derek Webb’s She Must and Shall Go Free. Any faith I had in the Grammy nomination process has been lost with the oversite of this album. Webb’s album deserved the nomination and award.
What can I say? The Grammies managed to miss nominating the year’s best albums in both categories. I can only hope that the Dove Awards can do more to recognize the deserving artists.
I guess I should point out that Evanesence, a band that claimed to be Christian for some of the year, received multiple major nominations. I would anticipate them winning at least a couple of awards.
