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slashscowboyboots · 3 years

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Happy Taco Truck: Some Fine Things (Part 3)

Part 1 Part 2

This is the final installment, an early Christmas gift to my sis @awrestlinggirlwholoves80sbands! Thank you so much for your feedback, it means everything

Tag list: @izzysdenimjacket @no-stone-no-bone @sexcoffeeandrockandroll @awrestlinggirlwholoves80sbands @smokeandmirrorz @sodalitefully @roger-taylors-car @harley-m-rose @whisperess33 @shawolat @80snikki

Warnings: language, Axl is a brat, horny Izz, Slaxl takes a long time to marinate, Izzy is just too romantic

Notes: this is my first try at slash fiction, so be gentle. All credits to the songwriters, and the “Jose Cuervo” line is from the movie “DC Cab.” I would give just about everything to hear Izzy sing “Lodi”

“Can I help you?” your coworker asked.

You glanced over at him, tenderness unfurling in your heart. After Skyler took off with James from “Hetfield & Grohl’s” to work the barbecue circuit, you’d been up shit creek until Steven recommended a guy he knew, and a curly-haired, soft-spoken guy who for some undeterminable reason went by the moniker “Slash” had turned up to work the window.

It was the first time in your life you’d met an individual even shyer than yourself. Slash was easy-going and smart, and once you got to know him, incredibly funny, but inside his shell was where he was truly comfortable, and with the amount of assholes who demanded the impossible being the brunt of your customers, you wondered if he was going to last.

“Yeah, gimme a chicken taco.” Speaking of assholes, here was Axl placing his usual order. He had been really taking advantage of the discount you offered him, turning up several times a day to collect his free meals. Izzy mentioned he’d been finding antacids stashed in the ice cream truck.

The heat inside the truck forced Slash to pull his gorgeous curls back in a ponytail, and his exposed eyes fell downwards. “Sure. I’ll have that right out,” he said in his quiet voice, then closed the hatch.

You dumped chicken on the flattop. “Slash, hon, we can’t shut the window until we’re closed,” you gently reminded him, moving the seasoned meat around.

“I-I can’t talk to him,” he whispered, his soft eyes full of fear.

“Why not? I mean, yeah, he can be a jerk sometimes, but-”, and it was at that moment you caught it. You recognized that same desperate look. You’d worn it yourself a little while ago, when you had been too shy to chat up Izzy. How frightened you’d been of embarrassing yourself, only to find out that Izz lit up every time he looked at you, and was now completely incapable of keeping his wandering hands to himself.

“Oh, Slash,” you murmured, handing him the taco. His hands were shaking too bad to add the crema, so you did it yourself, and he opened the hatch to an irate Axl.

“Here-here you go,” he said, and you hoped you were the only one who heard the waver in his voice.

“The hell’s wrong with you! You can’t even talk to your customers?!” Axl’s face was nearly as red as his hair as he screamed at Slash.

Slash’s mouth flew open in hurt, and you stepped up to the window. “Axl, that was my fault. I was showing Slash how to add the special sauce. And that is a closely guarded secret,” you lied. There were some days you really wanted to punch him in the mouth. “And you will not speak to my assistant like that ever again. You understand?”

Axl looked at you, then Slash. “Hey, man, I’m sorry,” he said, and you nearly tumbled out the window in surprise. Axl raised hell with everybody and everything, but you’d never heard him apologize before.

“S’okay,” Slash said, barely audible, looking down, and you wanted to put your arms around him and give him a comforting squeeze.

Axl opened his mouth to say something, then stuffed his taco in it and walked away.

“Why he took a job in customer service is beyond me,” you muttered, then patted Slash on the back. “I’ve never heard him tell anyone he was sorry. You must be special,” and Slash’s face lit up as he smiled.

And you knew you had a problem on your hands.

“Yoo hoo? Where’s my beloved? I got a bottle of Jose Cuervo and I brought my lucky rubber,” Izzy announced, climbing aboard your truck.

“I’m out here, Izz,” you called, slamming the lid down on the trash can.

He walked into your view and let out a loud whistle. “Have I told you you get more beautiful every day?” he asked, pulling you to him for a kiss.

“Mmmm, hi, handsome,” you said against his mouth. “You’re just the person I wanted to see.”

“And you’re just the person I wanted to see naked.”

“Izz!” you scolded. “I actually need your help with something.”

“I can help you do that. Over and over again.”

You playfully swatted him. “It’s about Slash.” Izzy’s face grew serious. “He didn’t quit, did he? I mean, I can fill in for him again, but I’d need to lay down for like a week afterward.”

You shook your head. “No, he didn’t quit.” That week Izzy subbed at the Happy Taco window had left him scarred for life. “He, uh, he has a crush.”

Izzy furrowed his eyebrows.

“On Axl.”

He blinked. “And?”

“And I thought maybe you could help me play matchmaker.”

Izzy turned and pounded his head against the side of the truck.

“Honey,” you pleaded, “please. He’s so shy I don’t think he has any idea how to approach him.”

“Babe, even if I wanted to do this, and I don’t, Axl has been acting so fucking weird lately there’s no way I could talk to him.”

“Weird? What’s he doing?”

“Well, he comes over here for tacos all the time now, then when comes back, he plays all of his Elton John tapes at full blast. Then he cleans the truck from top to bottom. He’s even nice to the customers now.”

“But he came over here and yelled at Slash!”

His eyes met yours. “What did Slash do to him?”

“He didn’t talk to him.”

Izzy was quiet for a moment. “Y/N, I don’t think he’s coming over here for just tacos, although they are excellent.”

“See, they need our help.”

Izzy closed his eyes and beat his head against the truck again.

“They just need a little nudge in the right direction.”

He wearily looked at you, and you put your hand on his cheek. “Fine,” he rasped. “Whatever. But right now, I need to go in the right direction, and that direction is horizontal with you on top of me.”

“Slash, are you busy tonight?”

You honestly had no idea what Slash did on his nights off. As soon as you closed the truck, he exchanged pleasantries with Izzy and hopped on his bike and pedaled away. When you’d offered him an invitation to stay and meet the rest of the Circle, he mumbled something about feeding a snake and fled.

Tonight, you hoped he would have a change of heart. After hours, you and Izzy usually got up to activities that did not require any participants, but he had talked Axl into a jam session, bringing along two guitars as well as a tambourine.

“I-I don’t have any plans,” he said quietly, gazing longingly out the window. It was nearly time for Axl to fetch his dinner taco.

“There’s a jam over at the Frozen Delights truck after they close.”

Slash lit up, grinning wider than you had ever seen him, then his face fell. “I didn’t bring my guitar.”

“Izzy brought two. He’d like to hear you play.” That was almost a lie. Izzy wasn’t all that keen on a jam, preferring the two of you spending time alone, but when you whispered on his neck you’d make it up to him, his enthusiasm level picked up.

To your surprise, Slash’s cheeks flushed. “I’d love to come,” then he stood up a little straighter and you saw Axl strutting up to the window.

“Hey, Slash,” he greeted him, and you stepped back into the shadows to give them a semblance of privacy.

“Hi.”

“Hey, you wanna come over tonight and play music with me and Izz? He’s got an extra guitar.”

Slash beamed at him, then lowered his eyes. “Sure. So-sounds good.”

Axl smiled back, and you about fell over at the sight. Too bad he didn’t do it more often, he was quite attractive when he stopped scowling. He began to walk away, then backtracked. “Hey,” he squinted up, “do you like barbecue?”

Slash blinked, then replied, “I love barbecue.”

Axl’s smile got even bigger. “I’ll have some when you get there.”

After he left, Slash looked over at you with his mouth agape.

“Well, it sounds like you have a date,” you chuckled at him. “Good thing he’s provided dinner.”

He tilted his head. “Why?”

“I was going to suggest you bring over one of those homewrecker corn dogs and eat it in front of him,” you cackled. “Izzy’s eyes nearly left his head when I did that.”

“Oh shit,” Slash breathed, laughing with you, then his eyes turned pleading. “You’ll be there, won’t you, you and Izz? You won’t leave me alone?”

Well, that had been the plan. “Uhhh, sure, Slash. We won’t leave you.”

After you locked up, you nearly had to drag a primping Slash down to the Frozen Delights truck, pecking Izzy on the lips when you arrived. Axl had taken off to get dinner, so the three of you sat down and opened up beers while you awaited his return.

You watched Slash’s leg nervously bounce up and down, then Axl stood in front of him and handed him a takeout container.

“I didn’t know what you liked so I got you a sample platter,” he said, and you swore you heard a note of shyness in his voice.

Izzy cleared his throat, and Axl all but flung your containers at the two of you. “Yeah, I got you the same,” he mumbled, jerking his lawn chair closer to Slash’s.

The four of you ate in silence, you silently thanking Kelly for his prowess with pork, working the meat off a rib and catching an ornery smile from Izzy.

Axl just picked at his platter, moving around his coleslaw and half heartedly munching on his brisket. His eyes never left Slash, who looked down and gnawed on a rib.

Their awkwardness made you bite back a wince, then you snuck a glance at Izzy, who stabbed his pulled pork wearing expression that looked like he was in acute intestinal distress. His eyes met yours, then he mouthed, “Kill me.”

“So, uh, Slash, how long have you played guitar?” you asked, dipping a slice of brisket into Kelly’s heavenly sauce.

He pulled on his beer. “A few years.”

Izzy sat his container down and wiped his hands and face with a napkin. “I’m ready to play if you are,” he barked, swiftly flicking open his guitar case.

Slash blinked, swallowing his pulled pork. “Sure,” he said, wiping his hands and carefully picking Izzy’s other guitar up.

Izzy began the opening notes of “Midnight Rider,” Slash chiming in after a few bars, then Axl and Izzy began singing, “I’ve got to run to keep from hiding,” and you dropped a naked rib bone in shock.

They sounded incredible.

You watched them in awe, then Izzy nodded at you, and you began singing with them. You’d actually done this before, sitting in with Izzy while he played guitar and Axl sang, but Slash was like the key that unlocked their greatness.

Axl and Slash exchanged grins, looking into each other’s eyes, then, wearing a happy smile, Izzy started singing one of his favorites, “Lodi.”

Slash strummed along, but Axl didn’t sing. Instead, he watched Slash play, his fingers working up and down the neck of the guitar, his silver rings glinting in the moonlight, and a soft smile played on his lips.

He took a sip of beer when they finished, then said, “I have a song I’d like to sing.”

He moved closer to Slash, then pushed his curls out of his eyes and sang,

“Desperado

Why don’t you come to your senses

You’ve been out ridin fences for so long now”

Slash looked down, setting Izzy’s guitar in its case, then Axl tipped his chin up and continued,

“Oh, you’re a hard one

But I know that you got your reasons

These things that are pleasing you

Can hurt you somehow

Izzy silently packed away his guitar, then jerked his head towards Helen the Happy Taco truck. You followed him, turning around to see Axl whisper,

“You better let somebody love you

Before it’s too late”

and press a kiss to Slash’s lips, then Slash put his arms around Axl’s neck and returned it.

“Thank God,” Izzy muttered. “I’d rather fuck a bee’s nest than tag along on one of their dates again.”

#izzy stradlin x reader #izzy stradlin fanfiction #axl rose x slash fanfic #axl rose fanfic #slash fanfiction #guns n roses x reader #guns n roses fanfic #slaxl fanfic

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merzbow · 4 years

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putting all the disappointing but not surprising stuff here just to archive it

Roberta: And I remember one particular thing that... I've never said this in an interview before, because, you know, it could keep me from work, from getting work, for saying this. But I think now is the time to speak out against injustice. At the time we were on tour with Metallica, and James [Hetfield], Slash and Axl were talking. I remember passing them in... I don’t remember where it was, but it was some outdoor venue, and they were in an area and I had to pass them to get to my dressing room. And I heard James say about Ice T - because Ice T was supposed to join us on the tour – and he said, “I don’t wanna share my stage with a n-word.” And I was like, “What did he say?!” - you know, like, I couldn’t believe my ears. And Axl was just like, you know, “It’s my show” – I don’t remember what he said, I mean that was such a long time ago and I think my whole brain was clouded with such anger that I just kind of blacked out, you know, I just saw red.

Brando: I understand. Did he say “that...”, or did he say “a...”?

