How Did Babel beat El Camino?

[JustGuy89 Joined: Sep 27th, 2011 Topics: 33 Posts: 1859 View Predictions]

#1203559965

Was anyone else as shocked as I was the night Adele Announced “Babel” as the winners for Album of the Year? I remember watching the pre-telecast and The Black Keys we’re sweeping every category they were up for. They beat Mumford and Sons in every category the two bands were up against. I remember this forum went absolutely insane! I feel like that was the most surprising win of the last decade. As far as AOTY goes. What do you guys think contributed to Mumford and Sons upset? Also how would you rank the nominees that year and who do you think came in second and third, etc.

1. Babel – Mumford and Sons
2. El Camino – The Black Keys
3. Channel Orange – Frank Ocean
4. Blunderbuss – Jack White
5. Some Nights – fun.

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[janet. Joined: Dec 1st, 2019 Topics: 0 Posts: 3829 View Predictions]

#1203559967

Honey, the correct question is… How in the Jessica Simpson did Babel beat Channel Orange?

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[ELIAS Joined: Nov 29th, 2017 Topics: 12 Posts: 2315 View Predictions]

#1203559969

janet. wrote:

Honey, the correct question is… How in the Jessica Simpson did Babel beat Channel Orange?

Say it louder for the people in the back!!!!! Gucci your mind!

FYC:
AOTY: Fetch the Bolt Cutters or After Hours
ROTY & SOTY: Blinding Lights & Don’t Start Now
BNA: Megan Thee Stallion or Rina Sawayama
Rap Album: RTJ4
Pop Album: SAWAYAMA
Rock Album: The New Abnormal
R&B Performance: Do It

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[PoweR Joined: Sep 27th, 2011 Topics: 81 Posts: 8367 View Predictions]

#1203559982

Commercial success, familiarity and recency won. Babel was released right before cutoff.

Not really an upset.

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[arodfan Joined: Mar 25th, 2020 Topics: 2 Posts: 244 View Predictions]

#1203560069

El Camino and Channel Orange are both fantastic albums. They would’ve been my No.1 and No.2. First Channel Orange, then El Camino. Either one would have been a great choice. Since I’m picking Channel Orange, I’d give The Black Keys ROTY,  not only because “Lonely Boy” is a fantastic song, but also as a makeup award for missing out on the big one.

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[OJODIAMANTE Joined: Nov 6th, 2010 Topics: 21 Posts: 567 View Predictions]

#1203560123

PoweR wrote:

Commercial success, familiarity and recency won. Babel was released right before cutoff.

Not really an upset.

I agree.

But the question is How did Babel beat 3 rock/alternative acts without split the votes in favor of Channel Orange.

I love Mumford and Sons but “El Camino” must have won that night.

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[JustGuy89 Joined: Sep 27th, 2011 Topics: 33 Posts: 1859 View Predictions]

#1203560302

You can say comercial success all you want but El Camino had impact and success of its own. That album was huge.

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[Brayden Fitzsimmons Joined: May 3rd, 2015 Topics: 78 Posts: 4913 View Predictions]

#1203561153

The real question is how did Babel win AOTY when it lost its genre category.

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[Monsoon Joined: Jun 13th, 2020 Topics: 3 Posts: 253 View Predictions]

#1203562502

“Babel” feels like the safest album in this lineup. Its win isn’t that upsetting or surprising.

However, The Black Keys or Frank Ocean would’ve made a better winner.

Monsoon (Dir: Hong Khaou)
Henry Golding | Parker Sawyers
Coming Fall 2020

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[Emmyfan Joined: Nov 26th, 2010 Topics: 73 Posts: 4288 View Predictions]

#1203566646

Brayden Fitzsimmons wrote:

Mumford and Sons

Best Americana Album

Bonnie Raitt Slipstream – WINNER
The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter
John Fullbright – From the Ground Up
The Lumineers – The Lumineers
Mumford & Sons – Babel

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[Darren Joined: Feb 6th, 2017 Topics: 19 Posts: 6065 View Predictions]

#1203566983

Mumford & Sons’ first album was a sleeper smash and Babel was an instant blockbuster. They were huge in the early 2010s. It really wasn’t a surprise win at all.

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[Darren Joined: Feb 6th, 2017 Topics: 19 Posts: 6065 View Predictions]

#1203566989

Brayden Fitzsimmons wrote:

The real question is how did Babel win AOTY when it lost its genre category.

Well first of all, they lost Americana Album to an album that wasn’t nominated in AOTY, just like The Suburbs losing Alternative Album, so there’s the argument to be made that Bonnie Raitt (and the Black Keys 2 years earlier) could have been competitive for AOTY wins had they been nominated.

There’s also the possibility that people voting in the Americana categories felt that M&S didn’t belong there and should have been slotted in rock, and/or that they wanted to support an underdog instead of the commercial giants.

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[Darren Joined: Feb 6th, 2017 Topics: 19 Posts: 6065 View Predictions]

#1203567000

JustGuy89 wrote:

You can say comercial success all you want but El Camino had impact and success of its own. That album was huge.

Yes, but Babel was bigger. It also had a pop crossover hit unlike El Camino.

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[ScottyDog Joined: Nov 24th, 2011 Topics: 4 Posts: 385 View Predictions]

#1203567461

The album was huge at the time. People don’t love them now, but at the time they had a huge following and it was really more surprising that they lost their other categories. El Camino stood the test of time, but Babel was the favourite that year.

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[fortheculture Joined: Nov 12th, 2019 Topics: 0 Posts: 469 View Predictions]

#1203568606

The album that has the most support from alternative voters is often too alternative to do well in the GF. El Camino is poppy and accessible but not to the same extent as Babel. Babel competed in Alternative, but it got most of its support from top 40/pop voters who didn’t vote in the alternative category.

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