Customer Reviews

Grammy Nominees 2003

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Some time ago, I gave up on buying entire albums for single tracks I like. Instead I buy almost exclusively now compilation albums and greatest hit packages. I've found that between US (Now, Totally Hits), Canadian (Big Shiny Tunes, Women & Songs), and UK (Now 45-53, Smash Hits) compilations I've been able to get just about any song I wanted. Legally and at a reasonable cost per track. (Of course, these collections are also generally available on Amazon.)

I have nearly all the tracks on this CD, excluding Sting & James Taylor -- and please, can the Grammies have a moritorium on nominating remakes of 20-year old tracks by the same artist? -- but they are spread over a dozen CDs that probably cost me about 200 bucks in total.

Aaarggh.

But on to the tracks selected: It's as if the Grammies actually selected the nominees so that they could cherrypick tracks for this album. Absolutely the best Grammy album yet. If they'd replaced Britney Spears with a Springsteen track it would be perfect.

As usual, all the Best New Artist nominees are represented, and it should be a real horse race between jazz prodigy Norah Jones (who could sing the phone book and still sound good) and hypersuccess Avril Lavigne, who put out a great album but has the personality & charm of rotweiller. Michelle Branch is great but perhaps under the Grammy radar. Ashanti is not Grammy winning material and John Mayer is there so this won't be thought of as the Best New Female Artist.

I was shocked that Vanessa Carleton didn't join the other Best new Artist nominees, but "A Thousand Miles" fully deserves it's Best Song nomination. As do the fabulous Dixie Chicks for their album nomination. I would have selected "Landslide", the Fleetwood Mac cover, as another song of the year nominee, but since it's included I can't complain.

I can fully concur with Eminem's nomination for song and album of the year. "Without Me" is a clever, witty and highly intelligent examination of the maelstrom Mr Mathers has begun around himself. But Nelly doesn't seem significantly better than any of the other rappers out there - his nominations are strictly a nod to his commercial success.

There are all kinds of other great tracks, including the #1 song of the year on Billboard, "How You Remind Me", Pink's breakout hit "Get The Party Started", Sheryl Crow summer anthem for the ages "Soak Up the Sun" and Dave Mattehws' "Where Are You Going", but I'd like to congratulate the academy on finding and nominating Bowling for Soup.

"Girl All the Bad Boys Want" is one of the best tracks from last year, and I fell for it on a single listen. Finally American radio is starting to play it, but it was already a top ten hit in England last year. This is the song you'll go back to over and over.

So snap this one up people, cause the 2004 Grammy Nominees'll have t.A.T.u. and 50 Cent.

I found this cd to be a solid mix of the years grammy nominees. Whether or not I agreed with who won the awards is a story for another day. The cover art is nice, and the track arrangement flows nicely. If your'e in the mood to listen to "whatever" this is a good disc for those times.

