I had to work so didn't see the telecast.
However, Mumford & Son's "Babel" is an outstanding choice for album of the year, so I'm glad to see that it won. However, there is this Grammy oddity: "Babel" was supposed to be the best overall album of the year but ... it wasn't even the best Americana album. It lost to an album by Bonnie Raitt in that category. Go figure.
I've gotten where I can't stand hip-hop, dance music, etc., (and ESPECIALLY Taylor Swift) so since that's what's big these days, it's probably a good thing I missed the telecast.
What did you guys think? Was it entertaining? Highlights?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57568609/gram … for-babel/
Actually I think there is a lot of terrific music being done by young artists. But for the most part its not what you hear on the radio. My tastes run more toward alt country/Americana.
There is plenty of great stuff in this area. Besides Mumford, a few others are Reckless Kelly, Ryan Bingham and Corb Lund. And good old-timers too.
The standout performances for me were The Black Keys, who performed with Dr. John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The performance was excellent--don't know the name of the song they did, but it was great. Following that, I really enjoyed the tribute to Levon Helm of The Band and the cover the musicians did of The Weight. Mavis Staples, no matter who you put her on stage with, always rocks. The last performance that was real memorable for me was Rihanna who sang a duet with a guy named Mikky Ekko (never heard/seen him before). Again, I don't know the name of the song, but the performance was real understated--a keyboard player, guitarist, a percussionist, a stand up bass--there were no pyrotechnics, no dancers, lights, graphics, just the musicians, her and her duet partner. The song was pretty, her voice was lovely, and the duet partner had a real nice voice and he was cute to boot!
On the fence about one performance: One reason I wanted to watch is that I really like Frank Ocean and I've listened to his channel Orange LP everyday for about the last the last six months. The LP is trippy, so I wanted to see him perform. He did the song Forrest Gump from channel Orange, and I liked last night's version, but hearing it separate from the LP and performed with a funky backdrop on stage--unn, I'm on the fence about that one.
Your right BearinFW, you did not miss Taylor Swift. She started the show and she had no introduction, so when the show started I truly thought that there was a humorous rift with Cirque du Soleil doing the opening--it was not until she started singing that I realized it was a performance. There was nothing breakout or new with her song, sort of sounded like all her other songs. On a more interesting note, her date (if it was a date) was a woman. Maybe Taylor has realized the reason she's not having any luck with guys is that she really likes women? Now that would make for an interesting song.
i haven't been interested in current music since the 80's, just nothing intrigues me. i'm not even familiar with most of the people on the broadcast. i'd rather listen to ella and sinatra........................
Then there was Justin Timberlake's two songs done in early 50s costume (photo) and even in black and white for one of the songs. Reminded me of early Bandstand days. The coreography was very nice for both numbers and included LOTS of background singing and orchestrations.
And I really like the music from Mumford & Sons - sort of a combo of rock and folk? Good voices and GREAT instrumentation.
Adele sang and I really like her music.
As for music, I think it's just become so factionalized and specialized. It's pretty unusual anymore for there to be anything that appeals to a broad cross-section of music listeners. With that in mind, the Grammys probably shouldn't even bother to do overall awards but just stick to awards within genres.