What is the *BEST* album that has won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year?

i went saturday night fever but tapestry and songs in th ekey of life were close. lauryn hill was a good one too.

a big wtf to Supernatural performed by Santana (2000)

There's a worst album poll if you'd like to vote for Santana, you know...

Something pre-1980.

so Herbie won? congrats Herbie

Innervisions, just a hair over FFF.

There's a ton of amazing albums on that list, but it's really hard not to give it up for Sgt. Pepper.

Take out the Beatles, Stevie and Thriller and it would be a pretty interesting poll.

torn between celine and tony bennett unplugged

rong poll?

no it was a joke

im probably voting for sgt pepper or thriller

oh.

the problem with the WORST poll is that i haven't heard anything that id assume to be the worst (i.e. celine)

jordo dont sleep on tony bennett unplugged, its a all-time classic

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51b-LXvqcsL._AA240_.jpg

miseducation, rumours, or still crazy after all these years

Saturday Night Fever over Thriller over Rumours, I guess, but it's real close between those three.

Also like the Simon & Garfunkel, Lionel Richie, and George Michael records, and Inneversions. Maybe a couple others, too. Don't hate the Christopher Cross one. Might not hate the Toto one either, but I haven't heard it in a million years. The two solo Paul Simon ones are not as good as his first album, but undoubtedly not bad anyway.

No one repping for Outkast yet, so I will.

xp Dixie Chicks one is good, too, though far from their best.

And Tapestry and Songs In The Key of Life are pretty good too, duh. Phil Collins, Glen Campbell, Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, and John & Yoko albums and Sinatra's September Of My Years and O Brother Where Art Thou have at least some good stuff on them, too...

I'ma do the Oscar equivalent of this poll next month, even though the history of best picture winners is FAR more embarrassing than Grammy's AotY history.

doubtful

and xhuxk - i'd like to see your take on the worst...

I had to give it to Fulfillingness'First Finale, even though I had to check twice how to spell it. It was hard to choose, because apparently in the olden days Grammies used to get awarded to surpassingly good albums.

Also, the inclusion of Bob Newhart in this list is awesome. A comedy album couldn't win Album of the Year today of course, but are there any that should? I haven't listened to too many stand-up albums in recent years.

Oh, they already did this on the other poll.

The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (1994)

Jesus H, I had COMPLETELY forgotten about this, as in, "purged from my memory with Drano"-levels of forgetting.

"Rumours" wins it for me.

xhuxk - i'd like to see your take on the worst...

See other thread. That was a lot harder.

And wow, I just noticed Blood Sweat & Tears up there. Had no idea they were ever that industry-respected. Apparently that album was #1 for seven weeks, and has "And When I Die," "You've Made Me So Very Happy," and "Spinning Wheel" on it. All of which I guess I sort of have "mixed feelings" about.

Back on the Block performed by Quincy Jones and Various Artists

Never even heard of this one. Should I have? Backstory, anyone?

O Brother Where Art Thou? for me.

The only one of these albums I don't know is The First Family by Vaughn Meader which I guess must have something to do with JFK.

Back on the Block's a good one.

I voted for Rumours, but there's lots of good stuff, more than I thought, especially in the seventies (as opposed to great, though).

all gays plz create Judy voting block w me k thx bye

Rather a sad story really (self xxp).

thriller, fools

'saturday night fever' but 'rumours' was close. i'm with notimebeforetime re 'the bodyguard'. wtf?

No great mystery to it - "Album of the Year" has almost always been synonymous with "Album that sold the most copies".

OK, before 'someone' gets here, I'll rep for "Sgt Pepper" as it's the only one here I ever 'loved' as opposed to liked or even 'respected', as above the 'do not want' ones.

No great mystery to it - "Album of the Year" has almost always been synonymous with "Album that sold the most copies".

Really? Herbie Hancock in 2008? That would surprise me...

Innervisions. And it seems like most of the desperately mediocre albums that won (Back On The Block, Two Against Nature, Supernatural) fall into the "Oh shit, we never gave them a Grammy? OK, let's give it to whatever piece of shit they put out this year" category.

More Grammy curiosities: How in hell do "Thriller" and "Double Fanatasy" and "52nd Street" become winners a full 2 years after the albums release date?

Weren't those albums released during the xmas season? (cut off is around Halloween)

Yeah, the Grammy nomination deadline is late September (now at least, I don't know when it was then), those albums were all released in October or November.

faith!

the stevie wonder and michael jackson albums, to take some random examples, are probably "better," but i'm going with george michael not only because i love the album, which i do, but because it was such a ballsy, unlikely, great choice (compare it, for example, to the very respectable rock albums by u2 and paul simon that preceded it, or the very respectable bonnie raitt nightmare that followed it). it's not a better "album" than thriller, but it's a better grammy winner, i say.

Another boring vote for Sgt. Pepper's.

Sgt Peppers > Fulfillingness' First Finale > Innervisions

jesus christ the grammies suck. and they've always sucked, apparently.

that said, voted for sgt. pepper, though judy at carnegie and innervisions are close.

Sgt Peppers > Fulfillingness' First Finale > Innervisions

> the rest of the listed albums, right?

Um, yes. Of the ones I'm familiar with. That was my intention.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41yktYUcu4L._SS500_.jpg

I think the Stevie vote is gonna be split three ways, and thus, he'll come in lower than he ought to.

Yeah, I voted for Innervisions with that in mind.

That little run from '84 to '89 was probably the closest the Grammys ever came to consistently capturing the zeitgeist, awarding hugely popular artists at their peak instead of way afterward, most of whom were at least moderately critically acclaimed.

As a fan of comedy albums I gotta go with Bob.

OK, I just wasn't going to suffer Innervisions in last place of anything is all.

No great mystery to it - "Album of the Year" has almost always been synonymous with "Album that sold the most copies

This isn't really true -- It definitely applies to a handful of the albums above, but hardly to most of them. I mean, Daughtry and High School Musical and Josh Groban (though that last one may have come out outside the eligibility window) weren't even nominated this year. The Hancock album has so far sold under 50,000, I think (though it will probably sell more now.) Really, the NARAS folks are looking for some pat-ourselves-on-the-back confirmation that the industry is adventurous and open to "good taste and quality" more than they're looking for the year's biggest seller. Though of course their definitions of adventurousness and good taste are idiotic, which is why as often as not lately they fall for heritage bores covering old publishing catalog, or bringing in lots of big guest names, etc.

I mean, albums like the Quincy Jones and Santana and Natalie Cole and Ray Charles and Tony Bennett albums above (and the four-disc Vince Gill one nominated for album of the year this year for that matter, even more than the Herbie covers Joni winner) are Big Marketing Concept albums -- which, for some biz folks, probably makes them the equivalent of Sgt. Pepper's or something. They all seem like the sorts of things that were dreamed up in board rooms!

Or think of them this way: They're sort of the album equivalents of all the lame-assed but seemingly well-meaning conceptual performances on the Grammy show (like all the ones last night where current stars dueted with classic stars from days of yore, some of them dead. Though I did think Kid Rock/Keely Smith was fun; Time/Rihanna and Beyonce/Tina too maybe. Though most of the album winners I named are more hi-fallutin' and, uh, "important" than those.)

(Actually, on last night's show, the act that most made me want to check them out more was that gospel brass band who were on for about 20 seconds, the Madison Bumblebees. Never even heard of them before, but it was cool how they were jumping around while playing their horns. I'm easily amused sometimes.)

or another way: they're the album equivalents of the sweeping, epic period pictures that always seem to win best picture at the oscars, and whose stars are always up for best actor and best actress, even if nobody you or i know ever saw the movie.

I was off about Hancock's sales so far, but not much. (The nomination in early December probably helped push it over the 50,000 mark):

Hancock's Joni Mitchell tribute album, "River: The Joni Letters," was neither a financial success (it has sold a paltry 56,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan) nor a particular critical darling.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080211/ap_en_mu/grammys_weird_winners

Getz/Gilberto

Anybody voting for Eric Clapton?

Where is Golden Skans song?

(sorry wrong thread!)

Kid Rock and Keely Smith - the boggle minds.

"Anybody voting for Eric Clapton?"

Yes. On the other Grammy poll.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

vote vote vote!

Getz/Gilberto by a mile

Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Justice!

though ...

Songs in the Key of Life performed by Stevie Wonder (1977) 1
Fulfillingness' First Finale performed by Stevie Wonder (1975) 0

I could've standed for some wider distribution of Wonder votes here.

i dunno, i actually think that accurately reflects the quality of those wonder records...i mean, sinkol and fff are great and all, but there's nothing (or not much) on either to compare with "living for the city" or "higher ground" (or "too high," or "don't you worry 'bout a thing," or "he's misstra know-it-all," or...)

I didn't see this, but I'm happy so many people were sensible enough to vote for "Sgt. Pepper". Even though "Innervisions" and "Thriller" are of course also GREAT albums.

i wonder if the phil collins and toto were irony votes

I wonder whether anyone went for Sgt Pepper as both best and worst. It would make some kind of sense.

I am OK with this set of results.