There was a time when the Grammy Awards were incredibly bias with their nominees for the major awards (good, but still bias). The 2003 awards (meaning music from 2002) was the year when all the diversity bariers were broken down. The tracklisting still has a slight tilt towards pop, the reason for that is because Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal are covered. But Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Best New Artist are included as well:
(1) Vanessa Carlton "A Thousand Miles" A-. A beautiful, sweet almost philosophical pop song. The material may seem standard but Vanessa's voice and lyrics make it a catchy piece of work.
Endlessly listenable with fantastic images.
(2) Norah Jones "Don't Know Why" C+. What is this song doing in 2002? Everything about it seems outdated and unfinished, like the producers just stopped trying. What little substance is here is lost because listeners are put to sleep.
(3) Nickelback "How You Remind Me" A. This is about as close as you can get to a perfect rock song. It has all the things you expect from a rock song, yet Chad Kroger's voice and the piercing lyrics add more weight and dimension to it.
(4) Dixie Chicks "Landslide" B. Again, country isn't bmy cup of tea, but this song works for me. The girls' make this Fleetwood Mac song their own and add some blueglass flavor with unique acoustic arangements.
(5) Eminem "Without Me" A. Easily Shady's most satirical, funniest and biting work yet. His "razor tounged lyrics" find the right targets, address a number of "issues" and make good point all to a hilarious entertaining results.
(6) Nelly "Hot In Herre" A. The level that this song works to is exceptional, considering its simplistic content. But Nelly's trademarked "southern flavor" turns ikt into a must hear summer dance/rap song. Completely enjoyable in every way.
(7) Ashanti "Foolish" B+. A smooth, relaxing and toughing R&B song which is darn infectious. Thankfully it contains a rather original idea, but has a flaw becuase it seems to hold the listener at a distance.
(8) Michelle Branch "All You Wanted" A. A deep and touching pop/rock song that finds the right impact from the lyrics and guitar chords. Another song that starts with simple material, yet rise far above it.
(9)Avril Lavigne "Complicated" A. Hands down THE best song writing from THE best new artist of 2002! Everything about this song works from the chilling guitar opening to deep, powerful and enotional lyrics. Every second of this masterpiece should put a tear in your eye.
(10) John Mayer "Your Body Is A Wonderland" A-. It's hard to believe that he was only 16 when he made this song. Content as old as Shakespeare gets a nice modern revamp in a sweet, light and easing ballad. It'll ease the troubled mind with no problem.
(11) Sheryl Crow "Soak Up The Sun" A-. This song just has an a complete summer feel to it. Everything about this light, catchy, fun pop/rock tune demonstrates the full extent of Sheryl Crows comprehensive talents.
(12) P!NK "Get The Party Started" B+. This was hailed by many as THE best sing of 2001. It's not that good, but it is still an endlessly enjoyable, clubbed up dance track with a combination of a slick production and killer voice and lyrics.
(13) Britney Spears "Overprotected" B-. It has more substance than your standard Britney song, yet it still feels like a whiny rant under the surface. Darkchild's production and the infectious beat make it listenavle though.
(14) Craig David "7 Days" B+. The song isn't in the same league as "Fill Me In", but is still very catchy and is a nice little relaxing listen. Craig David finds a relaxed tone to make the song flow efforlessly.
(15) Sting "Fragile" C+. Sting is a very talented male artist who just doesn't put in the full effort here. Everything starts out perfectly, then grows redundant and repedative as the song carries on. It's a work that just diudn't quite come together.
(16) James Taylor "October Road" A-. A nice piece for his later career to still to convey the talent he still has. Shows that sometimes a simple premise and tone is all that is needed to make a good song.
(17) Bowling For Soup "Girl All The Bad Guys Want" A-. A strange and original pop/punk transition. The song seems bizarre at first, but once it takes off it reaches maximum velocity. I love every second of it.
(18) Dave Matthews Band "Where Are You Going" C. Textbook standard light rock in every way. This is what happens when a group doesn't try and just goes through the standard flows of music.
(19) *N Sync "Girlfriend" B-. This isn't bad, it just lacks that flavor that the Neptunes Remix feat. Nelly had. That version benefitted alot from Nelly's style and attitude, maybe they couldn't nominate it because it was remix. Still a Neptunes production, this version remains listenable.
Bottom Line: ***1/2. The album may have a few slow spots scattered about, but the diversity and abundance of quality tracks make up for it. The nominees were a pretty good selection of music in 2002, too bad the winners weren't as well.

This is one of my favorite CD's ever! This CD has gotten me into more typs of music and many new artist like Avril Lavine person and Eminem. Some songs I never listen to like Girlfriend (thats a Michael Jackson title FYI NSYNC!)and Overprotected.
Overall, this CD rules!

I'm really not feeling these grammy nominations this year. They didnt nomminate those that deserved to be nominated, they just nominated those that were the most popular. I mean, Britney Spears was still nominated for "Overprotected?" Come on, there are alot more songs that were better than that to come out to be nominated. that song barely even charted. Talentless manufactured stars like Ashanti are being nominated more and more, and apparently the grammys think that the boy bands are still in, STILL nominating N Sync out of all the singles out there. So in result, this grammy CD with the exception of Sting looks like a Now complilation, one targeted at those for 12 year olds. Grammy decided to ignore the TRUE greatest albums of the year, like the Flaming Lips and Wilco. Now that the grammys are turning more into a crowd pleaser than to reward true musicianship, we really need another kind of awards sxhow. Please be more attentive to your nominations next year, please!

