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Album of the Year Grammy Winners: The 10 Best
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award at the music industry's most prestigious awards show, and often its most divisive. Many have complained that the Grammys are perpetually out of touch (only two hip-hop albums have ever received top honors, for example), but even noted Grammy detractor Kanye West would agree that the Recording Academy gets it right once in a while.
Here are our picks for the most deserving winners of the past 30 years — the new classics, if you will. If you're only in it for the disses, check out the worst here.
10. Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time, 1990
After 20 years as a much-respected but little-heard critical darling, Bonnie Raitt finally broke into the mainstream with her "first sober album." It was a smashing victory for the blues, and helped to pave the way for the blockbuster success of Raitt's follow up, Luck of the Draw.
9. Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, 2011
Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was somehow passed over for an Album of the Year nomination (this eyeroll's for you, Academy), but there was some solace in the fact that Arcade Fire's vast and romantic third album somehow triumphed over a handful of overproduced blockbusters.
8. Bob Dylan's Time Out of Mind, 1998
Few would argue that Time Out of Mind is Dylan's greatest album, but that doesn't mean it was any less deserving of the top honors in 1998. With its dreary and desolate production by Daniel Lanois, the album ushered in a new era of critical triumph for the living legend. Also, Soy Bomb. Never forget Soy Bomb.
7. Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, 1996
Alanis' breakthrough album was not just one of the top selling releases of the 90s, but a defining moment in alternative rock, opening up the airwaves for feminist confessionalists like Fiona Apple and Liz Phair. For those of us who came of age in the '90s suburbia, it was also completely badass.
6. Adele's 21, 2012
The word "powerhouse" now belongs to British songstress Adele thanks to this album, which will be lauded as one of the greatest breakup albums of all time for decades to come. There's nothing more universal than heartbreak — chances are your mom owns a copy.
5. Outkast's Speakerboxx/The Love Below, 2004
There would have been a mutiny from music lovers (and Kanye, probably) had Outkast's wildly ambitious double album not taken top honors at the 2004 Grammys, as many felt the duo's brilliant previous album Stankonia had been unfairly passed over for the honor a few years before.
4. Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Oh Lauryn, how we miss thee. Perhaps the ex-Fugees singer's debut solo effort was a little too perfect, as it propelled Hill into an uncomfortable level superstardom... and then reclusion. But even if we'll never get a proper follow up, the fact remains that this album was a complete triumph on all fronts.
3. U2's The Joshua Tree, 1988
U2 was already a household name when The Joshua Tree was released, but this was the album that cemented their reputation as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. An ambivalent exploration of America, the rootsy, guitar-driven album was vastly different from everything else on the airwaves at the time.
2. Paul Simon's Graceland, 1987
If you don't love the music video for "You Can Call Me Al," you're probably a serial killer. Also, Paul Simon thinks this universally acclaimed album might have contributed to the end of apartheid by familiarizing people with the music of South Africa and, by extension, its politics. So that's nice.
1. Michael Jackson's Thriller, 1984
This is the album that brought us "The Girl Is Mine," "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "P.Y.T.," and launched Michael Jackson, King of Pop and ultimate video star. It was the defining album of the 80s, and one of precious few Album of the Year winners that critics universally regard as one of the greatest of all time. The Grammys would have practically ceased to exist had theFlashdance soundtrack won that year.
Source: http://www.zimbio.com/Beyond+the+Charts/articles/DCE7DakCpDJ/Album+Year+Grammy+Winners+10+Best
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award at the music industry's most prestigious awards show, and often its most divisive. Many have complained that the Grammys are perpetually out of touch (only two hip-hop albums have ever received top honors, for example), but even noted Grammy detractor Kanye West would agree that the Recording Academy gets it right once in a while.
Here are our picks for the most deserving winners of the past 30 years — the new classics, if you will. If you're only in it for the disses, check out the worst here.
10. Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time, 1990
After 20 years as a much-respected but little-heard critical darling, Bonnie Raitt finally broke into the mainstream with her "first sober album." It was a smashing victory for the blues, and helped to pave the way for the blockbuster success of Raitt's follow up, Luck of the Draw.
9. Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, 2011
Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was somehow passed over for an Album of the Year nomination (this eyeroll's for you, Academy), but there was some solace in the fact that Arcade Fire's vast and romantic third album somehow triumphed over a handful of overproduced blockbusters.
8. Bob Dylan's Time Out of Mind, 1998
Few would argue that Time Out of Mind is Dylan's greatest album, but that doesn't mean it was any less deserving of the top honors in 1998. With its dreary and desolate production by Daniel Lanois, the album ushered in a new era of critical triumph for the living legend. Also, Soy Bomb. Never forget Soy Bomb.
7. Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, 1996
Alanis' breakthrough album was not just one of the top selling releases of the 90s, but a defining moment in alternative rock, opening up the airwaves for feminist confessionalists like Fiona Apple and Liz Phair. For those of us who came of age in the '90s suburbia, it was also completely badass.
6. Adele's 21, 2012
The word "powerhouse" now belongs to British songstress Adele thanks to this album, which will be lauded as one of the greatest breakup albums of all time for decades to come. There's nothing more universal than heartbreak — chances are your mom owns a copy.
5. Outkast's Speakerboxx/The Love Below, 2004
There would have been a mutiny from music lovers (and Kanye, probably) had Outkast's wildly ambitious double album not taken top honors at the 2004 Grammys, as many felt the duo's brilliant previous album Stankonia had been unfairly passed over for the honor a few years before.
4. Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Oh Lauryn, how we miss thee. Perhaps the ex-Fugees singer's debut solo effort was a little too perfect, as it propelled Hill into an uncomfortable level superstardom... and then reclusion. But even if we'll never get a proper follow up, the fact remains that this album was a complete triumph on all fronts.
3. U2's The Joshua Tree, 1988
U2 was already a household name when The Joshua Tree was released, but this was the album that cemented their reputation as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. An ambivalent exploration of America, the rootsy, guitar-driven album was vastly different from everything else on the airwaves at the time.
2. Paul Simon's Graceland, 1987
If you don't love the music video for "You Can Call Me Al," you're probably a serial killer. Also, Paul Simon thinks this universally acclaimed album might have contributed to the end of apartheid by familiarizing people with the music of South Africa and, by extension, its politics. So that's nice.
1. Michael Jackson's Thriller, 1984
This is the album that brought us "The Girl Is Mine," "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "P.Y.T.," and launched Michael Jackson, King of Pop and ultimate video star. It was the defining album of the 80s, and one of precious few Album of the Year winners that critics universally regard as one of the greatest of all time. The Grammys would have practically ceased to exist had theFlashdance soundtrack won that year.
Source: http://www.zimbio.com/Beyond+the+Charts/articles/DCE7DakCpDJ/Album+Year+Grammy+Winners+10+Best