59th Grammys

[Alma]

Adele stopping and re-starting was tremendous. Just added to her aura of actually, you know, being something more than a machine. She left that with more fans than she began with.

And yes, Bruno was stunning.

The Queen B, on the other hand ... I don't quite get that as much as others.

Adele's always been that way, though. Endearing. Down to earth.

 

[bigpern23]

I didn't mind that Adele needed a do-over. Rather have it good the second time than crappy the only time.
That gospel sort of thing near the end, I wondered if they were all singing the same song. Sounded like Songs Gone Wild.
The whole production was pretty shoddy.

I honestly hadn't even noticed that she made a mistake. I'm still not sure what caused her to stop and start over, other than to make a show of how she can't "mess this up for him." For him. Sure.

 

[bigpern23]

I'll say this for Bruno - the guy can credibly perform Prince, Michael Jackson and James Brown with seeming ease. He's a hell of a performer.

 

[User 4332]

It's been years since I've watched. I almost tuned in just to see Sturgill and if I'd known Gary Clark Jr. was performing, I probably would have.

I just have a hard time getting excited about the Grammys. Seems every year there are a handful of winners that just make you say "WTF?"

I was more interested in it this year than most, though, because of Sturgill getting nominated for album of the year. I knew he was a long shot to win, so I shouldn't be annoyed that he didn't, but I swear "A Sailor's Guide to Earth" is the best damn album as a whole that I've heard in probably a decade or more.

 

[Alma]

I've seen Adele in concert a couple times. Perhaps some of you have, too.

Here's the thing: Adele struggles to control her breath. I don't think it's because of her weight, either - Brittany of Alabama Shakes can tear through things just fine - but I was at an early concert, years ago, and she sat down quite a bit. She runs out of it and the notes sort of sound like Florence Foster Jenkins. And because she seems insistent in making every damn song a roller coaster of woos and bellows and odd, crackling emphases on ks and cs, it kind of makes for an up and down experience.

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

I'll say this for Bruno - the guy can credibly perform Prince, Michael Jackson and James Brown with seeming ease. He's a hell of a performer.

That he was playing guitar blew my mind. I thought it was little more than a prop for an aura of credibility then he soloed. Save some talent for the rest of us, would ya?

 

[jr/shotglass]

I honestly hadn't even noticed that she made a mistake. I'm still not sure what caused her to stop and start over, other than to make a show of how can't "mess this up for him." For him. Sure.

She realized the band had begun playing in a different key than she was singing.

 

[Iron_chet]

Before the Prince tribute I said that Prince was untributable but Mars pulled it off. I'm not a huge fan of his music but holy **** what a performance.

Adele doing Fast Love was disappointing, didn't resonate for me. Slowing down dance songs has been done to death, was like something you'd hear on Greys Anatomy.

Bee Gees tribute left me wishing I had 2 more arms to give it 4 thumbs down.

I liked Sturgill Simpson who I had never heard of before his SNL appearance.

Hi-light was the guys who new the Jungle Love dance in the audience when it seemed like most of the audience didn't know the song. Wanted to hear Morris yell " somebody get me a mirror."

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I'll say this for Bruno - the guy can credibly perform Prince, Michael Jackson and James Brown with seeming ease. He's a hell of a performer.

And he started out as an Elvis imitator.

 

[dixiehack]

Listen to Sturgill Simpson's whole album sometime. I'll say this for him: He's trying to do something different. "Angry country," or something. He has no time for pop country.

 

[SpeedTchr]

Sorry, the Simpson fella does nothing for me. Too modern. Too much squinting.

I'll stick with my Jim Reeves albums

 

[justgladtobehere]

It sounded to me that Adele was out of rhythm with the music, like she was behind.

 

[Chef2]

It sounded to me that Adele was out of rhythm with the music, like she was behind.

Instantly the first thing I thought of.
And before last night, I didn't know Sturgill Simpson from Homer Simpson.......but I kinda dug the performance.

 

[Kato]

I've seen Adele in concert a couple times. Perhaps some of you have, too.

