Mercury; Reprise; CapitolThe Polaris Music Prize, established in 2006, annually honors albums by Canadian artists based on artistic merit rather than sales. But what about all those great Canadian albums that came out before the Polaris Music Prize existed? Well, those records also get some love, courtesy of the Polaris Heritage Prize.
The Heritage award, which was first presented last year, is for albums that would likely have been nominated for the Polaris Prize had it been around in those days. Ten albums are nominated in each of four time periods: 1960-1975, 1976-1985, 1986-1995 and 1996-2005. This year’s nominees acclaimed records by Rush, Neil Young, The Band and Joni Mitchell.
Rush’s 1981 release Moving Pictures is vying for the award in the 1976-1985 time period, while albums nominated in the 1960-1975 period include Young’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and After the Gold Rush, The Band’s self-titled effort and Music from Big Pink, and Mitchell’s Court and Spark.
Other Canadian artists with albums nominated for the Polar Heritage Prize in the various time periods include Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn, Sarah McLachlan, Gordon Lightfoot, Alanis Morissette and Daniel Lanois.
Two albums in each time period will win: one voted by fans, the other by critics. You can vote now at PolarisPrize.ca, and winners will be announced October 24.
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