Roberta: “I’m not sharing my stage with a... n-word.”

original post with some more information from the 2020 interview with Roberta Freeman, and the short clip of the small transcript above.

How come you don't like rap, then?

"Rap is just to me very annoying. Bunk Bunk y'know like wow, f– man. It really strikes something in my head that I've just got to get away from. Just the fact that it's extra-black too – blacks, y'know, we want everything, we deserve it, give it to us, you f–ed us this and that, and that kind of shit. It's all me me me and my name in this song, y'know …?"

Ironic that, James Hetfield hates rap for the same reason many people hate Metal – because he knows f– all about it.

1992 NME interview.

Last year in Britain’s ‘New Musical Express,’ you described rap music as “extra-black” and said that it was “all me me me and my name in this song.” How about elaborating on that? They say a lot of “I’m this, I’m doin’ this, you gotta do this with me.” It’s not my cup of tea. Some of the stuff, like Body Count, our fans like it because there’s aggression there. I love that part of it. But the “Cop Killer” thing, kill whitey – I mean, what the fuck? I don’t dig it.

Some of it makes me think that they just want shock value. They want people to pay attention. It reminds me of some of the death metal, the Slayer thing with Satan and tear-your-baby-up. Like going out and shooting cops. Hopefully, no one’s going to go out and do either.

People like it, it’s fine. Whatever blows your skirt up, as my dad would say. It just don’t blow mine up.

1993 Rolling Stones interview.

"It's a joke, right?" James Hetfield is asking about Perry Farrell and Ice-T's cover of "Don't Call Me N——, Whitey" by Sly Stone. "'Cause that Perry guy is pretty open minded."

The subject came up when I asked Hetfield about a "rap" he once recorded with lyrics that you'd never accuse of being open-minded. "Rap was just starting, and I did a parody that had the N word—but you can't say n—— especially whitey." The title of the rap was simply "N——". So the lyricist, singer, and riffmeister who accounts for 60 percent of Metallica's sound is a bigot, is that it? Not exactly. After all, Lloyd Grant, Metallica's original lead guitarist before Dave Mustaine, was black.

But Hetfield is definitely, along with hunting partner Jim Martin (Faith No More), a would-be good ol' boy, a... "Go ahead and say it," he roars. "Redneck!!" With his thick build, squeezed into jeans and cowboy boots, he certaintly looks it. That his father was a Nebraska-born trucker since retired to Arkansas gives the image legitimacy—as does Hetfield's own interest in Lynyrd Skynyrd and hunting. Hetfield himself is animal-like—what you'd call a bear of a man if the blond Fu Manchu mustache didn't lend his face a leonine look.

I was warned he'd kill me if I asked him about the rap—or about the bowie knife his father passed on to him which had allegedly been used to kill a black man. He does freak when I bring up the knife ("That's not true!" he stammers unconvincingly), but otherwise he's disarmingly friendly and surprisingly open about his love of "titty bars" and the epic Jägermeister binge that almost killed him and Ulrich.

1991 Spin magazine interview.

here’s the actual video of James saying the n-slur in 1992 or so.

“It wasn’t just irate husbands and boyfriends that James was falling foul of. Alcohol brought out the dark, mouthy Mr Hyde to his more usual monosyllabic Dr Jekyll. On a flying visit to London that summer, he had revealed to Kerrang! designer Krusher Joule just how black his drinking could make him: ...” “Later, after the pub closed, we were walking back to my flat across this park and James started going on about “people coming to our country and taking our jobs.”

above excerpt from the Enter Night: Metallica, the Biography, by Mick Wall. provided by @jaymzhetfield (thank you!)

although metallica changed it to “killer kid” in the studio recording of their killing time cover, james would sing the original lyrics “like a n—— kid” (which are the original racist lyrics sweet savage wrote) in late 90s live performances of killing time. he does so here, in 1998 (time stamps: 1:58 and 2:54).

and i’m sure you’ve all seen it before since it’s always included in those “funny metallica compilation” videos that are popular, you know, the racist “you don’t know kung-fu” “joke” james made while putting on a shitty “asian” accent and doing racist “squinty” eyes gestures in like 2003/2004. white metallica stans quote it all the time as if it’s not 1) lame 2) racist. it’s not funny. no one is laughing.

#put the quotes in text so this is more accessible.#i update this post whenever new information comes up. like i said. this is for archival purposes.#thank you roberta for speaking out about this.#james #james hetfield #metallica #racism #antiblackness

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tarantulaboy · 4 years

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Social Isolation Pt 21.

Has it really been three weeks since I started writing this blog? I guess my sense of time has been skewed and distorted by the lockdown.

Anyway, today I’m going to keep talking about music. It’s always been something that is an important part of my life and it’s been crucial to keeping me sane in isolation.

I love a good ballad, although my definition of a good ballad is probably a bit weird. To help you understand what I mean, here’s a list of my favourites.

1. Pantera - Cemetery Gates

It’s hard to explain just how good this song actually is. It’s a shining jewel in the brutally excellent Cowboys From Hell. For me this was the moment that Pantera really found their stride. The combination of Phil Anselmo’s incomparably incendiary vocals and Dime’s once-in-a-generation talent on guitar infuse this song with a unique furious melancholy. Pure distilled anger and sorrow.

2. Alice Cooper - Die For You

Alice Cooper has a lot to answer for as far as I’m concerned but that’s a story for another day and is entirely down to how excellent his music is. Die For You has become one of my favorite ballads. It speaks to the sadness and obsession of the loss of a great love. “It would’ve been nothing to die for you.” Is it odd that I find that chorus line incredibly romantic? After Poison this is absolutely the best song he’s put out.

3. Killswitch Engage - Rose Of Sharyn

Any number of Killswitch’s songs could have gone into this list. Indeed I was torn between this and My Last Serenade. This took it though for one reason and one reason alone. Jesse Leach’s vocals are great but Howard Jones really took Killswitch’s music to a new level. The breakdown in the song were he sings and screams alternately “I mourn for those, who never knew you” is simply stunning. It stops you in your tracks and that’s absolutely what a good ballad should do.

4. Alice In Chains - Down In A Hole

No list of ballads would be complete without what is arguably Alice In Chains saddest song. Given how generally mournful and dark their back catalog is that’s saying something. This is a song that shows just how good Jerry Cantrell’s songwriting is. It’s a song about how you would literally do anything to not feel the deep sorrow of loss and it makes you feel it with every note and lyric.

5. The Offspring - Gone Away

The Offspring? On a list of great ballads? What the fuck? Actually this is a great song. For a brief moment on Ixnay on the Hombre, Dexter Holland and co take a break from poking sarcastic, throwaway jabs at the shittiest elements of society to say something personal. And it does that incredibly well. It’s a great album but Gone Away shows a brief flash of the kind of maturity that the band was capable of but rarely fully explored.

6. Metallica - The Unforgiven

Not every ballad mourns the loss of love. Some speak of the other pains of life. In The Unforgiven, Metallica exorcises the pain of spending your whole life trying to fit into other people’s expectations of what you should be while feeling that you never truly belong. James Hetfield’s lyrics imagine how his life might have turned out had he not founded the greatest metal band to ever grace the face of the planet. It reminds anyone who listens that they should strive to be more than what others expect of them and it does it in a way only Metallica can.

7. Skid Row - Wasted Time

Skid Row were meant to be the next Bon Jovi. So much so that Jon Bon Jovi actually signed them to his own label on a contract so bad it destroyed any possibility of the band achieving their true potential. Wasted Time is a glimpse of that potential. Skid Row are another band that could have multiple songs on this list - Breakin’ Down and In A Darkened Room to name a couple more - but Wasted Time really shows off Sebastian Bach’s voice at its best. A song that rues a life of wasted opportunities was never more poignant than when written by a band whose career exemplifies just that.

8. Pantera- This Love

Pantera, again? Yes. And fuck you for complaining about it. This is all about how messed up love can be when if goes bad, and how some people are just fucking toxic to be around. If you’re lucky enough to never have been in love with someone who fucked you up as bad as Phil Anselmo seemed to been by whoever he was singing about then let this song’s intensely aggressive regret inspire you to avoid that shit at all costs. Another masterpiece from a supremely talented band the likes of which will never be seen again.

And with that we come to the end of the list. Why stop and eight and not stretch it to 10? Why fucking bother. Not everything has to match the number of fingers you have. Now go use the time you could have wasted reading two more entries, that would most likely have been filler anyway, to listen to some of these great songs. Go on. You’re in lockdown. It’s not like you’ve got anything better to do.

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beautifulcinephile · 5 years

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Greta Van Questions 2.0

I decided to make an update on my Greta Van Questions tag for several reasons: New pictures, new concerts, some questions I want to add and some things have changed along the way.

When did you discover Greta Van Fleet?

I discovered them after they won the Grammy, on February 10. I saw several people talking about them and I asked myself if they were a good band and turned out that they are. One day later, I became a huge fan of them.

Who is your favorite member?

I love them all, but Sam is my favorite member. I remember the first picture I saw of him, and I fell in love with him and I thought: “Gosh, he’s so attractive. He has a beautiful face, beautiful hair and his feet are beautiful indeed”. Sam is also my favorite members because he’s talented, kind and really funny. Sam is quirky and goofy, but in interviews, he’s really eloquent.

What lane have you almost swerved to?

I almost swerved to Josh’s lane after watching the concert in Chile. The red outfit, his radiant smile, and I had lots of dreams about him. Josh is absolutely handsome and I love the kindness he radiates.

What was the first song you listened by them?

It was “Safari Song”. When I listened to it the first time, I was amazed by the first few notes and that song made me become a huge fan of theirs.

Favorite songs?

“Safari Song”, “Flower Power”, “Always There”, “The Cold Wind”, “Highway Tune”, “Watching Over”, “Watch Me”, “The New Day”, “Mountain of the Sun”, “When The Curtain Falls”, the list goes on...

Least favorite songs?

I must say that my least favorite songs are their covers of “Rolling in the Deep” and “A Change Is Gonna Come”. I like these songs but I don’t listen to them that often.

What was your reaction when “Always There” was released?

I got emotional when the song was released (And I cried when the song leaked). As someone who has become a fan this year and had From The Fires and Anthem of the Peaceful Army already released, it was the first song of theirs that I got excited for the release.

Favorite live performances?

Watch Me at Lollapalooza Chile and Merriweather Post (Sam doing the chorus part on his keyboard is AWESOME!), Black Flag Exposition at Poland, Flower Power at KCRW, KROQ, Greta Van Fleet live at ACL (aka The show where Jake gets his hair stuck on his guitar), their entire concert at Lollapalooza Brazil and the Red Rocks concert.

Favorite pictures?

Favorite interviews?

Sam’s interview for 89 FM

Greta Van Fleet: Unedited And Unfiltered

Kerfuffle Interview

NME interview

Sam’s interview for That Boring Show

First and Last

Rig Rundown With Sam and Jake Kiszka

From The Fires or Anthem of The Peaceful Army?

Both. I think that From The Fires and Anthem of the Peaceful Army are special in their own way. I can’t wait for the new album, though. I really wish they could give us a sneak peek about the album but I don’t think they will do that soon.

Have you ever attended a concert?

No, but I will attend their concert in April 25th at Morumbi Stadium! There is also a sad curiosity about this concert: When I read the news that James Hetfield went to rehab, I was really worried that this concert would be postponed and I wouldn’t be able to see the boys (Because they will open for Metallica). Turns out that the dates of their South America concerts weren’t postponed.

Do you own their merch and things that reminds you of them?

Yes! I own both From The Fires and Anthem of the Peaceful Army and their t-shirt (Which is their “A Night of Revelry” t-shirt). I also have a red t-shirt which is reminiscent of Josh’s red outfit, Jake-inspired boots and soon I will own a pair of Birkenstocks.

Tagging: @gretavanqueen, @bigthighsandstupidguys, @gretavanshellie, @dreams-madeof-strawberrylemonade, @wearethemorningbirds, @saywecanart, @stevie-baby, @thebohemianpenguin, @peacelovekiszka, @jeordinevankiszka

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orionsangel86 · 7 years

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13x01 - Episode Review Part 1

In which Dean just about held it together... and I did not.

This review will be in several parts. I have separated it into several sections that I wish to talk about because hot damn. What an episode! This Part 1 focuses on Dean’s grief and Destiel and saying goodbye to Castiel.