The Grammy Nominees series are a surefire way of picking the best songs of the year, every year. Sure, they do leave out a few songs and include some terrible ones - Britney Spears and N'SYNC(out of Snyc??;-) in this case, but it is a very good buy overall. This is the best one so far, in the series.
A compliation to suit many tastes.

This has gotta be the LOWEST grammy compilation CD ever released. Do you realize how much they didn't pay attention to the classic groups nominated? I mean, yeah, Sting and James Taylor are on there, but how about DAVID BOWIE ("Slow Burn", awesome song, and I hope he wins over Springsteen), BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ("The Rising"), PETER GABRIEL, ROBERT PLANT, U2? Come on! Only 2 out of the 18 songs on the CD are dedicated to the old guys. I know this is a new era, but the classic rock bands are making such a strong comeback. They're rediscovering their roots and their music is still so appealing to this very day. Take David Bowie's new "Heathen" album, for example. What a striking echo from his past. It's "Classic Bowie, Circa 2002." So why not take a glance back to the classic days of old and give some respect to these guys? 2 songs just aren't enough (and those songs are by the "not-so-hot" classic musicians!). Give me a break. Give some credit where credit is due!

Yeah, they sort of half-assed the track list; some of the songs here weren't really spectacularly big hits and barely made the charts. Anyways, here's a review of each song:

A THOUSAND MILES- To this day, by far her best song ever. Very good song, and she wrote it all by herself! ^.^ Catchy and sweet. Beautiful piano playing. Good message, too. (5/5)

DON'T KNOW WHY- This song's pretty good. Very, very slow and mellow. Probably one of her better songs. But I don't love it; a little too boring. But nice and gentle. Easy on the ears. (4/5)

HOW YOU REMIND ME- This song was SO overplayed on the radio but I guess it's pretty good. Reminds me of Hootie & The Blowfish. It's kinda catchy, but screaming banging grunge rock I've really never liked that much. (4/5)

LANDSLIDE- I can't stand country. This song is horrible. And what's worse, I remember hearing this on the radio a kajillion times. Nothing worse than a God-awful song getting overplayed. (0/5)

WITHOUT ME- Ah, Eminem. There are three things you can count on with his radio hits: 1. A catchy, sometimes poppy hook. 2. A series of hysterical, bitchy one-liners. And 3. A whole lot of blanked out cuss words. And this contains, of course, all three. I personally think this is one of his best songs ever-"The Real Slim Shady" is probably my favorite, but this is a close second. Ya gotta love him. And yet, you gotta hate him. (4/5)

HOT IN HERRE- This is probably Nelly's third-best song. "Ride Wit Me" is #1 with me, and "Dilemma" is a very close second. This is an *obviously* Neptunes-produced rap/dance track, and it is catchy, sassy, fun, and stupid. All the ingredients for a perfect let-loose dance song. (4/5)

FOOLISH- I don't like this one. Boring, stupid. Repetitive. I don't like Ashanti. (0/5)

ALL YOU WANTED- This is one of the reasons why I bought this. I love all three of Michelle Branch's radio hits; they're all fantastic. But sometimes in this song her voice sounds a bit too much like that of a young Alanis Morrisette; whimpering and whiny. But still very catchy, easy on the ears, awesome message and lyrics. (5/5)

COMPLICATED- This is Avril's theme song. If you haven't heard it you are not from Earth. Great song; catchy and somewhat deep lyrics, but....I don't know if I can call it her best. (5/5)

YOUR BODY IS A WONDERLAND- B-O-R-I-N-G. The beginning is so dull I don't even want to listen to the whole thing. But I still do. And it just gets worse and worse and worse. The lyrics are retarded. Skip this one. (0/5)

SOAK UP THE SUN- This one will annoy many, many people. But I suppose I kind of like it. One of her better songs. As I've said in previous reviews, I loathe country, but if it has a catchy hook and/or pop/rock undertones, I can handle it and sometimes even enjoy it. It's okay, but sort of generic and annoying. (3/5)

