The nominations for the 2009 Grammys were just announced, and there are some surprising choices for the more rock-based stuff. Let’s check it out:

Best Hard Rock Performance:

DISTURBED – “Inside The Fire”
JUDAS PRIEST – “Visions”
THE MARS VOLTA – “Wax Simulacra”
MÖTLEY CRÜE – “Saints Of Los Angeles”
ROB ZOMBIE – “Lords Of Salem”

Hmm… Cool to see The Mars Volta nominated, but I’m not sure who’s gonna win out of this lot. Probably Disturbed. Are Motley Crue cool enough to actually win a Grammy in 2009?

Best Metal Performance:

DRAGONFORCE – “Heroes Of Our Time”
JUDAS PRIEST – “Nostradamus”
METALLICA – “My Apocalypse”
MINISTRY – “Under My Thumb”
SLIPKNOT – “Psychosocial”

Pfft. Everyone knows the best metal performance this year has been Testament on “More Than Meets The Eye.” Looks like someone’s desperately pushing for Judas Priest to do well this year. NEXT!

Best Rock Instrumental Performance:

DAVID GILMOUR – Castellorizon
METALLICA – Suicide & Redemption
NINE INCH NAILS – 34 Ghosts I-IV
RUSH – Hope (Live For The Art Of Peace)
ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA – Peaches En Regalia

YES! YES! Zappa FTW! I can imagine the Grammy going to Gilmour instead as a kind of lateral tribute to late Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright, but if ZPZ win for Peaches I’m going to be so freaking happy. By the way, Steve Vai plays on this version, thereby continuing the Grammy tradition of nominating Steve in this category every year since 1832.

Best Rock Album:

COLDPLAY – Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
KID ROCK – Rock N Roll Jesus
KINGS OF LEON – Only By The Night
METALLICA – Death Magnetic
THE RACONTEURS – Consolers Of The Lonely

I think this one will go to Kings Of Leon, who seem unable to do any wrong at the moment. Death Magnetic was a lot of things to a lot of people, but it’s well and truly metal, and Grammy voters, a great deal of whom work behind the scenes, might use their vote to send a message to Metallica that the mix of Death Magnetic was not, y’know, commercially acceptable. Anyway, Extreme’s Saudades De Rock should have been nominated.

Album Of The Year
COLDPLAY – Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
LIL WAYNE – Tha Carter III
NE-YO – Year Of The Gentleman
ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS – Raising Sand
RADIOHEAD – In Rainbows

I think/hope/wish Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will win this one. Raising Sand is a great album and it’d totally rule to see it take out Album of the Year, even though it’d probably encourage Plant further along his current musical path, and further away from a full-blown Led Zeppelin reunion tour.

More on the Grammys at the Chicago Sun Times.