Firstly, an introduction

As I sit here, surrounded by three friends who I met on tumblr, BECAUSE of this show, I am amazed at how far I have come. I did not think that when I joined this fandom I would ever get to this moment, but my gosh what an amazing feeling this is. To all of you out there – reach out to people, you really won’t regret what you find.

I adored this episode. I screamed, I even shed a single man tear whilst holding on to @amwritingmeta quite tightly… sorry Annelie if I hurt you at all. @tinkdw, @margarittet and @amwritingmeta you guys are wonderful and I am so glad that I have been able to flail and scream along to this awesome episode with you. Thank you for sharing this crazy obsession with me.

Part 1 - Love, Grief and Saying Goodbye

THEY USED METALLICA’S NOTHING ELSE MATTERS AS THE OPENING SONG! We were two seconds in and @margarittet had to pause because we all collectively SCREAMED that they chose to use this as the open song AS WELL! @tinkdw said that she wanted to try and guess what the opening song was this season but I don’t think ANY OF US considered that they would reuse “Nothing Else Matters” because its just so on the nose isn’t it? Nothing else matters? Nothing else matters than what exactly?

Well once again the “Then” sequence ends on Dean kneeling over Cas’s body.

The answer is Castiel. Nothing else matters than CASTIEL. This is repeated CONSTANTLY throughout the episode. You are not allowed to forget about him for a SINGLE SECOND and this opening song drums that home. Seriously if there are any Cas fans out there still bitter about Cas I dunno what show you are watching because it certainly ISN’T the show I watched yesterday.

It hurts to think about. What even was this episode? From the opening song “Nothing Else Matters” to the “Goodbye Cas” at the funeral pyre, this episode was chocablock full of moments that prove unequivocally that for Dean, Cas truly is his guiding light, his hope. Even if you don’t see their relationship as romantic you cannot possibly deny after 13x01 that Dean and Cas have an extraordinary connection and a deep and profound love that has now transferred to an even deeper excruciating grief in Dean.

Choosing to use this song as the season opener though? The season opener always reflects the tones of the season, the main themes. To have THIS song as the season opening? Wow. Just wow. This is a song that comes up first if you google “Metallica Love Song” by the way. In case you were wondering if it was indeed a love song. Because it is. James Hetfield confirmed it was written for a girlfriend. Interestingly though it has been debated over the years as the lyrics themselves are not conventionally romantic lyrics. Nevertheless, this is now fact: Supernatural used a Love Song called “Nothing Else Matters” to set the tone and theme of season 13, lingering over shots of Dean looking down at Castiel’s dead body. This isn’t even arguable. This is where we are.

(and what a wonderful place to be my friends)

Dean’s grief was beautifully portrayed by the superb acting skills of Jensen Ackles. In my season 13 wishlist I said this:

“It probably goes without saying but MAN PAIN OVER CAS – I mean, I reckon we are gonna get a good helping of this. Maybe not immediate tears but its gonna be pretty damn angsty – if the promo’s are anything to go by. I basically want it to be UNDENIABLE in canon that CAS is the reason that Dean is so broken up and that BOTH brothers are seriously struggling with his death. It has to be OBVIOUS how important Cas was to them and how his death has affected them”

I think we can tick this one off. :)

Continues under the cut.

The grief was so intense, it left me with a constant ache in my heart that still hasn’t shifted as I write this. From the first moment, Dean’s face in this episode brought me both intense pain and also intense joy. Bless Jensen for being such an amazing actor.

LOOK AT THIS FACE

There was a lot of speculation over the summer that Dean would just snap, pull out his gun, and go to shoot Jack once it sunk in that Cas was actually dead, and that is EXACTLY what he does. But that isn’t what broke me, what broke me is just how OFTEN the audience is reminded that ultimately, even though others died as well, for Dean, it is ALL ABOUT CAS. (Nothing Else Matters after all).

In the now famous sneak peek car scene Dean can’t even say the words when it comes to Cas SPECIFICALLY. He can admit that Crowley is dead, that Kelly is Dead and that mom is gone, but Cas? Nope. He chokes on his words:

(x)

Sam IS able to say the words. He can ask “Is Cas really dead?” Dean just growls “you know he is” and drives on. It is HEARTBREAKING.

The next moment we get that textualises the huge difference between Cas’s death and the other deaths for Dean is the moment during the fight with Miriam the angel when this wonderful exchange takes place:

(x)

Now we don’t actually know what was going through Dean’s head at this moment, but Miriam calls him out on it anyway - whether or not she was able to read his mind or she just went for the obvious assumption we don’t know. But Miriam doesn’t mention Mary, she doesn’t mention Crowley. She only mentions Castiel. This is in contrast to Sam’s discussion with Jack about reopening the portal, which is easily interpreted as Sam thinking of ways to use Jack to get Mary back, because we can understand that OF COURSE that would be Sam’s primary motivation right now. Sam still has hope. Dean doesn’t - except for the split second in this scene when he does. He falls for Miriam’s words, and it makes her “Oh sweety” so much worse.

The angels are usually exposition for Cas’s feelings for Dean, but in this scene, in a somewhat similar way to the scene in 8x19 with Naomi, they are exposition of Dean’s feelings for Cas, in a theme that is constantly running throughout this episode.

Finally once all the action is over and the boys head back to the cottage with Jack we get ten minutes of the emotional, poignant and touching moments that this show has ever given us. Enough that once I started sobbing, I couldn’t stop.

I love Sam’s careful questioning to Dean:

“Are you sure about this Dean? I mean its Cas. Ya know? Maybe we can bring him back? Like you said?”

“No we Cant”

“Chuck did, um God did, remember that? So maybe if, I dunno, if we prayed to him or…”

“You don’t think I’ve tried that?”

Before I even get into the beauty of Dean’s prayer, THIS right here is ONCE AGAIN proving HOW differently the brothers view Cas. Sam is asking these questions, rather than telling Dean. Because he know that Dean is the authority on all things Cas. He knows that whatever Dean decides, he is going to go along with it. We have had this same theme running throughout seasons 11 and 12. Sam always accepts Dean’s decision when it comes to Cas. Always.

And yet we still don’t textually have a reason for this. Dean continues to refer to Cas like his and Sam’s third brother. So why are the two not treated equally? Yet again we have been shown the difference between the brotherly love between Sam and Cas and the ??? love between Dean and Cas. One is not the same as the other.

DEAN’S PRAYER

This is where I started to tear up. Honestly…

FULL PRAYER: “Ok Chuck. Or God or whatever. I, I need your help. You see you left us. You left us. You went off… You said, you said the earth would be fine because it had me and it had Sam but it’s not. And we’re not. We’ve lost everything. And now you’re gonna bring him back. You’re gonna bring back Cas, you’re gonna bring back mum your gonna bring em all back. All of em. Even Crowley. Because after everything that you’ve done you owe us you son of a bitch so you get your ass down here and you make this right. Right here. And Right now.”

“Please. Please help us.”

Now, see this is where I squeal because he said “We’ve lost Everything. And now you’re gonna bring him back.” Because this CLEARLY reads as Dean saying that Cas is EVERYTHING (which fits in nicely with the theme of “Nothing Else Matters” to Dean) and I know there has been some debate over whether it was actually “him” or whether it was “em” that he said, but since the official CW subtitles caption it as “him” I’m gonna assume they are correct. And anyway, it says a lot when the official PR team use this specific interpretation – almost like they wanted to make sure we knew exactly what Dean was saying. Hmmmm… I wonder why.

The fact that we then get the pause where he turns away from the camera, waiting for a sign, anything, and it feels almost like we are interfering. Dean is hiding from the camera in his moment of anguish, and we are made to feel hopeless in light of his pain.

To then see Dean smash up the sign on the door (which I will talk about more in my Signs, Symbols, Ships and Handprints part of the review), and just finally show the extent of his emotional anguish and grief is again so fantastic for anyone still doubting Dean’s absolute love and adoration for Castiel:

(x)

This is a man who only prays in the most DIRE situations. Look at the desperation on his face. REVEL IN IT!

Moving on and honestly I didn’t think the episode could get more emotional than that prayer BUT I WAS WRONG. (Oh how much I underestimated Dabb when writing my wishlist!)

The way that Dean stands in that room, the high angle shot and the cinematography/lighting which makes it gloomy and almost sepia toned like all the colour has been drained out of Dean’s world. The way he looks both too small and too big for the room. Its sombre. Its silent. The atmosphere is drenched in sorrow. Its beautifully done.

(x)

The way he removes the shroud and takes one last look. His own private way of saying goodbye. Its Dean’s micro expressions both here and throughout the episode that I ADORE because you can tell so easily that he IS fighting back tears almost constantly. It’s the jaw clenching, the swallowing down his pain, I was half expecting a Darcy hand clench to appear.

(x)

His pain is so raw, so real, and so fucking heartbreaking. This is pain and grief for someone you deeply love on a whole other level. This is the pain of a lost spouse. Words can not describe how beautifully Jensen delivered these scenes. I don’t think I will ever be over just how intense this was to watch. I don’t think I will ever be able to watch it without crying.

We talked at our premier party about the significance of Dean wrapping Cas’s body. About how this is the first time such a thing has ever been shown (usually the show just cuts straight to the pyre). It’s a mark of serious respect to Castiel, as a beloved character on the show, and also, a nod to traditional ceremony’s in Jewish and Islamic cultures of the closest family members to the deceased preparing the body for burial. The fact that Dean does this on his own, without Sam, is also to highlight the difference in their relationships.

I stress again that Sam DOES see Cas as his brother. Because regardless of ridiculous arguments that try to state otherwise, Sam is not an asshole and made it clear last season that he too loved Cas deeply. So why is Dean doing all the work? Because Dean is not Cas’s brother. He is his freaking husband. He’s acting like a widow throughout this entire episode. He is playing the dutiful spouse. In deep mourning, fighting back tears whilst he says goodbye to the love of his life.

(I’m crying again FYI)

But then even all THAT isn’t enough for Andrew Dabb. Oh no. He had to hit us with even FURTHER angst with the pyre scene and Sam’s heart breaking speech of goodbye:

“Thank you. You say thank you. And you say you’re sorry. You hope they’re somewhere without sadness and pain. You hope they’re somewhere better. You say goodbye.”

(x)

And in that moment Sam Winchester stomped all over my already beaten heart

Because this really was a send of to Cas. Yes Sam was talking about all of them, and we lost A LOT of great characters in season 12, and this was the writers way of paying respect to all those characters, but ultimately, like how he was at the forefront of Dean’s mind the entire episode, he was so very present throughout all of this, and the respect and love shown to Cas in this episode by the characters, the writers, the show creators... I’m in utter awe. It’s so much more than I could ever have asked for.

(x)

“Goodbye Cas”

And Dean just put in the final blow.

Once again though Cas is at the forefront of Dean’s mind. He comes first. That makes three times in this episode that Dean has listed out their fallen family. Every time though, Cas is separated from the others. Cas’s loss is on a different level to Mary and Crowley and Kelly.

Kelly was a victim, but her loss wouldn’t gravely hurt Dean

Crowley was an ally/nemesis who was sometimes something more. His loss gave Dean conflicted feelings.

Mary was their mother and that one would have hurt deeply. But Mary’s death was already an old wound, a new person in their lives who they didn’t really know. They were only starting to know her. Their grief over her will be strong indeed, but its not the same.

Cas was the loss that buried deep. Cas’s loss has broken Dean. Dabb has made it absolutely undeniably clear that Cas’s death is the focus of this episode, even when not directly mentioned (more on that later). And that Dean’s love for Cas is the very central theme of this entire season. Nothing Else Matters after all. Not for Dean. Not any more.

Thanks for reading! In part 2 I will explore the introduction of Jack and the narrative mirrors surrounding him in the premier. Watch this space.

