From AwardAnnals
Results of the Grammy Award in the year 2005. For a ranked list of albums, try an honor roll:
Bloom
Eric Johnson
Texas guitar prodigy Eric Johnson returns to recording after a near-decade absence with a lush, typically restrained collection that eschews flash for fluid cool. Arranging the album’s 16 songs into a musical triptych whose sections are labeled “Prelude,” “Courante” and “Allemande,” Johnson aims at creating a landscape of shifting moods that’s as subtle as it is mature. The guitarist’s trademark lyrical style is immediately showcased on the title track, “Summer Jam” and the stately fallen astronaut tribute, “Columbia.” The first section is also energized by the…
Belladonna
Daniel Lanois
For years, Daniel Lanois has been producing lush soundscapes for his own projects as well as those he’s produced. From U2’s
The Unforgettable Fire to Emmylou Harris’s
Wrecking Ball, Lanois’s distinct floating-in-the-clouds sound is instantly recognizable to even the most casual listener. Direct comparisons to master producer Brian Eno are not just obvious, they are inevitable; Lanois admits to being Eno’s apprentice through the ambient master’s instrumental projects in the ‘80s and ‘90s. After making a few singer/songwriter discs, Lanois says he…
