Grammys decide to nominate an EP as an Album?

Not that I care too much about award shows but I found this a bit odd.

From here:


Best Alternative Music Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)

Fight Test
The Flaming Lips
[Warner Bros. Records]

Hail To The Thief
Radiohead
[Capitol Records]

Untitled
Sigur Rós
[Fat Cat/MCA Records]

Elephant
The White Stripes
[V2/ThirdMan Records]

Fever To Tell
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
[Interscope Records]


Now I own the first 3 CDs listed and can not understand how Fight Test - The Flaming Lips is considered an “Album”. Was the Alternative Album category that scarce that they needed to fill the ballot?

I am not saying anything bad about the EP (hey I like it) but the CD consists of two (2) songs off their Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots album (one which is remixed), three (3) cover song (Kylie Monogue, Radiohead and Beck) and only two (2) new/original songs. The CD is marketed and sold as an EP.

Has this been done before? For some reason it seems like a waste of a nomination. There had to be at least one other album out there that could have been nominated instead.

It seems that the Flaming Lips Official Website is a bit confused as well. Is the “Hail to the Lips” remark an endorsement to Radiohead? Or perhaps a playful jab a the irony that Radiohead might lose out to their own song (Knives Out -Amnesiac)? Hmmm?

Here is the link:

I don’t see any reason cover songs should count against an album. Historically, most albums are entirely covers of one sort or another. Re-releases from other albums are a bit much though.

But it is an EP not an album. 5 out of the 7 songs were previously released (3 covers and 2 from last album).

So you are saying there are very few original songs anymore? You might be getting a bit too deep.

To me a “cover” is a song originally recorded and released by a band/singer and then re-recorded and released (or just performed) by another band/singer.

The songs they covered were all recorded within the last two years. Not much of a difference than re-releasing their own songs. IIRC, the covers were recorded during live radio sessions.