In a two-part special feature we look at the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, class of 2014. Below we assess this year’s candidates, their merits and contributions to rock and roll (or other genres). We offer some persepctive as well, trying to capture both sides of the debate, as we try to handicap the class of 2014.

It would be unfair to saddle Lorde with the tag of Pop Music Saviour, but one cannot help but feel that Pure Heroine just might be what Pop needs right now: a young, intelligent soul with a voice that is narcotically alluring but profound all the same.

Despite the oomph of Living Colour’s music and the overtly political nature of the majority of their songs, the Commodore Ballroom stage was lit with levity and passion.

After releasing the most innovative album of 2010, the question was not whether Janelle Monáe could outdo herself. The real question was how she would do it. The Electric Lady is her funk-fortified answer. Featuring appearances by Prince, Eryka Badu and Miguel, Monáe does not rest on her laurels or hide behind the coattails of her co-conspirators. This bold, exhilarating album offers the Full Monáe: soulful, sassy, cryptic and revealing all at once.

Etta James accomplished so much more than her early goal of becoming “a raunchy blues singer”, and it’s more than ironic, though a testament to her vocal powers, that she is most famous for a song that is anything but raunchy: her 1960 recording of “At Last” has become a wedding standard.

The year culminates in Anthony Hamilton’s show-stopping album ‘Back To Love’, a remarkable collection of new material that shouts “classic” with every cut and brings to mind the best of 70s Stax, the thick, emotional and affecting drumming on every Al Green record, as well as melodies that are going to cut your heart open.