#supernatural #destiel #spn meta #episode review #13x01 #spn spoilers #season 13 #dean winchester #castiel #nothing else matters #destiel dreaming #my meta

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howaminotinthestrokesyet · 3 years

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Behind The Album: Death Magnetic

Metallica‘s ninth studio album was released in September 2008 through Warner Bros. Records as the previous deal with Elektra had run out with St. Anger. The album would be produced by Rick Rubin, which marked the first time any producer besides Bob Rock had worked with the band since 1988. This also marked the first album to feature new bassist Robert Trujillo, who would share songwriting credit on the record. Death Magnetic would signal a return by the band to their thrash metal origins during the 1980’s. This meant that the arrangements became complex once again, guitar solos returned, standard mixing, and no bizarre tunings. The group began jamming in early 2004 coming up with possible new riffs for a potential new release. By October, they had more than 50 hours of sessions on tape to comb through in order to find music for a new record. They had hoped to start the album sometime in 2005, but they did not actually start writing it until early 2006. Lars Ulrich said that year the progress was going well as the band did not have anything close to the same issues as in St. Anger. As far as the music goes, he assured everyone that this would not be a sequel to that album. Three recording studios were used to make death Magnetic including Sound City in Los Angeles, Shangri-La in Malibu, and HQ in San Rafael. Please note that Shangri-La is Rubin’s home studio, which had been previously used by The Band to make their self titled classic. In interviews, band members commented on the fact that they were making this album much differently in that everything would be completely written before they even entered the studio. One of the issues with St. Anger was that everything had been created there right on the spot, which helps to explain some of the messiness. Lars would say in an interview, "Rubin didn't want them to start the recording process until every song that they were going to record was as close to 100 percent as possible." He would also go on to say that, “His whole analogy is, the recording process becomes more like a gig — just going in and playing and leaving all the thinking at the door.”

Metallica would record 14 songs for Death Magnetic, but only 10 would make it on the official release as most of the tracks were quite long in duration. Three years later in 2011 they would release the unreleased songs on an EP entitled Beyond Magnetic. Compared to the last album, the recording sessions for the most part seemed exceedingly brief from mid-March 2007 to late May 2007. Kirk Hammett had a part in inspiring a major theme of the album that became the brain child of James Hetfield. He had once brought in a photograph of Layne Staley from Alice In Chains that Hetfield became almost obsessed with over the years. The singer would later make this comment on the origin of the title. “Death Magnetic, at least the title, to me started out as kind of a tribute to people that have fallen in our business, like Layne Staley and a lot of the people that have died, basically — rock and roll martyrs of sorts. And then it kind of grew from there, thinking about death… some people are drawn towards it, and just like a magnet, and other people are afraid of it and push. Also the concept that we're all gonna die sometimes is over-talked about and then a lot of times never talked about — no one wants to bring it up; it's the big white elephant in the living room. But we all have to deal with it at some point.” The other title that had been considered along with a couple of others was Songs of Suicide and Forgiveness, but for the most part it was decided that Death Magnetic had a better ring to it. The album title would be referenced in the song “My Apocalypse.” The song sounded so heavy to Hetfield that during live performances he even recorded an introduction to the song to get fans in the mood for what they were about to hear. The entire record would take a look at this theme of death. The one track that could almost be considered their usual ballad is represented by “The Day That Should Never Be.” They also created another sequel to the track “Unforgiven” making it number III.

The album would be released 10 days ahead of its worldwide date in France. This led to another early release date in the United Kingdom. The incredible thing came in the fact that Lars Ulrich was not all that upset about the early releases, which had led to peer to peer networks getting a hold of the album early. This emerged as a stark contrast to just a few years earlier when he waged a personal battle against Napster. “We're ten days from release. I mean, from here, we're golden. If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me. Ten days out and it hasn't fallen off the truck yet? Everybody's happy. It's 2008 and it's part of how it is these days, so it's fine. We're happy.” An agency that worked with Lars Ulrich would design the cover because he wanted someone who really did not have anything to do with the music industry. The firm came up with the idea for a white coffin, a white grave, and a magnet keeping it relatively simple. The album was also released as part of a download package for the game Guitar Hero. This became a very important issue as the mixing of the album came under heavy scrutiny. Upon its release, Death Magnetic was heavily criticized from many fans for its poor sound quality as it possessed massively compressed dynamic ranges, which in turn created distortion when listening to it. The group had turned over all mixing duties to Rubin, which really created this issue. The distortion came about because at the time audio companies were waging a loudness war with each other, so the reason for the compression came in that it made an album louder on your headphones. Some fans said that the downloads on the Guitar Hero game did not have this compression, so those tracks sounded as they should. In 2015, iTunes re-released the album fixing the noise distortion qualities from the original release. Metallica‘s site also currently uses the same version on their website for any downloads purchased, which begs the question why they did not do this much earlier. Lars Ulrich would comment that he was satisfied with the mix at that time. They had given up all creative control on that end to Rubin and trusted him.

The critics for this album were incredibly positive in part because there existed a lot of hype leading up to its release, as well as the fact that improving upon St. Anger would not be all that difficult. In 2007, Matt Sorum of Guns N’ Roses talked about the demos that he had heard while spending time with Ulrich. “Lars is a good friend of mine. He played me the demos from San Francisco, and I turned and looked at him and I said, 'Master that shit and put it out.' It's ridiculous. The demos were sick. Eight-minute songs, all these tempo changes, crazy fast.” BBC Music likened “ The Day That Never Comes” to sounding like Thin Lizzy, but having a complex arrangement to it that reminded him of And Justice For All. Drummer Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater would call it Metallica’s best album in 20 years. He also praised the fact that the group included their first instrumental in a very long time. Stephen Erlywine of All Music would write that it was nice to hear Metallica sound like Metallica again. The Observer said "...It’s a joy to have these gnarled veterans back to reinforce the sheer visceral thrill of timeless heavy metal." The album sold 490,000 copies in its first week helping it to rise to number one on the Billboard 200 charts. Death Magnetic would go on to be certified two times platinum when everything was said and done. Metallica would be nominated for six Grammys for the record and take home three the following year.

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askeletonintheclosetfic · 4 years

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The one with drum rolls and roll calls

November 27, 1986.

Last night was astonishing. I don't even know where to start because it was all a whip, flash, and a blur. I came off the stage with a rush of blood to my head as though I had run a marathon. To say I felt nervous would be the understatement of the decade, maybe the century. I could hardly sleep that night because of the adrenaline flowing through me.

In fact, I can see how this lifestyle can get addicting: you're going up onto the stage before a bunch of people, and you don't know what to expect at first, so it's easy to feel butterflies like crazy. But there's something about singing into a microphone and strumming a guitar next to your best friend all the while.

There's something about it all.

Something that only a few people get to experience.

It was like a dream, sitting next to Ceecee on the stools and with nothing more than our guitars and some incense burning in between us before the painted moon. My voice echoed through the rafters of the theater, over the sea of heads as far as the eye could see.

She shredded and kept us going even with my voice shaking and breaking a few times. I knew I was connecting with some of the people down in front because of their focus on my light blonde hair and the dyed streaks on the side of my head.

I told everyone about the two of us and that we were more than honored to be opening for Metallica and Anthrax; at one point, while talking to the audience, I noticed Joey, Dave, and Clara congregated off to the side. Her dark shades reflected with the crimson red light behind us; even in the darkness, I could see Dave's fiery red hair surrounding his assuring smile. Joey kept his eye on me and his hands tucked into his pockets.

“This next song is one our favorites to cover,” I told the audience as I turned back to Joey and Clara, “let's just say that it set us straight on—” And when I said that a couple of people in the audience cheered and gave us stray claps. “—uh, yeah! Set us straight on to the path of touring with them.”

And then James and Jason joined us on vocals. I don't think neither of us were expecting that, either, especially when Ceecee almost messed up in the second verse. But James crouched down next to me with a microphone up his mouth, and Jason next to Ceecee with one up to his.

Neither of us were expecting a standing ovation but we managed to get it!

“James Hetfield and Jason Newsted, everyone!” Ceecee declared.

We strode offstage and the first thing Joey did was throw his arms around me.

“You ladies did it!” he said, excited. “You fucking did it!”

Kirk gave Ceecee a hug shortly thereafter. Within time, Anthrax took to the stage. Scott stomped around with his big black boots and let his hair fly behind his head. Danny and Frankie twinned one another; the latter often pointed at someone in the audience. Charlie made a drum roll to cover up his mistake and yet everyone seemed to love that? In fact, Ceecee and Clara even clapped along with it. I heard Joey sing over the phone and then over the record player, but to hear him there, on the stage in front of those very same people, was something totally different. His long black curls floated behind his head like a curtain in a breeze. His lanky body moved around like a marionette puppet.

It was kind of hot now that I think about it.

I thought back to when Ceecee and I were in the park over the summer while the boys were away, and she helped uncover that part of me. I wanted to touch myself as Joey's voice rang throughout the theater: their music is even more cathartic and hypnotic in person than it is over the record player.

And then there was Metallica.

James roared like a lion: it helped matters that his long blond hair billowed around his head like a mane. I never realized how hard Lars hit his drums and how much he moved about to top it all off. Jason meanwhile was the real hero in my eye, standing in for Cliff and putting his own spin on “Disposable Heroes.”

For some reason, the way James yelled “back to the front!” reminded me of roll call in gym class in high school. Running around the gym, or doing laps around the track—back to the front! Doing warm ups—back to the front!

And the way he shouted the words made my knees buckle—and my toes curl on the inside of my shoes. My toes are curling right now as I'm writing this right now.

I'm in between the two men now.

And Kirk was unbelievable on his guitar work: he painted screeching, shrieking swirls of notes with the mere strums of his pick. His long black curls weren't as floaty as Joey's, but they still managed to flow behind his head like the tentacles of an octopus.

I'm just on cloud nine right now, and I know Ceecee is, too. I'm kind of surprised she was able to sleep last night where I didn't sleep a wink.

And I'm rambling nonsense now so I'm just gonna leave it at this for the time being.

We're headed to New York next—and Joey's neck of the woods, no less!

#new chapter #fanfic #fanfiction #heavy metal fanfiction #thrash metal fanfiction #heavy metal #thrash metal #also on ao3 #also on wattpad #anthrax fanfiction #metallica fanfic #anthrax #metallica #dark romance #horror romance #a skeleton in the closet

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blood-trip-god · 5 years

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Small rant, then discourse

As I'm listening to the new Death Angel album, Humanicide, or any time I listen to them for that matter, I'm always reminded that they are consistently phenomenal and underrated. Mark Osgueda is one of the most consistent and talented thrash vocalists. The whole band is talented and are probably the main reason I'm still fiddling on bass rn. Live they kill and never disappoint.

Now back to my original point, I got to thinking about how consistent and actually talented the Big 4 are. So I figured I would make a list of my opinions and stir the pot while pissing off people at the same time. They will be listed in the order I rank them in and given scores out of 10. Categories will be as follows: overall consistency(lineup changes, musical output), their biggest album, their lowest album, vocal capabilities, my overall enjoyment of them, my fav album by them, my least favorite album.

Now let's get started,

Consistency

Slayer- Its fucking Slayer, did you expect anything else? Well guess what, that's also their crutch. They really haven't changed the formula in nearly 40 years. They're up there with AC⚡DC, who I will always love, but it also gets boring. I've fallen asleep listening to Slayer and that's a fact. Their lineup has remained very consistent over the span of their career(voluntarily). Lombardo and Bostaph are excellent drummers in their own rights and fit very well in Slayer. With the untimely death of Jeff Hanneman, fans were at a loss, but Gary Fucking Holt is just as ferocious of a guitarist. Fans will say they only have 1 black sheep in the discography. 7/10

Metallica- most often everyone's first metal band. With a few tweaks in the early days, a solid lineup was in place. Kirk Hammett replaced Dave Mustaine during the Kill em All sessions on the east coast and the rest is history until 1986. The unthinkable happened in Sweden and Cliff Burton was killed in the bus accident. Former Flotsam and Jetsam bassist, Jason Newsted, came in to fill those huge shoes and was ready for the abuse. He knew what awaited him and soldiered on. The 90s faired well for Metallica commercially but split the fan base. Enter a documentary crew and a therapist, we were given Some Kind of Monster, St Anger and Jason quitting the band after ~16 years. The next chapter of their career brought Grammys, Robert Trujillo, an I'll adviser collaboration with Lou Reed, many live albums, their own festival, a full length movie and two long awaited albums. Depending on who you ask, their career is defined by the first four albums or anything but St anger. The black album is still pushing 16000 units a week and is one of the highest selling albums ever. I like them all, so they get 8/10