Here's the thing: Adele struggles to control her breath. I don't think it's because of her weight, either - Brittany of Alabama Shakes can tear through things just fine - but I was at an early concert, years ago, and she sat down quite a bit. She runs out of it and the notes sort of sound like Florence Foster Jenkins. And because she seems insistent in making every damn song a roller coaster of woos and bellows and odd, crackling emphases on ks and cs, it kind of makes for an up and down experience.

A couple of years ago I was watching SNL with a friend who was a pretty good singer in high school, took voice lessons, etc. Adele was on and he said she's ruining her voice singing like that. I wasn't exactly sure what he meant, but it had to do with the way she was breathing (or not) and pushing through that signature sound of her voice. Perhaps that's where she's struggling with her breathing. But you'd think somebody along the way would have helped her with that.
BTW, "Right as Rain" off her debut album is as good as anything she's done, I think.

 

[Alma]

Two commentaries from the Grammys. The bolded emphasis is mine:

The Problem With The Grammys Is Not A Problem We Can Fix

Many white fans, including many fellow artists, have identified with Beyoncé over the course of her nearly twenty-year career. They are moved by Lemonade. They may even feel it speaks to them. But they recognize that this woman's work also asks for their silence, their willingness to pause and step back in a way that leaves room for others to respond and celebrate it. "Listen and amplify" is a credo for white participants in intersectional social activism, but time and time again we stumble, because privilege, the dialectical cause and result of oppression, sneaks into every side comment, every helpful suggestion, every unfettered response. Listening is difficult. Ask any child; it's a skill that takes years to learn.​

And

Rob Sheffield on Grammys 2017: Adele and Beyonce's Diva Showdown

Nevertheless, Adele persisted. Her rip-it-up-and-start-again tribute to George Michael was a startling highlight of this year's Grammy bash. She grabbed a bold pick from the George Michael songbook – the long-forgotten 1996 "Fastlove," a hedonistic disco trip that she reworked into a mournful piano elegy, repeating the final words, "I miss my baby." And when she couldn't nail the notes at first, she just called a halt and demanded the do-over she deserved last year. What an emotional roundhouse kick of a performance.​

I'm not familiar with the world these critics inhabit.

 

[Webster]

I'm fairly liberal but I cringe at all the day-after Grammys stories. Soon, they are just going to not have the show so that the white guilt think pieces can come out 12 hours earlier.

 

[CD Boogie]

Two commentaries from the Grammys. The bolded emphasis is mine:

The Problem With The Grammys Is Not A Problem We Can Fix

Many white fans, including many fellow artists, have identified with Beyoncé over the course of her nearly twenty-year career. They are moved by Lemonade. They may even feel it speaks to them. But they recognize that this woman's work also asks for their silence, their willingness to pause and step back in a way that leaves room for others to respond and celebrate it. "Listen and amplify" is a credo for white participants in intersectional social activism, but time and time again we stumble, because privilege, the dialectical cause and result of oppression, sneaks into every side comment, every helpful suggestion, every unfettered response. Listening is difficult. Ask any child; it's a skill that takes years to learn.​

And

Rob Sheffield on Grammys 2017: Adele and Beyonce's Diva Showdown

Nevertheless, Adele persisted. Her rip-it-up-and-start-again tribute to George Michael was a startling highlight of this year's Grammy bash. She grabbed a bold pick from the George Michael songbook – the long-forgotten 1996 "Fastlove," a hedonistic disco trip that she reworked into a mournful piano elegy, repeating the final words, "I miss my baby." And when she couldn't nail the notes at first, she just called a halt and demanded the do-over she deserved last year. What an emotional roundhouse kick of a performance.​

I'm not familiar with the world these critics inhabit.

music critics are only exceeded in their use of empty verbiage by whiskey critics. album reviews from Spin or Rolling Stone always deliver a large amount unintentional comedy.

 

[YankeeFan]

Beyoncé is untouchable:

 

[dixiehack]

You can only dream of defending the GOP with the relentlessness of the Beyhive

 

[Big Circus]

SLAY QUEEN