More Than a Nod to the Ladies

Ever get the idea that the Grammy Awards balloting is as arbitrary as the spin of a roulette wheel?

How else do you explain how the nearly 10,000 National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences members can come up with such widely varying choices in back-to-back years?

In the prestigious best album category, for instance, we have seen in the last two years one Grammy win that was a thoroughly satisfying artistic payoff (Bob Dylan’s “Time Out of Mind” in 1997) and another that was a disastrous Double Zero in terms of credibility (Celine Dion’s “Falling Into You” in 1996).

In this year’s list of best album nominees, we have another satisfying payoff in Lauryn Hill’s thoughtful “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” and another Double Zero in Shania Twain’s undemanding “Come On Over.”

The good news is that most of the other album nominees turned out to be encouraging ones.

The historic news is that, for the first time, all the nominated albums are by women, if you include Garbage, a coed band fronted by singer-songwriter Shirley Manson. This is recognition of the fact that the creative and commercial emergence of women has been rivaled only by the growth of hip-hop as the most vital development in pop music in the ‘90s.

Though women frequently have been honored by the Grammys, they have never approached this year’s domination: nine of the 10 positions in the best album and best record categories.

In determining which women to honor, however, the Grammy voters gave us some good spins and some disappointing ones.

Madonna’s “Ray of Light” and Garbage’s “Version 2.0” are solidly crafted works. Neither, however, approaches the ambition and depth of Hill’s album, a classy mix of hip-hop and pop that speaks about social issues with the insight and grace of some of Stevie Wonder’s most memorable works.

This year’s final album nominee, Sheryl Crow’s “The Globe Sessions,” is by far the past Grammy winner’s most personal work, but it is distinguished only if measured against the shallowness of Twain’s album, a country-pop package with little of the convincing character of the best country or the sophistication and bite of the most distinguished pop.

In the Grammy’s other most celebrated category, for best record (which recognizes the artist and producer), Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” the melodramatic song from “Titanic,” and Twain’s “You’re Still the One,” an unimaginative slice of romantic devotion, are the weakest of choices.

The Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” is agreeable if lightweight pop-rock that wasn’t even the best cut on the “City of Angels” soundtrack album. (That honor belongs to Alanis Morissette’s mystical “Uninvited.”)

“The Boy Is Mine,” by teen stars Brandy and Monica, is a stylish piece of commercial pop, but its sights are too narrow to be declared the year’s finest work. That leaves Madonna’s techno-driven “Ray of Light” as the most stylish of the nominees. Overall, however, this is one of the weakest fields in memory.

The most discouraging thing about the best record nominees is the absence of hip-hop vitality in a year in which its creative role in the pop world continued to grow.

In the best new artist category, Double Zeros abound, starting with the featherweight Backstreet Boys and Natalie Imbruglia. Their nominations were all the more disappointing because so many quality artists were passed over by the voters, including singer-songwriters Elliott Smith, Rufus Wainwright and Lucinda Williams.

But justice should rule in the end because Lauryn Hill was nominated in this category, and she’s almost certain to win, edging out the Dixie Chicks country trio and classical singer Andrea Bocelli.

The Grammy arbitrariness is evident throughout the pop and rock categories, with an unusually conservative bunch of nominees in most areas. Some exceptions: nominations for Lauryn Hill’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (best female pop vocal), Madonna’s “Ray of Light” and Daft Punk’s “Around the World” (dance recording), Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited” (female rock vocal), the Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony” (performance by rock group and rock song), Pearl Jam’s “Do the Evolution” (hard rock performance) and Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” (rock album).

With the nominees in, the wheel begins spinning again. The final results will be announced Feb. 24. Cross your fingers.