BEST ROCK SONG“Fear Inoculum”TOOLSONGWJustin Chancellor, Adam Jones, RITERS Danny Carey,
Maynard James KeenanMgiants would never again release another album after 2006’s Daysquashed when Tool delivered its fifth any feared that the prog-metal , but those fears were finally 10,000
studio LP, Already renowned for its sprawling epics, the band chose the eclectic 10-minute title track — equal parts sinewy and spellbinding — as the lead single. The move could have sunk Fear Inoculum, on Aug. 30.
many groups, but it propelled the enigmatic quartet to surprising com-mercial success: Wchoosing to play the complete version, ith many stations
“Fear Inoculum” has spent 15 weeks (and counting) on MSongs, peaking at No. 2, becoming the longest song to reach the Hot 100 — and the first track over 10 minutes — in the chart’s 60-year history.ainstream Rock
“Give Yourself a Try”THE 1975SONGWHann, Matthew Healy, Ross MacDonaldFresh off a rehab stint in Barba-dos, The 1975’s magnetic frontman RITERS George Daniel, Adam
Minstantly quotable post-punk ode to approaching the end of one’s 20s. “I found a grey hair in one of my zoots/Like context in a modern debate, I just took it out,” quips the newly atty Healy penned this irresistible,
minted 30-year-old on this lead single off the quartet’s third LP, Inquiry Into Online RelationshipsA Brief.“Give Yourself a Try” marks the Mchester, England, band’s first Grammy nom in the rock categories (having previously been nominated for album packaging in 2017 for You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful I Like It When an-
Yet So Unaware of Itlengthy résumé of international acco-lades, including three BRIT Award victories, and Meach of its last two studio albums.ercury Prize noms for ), though it has a
“Harmony Hall”VAMPIRE WSONGWThe Ezra Koenig-led indie rock band awoke from a lengthy slumber and released “Harmony Hall” in Janu-RITEREEKEND Ezra Koenig
ary, marking its first new music since 2013’s Grammy-winning LP, Vampires of the Citypost-modern hip-hop textures gave. That album’s Modernway to earthier, rock-centric vibes on this comeback single: Finger-picked acoustic guitar, Rolling Stones-inspired barroom piano and the loose, jangly hooks of the Grateful Dead all combined to make this a well-
received entry into the group’s cata-log. Radio quickly warmed to the new direction, with “Harmony Hall” peak-ing at No. 8 on Alternative and topping Triple A No. 1 at the latter format. (Subsequent — Vampire Weekend’s first
single “This Life” also reached the summit four months later.)“History Repeats”BRITTANY HOWSONGWRITER Brittany HowardARD
Long a Grammy favorite with her blues-rock quartet Alabama Shakes, show-stopping frontwoman Brittany Howard earns her first pair of solo noms this year behind her self-produced debut solo album, Jaime.
(“History Repeats” is also up for best rock performance.) On the acclaimed LP’s opening track, the Alabama native channels the vocal prowess of Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo, straddling her voice’s upper and lower registers
over a swarm of funky guitar licks. Wthree Grammys to her name; the band earned three of them behind its 2015 LP, also nominated for album of the year. ith Alabama Shakes, Howard has Sound & Color, which was
Wlooking for her first Grammys as a solo artist, as well.“This Land”GARY CLARK JR.ith “History Repeats,” she’s now
SONGWThe virtuoso blues-rocker’s first new song since 2015 takes aim at the racism ingrained in American society, and which has been increas-ingly normalized since the 2016 RITER Gary Clark Jr.
presidential election. “Fuck you, I’m America’s son/This is where I come from,” snarls a defiant Clark on the song’s blistering chorus. “This Land” is also keenly aware of the past: Its refrain quotes Woody Guthrie’s folk
standard “This Land Is Your Land,” and its powerful video depicts black youth growing up in the shadow of lynchings and Confederate flags.Howard at L’Alhambra in Paris on Sept. 4.
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