Megadeth- After getting the pink slip from Metallica, Dave mustaine was pissed off and had a score to settle. Thus megadeth was born with David Ellefson on bass and a revolving door of lead guitarists and drummers, Kerry King of Slayer being one of them. A solid debut album marred by label nitpicking and poor production didnt stop Dave. Peace sells put them on the map and the trajectory kept going skyward through the early 90s. Rust in peace, countdown to extinction and youthanasia were keystone albums in their career and their golden lineup with Marty Friedman and nick mensa. People often wonder what it would have been like if Dave recruited dime and vinnie for rust in peace. The tail end of the decade brought downhill quality albums and more infighting amongst the members, not to mention the rampant drug use by mustaine and his alcohol dependency. With the new millennium, we had a new lineup again and the subsequent break up of the band. Mustaine brought it back in 04 with an older lineup sans ellefson. Another lineup change for United abominations helped with the upswing they were riding. Adding chris Broderick on guitar for endgame shot them even higher, th1rt3en plateaued but brought junior back in the fold and had a down tick with super collider. Dystopia came along after the loss of drover and Broderick, but added chris Adler from lamb of God on drums and kiko loriero on guitars. The album was terrific but many of the riffs and solos fell flat to me as songs shared similar melodic harmonies. Dirk Verbreuen of soilwork made his debut on the day nick meza passed away, as Adler had obligations with his band, I was in attendance of that show. If we didnt have cryptic writings or risk, the score would be higher but 6/10 for too many members and 7/10 for musical output

Anthrax- the bastard step kid of the big 4. Widely consistent but the outsider of the predominantly California members of the club. NY born and raised, that helped solidify their style and sound. A solid debut album with horrendous artwork, according to the band themselves and I agree, but a lackluster singer. Enter Joey Belladonna and his pipes with spreading the disease. The needle is rising for then. Making a huge leap with Among the Living and adding Frank Bello on bass soon after, the star is almost peaking. State of euphoria solidified their reign even with the difficulties and issues they have with the album. I'm the man throws everything off course with the new rapmetal collab, Which I enjoyed. Persistence of time was a solid album but started to fall flat. Exit Joey b and enter John Bush of armored sait for a breath of fresh air. Sound of white noise was amazing, featuring dimebag Darrell on a song and new life in the melodies overall. But that was it, only a breath. Stomp 442 and volume 8 were just not good. John really never fit on the Joey songs imo. Weve come for you all was a return to form and my favorite John Bush era album. Tracking began for worship music with John but he was let go in favor of Joey returning and doing the album. Corey Baylor was almost the vocalist but the label shut that down. Now anthrax is back on the upswing. For all kings was a step further to the top and it looks like it will stay that way. 8/10 musically but 5/10 for too many members.

Concensus Biggest Album

Slayer- reign in blood, Need I say more?

Metallica- black album

Megadeth- rust in peace

Anthrax- among the living

Concensus "Worst" album

Slayer- diabolus in musica

Metallica- st anger

Megadeth- risk

Anthrax- volume 8

Vocals

Joey belladonna

James Hetfield

John Bush

Tom Araya

Dave mustaine

Who's the favorite child?

Home state represent, anthrax.

Best album

Slayer- hell awaits

Metallica- and justice for all

Megadeth- youthanasia

Anthrax- spreading the disease

Worst album

Slayer- repentless

Metallica- reload

Megadeth- cryptic writings

Anthrax- stomp 442

#metallica #megadeth #anthrax #slayer #the big 4 #opinions #mine #thrash metal #rating #rambling #ramblings

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flauntpage · 5 years

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Still Not Good Enough – Observations from Celtics 112, Sixers 109

Talk about blowing an opportunity.

The Sixers had a nice little run going, with big moves at the trade deadline followed by a quality win against Denver and a national television drubbing of Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon. They were 7-4 through their last 11 games, a gauntlet that included Golden State, Toronto, and multiple playoff teams over multiple weeks.

But instead of finishing on a high note, they stumbled again to Boston, this time at home. They blew another opportunity against another top Eastern Conference team, falling to 1-7 this season against the Celtics, Bucks, and Raptors. Most importantly, they took all of the goodwill built up over the last few days and deposited it right into the trash can.

We’re right back at square one, which is this:

“The Sixers can’t beat the Celtics.”

Truly, it’s opening night and Christmas evening all over again. It’s like Groundhog Day without the overgrown rat from Western Pennsylvania.

As Metallica once said, “Nothing Else Matters,” and you know what? James Hetfield was right. Lars Ulrich was right. Nothing else matters besides beating the Celtics. That’s all anybody is talking about, and they’re justified in doing so. You can go out and beat the Knicks by 40 tonight and fans would not and should not care, because it’s not about beating the Knicks or Hornets or Hawks by 40, it’s about beating Boston by any amount of points at all.

The Sixers were not horrible last night. We are, after all, talking about a three-point loss. But the myriad issues throughout the game were similar to what we’ve seen before. They cobbled together too many mistakes to really get into a shooting or defensive rhythm throughout.

They only shot 71% from the foul line, which is way down from a 77% season average. The turnovers, 14, were manageable, but Boston only coughed it up six times, so that’s another loss. The three-point shooting was below average, the shot selection was junky and poor in the first half, and they just looked tight to start. Boston looked loose and played within themselves. The Sixers played like they knew they’ve only beaten this team twice in the last two years.

Defensive miscues

Late in the fourth quarter, Boston was just seeking out mismatches over and over again. There was a chunk of plays around the five minute mark, I believe, where they just went after JJ Redick on every single play and the Sixers did a really lackluster job of addressing it. There were other situations where Redick and T.J. McConnell were on the floor together and having trouble on the defensive end.

Said Brett Brown post game:

There’s a physicality that you have to play with to beat them and you’re reminded of that. They do a really good job of going at mismatches, we could all see the difficulty at times that we had guarding some of the physicality of them trying to post us with different mismatches, those types of things I think are. There’s a physicality that you learn from… To Rich’s [Hofmann’s] point, they go at mismatches hard, they duck in, they’re physical with that philosophy.

They seek out mismatches pretty much every time down the floor in crunch time situations.

Case in point:

youtube

Those plays are killers, because when Marcus Smart can post up JJ Redick and drive the lane, the rest of the defense collapses, the Celtics swing the ball around the perimeter while the Sixers scramble to recover, and Jayson Tatum eventually knocks down a wide open three.

More Brown:

I think you have to find some level of better ball pressure; you have to find some level of better resistance, sort of staggered steps, there’s some technique things that we can do better and I think most importantly that at times you can’t overreact. If tough twos for a while are the palatable shot and, admittedly, you can’t live like that, but periods of the game you can, then we have to be disciplined to do that. To start running around the gym and getting into scramble mode, isn’t in my interest, our interest either.

Yes, if you’re going to leave JJ on the floor, make it harder for them to pick on him. Deny that entry pass into the post. Re-evaluate how you switch if they put him in a pick and roll. Maybe you have to blitz or throw a second guy into the equation, or maybe Redick just cannotbe on the floor in these situations. Maybe you play Jimmy Butler as a two-guard and bring in James Ennis or Jonathon Simmons to close out games instead.

Joel Embiid on this:

We need to do a better job of denying the ball and pressuring the ball. At the end of the day, it comes down to guarding your own man and that’s what we have to do. These guys, they take advantage of when we do help, and they move the ball pretty well. So, we just need to do a better job of guarding our own man.

Boston just kept hunting all throughout the 4th quarter, and the Sixers weren’t able to get enough stops to build any kind of respectable lead or keep pace when it really mattered.

Joel’s night

He struggles against Al Horford, who defends him better than anybody in the league.

Embiid was asked what the veteran center is doing to frustrate him:

He’s not doing anything, it’s just on me. I was sleepwalking for three quarters and that’s on me. Like I said, that’s on me. It has nothing to do with anybody.

I’m not a big fan of that answer. Sure, you can put it on you and take responsibility for your performance, but Horford is not “not doing anything.” His resistance points are sound, he does a good job of keeping his arms down, and he stands Joel up right on the low block in a position where Embiid is too far to power through him for a layup but too far for a comfortable turn around or floater. It’s a weird middle area between Embiid’s catch point and the rim, and for whatever reason, Joel just comes up short when he’s 1v1 with Horford. The Celtics are doing anything special. They’re not doubling or digging, they’re just letting Horford use low leverage and solid technique to defend a bigger guy.

I think Gordon Hayward actually did a decent job of explaining it after the game:

Al’s a smart defender, so I think he’s able to use spacing and angles and really kind of knows when to gap him, when to get up to him. He’s also just a tough defender, like taking bumps, able to not get backed all the way down and then still being long enough to contest his jump shots. Embiid’s a monster, so for Al to play like that is really encouraging. We’ve seen him do it in the past too. That was a good job by Al.

It was a really nice job, and in these cases Joel just has to keep going at Horford until he wears him down. He’s a bigger guy, he’s younger, and he’s always going to win a four-quarter war of attrition. Horford finished with five fouls last night, and if Joel is down there working him throughout the game instead of taking an inexplicable eight three-point tries, then maybe the result is different.

There’s just no reason your 7’2″ center should ever take eight three-pointers in a game. Redick and Tobias Harris are the only players who should be taking that many three-pointers.

Joel was also complaining about the no-call vs. Horford at the end of the game, and he’ll get fined for saying “the refs fucking sucked” at his press conference. Here’s the play:

Embiid No Call pic.twitter.com/YuYaDrTpZV

— The Render (@TheRenderNBA) February 13, 2019

Yes, it’s probably a foul, but Joel is playing for contact there. He’s not using his body to drive Horford back and he’s leaning into him. Joel is going to get cheap rip-through contact fouls against JaVale McGee and Jarrett Allen in the first quarter of meaningless games, but he’s not getting them against Al Horford in the fourth quarter, not after Horford does a solid job against him for the first three quarters. Either way, that no-call isn’t why they lost the game. It was just one play.

Embiid came out tight, he played another lackluster game against the Celtics before finally showing up in the fourth quarter, and then came across as fairly petty and maybe just outright immature in his press conference.

Ben Simmons

Same thing as always.

Boston does a nice job sealing off his transition movement by sliding a second guy to the elbow and meeting him right at the top of the foul line. Ben picks up his dribble, kicks the ball back out, and the Sixers are then playing half court offense.

Sure, there were some blown assignments by Boston, and Ben got free a couple of times. That huge dunk was one play, and he did finish 7 of his 9 looks last night, so he was really efficient when he did get to his spots. The two misses were actually ugly jump shots, so if you take those away, he had an excellent 7-7 night from his preferable range:

More important than his individual shooting, it felt like he just couldn’t get the rest of the offense into a rhythm throughout. He only finished with five assists vs. three turnovers, and said this after the game:

I don’t think we were putting the ball to the rim. I think we slowed down a lot in transition and tried to call a few too many sets, which we got a little bit of a flow. But that’s just how the game went.

They slowed down in transition because Boston did the slowing, which is one of their strengths. The Sixers scored only 12 fast break points last night against a season average of 15.7, and those first quarter baskets, the ones where Ben is pushing and everybody is running the floor, those get them loosened up as much as anything.

When Boston sits back and plays for the transition denial, you’re running your half-court base and whatever other sets, which is not what the Sixers would prefer to do coming out of the gates. They did turn that into some successful isolation and pick and roll for Jimmy Butler late in the game, and Butler is a huge help in those situations, when the rest of the team is stuck and they need somebody to create in other ways. If these teams meet again in the playoffs, Butler really could have a big series. He scored 22 points on 12 shots last night, it was just those missed free throws at the end that were a killer.

One more note about Ben – his defense on Jayson Tatum was good. Tatum was at his best when Boston was getting switches and moving the ball around, but in 1v1 situations with Ben, he wasn’t great, shooting just 3-9 against him:

Good job right there.

Tobias Harris

Bad shooting night. If he’s even slightly better than 4-14 and 0-6 from three, then the Sixers probably win by 4-5 points.

Tobias post game:

I thought that in the first half we really never got to our pace of how we kind of wanted to play. Usually that comes from being able to take the ball out, a majority of the time. So we weren’t really able to get out in transition as we wanted. They got on the glass, got a lot of second-chance points. But I just thought overall in the game, it was tough for us to get to our type of flow and our type of rhythm out there, which is going to happen. But I think it’s something that we have to identify early on and try to get some things ready for us. Overall, I still thought that we gave ourselves a legitimate chance to win that game, but it just went the other way.

11 second chance points for the Celtics last night on the strength of four Horford offensive rebounds.

