The Nu-Normal #14: Are The Grammys Out of Touch?
The "best" in rock and metal according to the Recording Academy.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking. “Owen,” my noble and aesthetically acculturated subscribers will say, “does anyone give a shit about The Grammys?” And to that, dear reader, I say, “Well, maybe… kind of… probably not.”
However, I spend a lot of time on Twitter, specifically the time-sink hell zone that is Music Twitter™, where people like to rant about things that the general folk give zero regards to. Overanalysing release schedules, label infighting, industry drama, and artist reception as a reflection of inherent value and worth is just par for the course when you doomscroll through such circles.
So, with this necessary framing in mind, let’s dig into 2022’s 64th Annual Grammy Awards and what they say about the state of rock and metal.
What’s in a Rock, Anyway?
Categorisation and delineations of any genre are usually fraught with peril. As Eric Smialek (2015) writes, genre categorisation is an integral component in forming social identity and authenticity for both musicians and fans.
Within the realms of rock and metal, certain acts are afforded ‘canonical’ status due to their established level of legacy and influence, becoming largely inseparable from conceptions of the genre itself. Consequently, using these labels becomes important in determining an artist’s position within the subculture.
Categorisation is often conceived through a lack or absence rather than the presence of distinct stylistic characteristics. For Smialek, genre characteristics are often applied through taxonomical exclusion: i.e., they serve to define what isn’t rock or isn’t metal.
This approach inevitably leads to certain artists being positioned at the periphery of fixed and otherwise ‘indisputable’ genre boundaries, making their categorisation a matter of preference and subcultural debate.
Or, in the case of the Grammys, a cloak and dagger back-room decision made by industry movers and shakers.
Since 2014, the Rock category for the Grammys has been consolidated into four main awards:
Best Rock Performance (awarded to the artist)
Best Rock Song (awarded to the songwriter)
Best Rock Album (awarded to the artist, producer and engineer/mixer, "provided they were responsible for more than 50 per cent of playing time on the album")
Best Metal Performance (awarded to the artist)
Already we can see some issues. Punk, as a genre, doesn’t fit here in any meaningful or neat sense. Sure, you can classify all punk as being “punk rock” and therefore just a subgenre stratification, but I would argue that’s a semantic sleight of hand that evades the critique.
Additionally, by consolidating other award categories into the four above (like, for example, the prior Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance categories from pre-2014), you lose the distinction between soft and heavy forms of rock.
Now, this may seem not very meaningful in a practical, industry-driven sense, but I would argue once again that there are real, tangible differences between artists like Coldplay and Foo Fighters, David Bowie and Disturbed, or Phoebe Bridgers and Imagine Dragons that aren’t simply captured by using “Rock” as a catch-all descriptor. (Words are things, people.)
The Winners…
Okay, so let’s look at our winners for 2022:
Best Rock Song: “Waiting on a War” - Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Rami Jaffee, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear, songwriters (Foo Fighters)
Best Rock Album: Medicine at Midnight – Foo Fighters
Best Rock Performance: “Making a Fire” – Foo Fighters
Best Metal Performance: “The Alien” – Dream Theater
Obviously, seeing Foo Fighters take out three awards in 2022 is both well-deserved and bittersweet, given that drummer Taylor Hawkins recently passed away at age 50, only a week before the award ceremony. The band also cancelled their scheduled performance at the ceremony and weren’t in attendance to receive their awards.
That said, Foo Fighters are rock legends for a reason, and I don’t personally have any issues with them taking out awards at this level, considering their place in the culture and decades of industry-recognised achievements. I mean, come on, “Everlong” is still a total banger.
As for prog mainstays Dream Theater, I guess now is as good a time as any. After nearly four decades (!) in the game, with fifteen albums and three Grammy nominations behind them, the Boston quintet finally secured a win.
While “The Alien” certainly sounds like metal, especially of the noodley, neck-beardy kind, I find it hard to parse how this particular track or record garnered Grammy recognition over the rest of the band’s already prolific catalogue and prior nominations.
…And Losers
This brings us to those who lost out. The runners-up, the participation award winners, the “Good Try” ribbon getters. Let’s now look at the full list for 2022’s Rock category:
With this more holistic view, I think it’s clear that the issue with the Grammys’ treatment of rock and metal isn’t necessarily defined by who wins a certain award but more by the field of acceptable candidates for any given year.
For example, let’s take Best Rock Song. Is it fair to say that, in this, the Year of Our Lord 2022, the best the rock genre offers in a contest with an act of the Foo Fighters pedigree is Weezer, Kings of Leon, and Paul McCartney?
Weezer’s most iconic song came out nearly twenty years ago, and their discography has been in a death spiral of diminishing returns for the better part of fifteen years. “Sex on Fire” dropped in 2008, and since then, it’s been a scourge on radio airwaves. But I challenge any random person on the street to name literally any other Kings of Leon song off the top of their dome.
And as for McCartney… Look, all due respect to one of the most influential songwriters of all time, but the dude is pushing 80, and he already has 16 Grammys. So, maybe it’s time to hang it up and look for some fresher, non-geriatric talent.
Things don’t get much better with the other categories, either.
Seeing AC/DC nominated for Best Rock Album and Performance feels wildly out of touch. No sleight to Acca Dacca—they’re undeniable pub rock gods. But the fact that “Highway to Hell” was nominated for a Grammy almost thirty years ago, and that nomination came almost fifteen years after the track’s initial release, should tell you everything you need to know.
Similarly, having Chris Cornell posthumously nominated for two awards almost five years after his death feels like a slap to today’s hard-working artists and touring musicians—many of whom were likely inspired by Cornell’s formidable back catalogue.
As for metal, it feels like the Academy does have more of a grip on what’s current and worthy of attention here, but they can’t fully escape the usual weirdness, either.
Deftones were nominated for both Best Rock and Metal performance, further proving why category consolidation and the lack of subgenre distinction make for confusing choices. Mastodon are certainly one of the world's best heavy bands and have earned their spot on this list. However, winning back-to-back Grammys is more of a Metallica or Slayer level achievement. And as for Rob Zombie, doesn’t he make movies now? “Dragula” is definitely still a jam, but who’s turning heads with a new Rob Zombie record in their whip?
If I was in the Academy, Gojira’s “Amazonia” would have been the obvious pick. It’s heavy and progressive, yet also tuneful and melodic, with a strong thematic message that resonates with current times. Alas, now they get to join a whole host of other genre contemporaries (Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Baroness, Code Orange, Power Trip, and many more) who have been passed over for a Grammy trophy in favour of senior placeholders.
The Verdict
Ultimately, those in the real world of rock and metal know what’s up without pointing to industry award ceremonies for guidance. And yet, having near-universally acclaimed artists like Turnstile and Spiritbox—who had incredible release years in 2021—be overlooked for recognition of their achievements is a little disheartening.
There’s so much great rock and metal (and punk!) out there. It’s a shame that institutions like the Grammys aren’t leading from the front, platforming new and exciting talent over old heads and legacy acts, ensuring that the genres remain fresh and invigorated by the respect they so richly deserve.
Anyway, have a listen to my Weekly Roundup playlist, and you might just find some new faves.