December 31 2016-January 7 2017 billboard.com

T H E 5 9 T H A N N U A L
G R A M M Y A W A R D S
Rock
Re-formed emo titans, art-rock veterans and one alt-rock heroine represent, alongside a legend’s aching meditation on his own death
Cage the Elephant
frontman Shultz flung
himself into the crowd
at The Meadows Music
& Arts Festival in
Queens in October.
BEST ROCK ALBUM
California
BLINK-182
Label BMG
Seventeen years after its top 10 Billboard
Hot 100 hit “All the Small Things,” Blink-182
has landed its first Grammy nomination,
thanks to the career-reviving California. For
longtime members Mark Hoppus and Travis
Barker, it must be welcome vindication
following the band’s messy breakup with
founding member Tom DeLonge after years
of disagreements over his side projects.
California was recorded with Alkaline
Trio’s Matt Skiba in DeLonge’s place, and
the newish lineup — Skiba had filled in for
DeLonge at a series of concerts in 2015 — was
embraced by fans. Upon its July release, the
album knocked Drake’s Views out of the top
spot on the Billboard 200 (after nine weeks at
No. 1), and “Bored to Death,” a heated vocal
trade-off between Hoppus and Skiba, topped
the Alternative chart.
Tell Me I’m Pretty
CAGE THE ELEPHANT
Label RCA Records
The Kentucky rockers, who were last
nominated in the best alternative music
album category for 2013’s Melophobia,
enlisted Black Keys frontman and
prolific producer Dan Auerbach to steer
the recording of their fourth LP, which
was released in December 2015. His
influence is apparent on the first single
from Tell Me I’m Pretty, “Mess Around,”
which could almost be a latter-day Black
Keys tune, but he also pushed the band
toward a more mature sound with layered
psychedelic textures that retained Cage
the Elephant’s alternative-radio-friendly
hooks. Combined with frontman Matt
Shultz’s emotionally charged — and
semi-autobiographical — lyrics, the band
continued its dominance of the Alternative
chart, scoring its sixth and seventh No. 1s
with “Mess Around” and the album’s
second single, “Trouble.”
Magma
GOJIRA
Label Roadrunner Records
Gojira — the Japanese word for Godzilla,
which was initially this French quartet’s
name — had moved to New York and was
in the process of recording Magma when
Joe and Mario Duplantier (the band’s
frontman and drummer, respectively)
lost their mother to a sudden illness.
When the group returned to the studio
after a hiatus, finishing Magma became
its therapy. The album’s songs reflect the
Duplantiers’ pain and anger; the band
minimized its progressive tendencies,
producing tighter, hookier songs like
“Stranded” and “Silvera,” without
sacrificing its signature grit. The result
brought Gojira its first No. 1 on the
Hard Rock Albums chart and the most
unexpected nomination in this category.
“Silvera” also got a nod for best metal
performance.
Death of a Bachelor
PANIC AT THE DISCO
Label DCD2/Fueled by Ramen
The Las Vegas natives pulled an awardsshow
shocker in 2006, closing out the MTV
Video Music Awards with an unexpected
video of the year win for “I Write Sins
Not Tragedies.” Eleven years later — and
with lead singer Brendon Urie its only
remaining original member — the band
has found renewed success with 2016’s
Death of a Bachelor and, now, its first
major Grammy nomination. (It was up
for best boxed or special limited-edition
package in 2009.) Mixing Urie’s crooning
with arena rock bombast, Panic’s fifth
studio album served as a showcase for the
charismatic frontman, debuting at No. 1 on
the Billboard 200.
Weezer
WEEZER
Label Crush Music/Atlantic
For Weezer’s “White” album (the altrock
band’s four self-titled releases
are referred to by the colors of their
covers), frontman Rivers Cuomo found
songwriting inspiration through platonic
encounters he had using the Tinder app.
(The married rocker reportedly explained
in his profile that he was looking for new
experiences, not to hook up.) The result is
arguably Weezer’s strongest album since
1996’s Pinkerton — a loose boy-meets-
TAYLOR HILL/GETTY IMAGES
36 BILLBOARD | DECEMBER 31, 2016