2013 Grammy Awards: First Look at Album of the Year

After last year's pop onslaught in the Album of the Year race, I hope that this year the Recording Academy is a little more diverse in its selections, and just from looking at the long list below, this is definitely a possibility.

Contenders
Frank Ocean "Channel Orange"
Mumford & Sons "Babel"
Drake "Take Care"
Bonnie Raitt "Slipstream"
Rihanna "Talk That Talk"
Black Keys "El Camino"
Florence and the Machine "Ceremonials"
P!nk "The Truth About Love"
Jack White "Blunderbluss"
Maroon 5 "Overexposed"
Dave Matthews Band "Away From the World"
Lionel Richie "Tuskegee"
Carrie Underwood "Blown Away"
Miranda Lambert "Four the Record"
Rick Ross "God Forgive's, I Don't"
Nas "Life is Good"
Bruce Springsteen "Wrecking Ball"
Esperanza Spalding "Radio Music Society"
Nicki Minaj "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded"
John Mayer "Born and Raised"
Justin Bieber "Believe"
Norah Jones "Little Broken Hearts"
Paul McCarthy "Kisses on the Bottom"
Madonna "MDNA"
Coldplay "Mylo Xyloto"
Fun "Some Nights"
Bob Dylan "Tempest"
Green Day "Uno"
Zac Brown Band "Uncaged"
Gotye "Making Mirrors"

Commentary - While the Grammys will probably lack the star power of Adele this year, there are still some popular and quality choices across various genres. On the rap side, I wish that Rick Ross' latest effort got some recognition, although if one of them makes the cut its going to be Drake for his hit album Take Care. Also look out for Nas and Nicki Minaj, both of whom may be hurting due to mixed reviews. On the Country side, there really isn't much to talk about. While Zac Brown Band's, Miranda Lambert's, and Carrie Underwood's efforts were all good, none of them were powerhouses. Rock has some excellent choices including Green Day, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Dave Matthews Band, Bruce Springsteen, Jack White and Bob Dylan who are all Grammy favorites, but I'm a little more inclined towards Black Keys and Mumford & Sons as better possibilties due to their albums successes. R&B basically has one great entry in Frank Ocean, who will probably rack up on Grammy nods. The ever-expanding pop field also has some big names including a nominee last year Rihanna, P!nk (who should finally get a nod in my opinion), Madonna, Norah Jones, Fun, Florence and the Machine, Maroon 5, and John Mayer. But I think that many of these will be tossed out for some old Grammy favorites especially the always fantastic Bonnie Raitt, and the newly minted country star Lionel Ritchie. At the moment here are my predictions

Album of the Year October Predictions
Drake "Take Care"
Frank Ocean "Channel Orange"
Mumford & Sons "Babel"
Bonnie Raitt "Slipstream"
Rihanna "Talk that Talk"