
Photo: By Dariusz Lachowicz (dari4u (at) wp (dot) pl) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
From the 1950’s to about the mid 1990’s, top 40 radio was always a mix of pop, rock, and soul music. The Beatles, Elton John, Billy Joel, Motown, Stax Records
, Van Halen, Madonna
, Earth Wind & Fire
, The Eagles, Journey, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin. Great music, great songs, and it all penetrated culture on a mass market scale. Rap and hip hop changed all that. We are in the midst of a generation of 20 to 40 year old’s who grew up in a world where rock music was virtually non-existent on popular radio and music television. We are not arguing that rap and hip hop is bad music, we are simply stating that it’s dominance in popular culture has led to an ignorance of new rock music that is completely reflected in the 2017 Grammy nominations for their main music categories.
In 2016, Metallica released perhaps one of the strongest albums of their career. Hardwired…To Self Destruct is a monster album. The songwriting is incredibly strong and the production of the record is outstanding. Listen to the CD on a decent set of speakers and it sounds like the band is playing in your living room. How this record was ignored in the Album of the Year category seems almost criminal. Yet, the Grammy committee choose Lorde’s Meldorama and Childish Gambino’ Awaken, My Love over Hardwired. What?
Metallica was not the only rock band to release a spectacular album in the 2017 Grammy eligibility period which runs between Oct. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017. We put together a list of some of the best rock and roll and pop music albums that were released during the eligibility period that were completely ignored by the Grammy’s committee. There are many more than the ones we have listed, but the ones below should have definitely been noticed by the Grammys and are some of the strongest albums released in years.
Green Day –Â Revolution Radio
Melissa Etheridge – Memphis Rock and Soul
Beth Hart – Fire on the Floor (AMAZING!)
Kings of Leon – Walls
Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker  Cant believe this was ignored!!! Read our review!
The Pretenders –Â Alone
Avenged Sevenfold – The Stage
Bon Jovi – This House Is Not for Sale
Sting –Â 57th & 9th
The Rolling Stones – Blue & Lonesome   Hellooooo?
Dropkick Murphys – 11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory
 (When someone mentions rock is dead, play them this album.)
Black Star Riders – Heavy Fire
Julian Cope – Drunken Songs
Carousel Kings – Charm City
Charlie Wilson – In It to Win It  (Great R&B Album)
The Raveonettes – 2016 Atomized
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana
Bush –Â Black and White Rainbows
Depeche Mode – Spirit
Samantha Fish – Chill’s and Fever  YOU NEED TO CHECK THIS OUT NOW!!!!
Aimee Mann – Mental Illness
John Mayer –Â The Search for Everything
John Mellencamp –Â Sad Clowns & Hillbillies
Blondie – Pollinator  (Great Comeback Album)
Robin Trower –Â Time and Emotion
Roger Waters – Is This the Life We Really Want?
Chuck Berry – Chuck (Yes, that’s right a brand new Chuck Berry album)
Gov’t Mule – Revolution Come…Revolution Go  (so sad these guys are always ignored)
Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie  ( Unbelievable)
Cheap Trick – We’re All Alright!
Foo Fighters – Concrete and Gold
Get the point? It’s so sad that Grammys chooses nothing but hip hop and rap for their main categories and continue to fail to recognize the amazing body of work that has been released by these great rock and roll artists.