47th Annual Grammy Awards. The Review

I give you my review of the 47th annual Grammy awards.

Over it was good, but not great. Some awesome performances, others that almost seemed a disgrace. But lets take a deep look into all of it.

The first act, was more of a show than anything musical. Gwen Stefani and Eve, was more of nasal singing with a bunch of dancing to distract you from the flaws of their music. They did not sound very good, and come on people! A woman does not have to dress with so little to be a musician/ singer.

The Los Lonely Boys did a fair job. They sounded like they knew what they were doing, with that light almost clean rock sound. I can't say I understand their spanish, but they had a nice sound and were musically in the right spot. Maroon 5 on the other hand was almost there, the nasal quality of the singers voice was hard to listen to, but I think that is what they were trying to do. The music behind the singer was very supportive and well written. Franz Ferdinand played some nice guitar, vocals were in sync (mostly) and overall not bad. Sounded like a punk band trying to play some rock.

Black Eyed Peas was all over the play in the previous acts and seemed to be screaming the lyrics more than singing. And when they all, these first performers, came together for the last bit of that first act. They somehow didn't sound to bad.

Now, I'm not going to focus much on the announcers and awards, but on the music-that’s what its all about. Those who got the life time achievement awards did deserve it.

Alicia Keys sat down at the piano and played a beautiful song, it was all there musically speaking and the vocals were outstanding-she can sing, and I think she's in the right genre and style, though with her range she could probably play many other styles. The accompaniment was practically perfect with a few missed notes and rhythm errs.

Quincy Jones and Jamie Fox came out then. Quincy did a great job, while Jamie was on beat and on the right notes for short time, but soon lost it. I could barely notice it, but something was wrong. The tribute they gave to Ray Charles, though was still a great thing.

By the way, anyone who wants to get me a shirt like the one Quincy wore, go for it. Lol. Ray Charles was a great musician, and I'd be honored to were a shirt in tribute to him.

U2 was up next, and honestly I can barely still consider them Rock. But the song they sang here was very mellow and not bad, but at points it seemed he mumbled the song and then it picked up. Like I said it wasn't bad, probably one of the better acts of the night. They know music well enough to do it right, and even though it sounded a little off, I know they purposefully did it.

Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony did an interesting performance that was more of a soap opera than a concert. If you want to be a singer, then sing. Don't turn it into a soap opera. I couldn't understand the words, but I didn't need to. The tones and vocals were nothing grand, but more to the level you would expect in a High School performance. Mark Anthony was slightly better.

Next up, you had the best performance, the best music of the night. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gretchin Wilson, Keith Urban, Tim Mcgraw, Dicky Bettes, Elvin Bishop.

Free Bird was done really well, Gretchin was a little off, but she still did alright.

Fooled Around and Fell in love was done well, too.

Keith Urban almost had than song nailed. He had the vocals pat. Bishop rocked the guitar, but that was expected.

Dicky Bettes on Ramblin' Man was started well, but Tim Mcgraw's accent seemed to get in the way.But together they made the song work quite well. Dicky Bettes jammed on the guitar and you could hear the audience get into these songs unlike any of the other performances.

The the music was turned up as Skynyrd got Sweet Home Alabama going and going strong. And everyone joined in and it was simply amazing and the audience, by the sound, was on their feet. Later video foottage indicated tat as well. This whole set rocked the audience and they didn't see it coming. They didn't need any antics, just solid music to win the crowd.

Ronnie Vanzant would have been proud, I think. So would Steve Gaines, Allen Collins, and Leon Wilkenson.

Queen Latifah did a far job on her song. It was kind of a smooth jazz piece and yet I could hear a tatter of the blues and soon picked up into a ful jazz piece. I must say it was well done. A nice sound to hear these days.

Green Day came on strong with their hard rock style that was almost enough to go B-flat punk. They actually have the punk look, but also the hard rock look. The music was rather good, a little high strung, But good. There were a few audio glitches in their set, but nothing serious.

Next they had a tribute to Gospel music. Kanye West and the Blind Boys of Alabama came on for this. And while its nice that Gospel was given a spot in the show, it was more a show than what Gospel is really about. The words we pretty much in the right space. West's approach was rather extreme and just didn't seem right, not that I have anything against rap. But I thought I heard some language that doesn't belong in gospel. The Blind boys were more traditional and had a great sound.

Next we had Josh Stone and Melissa Ethridge doing a tribute to Janis Joplin. It was a good performance they did a great job and the vocals and music were darn good. The passion that Joplin had seemed to sprout again in these two.

Ethridge seemed to be just a bit better at the Joplin style. But both did a good job.

Tim Mcgraw was next and did a great job, he has a strong vocal pattern and is able to get the band to follow in line behind him just right. He broke at some notes, but he did a lot that night. Off and one and that could wear the vocals. But I must say he did a really good job of his song Live Like You Were Dying.

John Mayer was up next and did a fair job, their vocals seemed to lacked a little but the music was well played. It was a very simple and laid back, smooth song.

Next several artists came to sing the Beatles' Across the Universe. They seemed to tart out just find, but it seemed they soon lost it. Alicia Keys, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Steven Tyler, and Allison Krauss knew it well and stayed strong all the way through, but the others seemed lost at points. Still, the idea behind to raise money for the Tsunami victims was well worth the effort.

Usher came on and put on a show with all the slick dance moves and some slight pop singing that could have been better. Too many fancy antics for a musician, but hey- to each his own. James Brown came in and did his thing and he's still got it.

And finally a tribute to Ray Charles. Bonnie Raitt did some nice singing and guitar playing on 'Do I Ever Cross Your Mind' It was a beautifully played song and a great tribute to the Late great Ray Charles.

That was the last performance of the evening. Do You agree with me or Disagree? Let me know, comments are always welcom