Face the Music

COPING with the annual Grammy nominations is a little bit like going through Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' five stages of grieving.

First, there's denial: "Oh, no. They can't have nominated X for best album." Then there's anger: "I can't believe they had the gall to nominate X for best album."

Anger gradually gives way to bargaining: "Please, please, anybody but X." Then depression sets in: "If they'll nominate X, they'll nominate anybody."

And, finally, there's acceptance: "Oh, well. It could have been worse. It could have been Milli Vanilli."

That last item could be key not the Vanilli part, the acceptance. Because every year at this time, critics across the country set about the predictable task of boxing the ears of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the voting body that choose the winners of Wednesday's 3/1 37th annual Grammy Awards.

The annual orgy of critical hand-wringing and hair-pulling is wearisome, both the reading and the writing. Perhaps it's time to accept the fact that the Grammys safe, stuffy, mired in tradition and hopelessly infatuated with bestsellers and chart-toppers never have and quite possibly never will accurately represent the best quality or the cutting edge in popular music.

optional trim start On that front, the Grammys might have to cede the title of Most Tapped-In Industry Awards Show to a visual medium, the upstart MTV Music Video Awards. Although many artists consider videos a necessary evil, MTV's clout has helped it snare awards-show performances by some of the biggest names in the business including, last year, the Rolling Stones. optional trim end

Five artists lead the Grammy running with five nominations each. So in keeping with that number, here are, from a pop- music perspective, five reasons why this year's Grammys aren't as bad as you might think plus five more on why it never pays to get your hopes up too high: The Good

1. The return of the best female rock category. In a year when you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing a woman at the helm of her own group, the members of the academy astutely realized they'd be laughingstocks if they didn't restore this category, which they eliminated last year with the surreal explanation of being unable to scrounge up enough candidates. Worthy nominees are Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Liz Phair and Sam Phillips, plus Bonnie Raitt (more on her later).

2. The acknowledgment of alternative. More of these acts should have qualified in the top categories of record, album and song of the year. But even so, it was still encouraging to see exciting newcomers such as Counting Crows (two nominations), Green Day (four) and Me'Shell NdegeOcello (four) on the roster, as well as Alice in Chains, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, the Pretenders, Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan.

3. Five nods each for Sheryl Crow, Babyface and the Boss. Even if you thought you'd need to have "All I Wanna Do" surgically extracted from your cranium, Crow's presence was hard to argue with. Singer / producer Babyface rightfully ruled the R&B categories, including three R&B song nods and record of the year (for his production on the Boyz II Men single). And Bruce Springsteen, who's never won in a major category, deserves at least one Grammy to go with his Oscar for the elegiac "Streets of Philadelphia."

4. Cool country inroads. Edgy acts such as the Mavericks, the Tractors, Lyle Lovett, Alison Krauss and David Ball spice up a predictable playing field.

5. The rap solo and group categories. In a strong field that included Snoop Doggy Dogg, Warren G, Heavy D, Coolio, Craig Mack, Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah and Arrested Development (fronted by Milwaukee native Speech), the only embarrassment is a nod for those blunt-loving buffoons in Cypress Hill. Maybe next year the academy will see fit to acknowledge rap's tremendous influence and chart power by adding male and female rap/hip-hop categories. But don't count on it, because here's . . . The Bad

1. The selections for album of the year. 1994 saw vital releases by R.E.M. and Soundgarden, plus solid, accessible efforts by old hands such as Neil Young and the Rolling Stones. But all were relegated to the rock album category, while the academy played it safe on the big award with a tepid roster that includes Tony Bennett's "MTV Unplugged," Eric Clapton's underwhelming collection of blues covers and a trio of pop-eratic Tenors who couldn't land a single classical nomination. As Holly Golightly once said, the mind reels.

2. Five nods for Bonnie Raitt. Yes, this likable, talented singer-guitarist richly deserved her "Nick of Time" Grammy comeback sweep in '89. And who could begrudge her strong 1991 showing? But like Clapton, she's been adopted by the Grammys as a warm, fuzzy mascot who's tossed in the mix as populist buffer against criticism, even when she makes a pedestrian album. That's not "Love Sneakin' Up on You" that's complacency.

3. Five nods for syrupy music from the Elton John / Tim Rice soundtrack, "The Lion King" (see "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin"). Why not designate an Adorable Animation Award and make room for some other acts in the top slots

4. The erratic best pop album category. The best pop album where? In the "Twilight Zone"? English stylist Seal is the only logical choice in a field that includes a weak album by wonderfully quirky country crooner Lyle Lovett, the overrated Raitt, those pesky tenors and a quartet of reggae-damaged ABBA clones. feel free to remove the following line if you think it insults our readers, but then pls. add ", Ace of Base" after "clones." thnkx, tinaOK, lots of people like Ace of Base. Lots of people like Wonder Bread, too.

5. The sins of omission. Where are Luscious Jackson, Live, R. Kelly, Collective Soul and Hole, to name a few? The Ugly

You'll just have to watch the show and see.

Show Time Who: The Grammy Awards When: 7 p.m. Wednesday 3/1 on CBS Where: Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles

Copyright 1995
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.