That’s not a ton, but it’s disappointing when you think about the fact they’re getting second chance opportunities while also getting enough bodies back to defend in transition. A lot of teams will simply punt the offensive board to drop multiple players into defense, so in the course of a game you’re usually limiting fast break points at the expense of hitting the offensive glass. Boston was able to wriggle in there and get some offensive boards they had no business getting last night.

Rotation stuff

Jonathon Simmons was first off the bench while James Ennis and Jonah Bolden were DNPs, and I have no idea why. Brown again linked Simmons and Harris’ minutes together with Boban Marjanovic, giving us a grouping that looked like this:

B. Simmons

J. Simmons

Furkan Korkmaz

Harris

Boban

And then we saw a little bit of the same unit beyond that: Joel Embiid, Mike Scott, Jimmy Butler, JJ Redick, and T.J. McConnell. So the splits from the Laker game were more or less similar last night. There was also a point in the game where we got a Ben/JJ/Simmons/Mike Scott/Boban lineup, which played a pretty ineffective chunk of minutes.

But this was a Jonah Bolden game. When you have bigs like Al Horford and Daniel Theis who can space the floor and shoot from the perimeter, then Bolden as the first five off the bench makes more sense than Boban, in my mind. Boban is gonna have to be a situational guy moving into the playoffs.

Other notes:

The early Horford foul leading to the technical… I dunno. He played pretty good D there but might have been a little handsy right before the whistle was blown.

I swear I saw a Spain pick and roll at the beginning of the second half. I forgot to DVR the game, so I’m gonna have to go look back and see if I can find it.

Boban’s size results in some totally bizarre and usually hilarious on-court optics. There was a point in the 1st quarter, around the 5:00 mark, where he reached up and snagged a weakside rebound without even leaving his feet. In the 3rd quarter, he had a post up on Horford where he didn’t even move his feet or back him down, he simply just turned and flicked the ball over his head for a bucket.

It felt like Hayward was wide open on every single shot he took last night.

When Embiid got the and-1 bucket against Horford late in the 4th quarter, it was the loudest I’d heard the WFC this season.

Butler has been doing a great job lately of getting to the line. He was fouled twice last night on three point attempts.

The Celtics are probably better without Kyrie Irving. Same thing as last season. When he’s on the floor, they need to hide his defensive shortcomings, but last night, as you’ve seen before, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart are defensive upgrades that present more matchup issues for the Sixers, more than if Kyrie was out there.

People will complain and say I didn’t criticize Brett Brown enough, but obviously the head coach plays a role in addressing all of the things I just wrote about, does he not?

The post Still Not Good Enough – Observations from Celtics 112, Sixers 109 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/2018-grammys-biggest-winners-losers-full-list/

2018 Grammys: Biggest Winners and Losers full list

The 2018 Grammys saw Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar walk away with the bulk of awards expected for Jay Z. Alessia Carr surprised some by walking away with the Best New Artist award which many thought would go to SZA. You can see the top moments from the 60th Annual Grammy Awards show here. Bruce Springsteen took a backseat to Carrie Fisher for the spoken word category while Leonard Cohen beat out Chris Cornell in best rock performance category. Many expected the posthumous entrant Cornell to take that award. The best speeches of the night are just below:

Bruno Mars Accepts Album of the Year

He'd just won record of the year and song of the year, but Bruno Mars still had some words of wisdom left when he stepped to the stage to accept his third "Big Four" Grammy of the night. He thought back to being 15 years old, opening up shows in his native Hawaii, performing stadards to tourist crowds from all over the world. "Later on in life, I found out that those songs were written by either Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, or Teddy Riley," he said, thinking back to his R&B heroes. "I remember seeing it first hand, seeing people dancing together, that had never met each other, from two sides of the globe." As for 24K Magic's win, he said, "That’s all I wanted to bring with this album, to see everybody dancing.”

Logic Goes In On Trump, Abusers After His Big Performance

After rapping "1-800-273-8255" -- his anti-suicide song alongside Khalid and Alessia Cara -- Logic diverged from his usual lyrics to speak on other pressing issues. These included the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements ("Stand tall and crush all predators under the weight of your heart that is full of the love that they will never take away from you”) and Donald Trump’s vile comments about immigrants from non-white nations, saluting, “all the countries filled with culture and diversity and thousands of years of history.”

Chappelle's Show Against the System

In winning best comedy album, Dave Chappelle’s acceptance speech was a little anti-climactic. He thanked his family, then left us with a quick, "See you on Monday.” Fortunately, the legendary comic had dropped some crucial soundbites earlier in the evening. In introducing the nominees for best rap album, Chappelle shouted out the members of his beloved Tribe Called Quest (along with an “R.I.P. Phife Dawg”), perhaps nodding to Q-Tip’s annoyance at being snubbed in this year’s nominees. And to kick off the night, Chappelle interjected Kendrick Lamar’s fiery opening performance with some scathing spoken word jabs. Most notably: “I just wanted to remind the audience that the only thing more frightening than watching a black man be honest in America… is being an honest black man in America.”

& 3. Kendrick Lamar

Many hoped the 2018 Grammys wound end with Kendrick Lamar giving a cathartic speech in accepting album of the year. At the very end, things didn’t go his way, but he did provide the MSG audience with a pair of deeply meaningful speeches early on, in winning best rap/sung performance (alongside Rihanna) and best rap album. He shouted out his heroes -- JAY-Z, Nas, and Puff Daddy -- as well as Rihanna’s star power. Watch clips of both below.

Janelle Monáe Introduces Kesha

Kesha's rousing 2017 gospel-pop track "Praying" got a spellbinding performance from Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Andra Day, Julia Michaels, and Kesha Rose herself. And it also got a monster of an introduction from Janelle Monáe, who saluted the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, recognizing Kesha's career-risking defiance in helping to spark both back in 2014: "To those who would dare silence us, we offer you two words: Time's up... We have the power to undo the culture that does not serve us well. Let's work together, women and men, committed to creating safer work environments and equal pay."