GET THE PARTY STARTED- This is an AWESOME song-arguably Pink's best ever-but she has a lot of cool songs so I don't know. Either way, you MUST hear this incredibly catchy dance track; great for clubs and parties. Really gets you in the mood to party. (5/5)

OVERPROTECTED- Okay, okay....this really wasn't that big a hit and probably doesn't deserve to be on a Grammy Nominees CD. Britney's third album was pretty mediocre, and none of the tracks became true chart-toppers in the U.S. But. I love this song and I can relate to it. Very catchy, fun, rebellious, and just....addictive. And in its entirety, this version is far better than the Darkchild Remix. I listen to this song probably a little too often. (5/5)

7 DAYS- Bleaugh I don't like this one. There are already too many ballads and slow tracks here. We don't need another one. Boring, has me yawning in seconds. The lyrics are SO stupid. I'm fed up with these people acting like they're such hot s***, always going out with hotties and only going after people for their looks. (0/5)

FRAGILE- The beginning of this song is so beautiful. A tad slow and boring, but that's justified with this one because it's so pretty and relaxing. A fantastic song to listen to when you're looking out the window at rain/when you want to relax. (4/5)

OCTOBER ROAD- Too folky. As I said, I hate country. And I hate this song. (0/5)

GIRL ALL THE BAD GUYS WANT- Ugh I can't stand grungy punk rock. And what is the deal with all these poppy punkers (like Blink-182) trying to speak weirdly with some kind of slur/lisp/childish accent? This song is unbelievably annoying. (0/5)

WHERE ARE YOU GOING- This song also suffered overplay on the radio, but it's not horrible. I kind of like it. Mellow, catchy. (2/5)

GIRLFRIEND- This is one of *Nsync's best songs. Very different from their earlier sugary bubblegum pop. The background beats remind me of "Hot In Herre". It sounds like it was produced by The Neptunes. Quite catchy, fun. Not their absolute best, but....pretty damn good. After you listen to it a few times, it gets better. I reluctantly give it 5 stars. (5/5)

OVERALL SCORE: 55/95

There are a LOT of awful tracks really bringing down the score, but the good ones (A Thousand Miles, Without Me, Hot In Herre, All You Wanted, Complicated, Get The Party Started, Overprotected, Fragile, and Girlfriend) make this pretty much a worthwhile buy. I kind of wish they would have replaced tracks like "Foolish," "7 Days," "Girl All The Bad Guys Want," and "Your Body Is A Wonderland" with "Dilemma" or "Hey Baby." But we can't have everything, can we? Stay away if you really don't like poppy rap-dance tracks and very slow chill-out music, because both are here in abundance.

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01 A THOUSAND MILES Vanessa Carlton B+
02 DON'T KNOW WHY Norah Jones B
03 HOW YOU REMIND ME Nickelback B+
04 LANDSLIDE Dixie Chicks B+
05 WITHOUT ME Eminem A
06 HOT IN HERRE Nelly A-
07 FOOLISH Ashanti A-
08 ALL YOU WANTED Michelle Branch B+
09 COMPLICATED Avril Lavigne A
10 YOUR BODY IS A WONDERLAND John Mayer A
11 SOAK UP THE SUN Sheryl Crow B
12 GET THE PARTY STARTED P!nk B+
13 OVERPROTECTED Britney Spears C+
14 7 DAYS Craig David A
15 FRAGILE Sting B-
16 OCTOBER ROAD James Taylor B
17 GIRL ALL THE BAD GUYS WANT Bowling For Soup B+
18 WHERE ARE YOU GOING Dave Matthews Band A
19 GIRLFRIEND *Nsync B
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Overall: B+
My Grade : A
I recommend this CD to anyone who enjoys the NOW That's What I Call Music Series. This is even better!!!

This Various cd is one of the best yet. It doesn't only have the hot artists but it has the best songs from your favorite artist that were chosen in the Grammy Awards. The songs on this cd will keep you dancing and singing all day long!!! I hope you enjoy the cd because truly it is AWSOME!!!!