9 Times The Grammy Awards Chose Its Metal Poorly
8. 1991: Metallica- Stone Cold Crazy
After snubbing Metallica in 1989, the Recording Academy seemed hellbent on making up for their mistake by giving them the statue three years in a row. While their wins for “One” in 1990 and “Metallica” in 1992 are arguably deserved, Metallica’s 1991 win for their cover of Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy” is hard to swallow.
Theirs is definitely a great rendition of a classic song by a band that didn’t receive their due critically in their time, but what makes this one painful is reflecting on the other nominees.
Anthrax’s “Persistence of Time,” Judas Priest’s “Painkiller,” Megadeth’s “Rust in Peace” and Suicidal Tendencies “Lights... Camera... Revolution,” all full-length releases of mostly original material, each considered to be a seminal release in each respective artist's catalog, allegedly fell short in their contest against a two-minute-and-seventeen-second long cover song.
The Jethro Tull thing was bad but in hindsight, this wasn’t much better, especially when you factor in other active artists who weren’t even nominated that year (e.g. Testament, Queensryche, Pantera, Slayer, etc).