Camila Cabello Salutes the DREAMers

Camila Cabello introduced U2’s Statue of Liberty performance in dramatic fashion. She shouted out America's immigrants, specifically those in the country under the DREAM Act. With the status of DREAMers under siege by the Trump administration, the Cuban-born artist -- who emigrated to America at age five -- did her best to make Lady Liberty's meaning especially clear: "These kids can't be forgotten and are worth fighting for." 2018 60th Annual Grammy Awards Complete List of Winners GENERAL FIELD Album of the Year: "Awaken, My Love!" — Childish Gambino 4:44 — Jay-Z DAMN. — Kendrick Lamar Melodrama — Lorde 24K Magic — Bruno Mars -- WINNER Record of the Year: "Redbone" — Childish Gambino "Despacito" — Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber "The Story Of O.J." — Jay-Z "HUMBLE." — Kendrick Lamar "24K Magic" — Bruno Mars -- WINNER Song of the Year: "Despacito" — Ramón Ayala, Justin Bieber, Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd, Erika Ender, Luis Fonsi & Marty James Garton, songwriters (Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber) "4:44" — Shawn Carter & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Jay-Z) "Issues" — Benny Blanco, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Julia Michaels & Justin Drew Tranter, songwriters (Julia Michaels) "1-800-273-8255" — Alessia Caracciolo, Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, Arjun Ivatury & Khalid Robinson, songwriters (Logic Featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid) "That’s What I Like" — Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip, songwriters (Bruno Mars) -- WINNER Best New Artist: Alessia Cara -- WINNER Khalid Lil Uzi Vert Julia Michaels SZA POP FIELD Best Pop Solo Performance: "Love So Soft" — Kelly Clarkson "Praying" — Kesha "Million Reasons" — Lady Gaga "What About Us" — P!nk "Shape Of You" — Ed Sheeran -- WINNER Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Something Just Like This" — The Chainsmokers & Coldplay "Despacito" — Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber "Thunder" — Imagine Dragons "Feel It Still" — Portugal. The Man -- WINNER "Stay" — Zedd & Alessia Cara Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Nobody But Me (Deluxe Version) — Michael Bublé Triplicate — Bob Dylan In Full Swing — Seth MacFarlane Wonderland — Sarah McLachlan Tony Bennett Celebrates 90 — (Various Artists) Dae Bennett, Producer -- WINNER Best Pop Vocal Album: Kaleidoscope EP — Coldplay Lust for Life — Lana Del Rey Evolve — Imagine Dragons Rainbow — Kesha Joanne — Lady Gaga ÷ (Divide) — Ed Sheeran -- WINNER DANCE/ELECTRONIC FIELD Best Dance Recording: "Bambro Koyo Ganda" — Bonobo Featuring Innov Gnawa "Cola" — Camelphat & Elderbrook "Andromeda" — Gorillaz Featuring DRAM "Tonite" — LCD Soundsystem -- WINNER "Line Of Sight" — Odesza Featuring WYNNE & Mansionair Best Dance/Electronic Album: Migration — Bonobo 3-D The Catalogue — Kraftwerk -- WINNER Mura Masa — Mura Masa A Moment Apart — Odesza What Now — Sylvan Esso CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL FIELD Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: What If — The Jerry Douglas Band Spirit — Alex Han Mount Royal — Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge Prototype — Jeff Lorber Fusion -- WINNER Bad Hombre — Antonio Sanchez ROCK FIELD Best Rock Performance: "You Want It Darker" — Leonard Cohen -- WINNER "The Promise" — Chris Cornell "Run" — Foo Fighters "No Good" — Kaleo "Go To War" — Nothing More Best Metal Performance: "Invisible Enemy" — August Burns Red "Black Hoodie" — Body Count "Forever" — Code Orange "Sultan’s Curse" — Mastodon -- WINNER "Clockworks" — Meshuggah Best Rock Song: "Atlas, Rise!" — James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich, songwriters (Metallica) "Blood In The Cut" — JT Daly & Kristine Flaherty, songwriters (K.Flay) "Go To War" — Ben Anderson, Jonny Hawkins, Will Hoffman, Daniel Oliver, David Pramik & Mark Vollelunga, songwriters (Nothing More) "Run" — Foo Fighters, songwriters (Foo Fighters) -- WINNER "The Stage" — Zachary Baker, Brian Haner, Matthew Sanders, Jonathan Seward & Brooks Wackerman, songwriters (Avenged Sevenfold) Best Rock Album: Emperor Of Sand — Mastodon Hardwired…To Self-Destruct — Metallica The Stories We Tell Ourselves — Nothing More Villains — Queens Of the Stone Age A Deeper Understanding — The War On Drugs -- WINNER ALTERNATIVE FIELD Best Alternative Music Album: Everything Now — Arcade Fire Humanz — Gorillaz American Dream — LCD Soundsystem Pure Comedy — Father John Misty Sleep Well Beast — The National -- WINNER R&B FIELD Best R&B Performance: "Get You" — Daniel Caesar Featuring Kali Uchis "Distraction" — Kehlani "High" — Ledisi "That’s What I Like" — Bruno Mars -- WINNER "The Weekend" — SZA Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Laugh And Move On" — The Baylor Project "Redbone" — Childish Gambino -- WINNER "What I’m Feelin'" — Anthony Hamilton Featuring The Hamiltones| "All The Way" — Ledisi "Still" — Mali Music Best R&B Song: "First Began" — PJ Morton, songwriter (PJ Morton) "Location" — Alfredo Gonzalez, Olatunji Ige, Samuel David Jiminez, Christopher McClenney, Khalid Robinson & Joshua Scruggs, songwriters (Khalid) "Redbone" — Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson, songwriters (Childish Gambino) "Supermodel" — Tyran Donaldson, Terrence Henderson, Greg Landfair Jr., Solana Rowe & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (SZA) "That’s What I Like" — Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip, songwriters (Bruno Mars) -- WINNER Best Urban Contemporary Album: Free 6LACK — 6LACK "Awaken, My Love!" — Childish Gambino American Teen — Khalid Ctrl — SZA Starboy — The Weeknd -- WINNER Best R&B Album: Freudian — Daniel Caesar Let Love Rule — Ledisi 24K Magic — Bruno Mars -- WINNER Gumbo — PJ Morton Feel the Real –Musiq Soulchild RAP FIELD Best Rap Performance: "Bounce Back" — Big Sean "Bodak Yellow" — Cardi B "4:44" — Jay-Z "HUMBLE." — Kendrick Lamar -- WINNER "Bad And Boujee" — Migos Featuring Lil Uzi Vert Best Rap/Sung Performance: "PRBLMS" — 6LACK "Crew" — Goldlink Featuring Brent Faiyaz & Shy Glizzy "Family Feud" — Jay-Z Featuring Beyoncé "LOYALTY." — Kendrick Lamar Featuring Rihanna -- WINNER "Love Galore" — SZA Featuring Travis Scott Best Rap Song: "Bodak Yellow" — Dieuson Octave, Klenord Raphael, Shaftizm, Jordan Thorpe, Washpoppin & J White, songwriters (Cardi B) "Chase Me" — Judah Bauer, Brian Burton, Hector Delgado, Jaime Meline, Antwan Patton, Michael Render, Russell Simins & Jon Spencer, songwriters (Danger Mouse Featuring Run The Jewels & Big Boi) "HUMBLE." — Duckworth, Asheton Hogan & M. Williams II, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar) -- WINNER "Sassy" — Gabouer & M. Evans, songwriters (Rapsody) "The Story Of O.J." — Shawn Carter & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Jay-Z) Best Rap Album: 4:44 — Jay-Z DAMN. — Kendrick Lamar -- WINNER Culture — Migos Laila’s Wisdom — Rapsody Flower Boy — Tyler, The Creator COUNTRY FIELD Best Country Solo Performance: "Body Like A Back Road" — Sam Hunt "Losing You: –Alison Krauss "Tin Man" — Miranda Lambert "I Could Use A Love Song" — Maren Morris "Either Way" — Chris Stapleton -- WINNER Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "It Ain’t My Fault" — Brothers Osborne "My Old Man" — Zac Brown Band "You Look Good" — Lady Antebellum "Better Man" — Little Big Town -- WINNER "Drinkin’ Problem" — Midland Best Country Song: "Better Man" — Taylor Swift, songwriter (Little Big Town) "Body Like A Back Road" — Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Sam Hunt) "Broken Halos" — Mike Henderson & Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Chris Stapleton) -- WINNER "Drinkin’ Problem" — Jess Carson, Cameron Duddy, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne & Mark Wystrach, songwriters (Midland) "Tin Man" — Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert & Jon Randall, songwriters (Miranda Lambert) Best Country Album: Cosmic Hallelujah — Kenny Chesney Heart Break — Lady Antebellum The Breaker — Little Big Town Life Changes — Thomas Rhett From a Room: Volume 1 — Chris Stapleton -- WINNER NEW AGE FIELD Best New Age Album: Reflection — Brian Eno SongVersation: Medicine — India.Arie Dancing On Water — Peter Kater -- WINNER Sacred Journey Of Ku-Kai, Volume 5 — Kitaro Spiral Revelation — Steve Roach JAZZ FIELD Best Improvised Jazz Solo: "Can’t Remember Why" — Sara Caswell, soloist "Dance Of Shiva" — Billy Childs, soloist "Whisper Not" — Fred Hersch, soloist "Miles Beyond" — John McLaughlin, soloist -- WINNER "Ilimba" — Chris Potter, soloist Best Jazz Vocal Album: The Journey — The Baylor Project A Social Call — Jazzmeia Horn Bad Ass and Blind — Raul Midón Porter Plays Porter — Randy Porter Trio With Nancy King Dreams and Daggers — Cécile McLorin Salvant -- WINNER Best Jazz Instrumental Album: Uptown, Downtown — Bill Charlap Trio Rebirth — Billy Childs -- WINNER Project Freedom –Joey DeFrancesco & The People Open Book — Fred Hersch The Dreamer Is the Dream — Chris Potter Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: MONK’estra Vol. 2 — John Beasley Jigsaw — Alan Ferber Big Band Bringin’ It — Christian McBride Big Band -- WINNER Homecoming — Vince Mendoza & WDR Big Band Cologne Whispers on the Wind — Chuck Owen And The Jazz Surge Best Latin Jazz Album: Hybrido – From Rio To Wayne Shorter — Antonio Adolfo Oddara — Jane Bunnett & Maqueque Outra Coisa – The Music Of Moacir Santos — Anat Cohen & Marcello Gonçalves Típico — Miguel Zenón Jazz Tango — Pablo Ziegler Trio -- WINNER GOSPEL/ CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC FIELD Best Gospel Performance/Song: "Too Hard Not To" — Tina Campbell "You Deserve It" — JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise Featuring Bishop Cortez Vaughn "Better Days" — Le’Andria "My Life" — The Walls Group "Never Have To Be Alone" — CeCe Winans -- WINNER Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song: "Oh My Soul" — Casting Crowns "Clean" — Natalie Grant "What A Beautiful Name" — Hillsong Worship -- WINNER "Even If" — MercyMe "Hills And Valleys" — Tauren Wells Best Gospel Album: Crossover: Live From Music City — Travis Greene Bigger Than Me — Le’Andria Close — Marvin Sapp Sunday Song — Anita Wilson Let Them Fall in Love — CeCe Winans -- WINNER Best Contemporary Christian Music Album: Rise — Danny Gokey Echoes (Deluxe Edition) — Matt Maher Lifer — MercyMe Hills and Valleys — Tauren Wells Chain Breaker — Zach Williams -- WINNER Best Roots Gospel Album: The Best Of the Collingsworth Family – Volume 1 — The Collingsworth Family Give Me Jesus — Larry Cordle Resurrection — Joseph Habedank Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope — Reba McEntire -- WINNER Hope for All Nations — Karen Peck & New River LATIN FIELD Best Latin Pop Album: Lo Único Constante — Alex Cuba Mis Planes Son Amarte — Juanes Amar Y Vivir En Vivo Desde La Ciudad De México, 2017 — La Santa Cecilia Musas (Un Homenaje Al Folclore Latinoamericano En Manos De Los Macorinos) — Natalia Lafourcade El Dorado — Shakira -- WINNER Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album: Ayo — Bomba Estéreo Pa’ Fuera — C4 Trío & Desorden Público Salvavidas De Hielo — Jorge Drexler El Paradise — Los Amigos Invisibles Residente — Residente -- WINNER Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano): Ni Diablo Ni Santo — Julión Álvarez Y Su Norteño Banda Ayer Y Hoy — Banda El Recodo De Cruz Lizárraga Momentos — Alex Campos Arriero Somos Versiones Acústicas — Aida Cuevas -- WINNER Zapateando En El Norte — Humberto Novoa, producer (Various Artists) Best Tropical Latin Album: Albita — Albita Art of the Arrangement — Doug Beavers Salsa Big Band — Rubén Blades Con Roberto Delgado & Orquesta -- WINNER Gente Valiente — Silvestre Dangond Indestructible — Diego El Cigala AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC FIELD Best American Roots Performance: Killer Diller Blues — Alabama Shakes -- WINNER Let My Mother Live — Blind Boys Of Alabama Arkansas Farmboy — Glen Campbell Steer Your Way — Leonard Cohen I Never Cared For You — Alison Krauss Best American Roots Song: "Cumberland Gap" — David Rawlings "I Wish You Well" — The Mavericks "If We Were Vampires" — Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit -- WINNER "It Ain’t Over Yet" — Rodney Crowell Featuring Rosanne Cash & John Paul White "My Only True Friend" –Gregg Allman Best Americana Album: Southern Blood — Gregg Allman Shine On Rainy Day — Brent Cobb Beast Epic — Iron & Wine The Nashville Sound — Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit -- WINNER Brand New Day — The Mavericks Best Bluegrass Album: Fiddler’s Dream — Michael Cleveland Laws Of Gravity — The Infamous Stringdusters -- WINNER (TIE) Original — Bobby Osborne Universal Favorite — Noam Pikelny All The Rage – In Concert Volume One [Live] — Rhonda Vincent And The Rage -- WINNER (TIE) Best Traditional Blues Album: Migration Blues — Eric Bibb Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio — Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio Roll And Tumble — R.L. Boyce Sonny & Brownie’s Last Train — Guy Davis & Fabrizio Poggi Blue & Lonesome — The Rolling Stones -- WINNER Best Contemporary Blues Album: Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm — Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm Recorded Live In Lafayette — Sonny Landreth TajMo — Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' -- WINNER Got Soul — Robert Randolph & The Family Band Live From The Fox Oakland — Tedeschi Trucks Band Best Folk Album: Mental Illness — Aimee Mann -- WINNER Semper Femina — Laura Marling The Queen Of Hearts — Offa Rex You Don’t Own Me Anymore — The Secret Sisters The Laughing Apple — Yusuf / Cat Stevens Best Regional Roots Music Album: Top Of the Mountain — Dwayne Dopsie And The Zydeco Hellraisers Ho’okena 3.0 — Ho’okena Kalenda — Lost Bayou Ramblers -- WINNER Miyo Kekisepa, Make A Stand [Live] — Northern Cree Pua Kiele — Josh Tatofi REGGAE FIELD Best Reggae Album: Chronology — Chronixx Lost In Paradise — Common Kings Wash House Ting — J Boog Stony Hill — Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley -- WINNER Avrakedabra — Morgan Heritage WORLD MUSIC FIELD Best World Music Album: Memoria De Los Sentidos — Vicente Amigo Para Mi — Buika Rosa Dos Ventos — Anat Cohen & Trio Brasileiro Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration — Ladysmith Black Mambazo -- WINNER Elwan — Tinariwen CHILDREN’S FIELD Best Children’s Album: Brighter Side — Gustafer Yellowgold Feel What U Feel — Lisa Loeb -- WINNER Lemonade — Justin Roberts Rise Shine #Woke — Alphabet Rockers Songs Of Peace & Love For Kids & Parents Around The World — Ladysmith Black Mambazo SPOKEN WORD FIELD Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling): Astrophysics For People In A Hurry — Neil Degrasse Tyson Born To Run — Bruce Springsteen Confessions Of A Serial Songwriter — Shelly Peiken Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In (Bernie Sanders) — Bernie