Despite the National Academy of Recording Arts and Science's continued efforts to make the Grammy Awards more relevant, the nominations for the 40th annual awards announced Tuesday morning at New York's Radio City Music Hall represent only a baby step forward. Though the Academy nodded to the cutting edge by nominating Radiohead and the Chemical Brothers for two awards each, it mostly stuck with safe choices like Fleetwood Mac, Hanson and Babyface.

\\Surprisingly, the artist to receive the most recognition was Paula Cole, who was nominated for all four of the Academy's major awards -- Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist -- as well as Best Pop Album, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Producer of the Year. Tying Cole's total of seven nominations was last year's Grammy favorite, Babyface, who's in the running for Album of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Pop Collaboration With Vocal, Best R&B Album, Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or For Television, Producer of the Year and Best Music Video, Short Form.

\\Like last year's Grammy Awards, where hands-down critics' favorite Beck did well, but not as well as commercial giant Babyface, the list of nominees reflects NARAS' attempt to bring the Awards more into line with contemporary music. In 1996, the organization changed the nominating rules in order to give relatively cutting-edge artists like Beck the chance to compete with the pop-oriented acts the Grammy Awards have traditionally favored. That change in the voting procedure most likely explains Radiohead's nomination for Album of the Year.

\\Other groundbreaking acts also fared well, but mostly in minor categories. Fiona Apple was nominated for Best New Artist (along with Erykah Badu, Hanson, Puff Daddy and Paula Cole), Daft Punk was nominated for Best Dance Recording (the only electronica act that was) and Ani DiFranco was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. The Best Alternative Music Performance category even gave a nod to electronica, in the form of nominations for the Chemical Brothers and Prodigy (Bjork, David Bowie and Radiohead were also nominated).

\\Some of the 9,000-member nominating committee's other choices only underscore how out of touch the Grammy Awards have always been. If Bob Dylan wins an Album of the Year Award for his critically acclaimed "Time Out of Mind" (he's also nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and Best Contemporary Folk Album), it will be the first such award of his career. He was never recognized for such groundbreaking records as "Blonde on Blonde" or "Highway 61 Revisited," although the Academy gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.

\\Besides, Paula Cole (for "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?"), the other nominees for Record of the Year are Shawn Colvin ("Sunny Came Home"), Sheryl Crow ("Everyday is a Winding Road"), Hanson ("MMMBop") and R. Kelly ("I Believe I Can Fly"). The nominations for Song of the Year are "Don't Speak," by Eric and Gwen Stefani; "