Grammy voting members who are scrambling to render their choices by the close of first-round voting on Thursday (Oct. 22) may be searching for certain albums on the ballot. They may look for Paul McCartney’s well-received The Boys of Dungeon Place under best pop vocal album. No, not there. Maybe best rock album? No, not there either. Actually, the album is entered in best traditional pop vocal album.
McCartney won in that category in 2013 with Kisses on the Bottom, a collection of traditional pop and jazz songs such as “It’s Only a Paper Moon” and “The Glory of Love.” He wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the new album.
Music doesn’t always neatly fit into boxes, but since awards are built around categories, the Recording Academy strives to determine the category where something fits best, even if sometimes imperfectly. That’s why it convenes a large screening committee each fall, which has the final say in close calls.
Albums may be entered in only one genre album category, though tracks from the album may be entered in other categories. Here are eight borderline cases that appear on this year’s ballot. We tell you the category the album was entered in and share where the artist’s albums were nominated in the past. First-round Grammy voting, which determines the nominations in 95 of the 100 categories, closes on Thursday (Oct. 22) at 6 p.m. PT. The final nominations will be announced on Nov. 16. The awards will be presented on Feb. 7 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.