Sanders And Mark Ruffalo The Princess Diarist — Carrie Fisher -- WINNER COMEDY FIELD Best Comedy Album: The Age Of Spin & Deep In The Heart Of Texas — Dave Chappelle -- WINNER Cinco — Jim Gaffigan Jerry Before Seinfeld — Jerry Seinfeld A Speck Of Dust — Sarah Silverman What Now? — Kevin Hart MUSICAL THEATER FIELD Best Musical Theater Album: Come From Away — Ian Eisendrath, August Eriksmoen, David Hein, David Lai & Irene Sankoff, producers; David Hein & Irene Sankoff, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast Recording) Dear Evan Hansen — Ben Platt, principal soloist; Alex Lacamoire, Stacey Mindich, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, producers; Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast Recording) -- WINNER Hello, Dolly! — Bette Midler, principal soloist; Steven Epstein, producer (Jerry Herman, composer & lyricist) (New Broadway Cast Recording) MUSIC FOR VISUAL MEDIA FIELD Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: Baby Driver — (Various Artists) Guardians Of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 — (Various Artists) Hidden Figures: The Album — (Various Artists) La La Land — (Various Artists) -- WINNER Moana: The Songs — (Various Artists) Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media: Arrival — Jóhann Jóhannsson, composer Dunkirk — Hans Zimmer, composer Game Of Thrones: Season 7 — Ramin Djawadi, composer Hidden Figures — Benjamin Wallfisch, Pharrell Williams & Hans Zimmer, composers La La Land — Justin Hurwitz, composer -- WINNER Best Song Written For Visual Media: "City Of Stars" — Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone) "How Far I’ll Go" — Lin-Manuel Miranda, songwriter (Auli’i Cravalho) -- WINNER "I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (‘Fifty Shades Darker’)" — Jack Antonoff, Sam Dew & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Zayn & Taylor Swift) "Never Give Up" — Sia Furler & Greg Kurstin, songwriters (Sia) "Stand Up For Something" — Common & Diane Warren, songwriters (Andra Day Featuring Common) COMPOSING/ ARRANGING FIELD Best Instrumental Composition: "Alkaline" — Pascal Le Boeuf, composer (Le Boeuf Brothers & JACK Quartet) "Choros #3" — Vince Mendoza, composer (Vince Mendoza & WDR Big Band Cologne) "Home Free (For Peter Joe)" — Nate Smith, composer (Nate Smith) "Three Revolutions" — Arturo O’Farrill, composer (Arturo O’Farrill & Chucho Valdés) -- WINNER "Warped Cowboy" — Chuck Owen, composer (Chuck Owen And The Jazz Surge) Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella: "All Hat, No Saddle" — Chuck Owen, arranger (Chuck Owen And The Jazz Surge) "Escapades For Alto Saxophone And Orchestra From Catch Me If You Can" — John Williams, arranger (John Williams) -- WINNER "Home Free (For Peter Joe)" — Nate Smith, arranger (Nate Smith) "Ugly Beauty/Pannonica" — John Beasley, arranger (John Beasley) "White Christmas" — Chris Walden, arranger (Herb Alpert) Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals: "Another Day Of Sun" — Justin Hurwitz, arranger (La La Land Cast) "Every Time We Say Goodbye" — Jorge Calandrelli, arranger (Clint Holmes Featuring Jane Monheit) "I Like Myself" — Joel McNeely, arranger (Seth MacFarlane) "I Loves You Porgy/There’s A Boat That’s Leavin’ Soon For New York" — Shelly Berg, Gregg Field, Gordon Goodwin & Clint Holmes, arrangers (Clint Holmes Featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater And The Count Basie Orchestra) "Putin" — Randy Newman, arranger (Randy Newman) -- WINNER PACKAGE FIELD Best Recording Package: El Orisha De La Rosa — Claudio Roncoli & Cactus Taller, art directors (Magín Díaz) -- WINNER (TIE) Mura Masa — Alex Crossan & Matt De Jong, art directors (Mura Masa) Pure Comedy (Deluxe Edition) — Sasha Barr, Ed Steed & Josh Tillman, art directors (Father John Misty) -- WINNER (TIE) Sleep Well Beast — Elyanna Blaser-Gould, Luke Hayman & Andrea Trabucco-Campos, art directors (The National) Solid State — Gail Marowitz, art director (Jonathan Coulton) Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: Bobo Yeye: Belle Epoque In Upper Volta — Tim Breen, art director (Various Artists) Lovely Creatures: The Best Of Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds (1984 – 2014) — Tom Hingston, art director (Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds) May 1977: Get Shown The Light — Masaki Koike, art director (Grateful Dead) The Voyager Golden Record: 40th Anniversary Edition — Lawrence Azerrad, Timothy Daly & David Pescovitz, art directors (Various Artists) -- WINNER Warfaring Strangers: Acid Nightmares — Tim Breen, Benjamin Marra & Ken Shipley, art directors (Various Artists) NOTES FIELD Best Album Notes: Arthur Q. Smith: The Trouble With The Truth — Wayne Bledsoe & Bradley Reeves, album notes writers (Various Artists) Big Bend Killing: The Appalachian Ballad Tradition — Ted Olson, album notes writer (Various Artists) The Complete Piano Works Of Scott Joplin — Bryan S. Wright, album notes writer (Richard Dowling) Edouard-Léon Scott De Martinville, Inventor Of Sound Recording: A Bicentennial Tribute— David Giovannoni, album notes writer (Various Artists) Live At The Whisky A Go Go: The Complete Recordings — Lynell George, album notes writer (Otis Redding) -- WINNER Washington Phillips And His Manzarene Dreams — Michael Corcoran, album notes writer (Washington Phillips) HISTORICAL FIELD Best Historical Album: Bobo Yeye: Belle Epoque In Upper Volta — Jon Kirby, Florent Mazzoleni, Rob Sevier & Ken Shipley, compilation producers; Jeff Lipton & Maria Rice, mastering engineers (Various Artists) The Goldberg Variations – The Complete Unreleased Recording Sessions June 1955 — Robert Russ, compilation producer; Matthias Erb, Martin Kistner & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Glenn Gould) Leonard Bernstein – The Composer — Robert Russ, compilation producer; Martin Kistner & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Leonard Bernstein) - WINNER Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes From The Horn Of Africa — Nicolas Sheikholeslami & Vik Sohonie, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Various Artists) Washington Phillips And His Manzarene Dreams — Michael Corcoran, April G. Ledbetter & Steven Lance Ledbetter, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Washington Phillips) PRODUCTION, NON-CLASSICAL FIELD Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical: Every Where Is Some Where — Brent Arrowood, Miles Comaskey, JT Daly, Tommy English, Kristine Flaherty, Adam Hawkins, Chad Howat & Tony Maserati, engineers; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer (K.Flay) Is This The Life We Really Want? — Nigel Godrich, Sam Petts-Davies & Darrell Thorp, engineers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer (Roger Waters) Natural Conclusion — Ryan Freeland, engineer; Joao Carvalho, mastering engineer (Rose Cousins) No Shape — Shawn Everett & Joseph Lorge, engineers; Patricia Sullivan, mastering engineer (Perfume Genius) 24K Magic — Serban Ghenea, John Hanes & Charles Moniz, engineers; Tom Coyne, mastering engineer (Bruno Mars) -- WINNER Producer Of the Year, Non-Classical: Calvin Harris Greg Kurstin -- WINNER Blake Mills No I.D. The Stereotypes Best Remixed Recording: "Can’t Let You Go (Louie Vega Roots Mix)" — Louie Vega, remixer (Loleatta Holloway) "Funk O’ De Funk (SMLE Remix)" — SMLE, remixers (Bobby Rush) "Undercover (Adventure Club Remix)" — Leighton James & Christian Srigley, remixers (Kehlani) "A Violent Noise (Four Tet Remix)" — Four Tet, remixer (The xx) "You Move (Latroit Remix)" — Dennis White, remixer (Depeche Mode) -- WINNER SURROUND SOUND FIELD Best Surround Sound Album: Early Americans — Jim Anderson, surround mix engineer; Darcy Proper, surround mastering engineer; Jim Anderson & Jane Ira Bloom, surround producers (Jane Ira Bloom) -- WINNER Kleiberg: Mass For Modern Man — Morten Lindberg, surround mix engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround mastering engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround producer (Eivind Gullberg Jensen & Trondheim Symphony Orchestra And Choir) So Is My Love — Morten Lindberg, surround mix engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround mastering engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround producer (Nina T. Karlsen & Ensemble 96) 3-D The Catalogue — Fritz Hilpert, surround mix engineer; Tom Ammermann, surround mastering engineer; Fritz Hilpert, surround producer (Kraftwerk) Tyberg: Masses — Jesse Brayman, surround mix engineer; Jesse Brayman, surround mastering engineer; Blanton Alspaugh, surround producer (Brian A. Schmidt, Christopher Jacobson & South Dakota Chorale) PRODUCTION, CLASSICAL FIELD Best Engineered Album, Classical: Danielpour: Songs Of Solitude & War Songs — Gary Call, engineer (Thomas Hampson, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony) Kleiberg: Mass For Modern Man — Morten Lindberg, engineer (Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Trondheim Vokalensemble & Trondheim Symphony Orchestra) Schoenberg, Adam: American Symphony; Finding Rothko; Picture Studies — Keith O. Johnson & Sean Royce Martin, engineers (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony) Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio — Mark Donahue, engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) -- WINNER Tyberg: Masses — John Newton, engineer; Jesse Brayman, mastering engineer (Brian A. Schmidt, Christopher Jacobson & South Dakota Chorale) Producer Of the Year, Classical: Blanton Alspaugh Manfred Eicher David Frost -- WINNER Morten Lindberg Judith Sherman CLASSICAL FIELD Best Orchestral Performance: Concertos For Orchestra — Louis Langrée, conductor (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra) Copland: Symphony No. 3; Three Latin American Sketches — Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Detroit Symphony Orchestra) Debussy: Images; Jeux & La Plus Que Lente — Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony) Mahler: Symphony No. 5 — Osmo Vänskä, conductor (Minnesota Orchestra) Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio — Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) -- WINNER Best Opera Recording: Berg: Lulu — Lothar Koenigs, conductor; Daniel Brenna, Marlis Petersen & Johan Reuter; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) Berg: Wozzeck — Hans Graf, conductor; Anne Schwanewilms & Roman Trekel; Hans Graf, producer (Houston Symphony; Chorus Of Students And Alumni, Shepherd School Of Music, Rice University & Houston Grand Opera Children’s Chorus) -- WINNER Bizet: Les Pêcheurs De Perles — Gianandrea Noseda, conductor; Diana Damrau, Mariusz Kwiecień, Matthew Polenzani & Nicolas Testé; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus) Handel: Ottone — George Petrou, conductor; Max Emanuel Cencic & Lauren Snouffer; Jacob Händel, producer (Il Pomo D’Oro) Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel — Valery Gergiev, conductor; Vladimir Feliauer, Aida Garifullina & Kira Loginova; Ilya Petrov, producer (Mariinsky Orchestra; Mariinsky Chorus) Best Choral Performance: Bryars: The Fifth Century — Donald Nally, conductor (PRISM Quartet; The Crossing) -- WINNER Handel: Messiah — Andrew Davis, conductor; Noel Edison, chorus master (Elizabeth DeShong, John Relyea, Andrew Staples & Erin Wall; Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Toronto Mendelssohn Choir) Mansurian: Requiem — Alexander Liebreich, conductor; Florian Helgath, chorus master (Anja Petersen & Andrew Redmond; Münchener Kammerorchester; RIAS Kammerchor) Music Of the Spheres — Nigel Short, conductor (Tenebrae) Tyberg: Masses — Brian A. Schmidt, conductor (Christopher Jacobson; South Dakota Chorale) Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: Buxtehude: Trio Sonatas, Op. 1 — Arcangelo Death & The Maiden — Patricia Kopatchinskaja & The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra -- WINNER Divine Theatre – Sacred Motets By Giaches De Wert — Stile Antico Franck, Kurtág, Previn & Schumann — Joyce Yang & Augustin Hadelich Martha Argerich & Friends – Live From Lugano 2016 — Martha Argerich & Various Artists Best Classical Instrumental Solo: Bach: The French Suites — Murray Perahia Haydn: Cello Concertos — Steven Isserlis; Florian Donderer, conductor (The Deutsch Kammerphilharmonie Bremen) Levina: The Piano Concertos — Maria Lettberg; Ariane Matiakh, conductor (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin) Shostakovich: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 — Frank Peter Zimmermann; Alan Gilbert, conductor (NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester) Transcendental — Daniil Trifonov -- WINNER Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: Bach & Telemann: Sacred Cantatas — Philippe Jaroussky; Petra Müllejans, conductor (Ann-Kathrin Brüggemann & Juan de la Rubia; Freiburger Barockorchester) Crazy Girl Crazy – Music By Gershwin, Berg & Berio — Barbara Hannigan (Orchestra Ludwig) -- WINNER Gods & Monsters — Nicholas Phan; Myra Huang, accompanist In War & Peace – Harmony Through Music — Joyce DiDonato; Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor (Il Pomo D’Oro) Sviridov: Russia Cast Adrift — Dmitri Hvorostovsky; Constantine Orbelian, conductor (St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra & Style Of Five Ensemble) Best Classical Compendium: Barbara — Alexandre Tharaud; Cécile Lenoir, producer Higdon: All Things Majestic, Viola Concerto & Oboe Concerto — Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer -- WINNER Kurtág: Complete Works For Ensemble & Choir — Reinbert de Leeuw, conductor; Guido Tichelman, producer Les Routes De L’Esclavage — Jordi Savall, conductor; Benjamin Bleton, producer Mademoiselle: Première Audience – Unknown Music Of Nadia Boulanger — Lucy Mauro; Lucy Mauro, producer Best Contemporary Classical Composition: Danielpour: Songs Of Solitude — Richard Danielpour, composer (Thomas Hampson, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony) Higdon: Viola Concerto — Jennifer Higdon, composer (Roberto Díaz, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony) -- WINNER Mansurian: Requiem — Tigran Mansurian, composer (Alexander Liebreich, Florian Helgath, RIAS Kammerchor & Münchener Kammerorchester) Schoenberg, Adam: Picture Studies — Adam Schoenberg, composer (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony) Zhou Tian: Concerto For Orchestra — Zhou Tian, composer (Louis Langrée & Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra) MUSIC VIDEO/FILM FIELD Best Music Video: "Up All Night" — Beck "Makeba" — Jain "The Story Of O.J." — Jay-Z "Humble." — Kendrick Lamar -- WINNER "1-800-273-8255" — Logic Featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid Best Music Film: One More Time With Feeling — Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Long Strange Trip — (The Grateful Dead) The Defiant Ones — (Various Artists) -- WINNER Soundbreaking — (Various Artists) Two Trains Runnin' — (Various Artists)

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