Grammys 2014 Preview

Following my five part series reviewing the Best Album nominees, its now time to preview the upcoming Grammy Awards. Now of course there are tons, and I mean tons of awards that will be given out during the pre-cast, so I'll just be looking at around 11 categories here. For the full list of nominees, check out http://www.grammy.com/nominees.

Country Album:
Night Train, Jason Aldean
Two Lanes of Freedom, Tim McGraw
Same Trailer Different Park, Kacey Musgraves
Based on a True Story, Blake Shelton
Red, Taylor Swift

Starting off with Country Album, this award depends on how the Grammy's want to go. Do they go on quality? Or do they go by popularity? While all are deserving, I feel that they'll go with the latter, with Red by Taylor Swift. Red did show some growth by Swift, and could get recognized here. If they go by quality though, then watch for Kacey Musgraves to get rewarded.

Pick: Red, Taylor Swift.

Rap Album:

Nothing Was the Same, Drake

Magna Carta Holy Grail, Jay Z

good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar

The Heist, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Yeezus, Kanye West

Another tough field to predict. The populist pick here would be Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, but I think this will be used to recognize Kendrick Lamar. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis should and will win big (check out the rest of the preview), but I think Kendrick Lamar and his breakthrough album good kid, m.A.A.d city gets recognized here.

Pick: good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar

Rock Performance:

Always Alright, Alabama Shakes

The Stars (Are Out Tonight), David Bowie

Radioactive, Imagine Dragons

Kashmir, Led Zeppelin

I'm Shakin, Jack White 

My God is the Sun, Queens of the Stone Age

This is a pretty wild and bizarre category with the nominees, from David Bowie's new music to Led Zeppelin. I'm going to be fairly boring here and go with the populist pick, Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. However, watch out for the Alabama Shakes here.

Pick: Radioactive, Imagine Dragons

R&B Album:

R&B Divas, Faith Evans

Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys

Love in the Future, John Legend

Better, Chrisette Michele

Three Kings, TGT

I'll admit, I'm kind of walking into this category blind here, not really familiar with most of these albums. That being said, I'm going with Girl on Fire here. Just another well regarded album by Alicia Keys, who can seemingly do no wrong. Watch for John Legend here as well.

Pick: Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys

Dance/Electronica Album:

Random Access Memories, Daft Punk

Settle, Disclosure

18 Months, Calvin Harris

Atmosphere, Kaskade

A Color Map of the Sun, Pretty Lights

This seems like a category that'll come down to Daft Punk and Calvin Harris, with Daft Punk taking the grammy. Daft Punk returned better than ever with Random Access Memories, well acclaimed. Calvin Harris' time will come though as he just seems to make hit after hit.

pick: Random Access Memories, Daft Punk

Pop Solo Performance:

Brave, Sara Bareilles

Royals, Lorde

When I Was Your Man, Bruno Mars

Roar, Katy Perry

Mirrors, Justin Timberlake

A crowded field of pop hits here. I think Lorde could be a big winner at the Grammy's, starting here. Her arrival onto the scene has just been remarkable, and we will surely being seeing more of her in the future. Look out for Sara Bareilles as a dark horse here though (along with in her other nomination).

Pick: Royals, Lorde.

Pop Vocal Album:

Paradise, Lana Del Rey

Pure Heroine, Lorde

Unorthodox Jukebox, Bruno Mars

Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke

The 20/20 Experience, Justin Timberlake

Another crowded field, this one is tough to predict. From Lorde, to Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake, any of them could take away the Grammy, but I'm going with Timberlake here. While he didn't get a Best Album nomination, I don't think his comeback to music will leave him empty-handed.

Pick: The 20/20 Experience, Justin Timberlake

Best New Artist:

James Blake

Kendrick Lamar

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Kacey Musgraves

Ed Sheeran

A crowded field of hopefuls for Best New Artist (some not so new.....Ed Sheeran *cough* *cough*). Anyways, this could be the start to a big night for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Although, watch out for the noted "new artist" Sheeran.

Pick: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Song:

Just Give Me a Reason (performed by Pink and Nate Ruess)

Locked Out of Heaven (Bruno Mars)

Roar (Katy Perry)

Royals (Lorde)

Same Love (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert)

Now we start getting to the three top awards of the night. As I noted, this could be a big night for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and I think they should and will take Best Song. Same Love wasn't just a song, but a message of acceptance coming from a community that hasn't exactly been open arms to the LGBT community, which is why Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have been a breath fresh air with not just Same Love, but other tracks from The Heist (more on that later). However, look out for Just Give Me a Reason, another perfect collaboration in this field.

Pick: Same Love (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert)

Record:

Get Lucky, Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams

Radioactive, Imagine Dragons

Royals, Lorde

Locked Out of Heaven, Bruno Mars

Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke featuring T.I & Pharrell Williams

A lot of deserving nominees, but this is where I see Lorde getting a big win. Royals was both fresh and unique as Lorde broke onto the scene. A true anthem against lavishness. Look out though for a potential upset by Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams though, as Get Lucky was a top hit for the duo. 

Pick: Royals, Lorde.

Album Of The Year:

The Blessed Unrest, Sara Bareilles

Random Access Memories, Daft Punk

good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar

The Heist, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Red, Taylor Swift

And now the top award, Album Of The Year. From the nomination announcement through this week, I did a five part review series of each album (I hyper-linked the reviews to the album titles). These were all fairly solid albums in their own right (with three in particular really standing out, as you can note in the raw scores of the reviews). In the end though, I have to go with The Heist here. Top to bottom it was an incredible mainstream introduction by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. The album just resonated, with meaningful and important messages throughout. Now while I rated it as actually being tied with The Heist, I'm calling The Blessed Unrest  as a dark horse here (has low expectations by most for Grammy night). We've seen upsets here before, so I wouldn't be shocked if Sara Bareilles takes this one.

Pick: The Heist, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis