Grammy Awards 2012: We Pick Album Of The Year

Becky Bain | February 10, 2012 10:57 am

Music’s biggest night is but days away, and though we know who’s showing up and who’s performing with whom, the winners of the actual 2012 Grammy Awards remain a mystery. (Okay, so we’re pretty sure Adele is going to pick up a few trophies.) After posting our predictions for Best New Artist, Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year and all the Pop and Dance categories, we turn our crystal ball to the biggest award of the night, Album Of The Year. This year’s group of nominees include a rock act, two wildly-dressed pop stars, a classy crooner and a woman who turned her heartbreak into an unprecedented amount of album sales. Head below to see our picks for whose album will come out on top.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR NOMINEES Adele, 21 The Foo Fighters, Wasting Light Lady Gaga, Born This Way Bruno Mars, Doo-Wops and Hooligans Rihanna, Loud

THOUGHTS ON THE NOMINEES: The Foo Fighters are the sole rock group of the pack, and with all this pop filling the category (and possibly splitting the votes), it’s not completely ridiculous to think Dave Grohl and Co. could be more of a frontrunner than they would have been otherwise. Though there are bigger, more ubiquitous contenders here, let’s not forget when Herbie Hancock bested both Amy Winehouse and Kanye West’s mega-hit albums in 2008. (We definitely didn’t see that one coming.)

Rihanna’s Loud appears to have landed a spot here because it was simply inescapable in 2011 — she released six singles (a couple of those paired with controversial music videos), embarked on a world tour, and made a ridiculous amount of live appearances to make sure this album made an impact. But how many of those six singles will we be considered classic RiRi songs a year from now? “Only Girl In The World”, “What’s My Name”, maybe? We don’t see a long shelf life for the majority of this album. (Good thing Rihanna releases a new set of tunes pretty much every November.)

This is Lady Gaga’s third consecutive Album Of The Year nomination, as Mama Monster’s The Fame and The Fame Monster were nominated in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Born This Way — whose title track was performed during last year’s Grammy ceremony — certainly yielded quite a few wonderful singles (and “Judas”…) and showed us a brand new side of the pop star. Perhaps too many new sides of the pop star, as the whole album lacked cohesion and focus — it seemed like a bunch of big ideas stuffed into one package. Basically, Gaga’s BTW era comes off as a bit of a disappointment when compared to her previous releases, which were nowhere near as divisive.

Bruno Mars’ debut is all style and class, even when he’s singing with monkeys about being oh-so lazy. The man was practically bred to win Grammys — as he did last year for Best Male Pop Solo Performance for Doo-Wops single “Just The Way You Are”. In any other year, we think he’d be the one to beat. But…

Can anyone stop Adele from scoring Album Of The Year? Because, face it, 21 really was the album of the year. It sold more copies than any other LP this year (over six million), scored the best-selling single of the year with “Rolling In The Deep”, landed at the top of countless year-end lists, and had four of its tracks covered on Glee. It turned Adele from that lovely British singer who sang “Chasing Pavements” to the savior of the music industry.

WHO WILL WIN: We know the blog should just be rechristened Adelator at this point, but this is the Brit songbird’s award to lose.

WHO SHOULD WIN: Born This Way and 21 both landed on our list of our Favorite 10 Albums of 2011, so we’re big fans of both LPs. But Gaga’s opus, though ambitious and unique, still comes off as trying too hard. Adele’s 21, however, is as much a masterpiece as breakup albums come, and it all seems effortless. We think Adele deserves this one more.

Now it’s your turn — who will win the big prize of the night? Vote below!

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Do you agree with our predictions? Did we get it wrong with the picks? Let us know your thoughts below, or by hitting us up on Facebook and Twitter! And make sure you keep up to date with all our 2012 Grammy coverage!