The Grammys usually suck.

Time and time again, some of the most incredible albums and songs of the year are consistently shafted in favor of the easily-digestible and unimpressive. This year is largely no exception.

But this is to be expected. And for music nerds, bitching about the Grammys is a begrudged annual pastime, like watching the Super Bowl every year and never liking either of the teams in the game. It’s almost always disappointing, yet somehow impossible to ignore.

One again, this year is no exception.

Should we talk about Katy Perry inexplicably receiving an Album of the Year nomination for the enjoyable, yet painfully formulaic Teenage Dream? Or maybe we can discuss Janelle Monae’s utterly brilliant The ArchAndroid being shut out of the Album of the Year category entirely? Or perhaps we could discuss the fact that evidently Grammy voters felt that 4 of the 5 songs nominated for Best Rap song should be made by Jay-Z and Eminem.

Does Erykah Badu get completely shut out of all of the R&B categories? Absolutely. Meanwhile, does Bruno Mars, the most boring new artist of the year, score a whopping 7 nominations? You betcha! Gil Scott-Heron’s haunting I’m New Here is totally ignored (no surprise there). But hey, at least they didn’t forget about Train!  

Of course, it’s not all bad. The Arcade Fire certainly deserves an Album of the Year nomination for The Suburbs, Lady Gaga probably deserved even more nominations than the 6 she has received for her blockbuster The Fame Monster album, And Eminem’s jaw-dropping 10 nominations gives a welcome climax to what is most definitely one of the most inspiring comeback stories popular music has seen in a long time.

Check out a partial list of the nominees below, and let us know what you think. Did the Grammys get it right this year?

From MTVNews.com:

Album of the Year
» Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
» Eminem – Recovery
» Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
» Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
» Katy Perry – Teenage Dream

Record of the Year
» B.o.B (featuring Bruno Mars) – “Nothin’ on You”
» Eminem (featuring Rihanna) – “Love the Way You Lie”
» Cee Lo Green – “F— You”
» Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
» Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”

Best New Artist
» Justin Bieber
» Drake
» Florence & the Machine
» Mumford & Sons
» Esperanza Spalding

Song of the Year
» Ray LaMontagne – “Beg Steal or Borrow”
» Cee Lo Green – “F— You”
» Miranda Lambert – “The House That Built Me”
» Eminem (featuring Rihanna) – “Love the Way You Lie”
» Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”

Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
» “Glee” cast – “Don’t Stop Believin’ (Regionals Version)”
» Maroon 5 – “Misery
» Paramore – “The Only Exception”
» Sade – “Babyfather”
» Train – “Hey, Soul Sister (Live)”

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
» B.o.B, Eminem and Hayley Williams – “Airplanes II”
» Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck and Oumou Sangare – “Imagine”
» Elton John & Leon Russell – “If It Wasn’t For Bad”
» Lady Gaga and Beyoncé – “Telephone”
» Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg – “California Gurls”

Best Dance Recording
» Goldfrapp – “Rocket”
» La Roux – “In For The Kill”
» Lady Gaga – “Dance in the Dark”
» Rihanna – “Only Girl (In the World)”
» Robyn – “Dancing on My Own”

Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
» Arcade Fire – “Ready to Start”
» Jeff Beck and Joss Stone – “I Put a Spell on You”
» The Black Keys – “Tighten Up”
» Kings of Leon – “Radioactive”
» Muse – “Resistance”

Best Hard Rock Performance
» Alice in Chains – “A Looking in View”
» Ozzy Osbourne – “Let Me Hear You Scream”
» Soundgarden – “Black Rain”
» Stone Temple Pilots – “Between the Lines”
» Them Crooked Vultures – “New Fang”

Best Rock Song
» Neil Young – “Angry World”
» Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man”
» Kings of Leon – “Radioactive”
» Muse – “Resistance”
» The Black Keys – “Tighten Up”

Best Alternative Music Album
» Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
» Band of Horses – Infinite Arms
» The Black Keys – Brothers
» Broken Bells – Broken Bells
» Vampire Weekend – Contra

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
» Chris Brown and Tank – “Take My Time”
» Chuck Brown, Jill Scott and Marcus Miller – “Love”
» Ronald Isley and Aretha Franklin – “You’ve Got a Friend”
» John Legend and the Roots – “Shine”
» Sade – “Soldier of Love”

Best Contemporary R&B Album
» Chris Brown – Graffiti
» R. Kelly – Untitled
» Ryan Leslie – Transition
» Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid
» Usher – Raymond v. Raymond

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
» B.o.B (featuring Bruno Mars) – “Nothin’ on You”
» Chris Brown, Tyga and Kevin McCall – “Deuces”
» Eminem and Rihanna – “Love the Way You Lie”
» Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
» John Legend, the Roots, Melanie Fiona and Common – “Wake Up! Everybody”

Best Rap Song
» Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
» Eminem and Rihanna – “Love the Way You Lie”
» Eminem – “Not Afraid”
» B.o.B (featuring Bruno Mars) – “Nothin’ on You”
» Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz – “On to the Next One”

Best Rap Album
» B.o.B – The Adventures of Bobby Ray
» Drake – Thank Me Later
» Eminem – Recovery
» Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3
» The Roots – How I Got Over

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals
» Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson – “Bad Angel”
» Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury and the Punch Brothers – “Pride (In the Name of Love)”
» Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson – “As She’s Walking Away”
» Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins – “Hillbilly Bone”
» Marty Stuart and Connie Smith – “I Run to You”

Best Country Song
» George Strait – “The Breath You Take”
» Zac Brown Band – “Free”
» Miranda Lambert – “The House That Built Me”
» Gretchen Wilson – “I’d Love To Be Your Last”
» The Band Perry – “If I Die Young”
» Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”

Best Country Album
» Dierks Bentley – Up on the Ridge
» Zac Brown Band – You Get What You Give
» Jamey Johnson – The Guitar Song
» Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
» Miranda Lambert – Revolution

Best Americana Album
» Rosanne Cash – The List
» Los Lobos – Tin Can Trust
» Willie Nelson – Country Music
» Robert Plant – Band of Joy
» Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone

Best Traditional Blues Album
» James Cotton – Giant
» Cyndi Lauper – Memphis Blues
» Charlie Musselwhite – The Well
» Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith – Joined at the Hip
» Jimmie Vaughan – Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites