Various Artists
Grammy Nominees 2005 (Capitol)
Today's Grammy Awards are much more credible than they were in the bad old days, when nausea-inducing performers such as Christopher Cross were regularly treated like musical geniuses instead of stains on humanity. But that doesn't mean that all of the acts with a chance to receive trophies during the 47th annual ceremony, scheduled for Sunday, February 13, deserve the opportunity.
Sure, there are good songs on this sampler, including Green Day's "American Idiot," Kanye West's "Through the Wire" and the Black Eyed Peas' "Let's Get It Started" -- which was more pungent under its original title, "Let's Get Retarded," but pretty catchy, nonetheless. However, many of the other efforts are dull (Los Lonely Boys' "Heaven"), safe (Seal's "Love Divine"), tepid (Norah Jones's "Sunrise"), putrid (John Mayer's "Daughters") and, yes, nausea-inducing (Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up," which makes even some Christopher Cross tunes seem tolerable in comparison).
Before watching the Grammys, make sure you've stocked up on stain remover. It'll come in handy.
