POP MUSIC : There’s Art and Then There’s Money : In terms of who <i> deserves </i> to win, only one artist is a clear, compelling choice in this year’s Grammy Awards: Sinead O’Connor

This is both the easiest year and the most difficult year in memory to decide who deserves the two main Grammy Awards in Wednesday’s nationally televised ceremonies.

It’s easy because only one nominee this year deserves to win in one of the two categories--best single record. It’s difficult because none of the nominees deserves the award in the other--best album.

Sinead O’Connor’s supremely affecting “Nothing Compares 2 U” isn’t just the best of the five nominated records, but also the most compelling single in all of 1990.

Now the hard part.

It’s not unusual most years to disagree with the final choice in the album category, but you can usually take solace in the fact that one or two noteworthy albums were at least nominated.

Not so this time, with albums by Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, M.C. Hammer, Quincy Jones and Wilson Phillips. None of the nominees was distinguished enough to make the Top 50-best list in Q magazine, a respected British pop monthly.

Q isn’t some radical journal. Its tastes are as mainstream as, say, Rolling Stone magazine in this country. Among the artists whose works were on the publication’s 50-best list: Clint Black, Depeche Mode, George Michael, the Traveling Wilburys and Paul Simon (whose “The Rhythm of the Saints” was released too late in 1990 to be eligible for this Grammy competition round).

Just as commercial pop often won over creative art in the voting to determine these nominees, sales will again reflect who’ll win the final award. Here’s a look at who deserves to win--artistically.

Record of the year: Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise” is a timely statement about social indifference in the homeless age, with a lush, undisturbing arrangement that may be meant as irony. But it ends up merely toothless. Mariah Carey’s “Vision of Love” is a vampy, R&B-tinged; expression of commitment and faith that doesn’t quite reveal enough to justify its melodramatic design.

M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” is certainly built around a catchy groove, but it was just as catchy when Rick James laid down the model 10 years ago on “Super Freak.” Julie Gold’s song “From a Distance” has an evocative edge, especially in a time of war. But Bette Midler’s recording is too pedestrian and sweet.

Sinead O’Connor’s version of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” is a classic expression of romantic longing and pain that carries the honest, soulful tone that is at the heart of creative art. It deserves to win.

Album of the Year

Ideally, this award should go to the album that best reflected the most important creative impulses of pop music during the year, or the album that most pushed pop in a valuable new direction. None of these albums can make that claim.

For newcomers Carey and Wilson Phillips even to be in this category underscores the commercial bias of National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences voters. Carey has a great voice, but her interpretations tend to be superficial at this early stage in her career. There’s some simple, ABBA-ish pop delight in Wilson Phillips’ music, but it’s even more superficial than Carey’s.

Similarly, it’s stretching credibility to talk about Hammer in terms of any award other the American Music Awards--unless you are speaking about video and choreography. Collins’ conservative album is right in step with the elegant professionalism of contemporary pop, but not its creative heart.

That leaves Quincy Jones as the only alternative. His “Back on the Block” is a survey of black-music influences in pop--from rap to jazz--rather than a door to the future. Still, it is by far the most stylish and ambitious collection here. The best album of the year, however? No way.

New Artist

There have been so many embarrassing choices in this category over the years that it’s a wonder the recording academy hasn’t done away with it altogether. No one even seems sure what it is supposed to measure. Is it meant to honor the best work by a new artist? Or is it supposed to predict future contribution? By either measure, I’d go for the Black Crowes. The Southern rock band is awfully derivative, but it has a good sense of rock hooks and it carries itself with authority.

Song of the year: O’Connor’s show-stopping vocal on “Nothing Compares 2 U” was so convincing that it may have made the old Prince song sound better than it is, but the bittersweet song has far more of a personal edge than its rivals.

Pop male: Roy Orbison lost to Louis Armstrong’s “Hello Dolly” the first time around with “Oh Pretty Woman” in 1964, but the late rock star’s only real competition this time comes from Rod Stewart, and “Downtown Train” is no “Maggie May.”

Pop female: Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Nothing else is even close.

Pop duo/group: Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville’s rendition of “All My Life” isn’t as arresting as their Grammy-winning version of “Don’t Know Much” last year. Still, there’s magic in the vocal pairing.

Rock male: Neil Young has been one of the most influential figures in rock for more than two decades, but that’s not the only reason to award him his first Grammy. His singing on “Rockin’ in the Free World” offers a raw urgency and vision that helps define the best rock singing.

Rock female: Pass. (The recording academy needs to rethink rules that now exclude such captivating female singers as Chrissie Hynde and Johnette Napolitano because they are lead singers of groups. If you didn’t change a note on Concrete Blonde’s recording of “Joey” but changed the credits to read Napolitano rather than Concrete Blonde, Napolitano would be eligible here--giving us at least one worthy nominee.)

Rock duo/group: Aerosmith’s “Janie’s Got a Gun” combines substance (the agony of child abuse) with a blistering musical and vocal performance.

Hard rock: Good race between Faith No More’s “Epic” single and Jane’s Addiction’s album “Ritual de lo Habitual.” The choice: “Epic,” a modern “Satisfaction,” all the more impressive because the rap ‘n’ metal exercise draws on so many pop subcultures.

Metal: Long overshadowed by the bolder metal ‘n’ message stance of Metallica, Anthrax, in “Persistence of Time,” came up with a thoughtful, tenacious album that makes it a rival of rather than just a footnote to Metallica. Runner-up: Suicidal Tendencies’ “Lights . . . Camera . . . Revolution.”

Alternative: O’Connor’s “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” was mainstream enough to reach No. 1 on the pop charts, so it’s odd to see it nominated in this category. Still, it deserves to win, edging out the Replacements’ equally confessional “All Shook Down.”

R&B; female: Anita Baker (the “Compositions” album) is the choice over Janet Jackson (the “Alright” single).

R&B; male: Luther Vandross has never won a Grammy, so it’s hard to pass him by on something as satisfying as “Here and Now,” but young Tevin Campbell turned in one of the best teen-age vocals since Frankie Lymon and Michael Jackson on “Round and Round.” The choice: Campbell.

R&B; duo/group: Ray Charles and Chaka Khan compose a classy duo, but the inspired vocal exchange on Was (Not Was)’s version of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” was more memorable.

R&B; song: It’s hard to separate the sizzling production from the song, but “Alright” seems to be the best choice in a weak field. The writers: Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Rap solo: Hail to the Queen, Latifah.

Rap duo/group: Digital Underground’s “The Humpty Dance” was lively and the West Coast Rap All-Stars’ “We’re All in the Same Gang” offered a welcome anti-gang message, but Public Enemy’s “Fear of a Black Planet” was another landmark collection from rap’s premier group.

Country female: Carlene Carter’s freshness on the “I Fell in Love” album stands out in an otherwise conventional group of vocals.

Country male: Garth Brooks, who’ll probably dedicate his Grammy to all his friends in low places.

Country duo/group: The Judds continue to be the class of the field.

Country collaboration: The Highwaymen--Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson--are part of country history, but their nominated album was largely a disjointed affair. Randy Travis and George Jones deserve the Grammy for their duet on “A Few Ole Country Boys.”

Country song: Heads, it’s DeWayne Blackwell and Earl Bud Lee’s rowdy “Friends in Low Places” from Garth Brooks’ “No Fences” album. Tails, it’s Tony Arata’s tender “The Dance” from Brooks’ debut album. Tails it is.