Metallica’s The Unforgiven III nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance  

The nominations for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards were announced on Tuesday, 2 December with Metallica’s  The Unforgiven III appearing in the Best Hard Rock Performance category. The song, from the legendary hard rock group’s ninth album Death Magnetic , was nominated along with AC/DC’s ‘War Machine’, Alice in Chains’ ‘Check My Brain’, Linkin Park’s ‘What I’ve Done’ and Nickelback’s ‘Burn It To The Ground’.  

The original song about a young boy who grows up to abandon his determination to be himself in a world that won’t let him be, has seen two sequel versions by the metal group, with the latest version going back to Metallica’s trademark ‘slowing tempo, chugging guitars and piston-powered drums’* 

The band commented that it was an honour to be included in the category with Alice In Chains, AC/DC, Linkin Park and Nickelback. The show will be broadcast live on January 31 2010 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.  

Among the controversies surrounding the nominations, was that Megadeath were nominated in the Metal category with Metallica in the Hard Rock. While die hard fans will disagree, the general population wonders whether separating the two categories is just a way to make more room for rock artists in what is otherwise family appropriate music. 

* Rolling Stone review of Death Magnetic.